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Chances of getting a decent owner are incredibly slim. Especially the way football is going these days.

 

Agreed, we could be looking at a Leeds-esque farce when Ashley sells and he sells it to a literal criminal.

 

Most likely be picked up by some rich Chinese dude or corporation.

 

Sweet, I'm really looking forward to playing in red because that's some lucky colour over in Asia or some stupid s****.

 

Yes, cos thats what would definitley happen if some Chinese investors took over.  IF.

 

Red and gold stripes :lol:

 

The Peoples Republic of Newcastle

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Chances of getting a decent owner are incredibly slim. Especially the way football is going these days.

 

Agreed, we could be looking at a Leeds-esque farce when Ashley sells and he sells it to a literal criminal.

 

Most likely be picked up by some rich Chinese dude or corporation.

 

Sweet, I'm really looking forward to playing in red because that's some lucky colour over in Asia or some stupid s****.

 

Yes, cos thats what would definitley happen if some Chinese investors took over.  IF.

 

Red and gold stripes :lol:

 

The Peoples Republic of Newcastle

 

PRoN?  Would throw up some interesting google results for us....

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Chances of getting a decent owner are incredibly slim. Especially the way football is going these days.

 

Agreed, we could be looking at a Leeds-esque farce when Ashley sells and he sells it to a literal criminal.

 

Most likely be picked up by some rich Chinese dude or corporation.

 

Sweet, I'm really looking forward to playing in red because that's some lucky colour over in Asia or some stupid s****.

 

Yes, cos thats what would definitley happen if some Chinese investors took over.  IF.

 

Red and gold stripes :lol:

 

The Peoples Republic of Newcastle

 

PRoN?  Would throw up some interesting google results for us....

 

http://www.troll.me/images/trololo/look-for-pron-find-trololo-fap-anyways.jpg

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It's another dig at the useless clem, so I think it's cracking.

 

Fair play, I just think they're an actual magazine so they should really try and put out stuff that actually contains some content.

 

Guess they have a website to fill as well now.

 

True true.  They do seem to be in rant mode at the moment.

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Ashley just makes it so difficult to care about the team when there's no intention of bettering ourselves.  Yeah, we haven't "done a Leeds" or "done a Portsmouth", we're in the top flight, we're not going to go down this season, but at least most fans are following a club that's trying to get promoted, or trying to avoid relegation, or trying to establish themselves in their division, or trying to get into a round of the cup they wouldn't normally be expected to reach.  They've got the excitement of wondering if they'll do it, a reason to cheer their side on to try and win games to increase their chances.  They have the highs of when they make it and the lows of when they don't.  We're not even getting the highs and lows of success and failure, because we're not even attempting anything to succeed or fail at.  And that's why there's not even as much anger as you might expect, it's just this constant drone of monotony.  One of out most enjoyable seasons we've had under Ashley was in the Championship because we at least had an ambition and target to strive for, to win the league and get in the top flight again.

I know what you're saying in that we're simply existing at the moment, but one of the things you mentioned was other clubs trying to avoid relegation.  Would you really be happier if we were in a relegation scrap? Last seasons stress was awful.  I get your point though.  I'm envious of any club whose owners just want the best for their club and at least try and succeed,  even lower league clubs.

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We cant second guess this guy at all...

 

He cant do is announce he wants to sell, he has to keep his cards close to his chest.  I think and HOPE that we might be reaching and end to his ownership of the club.

 

SD has had loads of publciity from the association with NUFC, he has adverstised his Sports Store for free in the richest league in the world, he has driven all the costs of running NUFC down to the bare minumim possible and is now at the point where he can get his initial investment back and turn a profit on the sale.

 

But like I said, I would never second guess this dude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It's another dig at the useless clem, so I think it's cracking.

 

Fair play, I just think they're an actual magazine so they should really try and put out stuff that actually contains some content.

 

Guess they have a website to fill as well now.

 

The Mag is a fanzine man, always has been.  They're not professional writers.

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http://www.starsports.com/football/columns/columnist=117/articleid=1305004/index.html#newcastle-are-currently-the-epitome-tepidity-and-willful-lack-ambition

Newcastle are currently the epitome of tepidity and a willful lack of ambition

Published 06 February 2014

 

As an outsider, it is difficult to summon much sympathy for Newcastle United supporters unhappy with their club’s current ‘plight’. They sit in eighth position in the Premier League with their safety effectively confirmed by Christmas. Last season, they were 15th at the same stage, but amid a run to the Europa League quarter-finals that saw victories against Bordeaux, Club Brugge, Metalist Kharkiv and Anzhi Makhachkala. The season previously, Newcastle had become only the eighth different club since 2002 to finish in the top five, an extraordinary achievement given relegation to the Championship just three years before.

 

However, for those close to the club or city, Newcastle are currently the epitome of tepidity, a willful lack of ambition strangling and suffocating any potential for excitement or fervour. There may have the security of Premier League survival, but any vim or vigour has been slowly sapped away.

 

At a fans’ forum at the start of the season, the club admitted that the cup competitions were no longer a priority, and that the focus would be on a top half finish in the league: “We will utilise the cup competitions to secure match experience for the wider squad. The club is also mindful of injuries following last season's Europa League. Our primary aim and focus has to be the Premier League and we don't want to jeopardise that.”

 

The Europa League and cup competitions have indeed caused headaches for numerous teams, and one needs only to look at the demise of Swansea, Wigan and Birmingham for obvious evidence of that, but those three examples are (or should be) far removed from Newcastle.

 

“You look at a club like Southampton, and they’re in a much stronger financial position than us in terms of purchasing players,” was manager Alan Pardew’s pre-season dampener. This is a club with the 25th highest revenue and the tenth highest average attendance in Europe last season – should aims not be a little higher? “A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions” is the famous quote from Marcus Aurelius – what is stability without the desire to strive for more?

 

At the epicentre of supporter frustration sits owner Mike Ashley. After publicly putting the club up for sale on two separate occasions, the suspicion remains that Ashley is deliberately limiting the club’s spending in order to regain some of his initial outlay whilst in charge of the club, effectively putting a ceiling on potential achievement as part of an elaborate exit strategy.

 

Content with the status quo of such engorged revenues, Ashley is not prepared to push Newcastle to the next level that fans so crave. The only transfer window in which the club have invested significantly was January 2013, when relegation seemed a distinct possibility and, even then, the transfer net spend for the whole season only stood at £15million thanks to the sale of Demba Ba to Chelsea.

 

Since promotion in 2010/11, Newcastle have made a profit of over £20million in their transfer market dealings, the highest figure in the Premier League. This season, despite the inflated revenue associated with the new renegotiated television deal, no permanent signing has been made, loan moves for Luuk de Jong and Loic Remy the only additions to the squad. Instead, Newcastle sold their best player, Yohan Cabaye joining Paris St Germain at the end of the January transfer window.

 

The Cabaye deal was not a surprise – the Frenchman had been angling after a move for the best part of 18 months and had refused to participate in the opening game of the season against Manchester City. He wanted Champions League football and that is exactly what he found. But, with the sale long expected, no plan had seemingly been put in place for a replacement. Clement Grenier and Remy Cabella were rumoured as possible alternatives, but with time running out, deals never looked close to being completed. Reports of an accepted bid for Grenier followed up with a pitiful wage offer to the Lyon midfielder only underline the lack of trust in Ashley’s current regime.

 

In fact, the only permanent appointment made by the club since January 2013 was Joe Kinnear as Director of Football, beginning an utterly embarrassing period for those with any association with Newcastle United. It wasn’t just the mispronunciation of player names or the boasts about contacts in the industry. Nor even that he claimed the club would sign Mohamed Salah for £25million after Chelsea had already agreed to a fee of a far lower amount. Not even that his appointment caused managing director Derek Llambias to quit his role and chief scout Graham Carr to offer his resignation.

 

No, the greatest insult about Kinnear’s now thankfully terminated tenure at St James’ Park (and it will always, spiritually at least, remain under that name) was the two fingers stuck up to the fans. The rest of football saw it all as a big joke but it was Ashley and Kinnear that were laughing the loudest. This was the ultimate indictment of football as soap opera, a group of fans so hideously addicted to their second (and in many cases first) love that they had exposed themselves as ripe for exploitation. The club, their social institution, had repaid their loyalty and faith by p*ssing all over it.

 

Questions, it is clear, need to be answered. Would Yohan Cabaye really have demanded to leave had the club kicked on (rather than settled for inevitable regression) following the fifth-placed finish? What was Joe Kinnear’s full remit, or was he simply a cleverly placed scapegoat, the fall guy for a deliberate tactic of underinvestment? Just what does Mike Ashley see for the future of Newcastle United? If the answer to that final enquiry is that 10th place and no cup runs is deemed more than satisfactory, interest may soon begin to wane among the most loyal of supporters within the game.

 

Frankly, that’s a crying shame. Perhaps more than any other club in the country, Newcastle acts as the heartbeat of its locality. Alongside Leeds, this is the biggest one-club city in the country, but without the presence or popularity of both rugby codes and a county cricket club’s base, the entire area of Tyneside has its weekend mood determined by the success of its football club. As Lady Elsie Robson (widow of the late Sir Bobby) said after his death, “It took him from the darkness of Langley Park Colliery to the bright glare of the floodlights. Black and white were the shades that always clung to him.” There are tens of thousands that share such emotions, but it is becoming an affliction.

 

Newcastle supporters know more than most the fine line between ambition and financial unsustainability (and memories of such mismanagement are still fresh in the minds), but whilst the latter can cripple a club’s future, the former can be just as damaging. Without ambition there is no hope, and without hope there is no point. Fans are not asking for a miracle, instant trophies or an overnight sensation. They’re just asking to feel proud of their club again.

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After Pardew's comments about "The Board" in relation to Kinnear's exit it made me wonder about who, other than Ashley, makes key decisions and how much they have the best interests of the club at heart.

 

Lee Charnley is obviously a key player behind the scenes.

John Irving appears to be much more involved. I knew him pretty well in our teens and he was a passionate fan, I find it hard to believe that he'd be in favour of many of the antagonistic moves during Ashley's reign.

And the same could be said of Simon Esland when he was at the club, our paths crossed a few times before he joined NUFC and he was also a passionate fan. He wasn't on the Board but he was rolled out regularly to face the wrath of the fans.

 

Lambeezy and Mort have both been and gone, with the general consensus being that Mort was decent but Lambeezy was as bad as Ashley. Kinnear was an incompetent fall guy and Pardew seems to have limited influence and is scared shitless of criticising his paymasters.

 

So other than Ashley, is there anybody else involved in key decisions and why are they getting it so wrong, on so many occasions ?

 

 

 

 

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