Tom_NUFC

It is. It's incredibly childish of them. People dare to criticise or question them and instead of facing and answering these criticisms they go into a sulk and take their ball home.

I can still get in and I would think if they'd barred you they would probably have done the same to me

Michael, some interesting points there. In terms of the trust model, you are absolutely correct. The model and the trust itself is not the problem here. The problem is that some of the present committee are not running things or acting in the correct manner. I also echo your views about Bill Corcoran 100%. Bill has been nothing but honest and genuine. Unfortunately, it would appear that his opinions and the views of two or three others on the committee have simply been outnumbered or ignored. I too think that Bill should be involved in the future, and I can think of at least two others from the current committee who I would also like to see involved. I think the meeting you refer to was a Members Meeting (in the days when we still had them) at the Irish Club. You are right, I think most of the then committee (myself included) did feel a little bit upset by some of the comments from those two members. That said, the two members were perfectly entitled to express their opinions and ask questions of the committee. As a committee you have to be prepared to answer questions and face criticism. You can't just decide not to hold members meetings in case someone says something you don't like or don't want to hear. It's a massive shame that the actions of the committee have to be highlighted and questioned. After the election I e-mailed the (new) committee members to congratulate them, wish them luck and to offer my assistance should it be required at any point. I told them I felt sure that they would carry on the good work. And personally I would have happily left it at that. Sadly though, that didn't happen and I don't think it's something that can be ignored. I can totally understand anyone who hasn't renewed. I mean what have they got? A keyring and a car sticker because there has been no opportunity since last October to attend a members meeting and since the election, no Roadshows (which anyone is welcome to attend) and no other direct contact with the elected committee at all. It's what I feared. Renewal time in October, no meetings or communication. Of course people were going to leave in droves. That's what got me worried and looking into how often meetings should be held. I only renewed out of loyalty to something I was involved with since that very first open meeting at the Irish Club in September 2008. Otherwise I may well have packed it in too. The thing is though, they do HAVE to hold an AGM by January and members need to get along and voice any opinions/concerns they may have over the way the trust is run and the more people that do this, the better.

Aye. Sounds about right.

Banana Republic

Sorry, didn't mean to post it twice. Using my iPod and somethings gone wrong! Too late and too fiddly on this to edit it

Committee members resigning now.

I'm sticking with my pre-season hopes and settling for finishing 17th. Anything above that is a bonus. We're having our ups and downs and we will have tough times, but right now I'm optimistic.

If it means we all get an extra day's holiday great. The wedding itself, I couldn't give a shit.

Yes, but as has already Bern said, we were lucky. Things could have gone worse and we could have sunk like a stone. Fortunately, we got rid of the dead wood, and some players I didn't think would stay did and had a good season last year and have built on it (Coloccini & Gutierrez). The lads that stayed made a firm decision among themselves to stick in and work their bollocks off. And that has ended up creating a really strong understanding and close knit atmosphere. I won't say that it turned out to be right to shun Shearer and go for Hughton because We don't know what would have happened with Shearer. The reason we ended up with Hughton was let's face it because Shearer told Ashley his plan but that was going to mean Ashley handing over money which he didn't want to do. Hughton was the cheap option, and to his and our good fortune, it paid off. But this wasn't an astute decision on the part of Ashley. He was just lucky. Fortunately Hughton had the respect of the players and as time went on he grew in confidence. Don't get me wrong, I'm very much pro-Hughton and at the time thought as most people did that he and the team need our backing. He's done fantastic, but it was still a gamble based on Ashley not wanting to spend. As the season went on it became enjoyable. It was nice to be winning so many games, there seemed to be a new bond between the team and the fans, like we were all in it together. And it was nice to be out of the headlines. I think that so far it has been a good thing, but so far... There's still time yet.

I would like to point out that the derby is the modern-day expression of a deep-running rivalry between the Tyne and the Wear that goes beyond football, is political, cultural and socio-economic and stretches back for 900 years. I wonder how many other derbies can claim such broad and ancient origins.

You may well be correct but it’s hard to say, since they don’t talk to us. Well, speaking as an ex-committee I will say this. On a number of occassions there would be certain committee members who would take it upon themselves to do stuff and make announcements. And the first you'd know about it would be a press release, e-mail, article in the Chronicle had been made. There were certain people who wouldn't even consult with other committee members, let alone the rank and file members. So I think Mac-Toon's view is likely to be accurate. The YWC campaign was/is great in theory, but if it ever stands a chance if working, then it's going to be a long term aim. It was pushed through far too quickly. As I've already said, Trust status and community activities are fine. I don't see them as being a problem, but I think the rank and file members need to have a greater say in how we go about this, and I think the trust also needs to play the role of a traditional supporters club and have more social activities. There's absolutely no reason why this can't be done. From the trust point of view, I can understand the support of the liverpool fans. The good thing about the trust movement is that trusts can work together and offer each other help and advice. But what a lot of people have said is bang on. It shouldn't be a lead story on the NUST site. It's not about NUFC/NUST and most NUFC fans will feel indifferent to Liverpool and some will hate them. So for NUST to splash across their website NUFC fans back Liverpool fans isn't the right thing to do.

Is a good idea. They must know that a lot of supporters and current or potential members post on forums. Why dont they visit a few of them and state their case? why not take the public meetings they were having to forums? Of course they will be trolled, but surely thats what mods are for? Their public relation exercises are generally more or less on par with the club's ones tbh. Yep. I'm oot. You're right. NUST at the minute is a parody of NUFC. Absolute farce.

One of the things I feared was that come renewal time in September, people wouldn't renew due to lack of communication. And it looks like that has happened. And why should they? At the minute, it seems as though the trust is treating its members like dirt. I don't have a problem with the trust status, but NUST really needs to be sorted, and the committee needs to take a long hard look at their dialogue with members. When it started as NUSC, I wrote an article in True Faith in which I said that the members would dictate the direction of the (then) supporters club. Of course the committee had to make a lot of decisions in setting the thing up and then converting to trust status, but that's not happening and I'm desperately disappointed at that.

I have these. Epiphone Les Paul 56 Goldtop Epiphone 'Dot' 335 Cherry Epiphone EJ200 Sunburst and my Bass. Fender Precision Bass Standard Arctic White

One or two of us were yes but thats not the problem, it was a fair election and (in my case anyway) my manifesto didnt fit with the way the members wanted, it appears that YWC seduced many members, thats fair enough. Many of the original people are still there, trouble is there now appears to be a bit of a power struggle. Three members of the board basically built themselves an empire which was then added to with the new people who were elected. A couple of the real hard working ones who built it up are now being bullied out in any kind of debate so its now a case of "what the chairman says goes". * The fact that no AGM appears to be on the cards is wrong as far as Im concerned. *Allegedly. I agree with what Peter says. Again, I've no problem with the election results at all. But what concerns me is that since then, communication has completely dried up. There have been no roadshow or events since March or April. Now admitedly the roadshows which started really well were getting a bit samey and in need of a revamp. But then there hasn't been any sort of a meeting since NUSC officially became NUST and launched as a trust last September. We're now one year on and yet there has been no notification or announcement of an AGM taking place, which by the way is a compulsory condition of trust status. Any NUST members who use the NUST forum may be aware of the what's happening thread, expressing concern at the lack of communication (ironic when one of the factors that galvanised NUST was Ashley & Llambias' lack of communication). I'm concerned that because things have gone very quiet and there are no meetings on the horizon, some members may not renew. And to be honest it would be entirely understandable. Right now if I'm honest, I'm feeling disappointed by it all. NUST is a great thing but needs sorting out. I've renewed, but it's more out of loyalty than anything else. I think what we (members) need to do is put the pressure on. Post on the forum, e-mail, perhaps even contact Supporters Direct. Anything we can to force an AGM, even if it's a sad state of affairs when we have to do this for something that's meant to happen anyway.

Xbox - Leazes Ender

Class. Some good photos of Leicester away 91/92. remember it well

15

HMV on Northumberland Street got some more in yesterday. I went down and got a copy. Try there, they might still be in stock.

David Bowie's as well. Anyway, thanks everyone!

Congratulations!

At the risk of sounding pedantic, the club merely became known as Newcastle United 117 years ago. Contrary to popular opinion, East End and West End did not merge. West End went bust, and their directors proposed that East End takeover their lease at St James' Park. East End agreed, and some West End directors, players and officials joined East End, who then changed their name to something more representative of the whole city (and of course, because they no longer played in the East End). The club was formed as Stanley AFC (SAFC!!!! ) on November 14 1881, becoming Newcastle East End AFC before the start of the 1892/93 season to avoid confusion with clubs from Stanley in County Durham. So NUFC was 128 last month.

Felicitations of the Yuletide season to you all!