The "delighted Ashley has gone, but uncomfortable with Saudi ownership" thread

[Rafalove]

Football just isn’t as good now as it was. I think in part it’s because of the likes of Chelsea, Man City, PSG and now us. But the monopolisation by certain clubs and certain leagues( mostly the Premier League) has killed the game.

you can’t even have a talented 14 year old in your academy nowadays with out bigger clubs sniffing around. It’s probably good for a players development to be around the best facilities and coaches, but it shite for fans of smaller clubs to not even be able to see a talented young player come through.

 

 

 

Also the Hall revolution was something we did for our selves. This one is something being done to us.

[TRon]

28 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

Football just isn’t as good now as it was. I think in part it’s because of the likes of Chelsea, Man City, PSG and now us. But the monopolisation by certain clubs and certain leagues( mostly the Premier League) has killed the game.

you can’t even have a talented 14 year old in your academy nowadays with out bigger clubs sniffing around. It’s probably good for a players development to be around the best facilities and coaches, but it shite for fans of smaller clubs to not even be able to see a talented young player come through.

Also the Hall revolution was something we did for our selves. This one is something being done to us.

 

Would you rather it was done to Sunderland?

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by TRon

[rebelrouser]

From relegation certainty to Champions League in less than two years. Improvements to SJP, training ground, player salaries, uniforms, etc. If only some American jackass has bought the club like Todd Boehly or the Glazers. 

[Superior Acuña]

It's definitely tainted for me, but I am largely able to put it to the back of my mind. I'm not as buzzed about things as I was during the Bobby days. Part of that is the geopolitical game our team is part of, but it's also just that we're mega-rich and that silverware seems an eventual certainty now unless something goes badly wrong (last season was partly great as we reached heights well before expected). That kills some romance. And actually for me the biggest thing is that we're in the VAR era - the single worst thing to happen to my experience of football.  Then there's just the personal aspect of me not being able to go to the games now like I did then.

 

But having said all that, I still care loads - I was desperate to win that League Cup.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Superior Acuña

[TheBrownBottle]

12 minutes ago, rebelrouser said:

From relegation certainty to Champions League in less than two years. Improvements to SJP, training ground, player salaries, uniforms, etc. If only some American jackass has bought the club like Todd Boehly or the Glazers. 

It’s not either / or.  

[TheBrownBottle]

1 hour ago, Chris_R said:

Each to their own, but I'm fucking miles away from that.

 

Under Ashley, now that was 'not caring' when the opposition equalised. I'd shrug, maybe even laugh. A few times I even bloody cheered. Cheered my own team conceding, that's what he drove me to. I'll never forgive that.

 

I was livid when Liverpool beat us this season. Properly threw my toys out the pram, and refused to even engage with any football-related content for days. And much though it hurt, you know what? I'll take that hurt any day of the week compared to how I felt under almost all of Ashley's tenure, where I was feeling almost nothing for a team I've followed since I was old enough to kick a ball.

 

I got over the Liverpool game in a few days, and got back to hoping again. Under Ashley, that unbearable feeling of apathy gnawed away at my soul, every day for over a decade.

I never cheered NUFC conceding a goal nor losing, irrespective of the owners.  Not sure what that would gain. 

[TRon]

3 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

It’s not either / or.  

 

When it comes to owners, it really is.

[Pata]

5 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I never cheered NUFC conceding a goal nor losing, irrespective of the owners.  Not sure what that would gain. 

 

Was worth it during the late Pardew-era. Rather we lost than having to see that charlatan ever smiling.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Pata

[TheBrownBottle]

3 hours ago, Tiresias said:

,and that;s before the concerns about an ownership that wants to execute me if i lived in their country, i do worry that last season was maybe the best it will be and by the time we win the league i will be numb to it...

That’s the bit which is somehow lost on so many.  Look at those fucking doylems like that thick cunt from ‘Tyneside Life’ having a go at the protest before the KSA game at SJP’.  ‘Ah divvunt judge otha people in their cuntrees’.  You might do if you thought about it for a nanosecond. 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, Pata said:

 

Was worth it during the late Pardew-era. Rather we lost than see that charlatan ever smiling.

No, not for me.  No matter how much I disliked Pardew and hated Ashley, cheering an NUFC defeat wasn’t on the agenda.  For starters, how would that help?

[Pata]

6 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

No, not for me.  No matter how much I disliked Pardew and hated Ashley, cheering an NUFC defeat wasn’t on the agenda.  For starters, how would that help?

 

You clearly weren't here during that time. Losing usually helps with wanting to get rid of the manager. Full on apathy only set in after Rafa's small sparkle of hope was gone and we were stuck with Bruce.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Pata

[Holloway]

i never cheered a defeat in those dismal years, I had a kind of smile/grimace on my face at every defeat/no show, like when some fucker points a mobile camera at you

[Yorkie]

29 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

No, not for me.  No matter how much I disliked Pardew and hated Ashley, cheering an NUFC defeat wasn’t on the agenda.  For starters, how would that help?

 

It wasn't a strategic or deliberate action; I just took satisfaction in seeing Sports Direct FC losing. NUFC didn't exist. 

[madras]

8 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

It wasn't a strategic or deliberate action; I just took satisfaction in seeing Sports Direct FC losing. NUFC didn't exist. 

Does that mean we are now PIF FC ?

[Yorkie]

14 minutes ago, madras said:

Does that mean we are now PIF FC ?

 

I don't think the club is defined by its owners at the moment, no. It was when Ashley was here; it was every bit a reflection of him. As I see it, our current owners have just unshackled us from that and allowed us to re-enter the football world.

[TheBrownBottle]

1 hour ago, Pata said:

 

You clearly weren't here during that time. Losing usually helps with wanting to get rid of the manager. Full on apathy only set in after Rafa's small sparkle of hope was gone and we were stuck with Bruce.

 

 

 

I was born in Newcastle in 1982.  I’ve supported the club since my dad first took me when I was five.  Trust me, I remember it well enough. 

[Heron]

2 hours ago, Chris_R said:

Each to their own, but I'm fucking miles away from that.

 

Under Ashley, now that was 'not caring' when the opposition equalised. I'd shrug, maybe even laugh. A few times I even bloody cheered. Cheered my own team conceding, that's what he drove me to. I'll never forgive that.

 

I was livid when Liverpool beat us this season. Properly threw my toys out the pram, and refused to even engage with any football-related content for days. And much though it hurt, you know what? I'll take that hurt any day of the week compared to how I felt under almost all of Ashley's tenure, where I was feeling almost nothing for a team I've followed since I was old enough to kick a ball.

 

I got over the Liverpool game in a few days, and got back to hoping again. Under Ashley, that unbearable feeling of apathy gnawed away at my soul, every day for over a decade.

Nicely summarised.

[Heron]

4 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I was born in Newcastle in 1892.  I’ve supported the club since my dad first took me when I was five.  Trust me, I remember it well enough. 

 

This is how I read it.

 

Was like "check out the 131 year old superfan on a football forum"

[TheBrownBottle]

2 minutes ago, Heron said:

 

This is how I read it.

 

Was like "check out the 131 year old superfan on a football forum"

It feels like I’m as old as the club mind

[Dancing Brave]

2 hours ago, Chris_R said:

Each to their own, but I'm fucking miles away from that.

 

Under Ashley, now that was 'not caring' when the opposition equalised. I'd shrug, maybe even laugh. A few times I even bloody cheered. Cheered my own team conceding, that's what he drove me to. I'll never forgive that.

 

I was livid when Liverpool beat us this season. Properly threw my toys out the pram, and refused to even engage with any football-related content for days. And much though it hurt, you know what? I'll take that hurt any day of the week compared to how I felt under almost all of Ashley's tenure, where I was feeling almost nothing for a team I've followed since I was old enough to kick a ball.

 

I got over the Liverpool game in a few days, and got back to hoping again. Under Ashley, that unbearable feeling of apathy gnawed away at my soul, every day for over a decade.

This is one of the very best posts in recent times that I've read on this forum.

You nailed it Chris R

 

 

 

[Pata]

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I was born in Newcastle in 1982.  I’ve supported the club since my dad first took me when I was five.  Trust me, I remember it well enough. 

 

I meant this forum, sir. Thank you for your service. 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Pata

[TheBrownBottle]

3 hours ago, Pata said:

 

I meant this forum, sir. Thank you for your service. 

 

 

 

You’re welcome  - and it really wasn’t clear to me that you meant the forum, apologies 

[St. Maximin]

Tbh rightly or wrongly I think KSA’s growing prominence in football over the last 12 months has made me both more annoyed at them but also more accepting of our takeover, like we’re far less of an exception. 
 

It is of course frustrating seeing a lot of ‘whataboutery’ and KSA apologetics from small sections of our fanbase. But we shouldn’t forget the fact that every football club has complete and utter idiots supporting them, no matter how likeable the club is otherwise. 

[Coffee_Johnny]

12 hours ago, Chris_R said:

Each to their own, but I'm fucking miles away from that.

 

Under Ashley, now that was 'not caring' when the opposition equalised. I'd shrug, maybe even laugh. A few times I even bloody cheered. Cheered my own team conceding, that's what he drove me to. I'll never forgive that.

 

I was livid when Liverpool beat us this season. Properly threw my toys out the pram, and refused to even engage with any football-related content for days. And much though it hurt, you know what? I'll take that hurt any day of the week compared to how I felt under almost all of Ashley's tenure, where I was feeling almost nothing for a team I've followed since I was old enough to kick a ball.

 

I got over the Liverpool game in a few days, and got back to hoping again. Under Ashley, that unbearable feeling of apathy gnawed away at my soul, every day for over a decade.

I think you have captured the feelings of many, Chris. You certainly have mine. 

[oldtype]

I do think the more the memory of Ashley fades and the more we get used to having a “normal” football club, the more grating the idea of Saudi ownership is going to become for a lot of people. Especially if results on the pitch are not consistently great.