General NUFC stuff

[Paully]

1 hour ago, Geogaddi said:

Thought the ten year season ticket deal expired this season so was fully prepared for a big price increase but according to my online account have been charged another £467 again for next season, a nice unexpected bonus.

 

 

 

Ha ha get in same!

[HaydnNUFC]

[Kid Icarus]

Watching some 95/96 stuff and  something's just dawned on me that I haven't once questioned in the nearly 30 years since it happened.

 

Shearer wasn't the signing that team needed. 

 

 

Edited February 17 by Kid Icarus

[Ronaldo]

You just sussed that now? 

[Kid Icarus]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo said:

You just sussed that now? 

 

I was 11 tbf  Hadn't really thought about it tbh 

[Ronaldo]

I turned 10 that summer we signed him and obvs had no clue at the time either. Looking back it’s fairly blatant where that £15m should’ve been spent but at the same time you’ve almost got to admire Keegan for it. Scored a tonne of goals, susceptible at the back with the defence and 2 inadequate keepers so let’s just spend it all on a striker and score more.

[Kid Icarus]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo said:

I turned 10 that summer we signed him and obvs had no clue at the time either. Looking back it’s fairly blatant where that £15m should’ve been spent but at the same time you’ve almost got to admire Keegan for it. Scored a tonne of goals, susceptible at the back with the defence and 2 inadequate keepers so let’s just spend it all on a striker and score more.

Aye, it's funny really. Only a few months after signing Asprilla

 

Don't think much would have changed anything in 96/97, the signings that were always rumoured and needed (Colin Hendry and Tim Flowers) needed to be the season before that anyway. Peacock was great in 95/96, but Flowers was good enough and Pav/Shaka bad enough that he could have been the difference though. Sliding doors and all that.

[Nucasol]

46 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Watching some 95/96 stuff and  something's just dawned on me that I haven't once questioned in the nearly 30 years since it happened.

 

Shearer wasn't the signing that team needed. 

 

 

 

Shearer signs for Man Utd in 96 and our attempts to win the league get even harder with Scholes, Beckham and co all starting to bed into their side.

 

9 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Aye, it's funny really. Only a few months after signing Asprilla

 

Don't think much would have changed anything in 96/97, the signings that were always rumoured and needed (Colin Hendry and Tim Flowers) needed to be the season before that anyway. Peacock was great in 95/96, but Flowers was good enough and Pav/Shaka bad enough that he could have been the difference though. Sliding doors and all that.

Yep, especially Flowers.

[Optimistic Nut]

Southgate & Martyn from Palace when they went down in 95, instead of Shaka and Barton (Watson was fine with Hottiger back up) and we stroll the league in 95/96.

[Kid Icarus]

Imagine if the sliding doors moment was actually if we'd got Solako instead of Ginola 

[TheBrownBottle]

2 hours ago, Kid Icarus said:

Imagine if the sliding doors moment was actually if we'd got Solako instead of Ginola 

Solako might have been more useful after January to be completely frank.

 

We had to sign Shearer otherwise Man Utd would’ve, and we could not have got near them.

 

We should have sold Asprilla that summer - even if it was just a few months after signing him - and bought a top goalkeeper.  Our centre backs were perfectly fine. 

[alexf]

Crikey imagine an alternate universe where Shearer did actually sign for Man Utd instead and perhaps never plays for us and doesn't become our leading scorer and is actually vilified for winning countless trophies with them. 

[SteV]

On 11/02/2024 at 14:22, SteV said:

Yesterday was the seventh game in a row we’ve scored at least two.

 

Haven’t bothered checking but feels like that can’t be a very common occurrence? 
 

Maybe in the Championship seasons?

Eight in a row now.

 

Be very impressed/surprised/delighted if we manage to make it nine like.

[Optimistic Nut]

Just now, SteV said:

Eight in a row now.

 

Be very impressed/surprised/delighted if we manage to make it nine like.

 

This is where I'm not sure that we'd not be much better off playing more defensive, etc. We might concede fewer but I think the goals we're scoring is down to how we setup still. 

[Superior Acuña]

OTD, courtesy of nufc.com

 

2006 Speaking about the vacant position of manager, Chairman Freddy Shepherd said:

"There have been stories sweeping Tyneside about who I'm supposed to be meeting and where. It is highly organised and designed to make people a lot of money.

"There was even a 'leaked' full colour brochure doing the rounds in Newcastle which laid out Ottmar Hitzfeld's CV and his record as a manager.

"It's amazing the lengths people will go to start a rumour which means they can bet for or against a certain person getting the job. 

"But I can state here and now that there has been no approach to Hitzfeld and there are no plans to approach him.

"I've said all along we will take our time over this appointment. We've rushed into things before and we've made mistakes, I admit that.

"That's not the case this time. Glenn Roeder is an excellent caretaker, a really safe pair of hands so we can afford to make sure we appoint the right man without the necessity of being hurried into it."

[Coffee_Johnny]

Our best performing PL era managers. Even given recent disappointments, not too shabby work from young Eddie. 

[SteV]

Summary of what NUST want to raise at the Ballot Workshop:

 

[HaydnNUFC]

I'll also report back as soon as I can what the craic is.

[Yorkie]

What exactly is 'stick man'?

[SteV]

7 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

What exactly is 'stick man'?

It’s the ‘stick man’ icon that used to appear on your screen when you were queuing to get tickets last season.

[HaydnNUFC]

Okay, just got home. I'll break this down into a few sections; pre-table discussion, table discussion, feedback, conclusion to make it easier for myself.  Got what I could jotted down on a notepad. Pre-table discussion is the shpeel we were all told ahead of the event, the discussion the craic on my specific table, the feedback being the club official on each table relaying what was said on their relevant table. Some ideas good, some shite.

 

Pre-table discussion

- Went into main reception as if I was about to go into executive boxes, ticked my name, went up on the lift into the Moncur Suite.

- It took a similar format to the other club workshops this year. Multiple tables full of fans, one club representative on each table, the tables discuss ideas, representative writes them down, feeds them back at the end, feedback goes up the food chain to Sarah Dodds who was there, and up.

- Feedback evolving into changes will take time.

- 4,000 applied to be at this workshop tonight, only 120 were there total.

- Club claimed to have a 'mix of fans' there, so members, STH, members of that Supporters Advisory Board, the Supporter Liaison Officer and Pete Silverstone were all there.

- However, on my table of 8, I was only one of 2 members there. The others were STH.

- There will be another workshop similar to tonight on match atmosphere in March.

- The club claimed at least "13-14 PL clubs use the same ticketing system" as we do.

- The club "anticipated problems" with the ticketing changes this season from the outset.

- The club claimed the website under the previous ticketing system of queueing "crashed a lot", which I personally think is not true as the only time I remember the site crashing is ahead of the sale for Liverpool (h) in the 2021-22 season.

- The club claim to be buying tickets from touting websites such as livefootbaltickets and then banning those purchasing accounts, but they have been 'unable to do so' for all.

- The club claim to be blocking IP addresses that monitor the club ticket site for hours on end.

- The club claim that the ballot system was introduced based upon feedback from fans last season.

- The club claim that returns from ballot winners then go to unsuccessful ballot entrees.

- The club claim it would have to take an introduction of a set window taking an hour or multiple hours to allow ballot winners to then purchase specific seats.

 

Table discussion

- As mentioned before, there were 8 on my table. Myself and one other were members. The other 6 were season ticket holders.

- Basically just ideas are floated to the club official sat on the table who writes them down, these are then fed back to everyone present on the night and then those higher up at the club.

- Points system for members for home games to reward loyalty.

- Allow the selection of seats if successful in ballot.

- Lack of seat selection impacts atmosphere; vocal fans can't be with mates or in vocal areas and vice versa. Criticism from owners about atmosphere post Chelsea should've been a watershed in this regard.

- A mirroring of other clubs' home ticket systems mentioned (Liverpool's package and seat selection system, Chelsea's point system were two mentioned on my table)

- Allowing to give ticket holders be that individual match tickets or ST the option of digital tickets and paper tickets/season ticket cards.

- Allow the linking of members to a STH, so that member can sit next to or at least near that STH if successful in a ballot.

 

Feedback

- Allowing members to enter multiple categories in a ballot.

- Get rid of the ballot altogether, go back to the queueing system.

- It not being right or fair that an away fan who purchased a membership 5 minutes ago has as much chance as someone who has had a membership for 10+ years.

- Clarity in the number of seats available in the ballot and the number of applicants.

- Floatation of an idea from the Supporter Liason Officer of a split between ballot tickets and tickets sold in the old queueing system; either 50-50 or 70-30 in favour of the ballot system to allow those who just want to get in by any means the chance of a ticket but also allowing those who only want to sit in specific areas of the ground the chance of buying a ticket in those areas.

- Clarity of the number of memberships, international and domestic.

- Scrapping the resale and reballoting those tickets.

- Allowing a junior membership which allows kids to sit next to their STH parents if successful in a ballot, whereas right now they could be anywhere.

- Loyalty system for members, based on either or all of how many years they have been a member, how many years they have held a ST if they have held one previously, purchase history.

- Collating all resale tickets to only go on sale at 10am the morning of the match to limit touting and giving those who are making the effort to go on the site the morning of the match to get tickets a good chance of getting one.

 

After the event finished, questions were invited to be asked to individual staff present from any supporters. I tried to speak to Silverstone 1 to 1 but someone else was chatting to him for ages. The Supporter Liaison Officer then called me over whilst I was stood in the middle of the Moncur Suite like a moron whilst waiting for Silverstone and I gave him the lowdown of my own personal experiences with the changes this season to him. He was absolutely sound, fully understood my own shpeel but all of the event was just feedback and a brainstorm of ideas. 

 

Hope this was insightful or useful.

 

 

Edited February 20 by HaydnNUFC

[Danh1]

50 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

Okay, just got home. I'll break this down into a few sections; pre-table discussion, table discussion, feedback, conclusion to make it easier for myself.  Got what I could jotted down on a notepad. Pre-table discussion is the shpeel we were all told ahead of the event, the discussion the craic on my specific table, the feedback being the club official on each table relaying what was said on their relevant table. Some ideas good, some shite.

 

Pre-table discussion

- Went into main reception as if I was about to go into executive boxes, ticked my name, went up on the lift into the Moncur Suite.

- It took a similar format to the other club workshops this year. Multiple tables full of fans, one club representative on each table, the tables discuss ideas, representative writes them down, feeds them back at the end, feedback goes up the food chain to Sarah Dodds who was there, and up.

- Feedback evolving into changes will take time.

- 4,000 applied to be at this workshop tonight, only 120 were there total.

- Club claimed to have a 'mix of fans' there, so members, STH, members of that Supporters Advisory Board, the Supporter Liaison Officer and Pete Silverstone were all there.

- However, on my table of 8, I was only one of 2 members there. The others were STH.

- There will be another workshop similar to tonight on match atmosphere in March.

- The club claimed at least "13-14 PL clubs use the same ticketing system" as we do.

- The club "anticipated problems" with the ticketing changes this season from the outset.

- The club claimed the website under the previous ticketing system of queueing "crashed a lot", which I personally think is not true as the only time I remember the site crashing is ahead of the sale for Liverpool (h) in the 2021-22 season.

- The club claim to be buying tickets from touting websites such as livefootbaltickets and then banning those purchasing accounts, but they have been 'unable to do so' for all.

- The club claim to be blocking IP addresses that monitor the club ticket site for hours on end.

- The club claim that the ballot system was introduced based upon feedback from fans last season.

- The club claim that returns from ballot winners then go to unsuccessful ballot entrees.

- The club claim it would have to take an introduction of a set window taking an hour or multiple hours to allow ballot winners to then purchase specific seats.

 

Table discussion

- As mentioned before, there were 8 on my table. Myself and one other were members. The other 6 were season ticket holders.

- Basically just ideas are floated to the club official sat on the table who writes them down, these are then fed back to everyone present on the night and then those higher up at the club.

- Points system for members for home games to reward loyalty.

- Allow the selection of seats if successful in ballot.

- Lack of seat selection impacts atmosphere; vocal fans can't be with mates or in vocal areas and vice versa. Criticism from owners about atmosphere post Chelsea should've been a watershed in this regard.

- A mirroring of other clubs' home ticket systems mentioned (Liverpool's package and seat selection system, Chelsea's point system were two mentioned on my table)

- Allowing to give ticket holders be that individual match tickets or ST the option of digital tickets and paper tickets/season ticket cards.

- Allow the linking of members to a STH, so that member can sit next to or at least near that STH if successful in a ballot.

 

Feedback

- Allowing members to enter multiple categories in a ballot.

- Get rid of the ballot altogether, go back to the queueing system.

- It not being right or fair that an away fan who purchased a membership 5 minutes ago has as much chance as someone who has had a membership for 10+ years.

- Clarity in the number of seats available in the ballot and the number of applicants.

- Floatation of an idea from the Supporter Liason Officer of a split between ballot tickets and tickets sold in the old queueing system; either 50-50 or 70-30 in favour of the ballot system to allow those who just want to get in by any means the chance of a ticket but also allowing those who only want to sit in specific areas of the ground the chance of buying a ticket in those areas.

- Clarity of the number of memberships, international and domestic.

- Scrapping the resale and reballoting those tickets.

- Allowing a junior membership which allows kids to sit next to their STH parents if successful in a ballot, whereas right now they could be anywhere.

- Loyalty system for members, based on either or all of how many years they have been a member, how many years they have held a ST if they have held one previously, purchase history.

- Collating all resale tickets to only go on sale at 10am the morning of the match to limit touting and giving those who are making the effort to go on the site the morning of the match to get tickets a good chance of getting one.

 

After the event finished, questions were invited to be asked to individual staff present from any supporters. I tried to speak to Silverstone 1 to 1 but someone else was chatting to him for ages. The Supporter Liaison Officer then called me over whilst I was stood in the middle of the Moncur Suite like a moron whilst waiting for Silverstone and I gave him the lowdown of my own personal experiences with the changes this season to him. He was absolutely sound, fully understood my own shpeel but all of the event was just feedback and a brainstorm of ideas. 

 

Hope this was insightful or useful.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting mate. Sounds positive that the club are taking on board people’s views and it’s good that they are open to change, albeit it may take a while to implement

 

Highlight for me though is that they’re having another get together re match atmosphere 

[NE27]

3 minutes ago, Danh1 said:

Highlight for me though is that they’re having another get together re match atmosphere

 

Really good news that it's been picked up as a discussion point in its own right.

 

Thanks for write up @HaydnNUFC

[TheGuv]

Great write up. A shame you couldn’t speak to Silverstone - I’d probably have lost my shit with him tbf 

 

Did it ‘feel’ like the messages were taken on board? I went to the safe standing workshop and I knew they’d already made their mind up on it. This is obviously slightly different as the ballot just isn’t working. 

[gbandit]

What came out of the safe standing workshop? Was this from last season? Would be interested to know more about what fans advocated for, surely they wanted more safe standing? And in multiple areas?