TheBrownBottle

Given I’m on Eastern Australian Time, I’ve just hopped back on here and I’m confused. I think we’ve now agreed that Joelinton is a fascist, Kaka both is and is not Brazilian, and drink driving is more fun when you’re speeding. Or have I got my wires crossed?

That’s came out of left field. I think he’d be a cracking signing if true

That’s why Hurst votes them in

Again, why wouldn’t one of the nominees or board members just second the 4th candidate, or even get a fellow trust member to second them - it would at least be a piecemeal attempt to make it not look like ‘jobs for your mates’.

Yeah, agreed. I think Martin likes to call himself a social Democrat - like you said, left-leaning. As was the fanzine - I used to like the political, music and subculture stuff as much as the football stuff. But then they started accepting adverts - against the traditional fanzine ethos. From Hurst’s dad’s taxi company. And instead of a polyglot collective of writers, Hurst used it as a vehicle to promote himself and his tiresome cadre of middle class mates, with their vanilla politics and cultural views. The whole TF thing is just an irritant to me now

I can’t see us breaking the bank for unproven players at present tbh

I’ll bore on about this a little longer - feel free to scroll past! The crux of the issue to me is a representative vs delegate one - an old internal Labour party debate. To me, a supporters trust’s board should view itself as a group of delegates, not representatives. They should simply be there as tribunes to deliver the majority views of the membership, not to give their personal views without the express support of the majority - i.e. act as a representative. I cannot picture Martin, Hurst or Robson keeping their personal views to themselves, nor in viewing themselves as simply delegates to take the trust’s views to the NUFC board - they want to be heard, want to feel special, want to schmooze. The fact that they’d clearly never thought that their position on the board might raise eyebrows is testament to their egos - I mean, we really shouldn’t give too much of a shite who is on the board, as I’d expect it to be filled with otherwise anonymous supporters. That’s my two penneth worth

Asprilla didn’t work in 95-96 because he seemed to be bought with no plan as to how it fit into the team. Beardsley and Ferdinand weren’t going to be dropped and KK resolutely stuck to 4-4-2 meaning Asprilla or Beardsley would find themselves on the wing. If the point is though that the signing of Asprilla derailed the title push, that’s always been a ludicrous press narrative. The failing in the second half of the season were multiple - Ferdinand stopped scoring; Ginola stopped playing after the Arsenal LC QF; Gillespie’s extended injury lay-off unbalancing the side; KK’s ongoing inability to actually get a decent GK; an ageing Beardsley’s moments of magic becoming more sporadic; Rob Lee’s standard second half of a season. Etc etc etc

This is the problem generally, and why Tory boy bought the fanzine in the first place. He’s not from the punk-infused fanzine culture, he’s a middle class Tory from a self-promotion culture. What has always been enjoyable is reading the views of other supporters (even if I don’t agree with them); that’s all the football parts of a fanzine are about. Whoppers like Tory boy think that this means their views are more important or somehow more accurate than others - they act like experts (which they’re not) and not vox populi gobshites(which they are). The fanzine no longer exists, and I’d be astonished if the shite podcasts have anything like the audience the NUST emails do - even if no bugger reads them. Good on you and LFEE for asking the questions and posting the responses, but they all just seem to have zero self-awareness.

Yeah, agreed. I’ll happily back whatever Howe’s actions are. Dropping him for the Fulham game due to a clear failure to meet expected standards might be an outcome I would think (though I’m not saying it will - or should - be). Shame as I can’t imagine anyone wants that given his form - and any ‘punishment dropping’ would likely be temporary (like ten Hag dropping Rashford the other week, albeit under different circumstances). And if he plays vs Fulham that’s ok with me too - the gaffer and the club will likely get the decision right.

Joelinton Wick Chapter 1

Yep. Those booking hotel rooms when they’re unlikely to be entitled to a ticket are just making life more difficult for those who would be. If you’ve not got a ticket, watch it in Newcastle. The city will go off if we win it. Better than scrambling around a shit bit of North London looking for a pub with a few Newcastle fans in it.

Stupid thing to do, and absolutely not what we needed - and the ‘cultural misunderstanding’ thing is a non-starter; he’s been in the UK for coming up to four years. Disappointing as he seems like a good bloke generally. Obviously, there is a difference between being just over the limit and staggering out the car, swinging at the coppers and shouting ‘ah’ll tek yez aaaaal, yer bastadz’. Let the law deal with it, then the club, and it’s not an unreasonable expectation for him to learn, not do it again and move on.

'A club like Newcastle could do a lot worse than get someone like Maguire.' Danny Murphy is usually fucking useless, but has he actually seen our defence this season? Why the fuck would we need an overpaid human mo'ai? Who would he replace, Botman? Fuck me

Roses are red Violets are blue Five to Newcastle None to Man Yoo There you go - all the NUFC-based poetry you'll ever need

Yep, total pisstake. The FA Cup Final is the worst - all the regional / local FAs get tickets, every club with FA membership, FA members etc - which then in more cases than not end up with touts, who flog them to fans who should have had them in the first place (which is why both ends tend to be full with supporters). Ludicrous set-up which obviously lends itself to corruption.

That was the case in 98 and 99 too - though to be fair FA Cup Final tickets tend to be more wanted for hospitality etc. We got around 20k for each of those. This means lots of ST holders miss out too - it is a standard cup final issue. I got a ticket in 98 and didn't in 99 - and I went to a shitload of games home and away. If I heard in 99 that someone who'd rocked up for a couple of LC games thought they had equal entitlement I'd have been pissing blood.

If I was a member who'd been to a couple of cup games but hadn't bothered otherwise I'm not sure even be comfortable raising it as an issue in all honesty. People who fork out hundreds - thousands - of their hard-earned money each year to the club should absolutely be at the front of the queue for cup final tickets. That's the way the club gives back. NB I'm not a ST holder nor a member - I've no skin in the game in that regard.

It really should be ST holders ordered in terms of loyalty points. Given the numbers of likely tickets available, non-ST holders are unlikely to get a look-in - and that's absolutely fair enough to me. Those who trundle up to the odd game should be firmly at the back of the queue.

Yeah, Willock looks better switching to LW. I think it confused Leicester - we were much more threatening down the left than we had been for most of the season. Should be a warning to other teams who likely assume that Trippier - Bruno - Almiron down the right is our only source of attacking intent

'96 I was pretty much bang on the halfway line, halfway up (opposite the steps). Pretty much the perfect seat to watch us get thumped off Man Utd. '00 was opposite side, but about halfway around the stand at the back. There was a big group of us with tickets together that day; I ended up under a pile on a few rows from my seat when Lee equalised. Yep, my memories are mainly shite of the place tbh. Drinking expensive cans outside the Torch near Wembley Way before watching us lose four times in almost successive seasons meant that the excitement of it all disappeared - there was a grim inevitability about '99, which was the competitive game where we really did just roll over and have our bellies tickled (I won't count '96). Wembley was exciting to get to - the first time I went the coach came in from a cracking angle, with the Twin Towers visible for ages before getting there - but once there the experience was remarkably shite

I think Joelinton is up there with the best LCMs in the country. He's just ok LW for me

Yeah, I suspect that organising c.23,000 tickets for season ticket holders meant that there was a huge element of randomness to it - sounds like you were pretty screwed over in '98. I'll forgive you for '99 if you send me a '23 ticket if we make it

My seat for '98 was right next to the tunnel - the bloke behind me got Stuart Pearce's top when he chucked it into the crowd. It also meant a big zoom in of my sunburnt face was on the backpage of the Journal on the Monday. My dad was in a similar seat in '96 (mine was closer to the halfway line) - he managed to get his programme signed by Warren Barton. Which pretty much summed the day up tbh.

Has he forgot that it is the players, not the fans, who need to worry about such things? And I know that is who he will be lecturing