Latest TF Article - KNIFE SLITS WATER - Thoughts ?

[Parky]

To be honest, I've stopped looking out for what True Faith have got to say... I think it's about time they changed their name.

 

They could have written this before the transfer window and just filled in the names of whatever players we ended up getting. And I don't know why they keep returning to the 'Wise based in London' arguments and all the other shit we've heard done to death.

 

Saying that Ashley's £140m was the 'purchase price' and not an 'investment' is just ludicrous as well, it's not like buying a Mars bar FFS. When you buy an asset for that money of course it's an investment.

 

Investing in football clubs is madness.

 

I know, in terms of return, all I mean is that it is now one of Mike Ashley's assets which will either increase or decrease in value. It's not like buying a product.

 

I see what you're saying.

 

His eyes must have lit up when he saw the price tag.......(the debt like a shark waiting just under the water). 

[Guest firetotheworks]

I really like True Faith but I thought that most of that was speculative gash.

[Cronky]

No interesting or original thoughts there.

 

It's the level of exaggeration that makes it a very unsatisfying read. Is Steve Bruce really 'a million times better' a manager than Joe Kinnear?

[Parky]

No interesting or original thoughts there.

 

It's the level of exaggeration that makes it a very unsatisfying read. Is Steve Bruce really 'a million times better' a manager than Joe Kinnear?

 

Well one of them doesn't take training so it's kinda hard to judge. 

[S.S.R.]

Dave Whelan 'light years ahead'. The Silverlink isn't that far from the Royal Quays, is it?

[Heron]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic shite...

[Ronaldo]

article is spot on

[NE5]

So that’s that then. Another Ashley transfer window over and another empty feeling at the pit of our stomachs. Another sign we are on the road to nowhere. Lovenkrads (free), Nolan (£4m) and Taylor (£2m) in for a total of £6m and Given and N’Zogbia out for £13m-ish. This is called strengthening the squad apparently. You can only speculate whether we’d have spent as much had Barton not been injured so seriously as he was last week at City.

 

What’s happened to the Milner money? What will happen to the excess on the Given-N’Zogbia deals? What will happen to the money invested into the club via season tickets in the summer? Does that just disappear into a big, black Ashley shaped-hole? Are more players sold and the monies used to buy lesser ones? It seems to me the club is being hollowed out from the inside. SJP looks the same, there is a team wearing B&W stripes but it isn’t Newcastle United Football Club. It’s a Mike Ashley version. Not the real thing. Snide.

 

It is only a personal opinion but I have absolutely no confidence or trust in Ashley or any of the people he has appointed to executive positions at Newcastle United FC. If you think I’m wrong please drop me a line and explain why. I’ll publish it online here and give it star billing.

 

It seems to me the game plan from Ashley is to re-arrange the deck-chairs on the Titanic by selling players to raise money for new ones (cheaper - therefore on balance not as good) and the profits going to well … er, where exactly? We have had four transfer windows under Ashley and over that period the squad has become progressively thinner in terms of quality and quantity. Its not like we were starting from a position of strength either. That is why we are where we are. Its not rocket science. It’s because the club has not been building a team.

 

We hear a lot of rubbish – usually from the slack-jaws of his apologist and lickspittle Joe Kinnear about what Mike Ashley has done for Newcastle United FC. According to Kinnear, Ashley has “INVESTED” £200m into NUFC. Utter bollocks. The club cost him £140m (or near enough) and that is the purchase price of the football club. That is not investment it is purchase price. For reasons best known to himself but which are pretty unfathomable to a scrote like me Ashley failed to conduct due diligence and as a result bought something which has bitten him badly on the fat arse. He didn’t check out the club’s debt and he didn’t check out its revenue correctly, which means he got into NUFC for a seriously inflated amount of money and any thoughts of a quick carpet-bagging style sale with a few mill down his sky rocket has gone down the tubes.

 

The club is seriously all over the place because Ashley, in my opinion, has never had any intention of being around for very long and that is why he has had Mort on a 12-month, short term secondment, followed by Llambias whose tenure at NUFC reeks of impermanence. Who knows how the club is run on a day-to-day basis. I hear rumours of shadow men from Sports Direct moving in and out of the corridors of power in the upper levels of the Milburn but as the club is about as approachable and transparent as the former Soviet Union, no-one can really be sure how the operation is organised. Then there’s the football side – I mean, who in their right ‘kin mind would have Dennis Wise as Executive Director Football for Newcastle United FC based in London and apparently it would seem with a season ticket for Watford? Who would appoint Joe Kinnear as manager of a major PL club and keep a fucking straight face? There are no serious, credible football people in any of the top positions of authority at NUFC.

 

Increasingly, the only way I can see us being delivered from this purgatory is for Ashley to sell the club at a realistic price, take a massive hit on his investment, put it down to experience, go back to his pile Berkshire and stick pins in a Sir John Hall doll. Sell up and go. Ashley has nothing to offer. No money. No good intentions in my opinion and no brains.

 

*

 

Shay Given has left Newcastle United. Quite obviously, he was desperate to get away. Kinnear has stated he bent over backwards to get him to stay – as if anything he thinks he could have done would have worked. Dennis Wise pulls his strings. Mike Ashley visited the training ground last Monday I’m led to believe and the meeting between the owner and our ex-keeper (that hurts writing that) ended acrimoniously, though too little, too late springs to mind. Its been reported that the club offered Given an extended deal (if you can believe that) but from where I’m watching, it was never about the money and always about the football. Shay has given up on an Ashley-owned NUFC. Forget the claptrap from Kinnear about a new challenge. It was to get away from the absolute mess we’re in. That he has joined a club, which is likely to be binning the manager in the next few months only underlines how bad the situation is at our club.

 

Also leaving is Charles N’Zogbia who amazingly (for him) isn’t going to Man Utd to keep Ronaldo out of the team. Nope – it’s Wigan for you my boy. He hasn’t cut a very sympathetic figure in the last couple of seasons and his reputation as a surly twat spread all over Tyneside. That said, I’d wager KK would have had him happy and playing full of confidence. I can’t imagine KK or SBR giving it the “Insomnia” nonsense – that was cheap and pathetic of Kinnear as much as it was a complete over-reaction on N’Zogbia’s part. Some will sneer when N’Zogbia talks about Wigan being a step up. Unfortunately, he’s right. Steve Bruce is a million times a better manager than the muppet we have in the dug out and Dave Whelan is light years ahead of Ashley in every regard. Not perfect by any means but if we could punch above our weight as Wigan have done their’s then we’d not have much to complain about.

 

*

 

So that’s the derby over eh? A pretty good game in a kind of Division 2-1989-kind-of-style with virtually zero quality on display. All perspiration and little inspiration! Hilariously, the Mackems believe Chopra over-hit his pass to Jones in the dying minutes because he’s a Mag. Will you tell them or will I? I think we can all have some fun with this. It was a game we should have won. Any quality at all from us in that midfield going forward or a bit magic in the final third and we’d have won easily. They are rubbish and the gap between us has narrowed not because they are anything particularly decent but because we have become shite. That was always how it was going to happen.

 

*

 

May I encourage you to attend the NUSC Meeting at the Tyneside Irish Centre this Wednesday – 7pm for a 7:30 start. Even if it’s cold!

 

*

 

West Brom (a) on Saturday is another one of those must-win games that we have been screwing up all season. The team played with application and endeavour in the derby and nothing g less than that will do on Saturday. Kinnear’s results are shit but he needs to get his finger out and get the points on the board rather than kissing Ashley’s arse and making a twat of himself!

 

 

Keep On, Keepin’ On …

 

 

yawn

 

 

[Guest Phil K]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic s****...

Or maybe realism ?

[Heron]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic s****...

Or maybe realism ?

 

Realistically, (and to use something similar to what someone else said) we don't even have our head in the noose at the minute never mind having it tightened and the stool kicked away. We decide our own fate, and we can certaintly do alot as a club to remove ourselves from this position.

 

I must admit, I myself am far from a realist, I'm an optimist as people have probably gathered by now. However, I am also of the opinion that optimism is a massive factor in what makes us human beings achieve. Where the fuck would we be if everyone said "ah no we just cannot make it" or "that's it, it's a certain failure...no point in trying".

 

True Faith never seem to give any of the positives in these articles at the moment, or even if they do they manipulate it to slate something else.

[oldtype]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic s****...

Or maybe realism ?

 

Realistically, (and to use something similar to what someone else said) we don't even have our head in the noose at the minute never mind having it tightened and the stool kicked away. We decide our own fate, and we can certaintly do alot as a club to remove ourselves from this position.

 

I must admit, I myself am far from a realist, I'm an optimist as people have probably gathered by now. However, I am also of the opinion that optimism is a massive factor in what makes us human beings achieve. Where the f*** would we be if everyone said "ah no we just cannot make it" or "that's it, it's a certain failure...no point in trying".

 

True Faith never seem to give any of the positives in these articles at the moment, or even if they do they manipulate it to slate something else.

 

What positives.

 

No, we haven't got our heads in the noose, but so far we've gone from Sitting in the living room eating crisps to standing on a stool with noose in hand. Logic dictates that if we've gone this far, we're eventually going the whole way. In the near future if not this season immediately.

 

We seemed to have stability at this club for the first time in a long, long while for a short period before one little thing started going wrong, immediately triggering a chain reaction that's piled up into a clusterfuck of epic proportions, like a single car breaking down on the highway triggering a thirty-car pileup. You really couldn't make it up. Only at NUFC.

 

We've been flung into the abyss, and while we may not be dead and buried yet, we're stuck into a course that inevitably leads to total destruction. It's like the title of the article: "knife slits water," a feeling of total hopelessness, just watching us slowly die.

 

Watching this club right now is like watching someone who's just passed over the event horizon of a black hole. We all know what's coming next.

 

 

 

[Parky]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic s****...

Or maybe realism ?

 

Realistically, (and to use something similar to what someone else said) we don't even have our head in the noose at the minute never mind having it tightened and the stool kicked away. We decide our own fate, and we can certaintly do alot as a club to remove ourselves from this position.

 

I must admit, I myself am far from a realist, I'm an optimist as people have probably gathered by now. However, I am also of the opinion that optimism is a massive factor in what makes us human beings achieve. Where the f*** would we be if everyone said "ah no we just cannot make it" or "that's it, it's a certain failure...no point in trying".

 

True Faith never seem to give any of the positives in these articles at the moment, or even if they do they manipulate it to slate something else.

 

What positives.

 

No, we haven't got our heads in the noose, but so far we've gone from Sitting in the living room eating crisps to standing on a stool with noose in hand. Logic dictates that if we've gone this far, we're eventually going the whole way. In the near future if not this season immediately.

 

We seemed to have stability at this club for the first time in a long, long while for a short period before one little thing started going wrong, immediately triggering a chain reaction that's piled up into a clusterfuck of epic proportions, like a single car breaking down on the highway triggering a thirty-car pileup. You really couldn't make it up. Only at NUFC.

 

We've been flung into the abyss, and while we may not be dead and buried yet, we're stuck into a course that inevitably leads to total destruction. It's like the title of the article: "knife slits water," a feeling of total hopelessness, just watching us slowly die.

 

Watching this club right now is like watching someone who's just passed over the event horizon of a black hole. We all know what's coming next.

 

 

 

 

What? Hundreds of physicits around the world would love to know.

[oldtype]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic s****...

Or maybe realism ?

 

Realistically, (and to use something similar to what someone else said) we don't even have our head in the noose at the minute never mind having it tightened and the stool kicked away. We decide our own fate, and we can certaintly do alot as a club to remove ourselves from this position.

 

I must admit, I myself am far from a realist, I'm an optimist as people have probably gathered by now. However, I am also of the opinion that optimism is a massive factor in what makes us human beings achieve. Where the f*** would we be if everyone said "ah no we just cannot make it" or "that's it, it's a certain failure...no point in trying".

 

True Faith never seem to give any of the positives in these articles at the moment, or even if they do they manipulate it to slate something else.

 

What positives.

 

No, we haven't got our heads in the noose, but so far we've gone from Sitting in the living room eating crisps to standing on a stool with noose in hand. Logic dictates that if we've gone this far, we're eventually going the whole way. In the near future if not this season immediately.

 

We seemed to have stability at this club for the first time in a long, long while for a short period before one little thing started going wrong, immediately triggering a chain reaction that's piled up into a clusterfuck of epic proportions, like a single car breaking down on the highway triggering a thirty-car pileup. You really couldn't make it up. Only at NUFC.

 

We've been flung into the abyss, and while we may not be dead and buried yet, we're stuck into a course that inevitably leads to total destruction. It's like the title of the article: "knife slits water," a feeling of total hopelessness, just watching us slowly die.

 

Watching this club right now is like watching someone who's just passed over the event horizon of a black hole. We all know what's coming next.

 

 

 

 

What? Hundreds of physicits around the world would love to know.

 

It goes without saying that I'm talking about "Star Trek" black holes, not real ones.

 

Shame it's too late to give you the most pedantic poster award

[Teasy]

I stopped reading after the first two paragraphs.  What happened to the Milner money, it was spent before Milner was sold.  Now I'm not saying that's acceptable, to sell a player with promises of a replacement only to use the money to cover previous transfers.  But its a fact that we didn't make a profit from that window..  Also we did try to bring in the replacement but failed, incompetence fair enough, but not profiteering.  What will happen to money brought in through season tickets?, it'll go on our insane wage bill, have they not seen our accounts or do they simply not understand them?

 

Now I'm as annoyed as anyone that we haven't managed to use that excess transfer money to strengthen the team further.  I'd even understand if they were to say that Ashley should have been looking to spend whatever it takes to keep us up regardless of financial problems at the club, because relegation is unthinkable. But all this rubbish about money from transfers and season tickets "disapearing into a big black Ashley shaped hole" is so childish I just can't be bothered to read the rest.

[Teasy]

I also got the feeling watching the Derby we were back in the 80s.

 

It was worse. I remember Keegan taking Newcastle to Roker Park and they huffed and puffed for 90 mins but we picked them off and won 2-1 because we had class players like Ginola and Beardsley and they had a team of Kevin Nolans. This time they had Cisse and Jones, we had carroll and Shola.

 

Difference being they had a team of Nolans because that's the best their squad had to offer.  We did (well actually we didn't really but anyway) because we have 6 or 7 important first team players out, as well as some less important backup players.

[Heron]

Blah blah blah, is my opinion on this.

 

Same old pessimistic s****...

Or maybe realism ?

 

Realistically, (and to use something similar to what someone else said) we don't even have our head in the noose at the minute never mind having it tightened and the stool kicked away. We decide our own fate, and we can certaintly do alot as a club to remove ourselves from this position.

 

I must admit, I myself am far from a realist, I'm an optimist as people have probably gathered by now. However, I am also of the opinion that optimism is a massive factor in what makes us human beings achieve. Where the f*** would we be if everyone said "ah no we just cannot make it" or "that's it, it's a certain failure...no point in trying".

 

True Faith never seem to give any of the positives in these articles at the moment, or even if they do they manipulate it to slate something else.

 

What positives.

 

No, we haven't got our heads in the noose, but so far we've gone from Sitting in the living room eating crisps to standing on a stool with noose in hand. Logic dictates that if we've gone this far, we're eventually going the whole way. In the near future if not this season immediately.

 

We seemed to have stability at this club for the first time in a long, long while for a short period before one little thing started going wrong, immediately triggering a chain reaction that's piled up into a clusterfuck of epic proportions, like a single car breaking down on the highway triggering a thirty-car pileup. You really couldn't make it up. Only at NUFC.

 

We've been flung into the abyss, and while we may not be dead and buried yet, we're stuck into a course that inevitably leads to total destruction. It's like the title of the article: "knife slits water," a feeling of total hopelessness, just watching us slowly die.

 

Watching this club right now is like watching someone who's just passed over the event horizon of a black hole. We all know what's coming next.

 

 

 

 

Yes, but to use your example, if someone behidn the car breaking down slows down and puts their hazards on then the car behind does as well you can avoid a 30 car pile up.

 

So to put that theory into perspective - instead of panicking and thinking "shit i'm going to crash and die" why not show a bit of steel and pull yourself out of the potential mess. Why don't we stick our hazards on to help our fellow club members like we would our fellow drivers? Why not lead the way in driving us to safety?

 

We have a club in which the majority seem to want to expect to crash and die, now is the time to steer clear and be the first to show people there is always a chance of survival if you want there to be.

 

By doing our bit in the stands some more, and by being encouraging to the lads on the pitch, at least we are providing a bit leadership...something we seemingly lack.

 

No i'm not saying you need to sing to be a supporter, but you do have to support to be a supporter. Boycotts and protests don't support anything other than the increased likelyness of relegation.

[Parky]

I stopped reading after the first two paragraphs.  What happened to the Milner money, it was spent before Milner was sold.  Now I'm not saying that's acceptable, to sell a player with promises of a replacement only to use the money to cover previous transfers.  But its a fact that we didn't make a profit from that window..  Also we did try to bring in the replacement but failed, incompetence fair enough, but not profiteering.  What will happen to money brought in through season tickets?, it'll go on our insane wage bill, have they not seen our accounts or do they simply not understand them?

 

Now I'm as annoyed as anyone that we haven't managed to use that excess transfer money to strengthen the team further.  I'd even understand if they were to say that Ashley should have been looking to spend whatever it takes to keep us up regardless of financial problems at the club, because relegation is unthinkable. But all this rubbish about money from transfers and season tickets "disapearing into a big black Ashley shaped hole" is so childish I just can't be bothered to read the rest.

 

Who agreed the wages for Catnapper, Fatuka and Smith?

[Mick]

 

Who agreed the wages for Catnapper, Fatuka and Smith?

 

The people who had just arrived at the club, probably with the help of Russell Cushing, very few people walk into a new business and start to make changes from day 1.

[Mistle17]

Very depressing article, but sadly has some good points. It is getting a bit tiring to read the same old pessimistic shite, but the fact of the matter is that this is the reality we find ourselves in.

 

TF are right- The club's best assets are being striped from us and being replaced with lesser/inadequate replacements. Ashley has an image of creating an Arsenal-like model club....which in reality will take years to produce the goods, but the main thing he doesnt understand is that you MUST invest in the present. Even Arsene Wenger does that, ffs. Ashley doesnt have a clue. And all this Dennis Wise business- ffs please someone tell me what the fuck thats all about! Its not like he's even working in the area! He commutes the odd time from bloody London!

 

As for the Milner saga- Well, wasnt Keegan promised Sebastian Schweinsteger from Bayern as Jimmy's replacement? Im quite sure thats what I've heard. Plus the signing of 'Nacho' Gonzalez?! What a load of bollox. I think there's a reason Valencia were willing to loan him out.....and we found out.

 

This transfer window has been a complete disaster simply because they are clueless as to how to run a top club like Newcastle United, and they couldnt be fucking arsed. If they really did want Johnson or whoever, then they would've signed them because we (supposedly) had £16m to spend. It just stinks of incompetence on their behalf. And lets face it, Nolan probably wouldnt have been signed if Barton hadnt of gotten injured.

But what amuses me is that we're able to include someone like Ryan Taylor in the deal for N'Zogbia, but we couldnt do that with Johnson and City? Its a joke.

 

If Ashley and his crew stay beyond the summer, I feel it will only delay the inevitable pain of relegation.

[Unbelievable]

 

Who agreed the wages for Catnapper, Fatuka and Smith?

 

The people who had just arrived at the club, probably with the help of Russell Cushing, very few people walk into a new business and start to make changes from day 1.

 

From what point in time can we hold them accountable for their decisions? Are they still learning?

[TRon]

 

Who agreed the wages for Catnapper, Fatuka and Smith?

 

The people who had just arrived at the club, probably with the help of Russell Cushing, very few people walk into a new business and start to make changes from day 1.

 

From what point in time can we hold them accountable for their decisions? Are they still learning?

 

From the point they sacked Allardyce and hired Keegan would be fair I think.

[cubaricho]

The True Faith guys could really use a proper editor.

[ikri]

The True Faith guys could really use a proper editor.

 

Or some antidepressants, or both.