AshleyOut.com

[Thomson Mouse]

I think for people who are determined to support Newcastle no matter what, the whole point is it doesn't matter what the product is like.

 

It depends, they can be split as well and the people who boycotted in the late 80's still fall into the 'support no matter what' group, they just had the motivation to do something about the status quo

[biggs]

The slightest glimmer of hope we have of Rafa staying (lets be honest he is gone) is a huge outpouring of chanting for him to stay but will be mighty difficult on sunday under these circumstances and tbh AshleyOut.com probably realize this too as he is simply the only hope we have now of keeping any semblance of pride for next season ,tbh clutching at straws here as we all know Rafa is the only thing to cling to atm .

[Wullie]

Did the Spirit of Shankly put Rafa off Liverpool?

 

Think it's quite insulting to the bloke to think that fan unrest would put him off. He's not stupid.

[Darth Crooks]

He knows if he can make it work here; he'll be a God. He's got nothing to lose. He'll also get his name chanted plenty. There's 90 minutes to fill.

[themanupstairs]

Just saying, nothing and nobody will shift the gigantic leech that is Mike Ashley unless it has a ridiculous amount of money on offer. No point in making matters worse by hampering any attempt to get back to the Premiership, the longer we're out of it the harder it'll be to get back.

 

Is this the same logic as not sacking pardew because no one better would come and manage us?

[Darth Crooks]

He knows if he can make it work here; he'll be a God. He's got nothing to lose. He'll also get his name chanted plenty. There's 90 minutes to fill.

 

Without sounding like a broken record, I don't know why you'd bother. Protests outside the ground maybe. Inside the ground should be dedicated to Rafa in my opinion.

 

What would a poisonous atmosphere inside the ground achieve exactly? (apart from being a good opportunity to vent)

 

Well as far as know, theres not been a peep of this group planning one or otherwise. Like's been suggested, he knows the weight of sentiment is on his side already and his name will be sung. If he gets full control he'll stay. They won't give it to him and he'll go. He can see the poison around this place if he opens a paper or has an iphone.

[Carlito]

He knows if he can make it work here; he'll be a God. He's got nothing to lose. He'll also get his name chanted plenty. There's 90 minutes to fill.

 

Without sounding like a broken record, I don't know why you'd bother. Protests outside the ground maybe. Inside the ground should be dedicated to Rafa in my opinion.

 

What would a poisonous atmosphere inside the ground achieve exactly? (apart from being a good opportunity to vent)

 

Hypothetically if Rafa has decided he's off anyway we'd have nothing to lose, especially if the likes of Ashley and Charnley are at the game.

[DahnSahf]

I'm convinced our best chance of getting 'shot' of the Burnham Bunter lies with someone who's been a victim of his business dealings. I wish he'd fuck over MS13 or a gang of Albanian sex traffickers.

[Frazzle]

http://ashleyout.com/articles/sports-neglect/

 

Just seen this has been posted up

 

 

 

[Parky]

I'm convinced our best chance of getting 'shot' of the Burnham Bunter lies with someone who's been a victim of his business dealings. I wish he'd fuck over MS13 or a gang of Albanian sex traffickers.

 

Albanians are very very dangerous.

[B-more Mag]

I'm convinced our best chance of getting 'shot' of the Burnham Bunter lies with someone who's been a victim of his business dealings. I wish he'd fuck over MS13 or a gang of Albanian sex traffickers.

 

Albanians are very very dangerous.

 

True.

 

[B-more Mag]

So just keep putting money in his pockets?

[B-more Mag]

The Benitez factor is a bit of a wildcard. If Ashley gives Benitez what he needs then that would put Ashley in the territory of making a good decision, which is something he hasn't done with us before. But I'd still have absolutely no confidence in Ashley and would be waiting for the other shoe to drop. He's fucked stuff up time and time again and that won't change (by my reckoning, anyway). I'd get no enjoyment out of rewarding his incompetence by going to games. Of course I live half a world away, so it's pretty easy for me to have that opinion.

[SEMTEX]

"Buy low sell high is his ethos"

 

:lol: he's a fucking GENIUS. we've been wrong all along. So simple yet so brilliant.

[Unbelievable]

"Buy low sell high is his ethos"

 

:lol: he's a f***ing GENIUS. we've been wrong all along. So simple yet so brilliant.

 

Presumably this will mean all our players will be staying, since now is probably not when their stock is highest?

[cp40]

The Benitez factor is a bit of a wildcard. If Ashley gives Benitez what he needs then that would put Ashley in the territory of making a good decision, which is something he hasn't done with us before. But I'd still have absolutely no confidence in Ashley and would be waiting for the other shoe to drop. He's fucked stuff up time and time again and that won't change (by my reckoning, anyway). I'd get no enjoyment out of rewarding his incompetence by going to games. Of course I live half a world away, so it's pretty easy for me to have that opinion.

 

I think If Benitez gets the right structure and stays, we surely have to draw a line under it , and give the club a fresh start. Just forget Ashley get behind the Benitez project and give support,,, but that's IF

[Heron]

I don't have a problem with anyone who feels that it's their duty to support the team, and I have some sympathy for the idea that some will feel that Ashley's presence won't force them out. It's our club, not his.

 

What I do have a massive problem with is those that are actively against protest, including those who stand and argue against it and refuse to contribute to even the smallest attempt to fight back. I simply cannot understand that lot. They're the ones that are getting what they deserve.

Exactly this.

[Heron]

We're all hypocrites unfortunately.

 

Supporting the club isn't Black and White (pardon the pun) it's open to perception. If you're not going to games and not buying any of its product then financially speaking alone you're not supporting the club. As the match going fans are or the lads with the latest tops on.

 

If you are boycotting all NUFC product including the football then you are standing up to those ruining the club. If it's done en mass enough I believe it will take the desired effect after enough time. In a sense these people are supporting their club by taking steps to preventing it's destruction.

 

Do any of us truly deserve this version of NUFC. Of course not.

 

So here's my bout of hypocrisy. I buy a season ticket, boycott cup games and any other products and go to the occasional away game. I by in large sing for Newcastle, it's players past and those who deserve it presently. I get behind the things I see as representational of me and my region. However, I do sing against the destroying it. I do actively get involved in protest whether it be red cards or one off boycotts and I do believe that protest is the only way to fix this issue of having a fat fucking charlatan owning our club.

 

However, this forum alone is a little snapshot of why it won't ever work for NUFC without some form of uniting of the fan base.

 

AO created that unity and even then were under great scrutiny. Many who scrutinised simply added it to their list of complaints back at the pub after the game, slated them after they had finished with the club in their own weekly bouts of hypocrisy. Others did the same from their armchair while they splurged out condemnation of AOs methods of protest on the internet.

 

Sitting in silence does fuck all wherever you're sitting. Simple.

 

The NUFC we all want comes through unity. That unity will come from embracing one another's ideas on how to protest and working together. Sometimes you have to be a Makelele to enjoy reaping the awards of Drogbas goals.

 

So essentially what Dave said is spot on.

[Unbelievable]

"Buy low sell high is his ethos"

 

:lol: he's a f***ing GENIUS. we've been wrong all along. So simple yet so brilliant.

 

Presumably this will mean all our players will be staying, since now is probably not when their stock is highest?

 

Obviously there are going to be exceptions to that rule. I just don't see the actual club itself, as a saleable asset, ever being an exception to it.

 

We'll see. I think he will probably not be inclined to sell just yet, instead gambling on us bouncing straight back up. If we don't, and languish in the Championship or below for a bit longer, I'm fairly sure that could change. What also affects this decision is that he may come in a position where he needs cash to buy back SD shares if the stock price continues to drop, which some media have reported may be on the cards. It's no use hanging on to a depreciating asset when you need cash elsewhere.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

"Buy low sell high is his ethos"

 

:lol: he's a f***ing GENIUS. we've been wrong all along. So simple yet so brilliant.

 

Presumably this will mean all our players will be staying, since now is probably not when their stock is highest?

 

Obviously there are going to be exceptions to that rule. I just don't see the actual club itself, as a saleable asset, ever being an exception to it.

 

A shrewd businessman knows when to cut his losses and run. Maybe Mike Ashley's ego won't allow him to do that but its not an immovable position that business men only sell when the assets stock is high.

 

Just look at BHS - sold for a pound by Phillip Green, the Scunthorpe steel plant, sold for a pound, the rest of Tata's UK stell operations - being sold at possibly its lowest ebb.

 

There is now a decision to be made regarding NUFC - throw money into the club to get it back to a top 8 position in the Premier League (or allow 100% of what it makes to be spent by people who know what they are doing), let it fester in the Championship and hope for the best, or sell now and minimise any future losses.

 

Would a full on exodus of fans make a sale more likely? maybe, maybe not. But if the end goal is to remove the owner only and not worry about football results in the mean time then it would be effective in making Mike Ashley review his position.

 

Personally I want to enjoy winning some games next season (albeit from an armchair in South Wales), get back to the Premier League and become a top 6/8 club with a chance of challenging for the cups and Champions League positions. I think an empty ground makes that less likely but I can see why some people will take the position that removing the owner now is the most important thing.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

After putting some more thought into this, I think my rants over the last 24 hours maybe need some clarification:

 

[*]I do really appreciate those who are fighting the good fight. You all have more energy and desire than me, it seems, and good on you. I personally don't share ALL of your views, but it's great to see people actually wanting to put right what is going wrong.

[*]However, I do not think it's ever going to be a realistic target to expect fans to stay away en masse for a long period of time (and I don't think it's fair to fans to expect them to do that). Sure, you can hold your head up high and say "I'm doing my bit", although I remain unconvinced at what mass boycotting will actually achieve - other than affecting Mike Ashley's incredibly deep pockets very slightly, and decreasing our chances of getting back to the PL. But you have seen how easy it is for them to regroup the fanbase. Rafa's appointment, that one bit of ambition that they've shown recently (albeit a very unexpected and unlikely event), sparked our entire fanbase back to life... back into line... back onto the bandwagon (and no one on here can truly deny that - you saw the reaction when he was appointed). I think the best you could ever realistically hope for is for people to get on board with a boycott for a couple of games maximum. After that, the itch will come back, we'll likely be playing some decent football if Rafa stays, and people will go back to watch us do well in the Championship (hopefully).

[*]I, personally, would prefer to see protests focused on reclaiming the parts of the club that are more achievable... putting enough pressure on to get rid of the Wonga sponsorship deal, decreasing the amount of Sports Direct advertising, change in cup competition policy, change in player recruitment policy, season ticket prices etc. - just some ideas.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm just being defeatist, but I don't feel there's ever going to be enough sustained pressure to force him out entirely, so maybe the protests should be designed in a way

to affect improvement in his ownership, rather than focusing on the more unrealistic goal of removing him?

 

Point 3 I 100% agree on

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I was at the Gavin Webster gig last night and he signed it off with "Ashley Out"

[Dr Venkman]

So just keep putting money in his pockets?

More than anything, I care about seeing my football team play on a Saturday.

 

As a fan base, we've been having this debate for years. Ultimately it comes down to what you personally get out of supporting the club. It's a complex concept, supporting a club, it means different things to different people.

 

It's clear what it means to you. For me, though, and a lot of others; supporting the team is linked to feelings of ambition, achieving difficult aims, and coming together to support those things. All of these things are paramount to the match day experience; which might seem like putting the cart before the horse to those who think like you (see what I did there?). It's been clear since Alan Pardew was appointed that concepts like ambition and aiming high mean nothing to those in power at NUFC.

 

I enjoy watching a game of football, and I get a similar level of enjoyment from seeing a goal scored by any team as I do seeing one scored by NUFC. But the difference is a goal scored by NUFC carries something that others don't, it's linked intrinsically to that ambition, it's a small step towards achieving those lofty aims. None of that exists in Ashley's NUFC. And that's why I don't go, because without the link to those feelings of pride, ambition and striving for more; it's just 22 blokes on a field. This is what Ashley has done to NUFC, it's not the fault of the match going fans; but their continued presence at SJP makes his toxic ownership of the club easier and likely to last longer.

 

You can argue with that until you're blue in the face, but I'll never accept otherwise until I've seen what happens when the fans stay away. If he's still here after a prolonged period of fan abstinence, I'll hold my hands up and say I was wrong. Then what? We'll all be right back here, having lost what? A few days out? At least we'll be able to 'tell our grandkids' that we tried to do something in the face of such unrelenting distain for NUFC and the region it used to stand for.

[GM]

So just keep putting money in his pockets?

More than anything, I care about seeing my football team play on a Saturday.

 

As a fan base, we've been having this debate for years. Ultimately it comes down to what you personally get out of supporting the club. It's a complex concept, supporting a club, it means different things to different people.

 

It's clear what it means to you. For me, though, and a lot of others; supporting the team is linked to feelings of ambition, achieving difficult aims, and coming together to support those things. All of these things are paramount to the match day experience; which might seem like putting the cart before the horse to those who think like you (see what I did there?). It's been clear since Alan Pardew was appointed that concepts like ambition and aiming high mean nothing to those in power at NUFC.

 

I enjoy watching a game of football, and I get a similar level of enjoyment from seeing a goal scored by any team as I do seeing one scored by NUFC. But the difference is a goal scored by NUFC carries something that others don't, it's linked intrinsically to that ambition, it's a small step towards achieving those lofty aims. None of that exists in Ashley's NUFC. And that's why I don't go, because without the link to those feelings of pride, ambition and striving for more; it's just 22 blokes on a field. This is what Ashley has done to NUFC, it's not the fault of the match going fans; but their continued presence at SJP makes his toxic ownership of the club easier and likely to last longer.

 

You can argue with that until you're blue in the face, but I'll never accept otherwise until I've seen what happens when the fans stay away. If he's still here after a prolonged period of fan abstinence, I'll hold my hands up and say I was wrong. Then what? We'll all be right back here, having lost what? A few days out? At least we'll be able to 'tell our grandkids' that we tried to do something in the face of such unrelenting distain for NUFC and the region it used to stand for.

 

Hear, hear! Fantastic post, sums up my sentiments exactly.

[Wallsendmag]

So you have too many other priorities in life to either shout abuse at Ashley at the match or alternately boycott games altogether? Sorry like but that makes no sense at all.