TheBrownBottle

Obligation to buy is usually related to a club's performance and a player's appearances - I haven't heard goals come into it before

Leeds and Everton have stronger commercial revenues - mainly because ours actually dropped under Ashley (cheap scuzzy deals with shite sponsors, free SD sponsorship, half-baked deals with companies he has an interest in). Our sleeve sponsor is now higher than our main strip sponsor - we'll soar up that table next season when a new shirt manufacturer & sponsor comes in

Remember when they used to have those big bat-signals outside the ground which were on round the clock? Bob Murray claimed they would ‘never be turned off’. Until they were relegated, and couldn’t pay the leccy bill

Good luck to the lad, though I’m feeling relieved about this one. Wood’s continuing appearances were only liable to start becoming toxic; it’s best for both parties that they part ways

Perhaps a scheme for u18s? It’s always a difficult one this

It’s been like this for more than a couple of decades - Sunderland away etc difficult to get tickets, lesser lights pretty easy. You’ll get tickets for smaller PL teams a lot of the time if you’re a ST holder and you apply. I’m unconvinced by some of the moans that I see - those who put in the miles and the money should 100% be at the front of the queue. People like me - who stopped going in the Ashley years and now have pissed off abroad - shouldn’t even have a mechanism to get a look in for cup final tickets. Get a ticket, go to away games - league cup early rounds you won’t struggle - and build up your points. Europe next year is likely - take the money you would have spent doing loads of aways and apply for European tickets. Yes, some have artificially inflated loyalty points from sales. But they’re the minority. The merchandise from the club shop idea is horrible, frankly - the idea of buying club-branded tat trumping actually going to support the club is ludicrous. I’m aware this sounds harsh for some, and I’m not writing it to cause upset - but honestly lads and lasses, it really should be a reward for those who actually go to the games.

Took the words out of my mouth it really winds them up, and they bite every time

I can understand the idea that you would want to sign a player not only because they're a great talent, but because they fit into the system and would work well with the existing squad. Not every good player will fit Howe's team or style. I don't think Kane's that player though - he's lethal in front of goal, works his bollocks off, seems to be a good character and is a team player. I actually think he'd be a perfect fit for this system, with two wide forwards pressing and taking advantage of when he takes a deeper role, and then having a world-class finisher with the number of chances we create in the area when he's in there. The point is moot, as Spurs would only sell for insane money and Kane would only sign for insane money, and we're not in that market.

Yeah, a wide forward seems more likely to me. Isak’s return means Wood is comfortably third choice for one position, and our squad isn’t deep enough yet to be stacking players

It would have scuppered it, as the PL would then have pinned the state-led piracy to him, given he’s running the country. Piracy is a criminal offence, so he’d be knackered under the PL rules

The only reason the PL wanted it is because they could tie the KSA state to piracy - which would rule them out. It wasn’t that it would be state-owned, but that the state as an entity had stole from the PL.

US Rulings mean nowt in the UK - besides, does anyone really think the PL give a shite about ‘separation’? It was always about piracy. There’s nothing in the PL rules about state-owned clubs btw

Heart skipped a beat reading the Wood crack, frantically scrolled back, assuming he's linked with a move out. He isn't being sold, then. Bah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei1DnFdJrww

I wonder if cinematic classic 'Goal!' tricked anyone into B&W fandom? Dreaming of being Santi and scoring against Foolham. There has to be someone! All these stories are great - but you're all bastard mad as far as I'm concerned - supporting Ashley-era NUFC was like being repeatedly kicked in the bollocks.

Gan on then, I'll bite. Of the 96 seasons post-WWI, sunderland has had the higher attendances ... 19 times. For further context, sunderland were in a division above NUFC on 8 of those occasions. Equally hilariously, in 7 of the 15 seasons where the mackems were a division above NUFC, NUFC still had the higher attendances.

'I first realised I was a Newcastle supporter when I was ten ...'

Agreed mate - I'm not arguing that this isn't the case.

I do sympathise, though ultimately a lot of it has to do with football being tribal (this is a mackem pisstake thread, after all), and the notion that this localism / tribalism is why the football pyramid exists at all. Without people supporting their local side, English football ceases to exist in its current form, and would start to look more like a franchise-type league. The football club is seen as an expression of a city / region's identity, which is why so many will get defensive. I genuinely don't think any of this really matters, ultimately who a person supports shouldn't really be of any consequence to anyone but themselves. If it means something to you, that should be enough - it isn't for anyone else to decide whether or not you're 'worthy'.

Yep, 'support as penis extension' has a long history. It just has an international flavour these days. Let's face it, Dublin's Torquay United fanbase, Mumbai's Rushden and Diamonds ultras and Singapore's hardcore Port Vale support could fit into a single toilet cubicle

He swears down that it is true. He's shown me charts showing how gravy sales dip east of Bensham. I always trust men who have shit taches, a mullet and a fading Indian ink 'SAFC' tatt on their knuckles

I've heard from a solid mackem source that Gateshead is already 51.5765367% sunderland - so it would be a liberation rather than an annexation ....

'Wanker from Truro in Peace' shall be set to ignore

It is a weird thing to obsess over. Who gives a shite? I don't get irritated anymore when I listen to Man Utd fans from Truro whining. I just don't listen to them.

I got them off, you know, Nobby Burton, who comes round with a suitcase. Two for a tenner.