wolfy

I'm not too sure who they are, Mr plastic fan. Are they some kind of American consortium?

Everton have recouped most of their outlay, so from one point of view it doesn't appear to look as bad as it should. However, what they have done is made a rod for their own back in terms of a massive hike up of a wage bill, with Rooney sitting right at the top of that pyramid.

Assuming Ashley pissed off tomorrow, what owner would people like to replace him?

Nah. I'm putting effort into a forum, unlike you. Mr few lines and smiley.

Says Mr exciting.

Is Ashley stopping Rafa from buying in players or is Ashley telling Rafa that he can't have 40 or 50 million pound players, i wonder. Has Rafa been promised large chunks of cash for players or has he been told to get rid of the dead wood to release more funds to go with what's in the coffers. Does anyone really know what's been said? What is Rafa really upset about? Is it the fact that he can't offer players mammoth amounts of wages to get them over the line or is it those players do not want to play for Newcastle regardless of Rafa? Lots of questions that we can only guess at as to having a true answer. Rafa has the answers but is not being clear on what they are. I'd love to know exactly what's what but that would be too transparent, which no club really does to be fair.

The days of actually building a club from the ground up are literally gone. Ashley messed up with Newcastle but whilst he messed up he did actually keep it alive in terms of financial stability. It was a near dead stick when Hall and Shepherd took a back door carpet bump stance. They sold the club and ran, then reared their heads up when the fans turned on Ashley and co. We could have potentially been sitting in league 1 or two if Ashley hadn't bought this club. It's just a shame he tried to play too much of a careful hand when the clubs at the top were going all out to basically buy anyone and everyone with a name. Taking into account the post code Newcastle United reside under, you have to wonder if Ashley had went all out to match other clubs what fettle we would be in as it stands right now. On the one hand we could have been challenging for the champions league and maybe flirting with the odd go at trying to nick a title smash and grab or a couple of cups. Keegan was the man and messiah for the second coming, so Imagine what might have happened had he been given the chance to go hell for leather until we were cleaned out and reliant on it all working out. The other hand is having that chance to do it and suffering the after effects of failure to realise the heights we all would have hoped for but also knowing that we do not get another chance to go all out but also realising that we have a team full of highly paid players that can't or won't cut the mustard, leaving the club hanging onto a hope of a sale for their money back whilst also shaving a monstrous wage bill, ready to have another bash in different circumstances. The issue we have at Newcastle is like the big kids... the good players at school, who picked their teams for their games from the bunch of good players and misfits stood before them. A north east club like ours, as much as we all like to steep ourselves in the history of it, as well as the dreamy days of Keegan and Sir Bobby giving us a flirt with the good times, is a much much harder proposition and has been for long enough. At one stage, Michael Knighton was going to take over Man Utd and had about as much clout as the Newcastle businessman, Barry Moat who would have all but destroyed the club due to having no cash on the hip after a buy in. Lots of if's and but's but it would be great to have foresight and hindsight ourselves in terms of seeing just what was in the pipeline. How do you compete with the Sheikh's and the Chinese/Russian super billionaires with the most popular clubs under their guidance? I wish Ashley had done many things different but I'm not honestly sure where we would be today in spite of it happening. I often wonder if we would be sat with a wrecked club full of mercenaries, with little future in terms of plying our trade against the big hitters...unless we managed to bag a similar blank cheque type owner. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, no matter how bad it appears to look on this side, at times.

Trooper at the plastic surgery clinic.

I bet your internet mates guffawed at that. You're magnificent.

No it's not but the issue is about what I mentioned earlier, not about covering the cost of any entire funeral.

Sniff up. I think you'll find that the bell end is closer than you think.

I started to watch westworld but switched it off due to it being one hell of a boring start. I might go back to it and see if it picks up.

I'm nearly always happy. Are you happy?

I can't get my head around these life insurance policies. I got a letter telling me I can pay as little as 6 pound odd a month for £1500 worth of cover. It makes no realistic sense when you work it all out. 6 quid a month x12 months is 72 quid a year. After 10 years you've paid in 720 quid. After 20 years you've paid in just under the pay out they promise you. This is for a 50 year old who, if they manage to live to 70 will still be under the pay out promise. It's easy to think about them investing your cash and what not but that doesn't seem to cut it. I wonder what the reality is from all this. My guess is, you snuff it and when the family come to claim they're told that you forgot to tell them that you had an ingrown toe nail or an arthritic finger joint, or something stupid so they don't pay out. It would make more sense that way. Anyone in this game? Can anyone shed any light on what the real script is behind this?

Schooling each other. Don't talk to wolfy he won't come round to our way of thinking.

I never said it did.

What's love got to do with it.

I never said it did.

We've all been hurt.

Nothing wrong with questioning everything. Question Ashley and every person at the club if people wish. That's irrelevant to what I'm saying.

He doesn't love the club unconditionally. It's clear that his attaches conditions to his love for the club. He obviously loves the club and is a Newcastle United fan and supporter, but he's doing it with conditions attached, which is my whole point. It doesn't make a person a bad person by taking any stance against the club they support. That's not my point. Trooper is not an unconditional supporter. There are many like him and not just with Newcastle United. All sports or whatever. Saying you won't go to a game because of an owner that's been at the club for a decade and then claiming an argument that you are an unconditional supporter, is nonsense. If Ashley packs up tomorrow and in walks a new owner who promises the Earth or simply makes funds available at the start, I assume Trooper returns to the ground to cheer on the team, even though that team would be the exact same team on that pitch as when Ashley was the owner, until transfer windows dictate otherwise. Now let's assume the new owner promises a 100 million spend and then delivers 10 million plus another 10 or 20 million from surplus player sales. Benitez walks away in disgust at being lied to, or whatever. Does Trooper revert back to his stance until the new owner gets out of the club? By all means lay conditions down if that's the way you are but you lose the right to say you're an unconditional supporter and/or a thick and thin fan. That goes for any of us that attaches conditions to it. Do you?

You say you haven't been to St.James' Park since he owned it. Considering he started off looking the business, then what made you stop going at that particular time?

Absolutely 100% incorrect in what I'm saying. Read back to what I said and you'll understand this.

There are fanatical Newcastle fans in many countries who can't get to games and maybe hope to sneak in a game when the club possibly tour. Some fanatics may never get to see Newcastle United live but they might have every mug, T-shirt or match shirt, etc. That's a fan and supporter of the club, without being a turnstile participant. If they choose to be fanatical and aid in buying merchandise and also choose to stick by the club even when the club is in dire mess or run like shite or dropping down the leagues like a malfunctioning lift, without using an excuse of " oh, I'll wait till the owner's gone before I take notice again" or " I'll wait till the club come back up before I start to get back into it"... then that person can be classed as an unconditional supporter/fan. Any fan that applies any stipulation to their loyalty as a fan in terms of direct refusal to support in whatever way, is a conditional support. Ity doesn't necessarily mean a plastic but then again my whole thought process started without that in mind. I just ribbed trooper with that bit. A plastic fan in my eyes is a fan that literally chooses when to be a fan regardless of what's happening if it's not a successful looking set up. A bit like many Man Utd fans and Man City, etc, not to mention some London clubs fans. The prawn sandwich brigade comes to mind.

Not at all. It's got nothing to do with who goes to matches on a regular basis or not at all. It's about the mindset of the person in how they choose to put conditions to their support or not. A fan that puts zero conditions to his/her support and basically accepts what the club does from week to week, even if they hate what's happening, is an unconditional supporter/fan. A fan that places conditions on how and when they will support a club or be a fan is not a true unconditional fan/supporter no matter which way it's looked at. It can also be thought of as being plastic but that's open to question as to how conditional applications go.