Mort's full comments from the Chelsea programme

[Dave]

In case anyone didn't see them they've been put on the official site.

 

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1306429,00.html

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1306433,00.html

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1306444,00.html

 

"This season has obviously involved dramatic changes at the club.

 

"Last summer saw Mike's acquisition of the club from the Hall and Shepherd families and minority shareholders, and the appointment of a new board of directors. Since that acquisition, Mike has put further funding of more than £100m in to the club to avoid the club running into serious financial difficulties and to fund player acquisitions.

 

"With £30m spent last summer on adding ten new players to the senior squad, a further £10m added to the annual wage bill and leading players such as Michael Owen, Damien Duff and Shay Given returning from long-term injuries, I think everyone looked forward to the new season with relish.

 

"With good wins against the likes of Bolton, West Ham, Spurs and Everton, we should not lose sight of the fact we had some bright spots in the early part of the season. Unfortunately, such results were too infrequent, particularly during the five months that followed. These are the months for which I must give most thanks to our supporters. The support of the team throughout this period, both home and away, was fabulous. To have sell-out crowds during our recent unbeaten run is excellent. However, to have 50,000+ supporters cheering on the team at St. James' Park when the team is struggling and up to 6,000 fans making trips south for our away games, I must give our fans particular thanks for their incredible backing of the team, in both numbers and vocal support, throughout the difficult period between October and mid-March.

 

"The change that obviously grabbed the media's attention and supporters' imagination was the replacement of the manager mid-season, with Kevin's dramatic return to manage the club. I think Kevin's appearance at St. James' Park on the night we played Stoke City in the F.A. Cup, and the resultant excitement throughout the city, will be remembered by all that were here that night for a very long time. While Kevin had a tough time from mid-January to mid-March, with some difficult matches and some unfortunate results, the dramatic change in both the way the team plays and the results that have been achieved have vindicated the decision to bring Kevin back and I think we have all seen enough over recent weeks to know that there is much to look forward to when the team starts its next campaign in August.

 

"Over the summer we will look to strengthen the squad further. In addition to making any immediate fixes that may be required, as with everything else we have done since Mike acquired the club, we will want to acquire players that can help make Newcastle United a top team for the medium and long-term, not just for the next season or two. That is why we put a substantial offer in for Luka Modric, who is aged 22. It is frustrating that Modric, like Woodgate before him, should take less money than we offered to move to the bright lights of London, and European football with Tottenham next season, but these are the sorts of difficulties that should get easier to address once we build a squad that competes at the right end of the table."

 

"In addition to the team playing much better football and getting much better results on the pitch, I am delighted with the progress we have been able to make this season off the pitch. With an executive director with responsibility for football and a second executive director focussed on the non-football operations of the club, we have put in place a structure which should help put the club in a position of strength and stability for the long-term.

 

"Dennis Wise and his recruitment team have been busy seeking out the best footballing talent across the country, elsewhere in Europe and further afield and we will see some of the benefits of those efforts this summer. In addition to strengthening the first-team squad, we will also continue to recruit younger players for the future to ensure the club is built on more stable foundations for the long-term.

 

"With many new recruits, including a new executive director - operations, financial controller, customer services manager and head of HR, we have sought to put in place a professional management team that can run the club highly effectively behind the scenes. Hopefully, supporters have already seen some of the benefits of this focus, with more efficient ticketing operations and more interaction with supporters.

 

"Two topics on which we get consistent feedback from supporters is for considerably more seating to be set aside for children in an affordable section of the ground, and to have an affordable section of the stadium where the noisiest of our supporters can congregate to give their vocal support to the team throughout the game. Although seating in the stadium is always a sensitive topic, we will seek to accommodate these wishes in the next round of season ticket renewals.

 

"One of the recruits which had the most immediate impact is Graeme Danby. Graeme is the acclaimed English National Opera performer who gave a rousing version of The Blaydon Races on the pitch before the Sunderland game. I asked the staff to find me an opera-singing Geordie who would wear the shirt, carry a large NUFC flag and walk down the pitch singing The Blaydon Races. Graeme was made for this task."

 

"I have been delighted with the progress the club has made in the community this season. Newcastle United must always be aware of the great force for good it can be in people's lives. In the early part of the season we had first-team players packing shoppers' bags and making children pizzas as part of the Creating Chances programme, for which we received much acclaim.

 

"In an effort to make St. James' Park accessible to a wider section of the community, for the pre-season friendlies last summer we introduced ticket initiatives aimed at encouraging more children to come along to games and followed that up with ten-game season tickets for children for as little as £25.

 

"More recently, we received a national award from Prince Charles for our support of the Princes Trust and an invitation to Downing Street in recognition of our work with Show Racism the Red Card. April saw supporters raise more than they ever have previously from a bucket collection at the ground, raising substantial funds for the Toma Fund established by Jordan Thompson's parents. The season ends with us hosting a dinner to raise funds for The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, which should be an excellent and very worthwhile evening.

 

"The focus of our community efforts next season will be the Newcastle United Foundation, which should receive its charitable status in the early autumn and for which we have recruited Kate Bradley as a full-time Foundation Manager."

 

THANK YOU

 

"I would like to finish my last programme column of the season with a big "thank you" to everyone in the North-East for the fabulous welcome my family and I have had since arriving on Tyneside last summer. Thank you.

 

"Have a great summer!"

[Parky]

I like Morticia. 

[Happy Face]

I asked the staff to find me an opera-singing Geordie who would wear the shirt, carry a large NUFC flag and walk down the pitch singing The Blaydon Races.

 

Made me chuckle.

 

Good news on the cheap kids tickets front.  Not so sure about a singing 'section'....unless they label the entire stadium as that section.

[NG32]

Decent comments from Mort.

[Guest optimistic nit]

aye. would be quite funny if O-Nut or someone parodied one for shepheard at the end of last season.

[Guest alex]

Blows speculation from certain quarters that we underbid for Modric out of the water.

[SUPERTOON]

Saying the opposite to Keegan

[Mick]

Blows speculation from certain quarters that we underbid for Modric out of the water.

 

Don't worry, it'll be ignored anyway.

[Guest alex]

Blows speculation from certain quarters that we underbid for Modric out of the water.

 

Don't worry, it'll be ignored anyway.

I'm not worried

[La Parka]

Nice piece. Good to have some decent communication. It appears we are keeping with the buy-them-young and develop them policy. I guess we are going to have to be patient, and as long as we are moving in the right direction I won't have any problems if it takes two or three years to get into europe. If we do splash the cash and are able to attract high quality talent, I see no reason why it can't be done in one or two seasons.

 

 

[fredbob]

Blows speculation from certain quarters that we underbid for Modric out of the water.

 

I thought we were outbid transfer fee wise at the last minute but offered more persoanlly, but obviously the owners of Modric chose to send him down the road cos it suited them. Thats my take on it.

[hakka]

Pretty good read.  One thing I hadn't thought of til I read Mort's comments is that we do have a new infrastructre in the club and this infrastrutre needs time to develop and have impact.  I'm sure we will see more benefits from the clubs internal setup changes over the next few seasons.

[ATB]

Really love Mort and everything that is happening in the club righ now

[Guest alex]

Blows speculation from certain quarters that we underbid for Modric out of the water.

 

I thought we were outbid transfer fee wise at the last minute but offered more persoanlly, but obviously the owners of Modric chose to send him down the road cos it suited them. Thats my take on it.

Not sure but all you can glean from the above is we offered the player more money than Spurs.