We're down. The relegation thread.

[Mowen]

I'm sorry, but Duff has been a ma-hassive waste of money. A fucking terrible, terrible signing. Even when fit he has done almost nothing. He creates nothing and his goal-scoring record is, what, 1 goal a season? Shite.

 

Yep, he's megashit. Terrible, awful signing. And yet it seemed like such a good deal at the time.

[Optimistic Nut]

I'm sorry, but Duff has been a ma-hassive waste of money. A f***ing terrible, terrible signing. Even when fit he has done almost nothing. He creates nothing and his goal-scoring record is, what, 1 goal a season? s****.

 

Yep, he's megashit. Terrible, awful signing. And yet it seemed like such a good deal at the time.

 

Over the last 5 years, the same can be said about Carr, Butt, Kluivert, Babayaro, Boumsong, Emre, Parker, Owen, Luque, Geremi, Barton, Viduka, Rozehnal, Coloccini, Jonas, Xisco...

[Guest fraser]

As a direct result of our relegation other fans will have to find someone else to 'hate' (Phil Brown has to be favourite, what a performance yesterday...Hull City watch out!), sports writers some other club to write about (5 pages devoted to us by the Times, mainly explaining how we, the supporters, deserved it), Setanta will go bust (already cancelled my subscription), fewer away-ends will be sold-out and pub-takings in Blackburn will plummet.

 

[Guest toonlass]

Part of me agrees with that Fraser. But I still think there will be a disproportionate amount of media coverage of us.

[Tisd09]

Someone mentioned it earlier but most of the results since Shearer took over went our way and the players blew it. It was sad watching yesterday, no heart IMO.

 

Hopefully a massive clear out will happen and we get in some hungary players, players that seem bothered about playing for the club.

 

Its horrible that we are down but we got chance to rebuild this club and get back a stable base.

[ShearMagic]

Someone mentioned it earlier but most of the results since Shearer took over went our way and the players blew it. It was sad watching yesterday, no heart IMO.

 

Hopefully a massive clear out will happen and we get in some hungary players, players that seem bothered about playing for the club.

 

Its horrible that we are down but we got chance to rebuild this club and get back a stable base.

 

Well we've already got one!

 

Tamas Kadar.

[relámpago blanco]

I can't believe Duff is going to stay.  Fucking mercenary, he'll do a job in that league but we need young hungry players.

[Shak]

If he takes a pay cut I'd be happy enough with Duff staying tbh.

 

He's been shite since he came here, but he'd be one of the better players in the Championship I reckon and could be key to us coming back up. He's also one of the very few who I think has looked bothered the last few weeks.

 

Odds are he knows he won't get that money anywhere else though, and is looking to protect his wage.

 

Money where your mouth is Damien, or else off with you.

[Guest eltsacwen]

I can't believe Duff is going to stay.  f***ing mercenary, he'll do a job in that league but we need young hungry players.

 

We still need some experience in the squad. Duff went down with Blackburn and helped them promote the following season. He has done it before unlike most of our players.

[ShearMagic]

Duff is exactly the kind of player we'll need to compliment the youngsters next season.

 

Good that he's staying - as long as he takes a paycut.

[Guest Geordiecunny]

Me and my mate waited behind after the game and saw Ashley and llambias laughing and joking on their minibus. I felt sickened. I mouthed "what now" at llambias and the tosser just smiled and shrugged. We won't rebuild or move on until they're gone. To make matters worse if they do go it wont be someone new, it'll be shepherd again no doubt. Back to the man who hired souness, the decision that put this all in motion!

 

[Oakie Doke]

I don't mind Duff staying as long as he halves his wages, at least.

[ianovthetoon]

If Shearer stays on, he'll already have an idea who he will be getting rid of, and who he'd like to stay. Given comments in the media, I'd think Beye will stay on, and I'd like to hope he could persuade Bassong that a season in the Championship would be far better than warming the bench at the Emirates. I'd be surprised if Enrique stays on, so we'd be looking for one, perhaps two left backs, although on a reduced wage, Duff could more than do a job in that position in this division. Taylor has already said he'll stay, so that would be the defence sorted, with the likes of Tozer and Kadar being decent backups.

 

Midfield is the main concern. Guthrie should stay, Butt inevitably will but hopefully will be used sparingly. I think Gutierrez will be away, but should he stay I think he'd terrify a lot of Championship defences. So we need 3 young quality midfielders.

 

Up front, Carroll will do a job in the Championship with the right nurturing, and if we perhaps added Lita on a Bosman, he'd do a job, as he has for other sides in this division. We have Nile Ranger who should get his chance, and again, add a young promising striker who could come off the bench and do a job, and step up to the plate if required through injury.

 

In goal, I'd rather we gave Krul his chance with Forster on the bench.

 

Everyone not mentioned I'd sell for what we can get, and use youth to cover positions.

 

We should ensure we have two players of similar quality for every position, and I think with the right mindset instilled by the management team we'll do alright.

 

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but we've been here before in years gone by and bounced back. We'll be a big draw for clubs like Doncaster, Scunthorpe etc, and we'll go to places we've never been before. If we can hit the ground running, attendances won't drop by much, and we can show the Premier League what they're missing

 

It's a ride we didn't really want to take, but we have to now, so we may as well try to enjoy it!

[Guest firetotheworks]

If he takes a pay cut I'd be happy enough with Duff staying tbh.

 

He's been s**** since he came here, but he'd be one of the better players in the Championship I reckon and could be key to us coming back up. He's also one of the very few who I think has looked bothered the last few weeks.

 

Odds are he knows he won't get that money anywhere else though, and is looking to protect his wage.

 

Money where your mouth is Damien, or else off with you.

 

This.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/tf/editorials.nsf/LookupUNID/CAC04DF3EEE7B935802575C1003755B8?OpenDocument

 

STRAIGHT TO HELL 

 

Relegation? It has been in the post for six seasons. Six seasons since Shepherd completely mishandled the end of SBR’s management and began to get every major decision wrong! But still kept his substantial snout alongside the Halls in the SJP trough. From the appointment of Graeme Souness – by some distance the worst manager in the history of Newcastle United – and the spending spree where the club’s money was squandered on Babayaro, Boumsong, Luque, Owen, Parker, Emre – all players who came and have now gone. Money down the drain!

Followed up by the appointment of Roeder – perhaps not as bad a managerial appointment as Kinnear but nevertheless, as the recent relegation of Norwich City demonstrates, hopelessly inadequate and a poor substitute for the intended managerial appointment of Martin O’Neill. And then Allardyce – never ever the right man for Newcastle United and as recklessly incompetent in his one transfer window as Souness – big wages spunked on Viduka, Smith, Geremi, Barton, Cacapa – all still on the NUFC gravy train and all of whom have contributed nothing to our club.

 

Not that Sir John Hall should get off the hook. This is the man, after all who sold his shares to Ashley, allegedly without meeting the man, or indeed really knowing who he was selling to or knowing his plans for the club. Hall liked one thing about Ashley above all others in my opinion – his money. And with Sir John Hall, outside of all of the trite puff and smoke about regional pride and identity etc, that’s all that has ever mattered. Ordinary supporters buying shares, inflated season ticket prices and bonds whilst his family and the Shepherds lined their pockets? It’s an obscenity. It is unforgivable. That is the legacy of Sir John Hall to Newcastle United Football Club.

 

Underneath all of that of course is the complete absence of infrastructure at NUFC – a youth development programme which was neglected for far too long by Shepherd and an Academy which has provided far too little for far too long and made us overly reliable on the likes of agents like Willie McKay in the absence of a proper, professional scouting network.

 

But of course, the man who has put his foot hard on the accelerator of the Relegation Express is Mike Ashley. Is there a more incompetent man in English football? Is there a man so utterly witless about the game of association football and the business of the Premier League than this charmless twat? This bumbling buffoon, perhaps in the throws of a post-divorce mid-life crisis and in need of some new mates, seems to have bought NUFC on a whim, with the paper profit his Sports Direct flotation funding it all. The absolute folly of failing to conduct due diligence in his purchase has left him with a company which was haemorrhaging money and which had its future income streams from sponsorships tied to the scandalous spending of the Shepherd era, though it also has to be said that sanctioned on his watch by Allardyce.

 

For Ashley, allowing the feel-good factor delivered by the appointment of KK last summer to slip through his fingers by placing Dennis fucking Wise in a senior position above our ex-No.7 was unforgivable. A crass episode of incompetence which started with the whole wrong-headed structure he wanted an old school manager like KK to accept with Wise, hopelessly out of his depth and lacking the personal qualities to forge a good working relationship with Keegan – though that was always going to be difficult as Ashley allowed Wise to do his job on Tyneside by proxy from London. It begs belief. It is fucking head-spinning in its stupidity. Just think about what this goon has done to our club and I defy you to stop your piss boiling.

 

Then of course, Ashley, with his absent landlord style of club stewardship allowing a bad situation to rot and fester last summer with the hopelessly out of his depth, Derek Llambias, the mute MD, failing to address the real football concerns held by KK and ignoring what their manager was telling them about the shambolic way Wise was operating.

 

And then Joe Kinnear! Holy Jesus and the orphans – whose fucking idea was it to bring this oaf to our club? Then of course his wobbler at West Brom ending his ridiculous tenure in the dug out to be followed by two months without a manager at all and it was during that period when Hughton and Calderwood – two rabbits caught in the headlights – failed to get a single win, when hope drained out of NUFC that is when relegation became inevitable. When we travelled to Bolton and when we went to Hull to set out for a draw – that was when relegation got its grip of us and of course we can’t forget the 2-0 leads we established at SJP to Stoke and Wigan only to squander them in the last minutes. Yes, we have had rotten luck with refereeing decisions on occasion but the truth is – this relegation was designed and delivered by those in the seats of power at SJP. That is where the blame lies. Relegation – described by the prick Llambias as “unthinkable” now fills our senses with its rotten stench. Where to now for the Casino Kid who is utterly clueless about football and NUFC?

 

Do I need to mention the ludicrous way the club did its business in the January transfer window? The sale of Given to Man City – at that time making £100m offers to Milan for Kaka – on tick – defies belief while we paid cash up front for rubbish like Ryan Taylor and Kevin Nolan. Cash out – credit in. Jesus Christ, what are these people doing?

 

Shearer? Too little, too late but a man whose integrity is beyond reproach, who is now positioning himself for a session with Ashley which could be seismic to the long term future of our club. For if Ashley does not do the things Shearer wants, I have little doubt he will walk away and Newcastle United will implode.

 

Alan Shearer is talking sense in the aftermath of this disaster of relegation. It is sense because it bears witness to everything we have seen over this season and several previous. We recognise his words as sense because they are based on the reality we have witnessed.

 

Should Shearer give Ashley a negative response this week then it is very likely Newcastle United will implode. There was a sad debate after the final whistle at Villa Park about whether we have reached the bottom yet. We don’t know. Shearer is talking about the possibility of “doing a Leeds”. All of that is a possibility.

 

For the players, who are far from blameless in this farrago, there will doubtless be those who will be offered new clubs and new starts, though some of them will become burdens to us if they do not leave the payroll. There are few who we would seek to keep in honesty. The truly sad fate is about to befall club employees who will lose their jobs because of this relegation. Ordinary working people around the club who will now find themselves surplus to requirements. The people who are far from the £60K p.w. merchants. The people with bills to pay and whose income is under threat at a time when alternatives are more difficult to secure in the current conditions. These are the people for who relegation will hit hard. They have the most sincere sympathise of everyone associated with this daft fanzine.

 

Right now, the club is at the biggest crossroads in its modern history – we will know this week if we have touched the bottom and can think about coming back next year or whether this sad season is simply a stopping off point on a deeper, more damaging decline. We are now talking about our club in the same terms Sheff Wed, Forest etc – that is where the people who run this club and who have previously ran the club have taken us. The club needs leadership, to rediscover its sense of purpose and to communicate both to the wider support. Ashley needs to break this ridiculous silence he has imposed upon himself and speak to us – tell us the truth and along with Shearer map out the vision which will begin to repair the damage to our beloved football club. We’re waiting.

 

Keep On, Keepin’ On...

[Keefaz]

If he takes a pay cut I'd be happy enough with Duff staying tbh.

 

He's been s**** since he came here, but he'd be one of the better players in the Championship I reckon and could be key to us coming back up. He's also one of the very few who I think has looked bothered the last few weeks.

 

Odds are he knows he won't get that money anywhere else though, and is looking to protect his wage.

 

Money where your mouth is Damien, or else off with you.

 

This.

 

I guess be happy if he stays, as I'd hope he'd be effective in the fizzy pop, but only if he took a HUGE pay cut and there's no chance of that. And, legally, he has every right to stay and collect his current, extortionate pay packet.

[Dave]

I still can't fucking believe it btw. Even though I thought it was on the cards for ages.

[Guest geordienorway]

If Shearer stays on, he'll already have an idea who he will be getting rid of, and who he'd like to stay. Given comments in the media, I'd think Beye will stay on, and I'd like to hope he could persuade Bassong that a season in the Championship would be far better than warming the bench at the Emirates. I'd be surprised if Enrique stays on, so we'd be looking for one, perhaps two left backs, although on a reduced wage, Duff could more than do a job in that position in this division. Taylor has already said he'll stay, so that would be the defence sorted, with the likes of Tozer and Kadar being decent backups.

 

Midfield is the main concern. Guthrie should stay, Butt inevitably will but hopefully will be used sparingly. I think Gutierrez will be away, but should he stay I think he'd terrify a lot of Championship defences. So we need 3 young quality midfielders.

 

Up front, Carroll will do a job in the Championship with the right nurturing, and if we perhaps added Lita on a Bosman, he'd do a job, as he has for other sides in this division. We have Nile Ranger who should get his chance, and again, add a young promising striker who could come off the bench and do a job, and step up to the plate if required through injury.

 

In goal, I'd rather we gave Krul his chance with Forster on the bench.

 

Everyone not mentioned I'd sell for what we can get, and use youth to cover positions.

 

We should ensure we have two players of similar quality for every position, and I think with the right mindset instilled by the management team we'll do alright.

 

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but we've been here before in years gone by and bounced back. We'll be a big draw for clubs like Doncaster, Scunthorpe etc, and we'll go to places we've never been before. If we can hit the ground running, attendances won't drop by much, and we can show the Premier League what they're missing

 

It's a ride we didn't really want to take, but we have to now, so we may as well try to enjoy it!

 

Great post.

 

[Carlito]

I still can't f***ing believe it btw. Even though I thought it was on the cards for ages.

 

Same here. Even watching it played over on ssn it just hasn't fully sunk in yet. Not sure when it will but it's gonna really hurt when it does. I'll never forget that 2nd half as long as I live for their utterly disgusting lack of fight and passion for this club. I hope the ones that showed no fight have their careers fade into obscurity.

[Beezeri]

Ashley: Newcastle set to join Scottish Premier League   

 

Posted by: NurembergVillan on Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 09:59 PM

 

Following defeat at the hand of Aston Villa today, relegated Newcastle United are seriously looking into the possibility of joining the Scottish Premier League.

Newcastle United could join a rejigged Scottish Premier League as early as the 2010-2011 season, owner Mike Ashley announced this evening following his club's relegation from the English Premiership.

 

The SPL has long been dominated by Celtic and Rangers "the Old Firm" and the prospect of northern English clubs joining them would lead to increased TV revenue and a dramatic rise in international interest.

 

With Europe an increasing obsession, clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool desire a reduction in the size of the Premiership. But in Scotland's case an INCREASE in the size of the league by adding northern giants such as Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Blackpool would give the league added appeal.

 

No one should doubt the seriousness of Newcastle's intentions in heading North. Mike Ashley, Newcastle's majority share-holder, said on Sunday that a move was "inevitable", adding that he felt "let down" by both Sky Sports and the Football Association whom he claimed had given him "assurances" that Newcastle would avoid the drop. But defeat against Champions of People's Hearts, Aston Villa, put paid to those "promises".

 

Brian Quinn, Celtic's chairman, claimed at Celtic Park on Sunday that the top Premiership clubs "relish" the prospect of joining the Old Firm, a view endorsed by a fat man with no shirt on outside Villa Park after Newcastle's lacklustre defeat.

 

The Premier League insist there are "no plans" to change the structure of the 20-strong division. But with Newcastle no longer under their jurisdiction the Toon Army would be free to move to the Scottish league where Ashley claims they would "get the love and respect" they "deserve".

 

Jumping borders may concern UEFA, not to mention the Scottish and English FAs, but Newcastle know their lawyers would have a case at Brussels where, in a world altered by Bosman, they could argue restraint of trade and movement. UEFA might struggle to explain why Monaco can play in the French League, Cardiff City and Swansea in the English but Newcastle cannot in the SPL.

 

"This club deserves to be in the Champions League year-on-year", Ashley concluded, "and a move to Scotland - our natural home some would say - means our amazing fans would get what they deserve".

 

The SportsDirect mogul went on to add that "the additional revenue generated would benefit the Scottish game immensely. I'm sure that the Scottish fans would be grateful to have us there and we'll show English football what they're missing. We were badly let down this season. Sky Sports and the Football Association promised me that they would ensure our Premier League survival if I appointed Alan Shearer as Manager for a publicity stunt. Now I'm left feeling that I've been made to look a right "publicity stunt" myself."

 

:celb:

[Robster]

northern giants such as Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Blackpool

 

[Mistle17]

Today it really hit me that we'd been relegated. I've been very depressed.

[afar]

I'm lucky in a sense that I live so far away from Newcastle now and in a country where football is an extremely minor sport. I'm glad I haven't had to come in to work surrounded by people telling me how we aren't a big club and how we are so deluded and how the fans deserve relegation because we never give any managers enough time. All the old cliches are about in abundance on the interweb, I'm sure it must be awful for people living amongst other fans.

[Ericz]

Our priorities:-

 

(1) Will Ashley continue to own the club?

(2) How much is Ashley prepared to invest in sustaining the current expenses of the club (i.e. wages) and what is the transfer budget for next season?

(3) Who is the manager?

 

Only then can we talk about which players to keep, which players to bid etc.

 

Hopefully, all the above details will be sorted out as soon as possible. Paragraphs (1) to (3) should ideally be decided within a month's time such that there is enough time to prepare for the next season if we were to make a decent impact.

[Colocho]

Owen's on £110,000 a week, Viduka £60,000, Barton £64,000, Cacapa £30,000, Martins £50,000, Smith £60,000, Coloccini £50,000, GEREMI £60,000 a week! Might get stuck with him, Gonzalez £25,000.

 

In my opinion they are the ones that will definitely go, which would be a saving of around £27 million a year.

 

If Duff won't take a massive wage cut to stay, he'll go, he's on £70k (£3m a year), Lovenkrands should be offered a new contract now we've gone down. Enrique and Beye could stay, although I doubt it. We'll save £80k a week with them gone and probably get £4m for the pair.

 

Should get around £4m for Gutierrez and Coloccini (each). Smith will go to someone like Everton or Wigan, hopefully sold for £2-3m. I'd still want him at the club on less money, he's a good player.

 

Martins will go Spain or Italy. Balague (Sky Sports Spain correspondent) reckons he'll go Atletico for £8m. Xisco has potential IF he can get fit over the summer but £30k  a week is a lot. If not back to Spain for him as well, probably for about £2m.

 

There's a lot of money to be saved and some to be made. We're a massive club which has adapted and based itself around paying ridiculous wages. We're going to lose £30m in TV money, more than half of which should be recovered in sales. We can bring in some proven Championship players and possibly even get young, hungry Prem players who expect us to bounce back up.

 

This relegation could be the best thing that ever happened to us.