FCUM

We used to play a simpler version. Pass a pint glass round, whoever is holding it when the ball goes out of play, ie throw in, corner, goalkick etc has to put in a spirit of their choice. Whoever is holding it when the next goal goes in has to drink it in one. If the game was 0-0 then whoever was holding it when the final whistle went would have the honour of knocking back a very dubious mixture.

Fuck me, do you think you can simplify it any more? Sometimes things can't be worked out and that's fucking life! Probably didn't word that very well, Sammy. I accept that there often valid reasons for it (I have a friend who was sexually abused by her father who quite obviously & quite rightly will have fuck all to do with him) but equally some people let pointless things drag on needlessly then regret it when it's too late. I've heard countless stories of people who wished they had done something about it before it was too late.

I understand why in some families there are valid reasons why they no longer speak but in a lot of cases it's just sheer stupidity. My old man was really close to one of his brothers, used to see each other for a pint every week right through their married lives despite not living in the same town. His brother got himself into some financial trouble and my old man lent him some money. The brother was then obviously too embarassed to get in touch because he couldn't pay it back. My old man felt like he couldn't get in touch with him because it would look like he was chasing him for the money, even though he wasn't bothered about it and had written it off to help him out. End result they didn't speak a word for the 15 years before they both died. Both ended up losing their best mate over nowt I'd urge anybody to think long & hard about why they don't speak to their family, it might be a valid reason but it soon becomes too late to rectify it. You are a long time dead!

I reckon I can sum up this debate in two llines: Is Fat Fred better than the Westwoods & McKeags of yesteryear? YES Should that make him immune from criticism? NO There, easy innit

It's the tiered pricing structure that used to do my head in. Why do they think that wealthy clubs = wealthy supporters. Fulham this season is a prime example: v Manchester City - £25.00 v Manchester United - £45.00 (cue jokes that Man Utd supporters will have less travelling expenses to Fulham ) Blackburn Rovers v Bolton Wanderers - £15.00 v Manchester United - £36.00 Both games 'local' derbies! For the percentage of away tickets that most clubs sell, surely they can implement a single pricing structure without drastically altering their match day revenue Used to boil my piss, pleased I'm out of it now. Supply and demand in operation. Should football be a special case with protected prices? With a club like Man Utd if you miss one single application for an away ticket then you're bolloxed in the loyalty pot. Should Fulham then charge £300 on the basis that the supporters don't have a choice if they want to stay in the loyalty pot? If the people will pay £300 to stay in the loyalty pot should Fulham then up it to £500? If Fulham then charge them £500 should Newcastle also, after all why should Newcastle charge them less? Where do you stop? The supporters are grabbed by the short & curlies. The club should actually refuse to take an allocation when they are blatantly hiking prices and then refuse to sell that club tickets for the return but there is little chance of that happening.

It's the tiered pricing structure that used to do my head in. Why do they think that wealthy clubs = wealthy supporters. Fulham this season is a prime example: v Manchester City - £25.00 v Manchester United - £45.00 (cue jokes that Man Utd supporters will have less travelling expenses to Fulham ) Blackburn Rovers v Bolton Wanderers - £15.00 v Manchester United - £36.00 Both games 'local' derbies! For the percentage of away tickets that most clubs sell, surely they can implement a single pricing structure without drastically altering their match day revenue Used to boil my piss, pleased I'm out of it now.

That's shocking if true What about the rumours that Shearer sat in on Allardyce's interview. Was that true or urban myth? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. What reason would the chairman have to sell Gary Speed having been at the club and did well for the club for a number of years ? If it was over a contract and terms issue, then that is the one area which is a chairmans/boards prerogative. However, Baggio and others on here complain when the club spends money on players then also complain when they don't. You have to remember that this is from Bobby Robson. The same Bobby Robson who tried to tell us selling a 7m player who had been injury prone for 2m approx was "not a loss". The same Bobby Robson who had by the vast majority of fans view, was clearly beginning to show signs of his age catching up with him in many areas. The same Bobby Robson, who even in good health when he was England manager, used to walk into a broom cupboard at Wembley thinking it was the door to the dressing room [this is in a biography about him]. He is bound to defend himself, having been sacked, removed from office, whatever you want to call it, he is also bound to feel bitter. Who wouldn't ? Who knows the truth. At the end of the day, these "debates" are about the board, not really Bobby Robson. And this current board have done a good job for the club, they have backed their managers and shown ambition, but too many people think they will be easy to replace with better directors, in spite of being reminded to look around at other clubs who have changed boards and directors for the worse, along with the fact that only 4 clubs have qualified more for europe than we have over the past decade, ought to tell anyone with a bit of common sense that there is not that much scope available to go higher, nor will they necessarily be prepared to back their managers in the transfer market like the current directors, although of course it would be nice. I can accept that's only Bobby Robson's version, Leazes, which is why I said 'if true'. But if it is true, I still think it's shocking. I accept it's the chairman's prerogative if it's a contract issue but still think it should be common courtesy to tell your manager what you're doing.

That's shocking if true What about the rumours that Shearer sat in on Allardyce's interview. Was that true or urban myth?

My dear old mother was shopping in the town yesterday with one of her friends from the pensioners club and they decided to go in the Trent for a bottle of bud. Anyways, whilst they were in there, two charvas (one wearing a silly hat) tried to chat them up. The old dear is a bit deaf and dumb now so she pulled out a leaflet she keeps in her handbag to tell people she's a deaf and dumb and put it on top of the bottle so they could see it. Silly buggers thought she was doing it to stop them slipping something in her drink Strange pub, she won't be going back there in a hurry

No a mysterious 3rd Newcastle, under Lyme has a seperate entry as 2W14 Newcastle, Monmouth? Newcastle Emlyn, Camarthenshire? Little Newcastle, Haverfordwest? I'd say the Monmouth one is most likely given* it says England and seems about right. *No pun intended

Don't see how that can be! Using each cities airport as a guide....... Newcastle is 55, 2', 15" North - 1, 41',30" West Liverpool is 53,20',1" North - 2,50',59" West Therefore Liverpool is west of Newcastle, I think I have newcastle as 3w06 and Liverpool as 2W55. I think i'm righ tbh. http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm Think that must be a different Newcastle mate, if you look for Newcastle upon Tyne then it shows as 1,35

Don't see how that can be! Using each cities airport as a guide....... Newcastle is 55, 2', 15" North - 1, 41',30" West Liverpool is 53,20',1" North - 2,50',59" West Therefore Liverpool is west of Newcastle, I think

north west on the map marra North of London, aye. It's not in the north of the country though. Nee Jack Palance. Of course it's in the north of the country! The country ends with the pennines the rest of yis are just bloody jocks

I know you're not knocking it mate and I'm just saying I agree but don't think there is a lot we can do about it whilst maintaining our objectives of climbing through the pyramid system. It won't always be like this though, our gates are down this season as the novelty has worn off for some and maybe as a result of big United doing so well. I can see us consolidating at around the 2000-2500 mark which given the money we'll need for our own ground (or continue paying the £10,000 per game in rent which equates to £4/£5 per head before we start!) then we'll not hold much of an advantage as we rise through the pyramid system. A topic under plenty of discussion at the moment mate as we are taking on more and more 'paid' employees to do what has been done voluntarily in the past! This doesn't sit well with everyone but at least it's a democratric process. I agree with the UNICEF thing as well.

WubbleUC, Unfortunately that's the way it is today. I'm certainly not directing this at those who've expressed their concerns on this thread, nor am I directing it at NUFC in any way. It's the same throughout the game, particularly at Premier League level, a vast majority want to go and be entertained and demand that everybody else creates the atmosphere they want for them. Fortunately, I'm now following a team where every single one of the 2,000-3,000 crowd takes the responsibilty of creating the atmosphere personally, whether they are young charvas or 70 year old grandmothers and I've got to tell you it's brilliant. I liked the idea of FCUM when it started but ironically it's got so many parallels with Man U that it's purpose is almost self-defeating. Although it's almost certainly going to rise through the divisions (and possibly attain league status), it's going to do this on the same basis that Man U does-ie with it's mass market appeal. It attracts players from all over the country to trials, thereby giving it an absurdly massive advantage over other teams in it's division, it has a fanbase that is out of all proportion for it's league, it places costly adverts in the media for it's games and it even has it's own television show ffs! It's so 'unlike' it's fellow clubs that it's bizarre. It's also a very similar experience to being a Man U fan in the sense that the fans can just turn up and expect to win. No disrespect to Flowers, as I know he'll tell me that the aim is to make sure that the club remains the property of the fans and that is the essential difference (I get that), but I just think that it loses some of the 'magic' as a result. Manc Mag, Unsurprisingly, I agree with most of what you say but there is an air of inevitability about that as the club has been formed by breakaway supporters of Man Utd. I think that will gradually change over the years as we attract other support that doesn't have the same emotional attachment to Man Utd that most of us do. We are already seeing a significant influx of kids from the Bury area who fall into this category. Likewise much of the marketing activity we are undertaking is aimed to attract local youngsters who don't necessarily have an emotional attachment to Man Utd, particularly through the junior teams and 'football in the community' aspects. We do currently have a fanbase that is predominantly disenfranchised Man Utd supporters and many of these are travelling from outside the area just like Man Utd's supporters do, but as I say, given the logic behind the formation of the club it's inevitable. I'm regularly asked why the hell I want to drive for 2 1/2 - 3 hrs to watch non league football when I could roll out of my front door and watch Spartans, Whitley, Blue Star etc. For me, it's about keeping in touch with mates that I've been watching football with for over 40 years, having a few beers and a laugh with them as I've always done. I suspect it's the same for many more. We make no apologies for the massive advantage we hold over other clubs financially in the pyramid system, we currently have cash reserves of over 180 grand which I agree is chalk & cheese to other clubs but believe me we'll need a lot more than that if we are to fulfill our ambitions of our own ground in the future. It's also worth bearing in mind the massive cash injection we are giving to other lowly non-league clubs on our rise through the pyramid system by travelling in our thousands, we are giving many a clubs a financial lifeline that will set them up for years. The important thing for us, as a supporters owned club with mutual status, is to try and do things correctly. That's not always easy and sure we'll make some wrong decisions along the way. It's important that we don't use our financial status to appear 'arrogant' as many would like to perceive us as a breakaway formed by Man Utd supporters. To give just one example of this: there were many people (outside of the club) who felt we should be given some kind of fast-track through the pyramid system which we rejected outright. Several clubs with higher league status who were in financial difficulties contacted us with a view to taking over their clubs (I won't mention them all but it's an open secret that Leigh RMI were one) but how the hell could we justify that as a club borne out of Glazer's takeover! By and large, I think we've acheived what we set out to do without becoming arrogant about it. Of course we want to win our league and get promoted, that's the overall objective after all and it's inevitable that we'll use some of our financial clout over other teams to acheive that, it's in the nature of the beast, but Karl Margison (manager) has been aware of the need to do that without attracting players from too high up the pyramid system and has done it succesfully. Our team this season is totally different to last as we didn't go overboard in our first season and needed to attract better players to do well in this league. If, as we should, we go up this season then it's inevitable some current players will be left behind in the need to improve quality. It's not all about money though with these players, imagine yourself in that position, you are playing at the bottom of the pyramid system in front of gates of 35 every week and you are offered the opportunity to play in front of 2000-5000 passionate supporters every week and play all your home games at football league status ground! To be honest, players will be atrracted to us for many reasons other than money!

WubbleUC, Unfortunately that's the way it is today. I'm certainly not directing this at those who've expressed their concerns on this thread, nor am I directing it at NUFC in any way. It's the same throughout the game, particularly at Premier League level, a vast majority want to go and be entertained and demand that everybody else creates the atmosphere they want for them. Fortunately, I'm now following a team where every single one of the 2,000-3,000 crowd takes the responsibilty of creating the atmosphere personally, whether they are young charvas or 70 year old grandmothers and I've got to tell you it's brilliant.

Maybe I'm missing something but (apart from the stupid name) what's wrong with them? Everybody's moaning about lack of atmosphere at all grounds today so what's the problem with a load of youths trying to remedy it? It's always been the same, most people when they reach a certain age stop singing and chanting and you need to the next generation to take their place and keep the atmosphere going. It was always that way but we seem to have lost that in recent years so fair play to the lads for trying to get it going again.

Doesn't surprise me, standard tactic to ensure UEFA will let them off. So Man Utd sold out that section, stewards moved supporters with home tickets (that were on open sale on the day) into that section, according to Lille there was a problem with snides, supporters with genuine tickets were refused entry........but ze stand was not full! yeah right!

Funilly enough yes Crumpsall. Note HIGHER Crumpsall though not LOWER Crumpsall. We used to have get out of the bath for piss unlike those charvers.

Times have changed then, red light district was always around Victoria when I was a lad! It was easy commuting from the sauna & massage parlours in Broughton & Prestwich

PS in reference to FCUM's previous post, I would advise against having breakfast anywhere near Chorlton Street Bus Station. Puff! What's up are the greasy spoons not good enough for the Didsbury set? Yep, Victoria.

Alternatively, you could PM Manc Mag and tell him to get his arse out of bed at that time, come and pick you up from the city centre, cook your breakfast and then drive you to the match

Taxi will cost you an arm and a leg mate and being a Sunday morning transport won't really start until later. I'd go and get some breakfast near the station then get the first direct train of the day which is 8.49am.

Although I'm against video evidence during a game, I'm certainly all for retrospective video analysis to cite players although this can't and shouldn't effect the result. TBH, I love the rugby league system whereby a panel sits every Monday reviewing the weekend's games. X you are cited for this, 2 game ban, Y you are cited for this, 3 game ban etc etc. Then again, I'd also like to see us take the Sin Bin idea from rugby league and other sports. To me it makes no sense that when a player receives a yellow card for commiting an offence against your team that another team further down the line (possibly your rivals for a title) get the benefit of his suspension.

Disagree, I think it's hilarious I reckon Steveintoon 'owns' him now, guaranteed to bite, could put him on a lead and take him for walkies tbf