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Hi Everyone - Thank you to all the patrons who keep this place ticking, as a board we've nearly been running for twenty years & the temporary loss of the forum left a lot of us absolutely lost as to where to go to talk about Newcastle United. Twitter is toxic & given how tightly knit our community is other forums aren't really an acceptable replacement. When our Patreon fund was launched the response was amazing, we had enough funding to pay for the forum & associated costs. However we were left with a surplus. It was decided at the time that the forum would be run not for profit & at cost price. It was agreed among admins/moderators & patrons that the appropriate use of the surplus funds would be an annual donation to a local charity, chosen by the patrons. However things don't always go to plan & the world is a cruel place. In the past few weeks our gaze has been drawn away from Tyneside. Everyone is aware of the recent & continuing atrocities committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine & given the acquisition of Newcastle United by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia the atrocities carried out by our majority owners in Yemen have been cast into the public eye. I have to admit, hitherto, I had very little to zero knowledge of KSA's military action in Yemen. As Saudi Arabia are allies of Great Britain this war doesn't make our news feed. I won't pretend to understand the geopolitical nuances of the situation, I'm a guitar player who likes to drink cans and watch Newcastle play, even if we're shite. However, given the desperation of the situation in Ukraine & our association with Saudi Arabia the decision has been taken to withdraw the surplus Patreon Cash & donate it 50/50 to the following organisations : RED CROSS YEMEN APPEAL RED CROSS UKRAINE APPEAL There will be a £75 donation to each organisation which will make a huge difference. Given that our patreon has only been running two months or so I'm sure we can all be proud of where the surplus funds will be going. When the world is a little more normal we'd ideally like to see surplus funds go to a local charity such as the West End Food Bank. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support & I hope you are satisfied with this use of funds. Regards, Tom (+ fellow admins & mods)

Apart from CT who is currently working out if WBA don't win in the playoffs we may get them home and away in the Championship next year.

"Eddie, Lee Ryder, Trinity mirror regional sports writer of the year 2014 here, given the questions of the executions in Saudi Arabia you're getting, are you aware if any of them had any kind of north east connections or relatives as the Thompson House crime reporter has asked iz to ask you seeing as they're a bit quiet on any Sayers gangster stories lately and could do with a scoop? Cheers, Eddie."

The verbal diarrhoea coming from BT tonight at the Man U game off the scale. Scholes, 'Man U should be able to get whoever they want'. Hargreaves, 'Madrid bang average' (comfortable win tonight). Even Humphreys blotting his copybook by glossing over bottles raining down on simeone as fans just 'venting their frustrations'. Horrible bastards get away with murder with the fanboys on TV gutted. Fletch on the mic 'the refs just watching the game, he doesn't know what's going on!?' After the ref plays on after a Man U player blatantly dives near the end of the game. Yes, dickhead, a referee is supposed to watch the game. It's their job.

Hi Everyone - Thank you to all the patrons who keep this place ticking, as a board we've nearly been running for twenty years & the temporary loss of the forum left a lot of us absolutely lost as to where to go to talk about Newcastle United. Twitter is toxic & given how tightly knit our community is other forums aren't really an acceptable replacement. When our Patreon fund was launched the response was amazing, we had enough funding to pay for the forum & associated costs. However we were left with a surplus. It was decided at the time that the forum would be run not for profit & at cost price. It was agreed among admins/moderators & patrons that the appropriate use of the surplus funds would be an annual donation to a local charity, chosen by the patrons. However things don't always go to plan & the world is a cruel place. In the past few weeks our gaze has been drawn away from Tyneside. Everyone is aware of the recent & continuing atrocities committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine & given the acquisition of Newcastle United by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia the atrocities carried out by our majority owners in Yemen have been cast into the public eye. I have to admit, hitherto, I had very little to zero knowledge of KSA's military action in Yemen. As Saudi Arabia are allies of Great Britain this war doesn't make our news feed. I won't pretend to understand the geopolitical nuances of the situation, I'm a guitar player who likes to drink cans and watch Newcastle play, even if we're shite. However, given the desperation of the situation in Ukraine & our association with Saudi Arabia the decision has been taken to withdraw the surplus Patreon Cash & donate it 50/50 to the following organisations : RED CROSS YEMEN APPEAL RED CROSS UKRAINE APPEAL There will be a £75 donation to each organisation which will make a huge difference. Given that our patreon has only been running two months or so I'm sure we can all be proud of where the surplus funds will be going. When the world is a little more normal we'd ideally like to see surplus funds go to a local charity such as the West End Food Bank. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support & I hope you are satisfied with this use of funds. Regards, Tom (+ fellow admins & mods)

No-one doing a FYP on that one? It's sitting right there to be knocked out the park, I'm disappointed in each and every one of you.

Good shout, Dougal.

Uh oh, I'm sure the press will be queueing up to repeatedly ask Tuchel what his Muslim players think about this turn of events.

Does Bruno Lage get asked about the Chinese treatment of the Uyghurs? Does Steven Gerrard get asked about the 152 executions in Egypt last year? Does Conte get asked about the fact that Joe Lewis can't attend home matches because he's a tax dodger? Does Brendan Rodgers try to explain why you get thrown in jail for insulting the Thai king? The focus is on Eddie Howe because we have money to spend. That's what makes us interesting. No journalist genuinely expects Eddie Howe to provide a thoughtful insight into the behaviours of Saudi Arabia. They're just pushing him for a soundbite in order to create headlines or using it as a stick to beat him. It will pass when they get bored of it.

Is this the week CT finally gets the hang of Googling something before asking us to do it for him?

Longstaff was out injured- use the search function on the Google machine, fucking luddite

No time for tactical talks, lads. This video message from Mad Jeff is just the 13 minutes long and its going to open your eyes, I tell you

If I remember rightly, he found a Spanish ancestor called Don Quicart?

Ewerk did one a while back if I remember correctly? Turns out all his descendants were English and since he found out he always goes out on St George's day dressed as a crusader drinking Carling black label I believe?

Whether the owners have addressed the issue or not is not going to make a skerrick of difference to the questions Howe has to field. The journalists are not interested in any sort of progress or resolution but rather they're searching for an inflammatory sensationalist headline. They will continue to have direct access to Howe through pre and post match press conferences and the like so Howe's approach is the best one, keep it cordial but give them nothing and stay consistent on that. They'll eventually realise they're not going to get what they want.

Two NUFC representatives on Amazon tomorrow, one pundit and one commentator. This must be how Liverpool & Man U fans feel every game.

Probably wrong on this but this is my understanding of the situation. We are owned by an investment fund which has nothing to do with state policy I.e. the way wars are fought, or executions are carried out. Obviously everyone knows there are close ties but the premier leagues own tests showed we weren’t own directly by the state that lay down these policies. So why the fuck is a football manager being asked about state policy in a foreign country? If for example I was employed by the American embassy working in England, would I be expected to answer questions on the USA’s foreign policy?

I preferred this thread when it was all unbeaten in 9/manager of the month carry on

Spot on, all the points would be palmed off as “whataboutism” but they all stand if you steamroll into the path of morality. You can’t just reject all counterpoints as whataboutism which is what they’re doing. Aye, as above they’re steamrolling into morality but being selective with it which is always a dicey thing to do. By all means highlight the deplorable behavior of SA, but what about all of the shirt manufacturers and their use of sweatshops? How many people die or have their lives ruined from those practices? All of the points ewerk listed should be brought up, and many many more. How can they pick and choose the amount of deaths, or manner of deaths that deserve questioning? The question you highlight about how these journalists think we should proceed hits the nail on the head. It’s perfectly fine to say you’re highlighting issues but give no view on resolution, but the moment you start passing judgement on those like Howe, or the supporters, I would argue they’re obligated (including you Bird, you patronizing cunt) to explain what should be done. Take the absolute approach and cease all business with them, all well and good but can we agree that historically hasn’t worked well? Do we take the role of world police and attack them, install a government of our choosing and force our beliefs? Again that hasn’t really worked well in many (if any) cases, maybe this soft power play of creating a dependance on the west, it could lead to change, and when it doesn’t (e.g. Russia) you have a leash that you can severely pull in and attempt to force them to back down, the issue? Engaging with a horrific regime leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouths, but this is the play the Government are making and you can’t shame people like Eddie Howe for going along with that, unless of course you are able to provide a preferable alternative (even then it’s more the responsibility of the Government and not a fucking football manager). It’s almost as if this is a highly complex, nuanced issue and isn’t quite as straightforward as they’re all making out. Again, no issue with them calling out SA, writing articles about how they’re despicable and shouldn’t be involved in football (may want to start including all the other horrible cunts involved too though) but attacks against people like Howe, or supporters are just unwarranted.

As ever, there’s only one journalist coming out of this whole affair with his credibility intact… Lol, Laterz!

It would be counterproductive but I’d be tempted to answer with a question along the lines of: Given the role of Saudi Arabia as a strategic ally in a region of huge geopolitical significance, how do you think the UK should proceed in terms of a future relationship with them? And what role do you think the manager of Newcastle United should play in that? But, before you get to that, can you give me a brief breakdown of the origins of and the current situation re: their conflict with Yemen?

It's starting to feel as though the stage is being set for this to come to an end tbh. The concession over joining NATO yesterday won't just have come out of nowhere, that will only have been offered as part of a wider negotiating strategy, and only on the basis that it moves us closer to an end to the crisis in very real terms. I'm a bit more hopeful today than I had been.

Aye, because they've got the world shit scared with their blistering performance in Ukraine.

Surely Boro fans will chase them out?

I was waiting for him to bring on Gloomski.

Perch just played his first match since fracturing his skull in August.

It all started when you put your hat in the blue wash, didn’t it CT?

Journos are clearly under orders from their editors to continue pressing the point. What is indisputable is NUFC were the most recent, and most scrutinised purchase to be approve by the PL's 'Directors & Owners Means Test'. If the media have issue with our ownership then questions should be directed in the PL's direction.

Frankly it’s an absurd reflection of the world we live in that the Newcastle manager is under more scrutiny re: the Saudi regime than either the Premier League or the PM trying to cement multi-billion pound investment deals with them. I think that Howe does well. At this point I’d have a press officer state at the beginning of press conferences that Howe has given his views on the topic and that any other questions about it will not be answered. The journalists asking the questions have barely got a fucking clue about the subject either, which just adds to the ridiculousness of it all

Absolutely not. It would be a PR disaster. It’s clear that Saudi values do not align with ours. There’s absolutely nothing that YAR could say, other than a complete admonishment of the Saudi system and rulers, that would satisfy the public. The Saudis are wrong and barbaric in so many ways. There’s no point in trying to defend the indefensible which is why Howe is staying the fuck out of it and so should the club.

It's fucking ridiculous that any of them are facing it tbh. Tuchel had it the other week as well and looked exasperated, and rightly so. The fucking media do my head in. All they want to do is have footballing people trip themselves up over political situations to create a story. Utter cunts.

He was running from the dugout to the tunnel, some of the stuff being thrown was in front of him, they must not only have good hearing but be fluent in Spanish, muy improbable I'd say.

Another goal and MOTM award for Elliot Anderson last night.

#flying

#hestandswithus