PaddockLad

I think the club stated that ST holders only could apply for away tkts after the pre season carry on at Darlo. Looks like WBA tkts have been offered to members because its at 4pm on a Sunday and uptake from ST holders has been slow. If so, thats the first time this season as far as I can make out. I wouldnt bother with a membership mate it seems its barely worth it as the tkts very seldom go on offer to members.

Why not go the whole hog with the authentic 80s haircut to go with it mate? edit Joe Allon looks like hes the lead singer from Europe

its in Billy Furious first book about the Tranmere incident. He describes it just as Howman does so I imagine its "gone down in mackem folklore" since then. Of course one incident 20 years ago which appears to be easily explainable makes us all cunts two decades later. I think mackems have their list of "myths" and mistakenly attribute them to being spread mostly by the fans instead of those who do perpetuate half truths and cliches about us; the mostly mis-informed media, and in particular one or two notable ex players, step forward Mickey Quinn, great player for us but he doesn't half talk fuckin shit.

Its Good Friday that day mate, bank holiday in the UK.

Newcastle chief Derek Llambias has sensationally admitted that the club's owner Mike Ashley still calls their home ground St James’ Park - and says the fans should too. But the Toon have vowed to press ahead with finding a new naming-rights sponsor for the historic 52,000-seat stadium, explaining that it will help fund a top-class new signing every season. Llambias revealed the club's latest financial figures for the year to June 2011 on Thursday - and the numbers show Newcastle are in a healthy, virtual-break-even position at a time when many of their rivals are losing tens of millions. Despite that encouraging news, managing director Llambias insists the only way for Newcastle to compete at the sharp end of the Premier League is to up their “commercial revenue”, which is lagging milllions of pounds each year behind clubs they aim to compete with, such as Spurs, Chelsea, the two Manchester teams and Liverpool. In his first ever interview, Llambias has told the Mirror he and Ashley are not “riding roughshod” over the club’s history and traditions, and stated they will always be there and owned by the fans. The ground was officially renamed the Sports Direct Arena in November, sparking fury from many fans. But Llambias said: “Do you think me and Mike call it the Sports Direct Arena? We call it St James’ Park, because it is St James’ Park. “The naming rights is such a passionate thing. It’s not about being disrespectful or taking away the tradition or the history of the club - it’s about trying to get another Yohan Cabaye out there on the pitch. That’s how we see it. "To optimise our commercial side, we needed to get that in there - other clubs do it. “We’ve had to take the criticism on the nose. We’re not riding roughshod over people’s love. People come to see our players on the pitch. It’s about us, the fans, the manager, the players and the region - it’s an emotional thing. “If we wanted to ride roughshod, we’d just put the ticket prices up. "That’s not happening. "We know we’ve got a huge responsibility, and we know there’s a lot of emotion involved and we are emotional people, too. "We are not being disrespectful. Mike and I understand and feel for it. “The only area of income we can really build is the commercial revenue. We don’t want to put ticket prices up. We have a 10-year ticket deal and now we’ve announced a nine-year deal. "We’ve increased our family area to 7,500 and for an adult and a kid it’s 500 quid a year. "We’re trying to fill the stadium at a price we can afford. We can’t have it half-full, because we’d lose that spirit. “There are only a few ways to increase our income. We know the naming rights is contentious, but that income is something we need.” Newcastle earn £15million a year from commercial deals such as shirt sponsorships and retailing. In comparison, Spurs bank £50m, Chelsea £45m, Manchester City £54m and Manchester United a staggering £103m. Llambias added: “Could our stadium be the O2 Arena of the north? I think it could. "It’s already a cathedral, but it’s dead in the summer. There are things the club can expand on, but we are limited. “Sports Direct is showcasing the naming rights, but without Sports Direct we would not be in Newcastle. That is the business that gives Mike the power to do what we’re doing, and the power to put £270m of his own money behind the football club. “We’d have loved someone to come along and say, 'We’re going to give you the money for the shirt sponsorship and the stadium.' “If we lose on a Saturday, my wife just leaves me alone in the next room and Mike sulks in his house. That’s what happens when you get involved in something when you start to run and love a team and all the functions of our club. "We just feel it’s for the good of our club going forward and it could give us another player.” Newcastle sources admit the best scenario may be for a business such as their existing shirt sponsors Virgin Money - who are based in the city - to buy the naming rights... and then rename the ground St James’ Park. “What a PR coup that would be,” a club source said. EXCLUSIVE: Without Mike Ashley, Toon would be like Portsmouth - only worse! claims Llambias *** DEREK LLAMBIAS ON... The possibility of Mike Ashley selling the club: “We’re not doing this to sell up. The reality is that if someone comes up with a chunk of money, I’d have to put it to Mike and he would have to consider it. Would we sell it to someone who couldn’t afford it? No. Would we sell it cheap? No, why would we? We’ve put the money in, done the work and now we may see the upside of what we’re trying to grow." Toon manager Alan Pardew: “Alan was the right combination of what we’re looking for and understands where we’re going. He’s a good guy, good with the media, good with the players. Tactically he’s very good - he doesn’t get it right all of the time, but nobody does. And we know how he’s going to play before a game and we like that with Alan. He’s got a passion and he’s settled down in the North-East really well and loves it. His relationship with the Toon Army: “We do engage with fans. We met a guy who drives from Bournemouth for every home match, so we invited him to be our guest and for them to ask anything they wanted. We’ve done it for other fans we’ve met in restaurants. Sometimes they’re still critical, but we just say, ‘Come on, just ask us’. At the end of the day, when they’ve met us, it gets them thinking." New faces for next season: “We have targets for the summer, and we’re not in a position of having to beg. People are saying, ‘Ah Newcastle. Of course we want to talk to you’. We do a brilliant video presentation - very sharp, it is great - and it opens eyes to what the club, the fans and the city are all about. Selling members of the current squad: “We’ll be losing one or two names this summer, but that’ll be regenerated back into the squad. Alan’s plan is to get a smaller squad, with better quality - so the bench is better. That’s our aim over the next two years. We can’t do it all this summer - we’re not sure what the market will be like this summer when we’re trading. We will lose some faces. For instance, Tiote has been with us a year and a half. He is out there. People know he’s a good player. He’s proven in the Premier League, he’s not picking up as many yellow cards, he’s learning. How are we going to stop a big club from coming in for him? It’ll be very hard. One thing in our favour is that we now have a very good side and that might encourage the player to stay. But if someone knocks on the door and says they want this or that money, the reality may be that we have to trade." Selling Andy Carroll: “Sometimes you can’t hold a player back from moving. It’s in their best interests. Take, for example, Andy, and look what he’s getting [at Liverpool], several times the wages [he was on at Newcastle]. The only person who said no to that deal was Mike. The reality is, it’s a risk, it’s January, can we replace him? We couldn’t. It was a risk." Paying £9million to sign new No9 Papiss Cisse: “We spend a long, long time identifying our targets and he was our number one choice. But at first we couldn't afford the price or the salary so we moved on to the next one, which was [sochaux striker Modibo] Maiga (who ended up failing his Toon medical). January came and nobody knew Cisse was happening, which is how we like it - those are our most successful deals, without the interference, in terms of upping the price or someone coming in at the last minute." Securing centre-back and skipper Fabricio Coloccini and goalkeeper Tim Krul on long-term contracts last week: “We’ve made a big commitment to Colo and Tim. People asked why we hadn’t done the deal, but it took a long time - it didn’t happen overnight. Coloccini’s took a year. We never want to find ourselves in a position where we lose somebody like we did Jose Enrique [who was sold to Liverpool in the summer after failing to agree a new contract]. We didn’t want to lose somebody of his value, or the team building that Coloccini gives you as captain. Colo doesn’t fit our profile in that we wouldn’t bring a 29-year-old in, but he’s here and he’s proven. He’s an all-round top pro and will finish his pro career here at 34. He’s like a Giggs or a Scholes - a solid player and you can build around him. Krul is up and coming and can be anything. We’ve got him on a five and a half year deal and we’re very happy." His tough negotiating policy: “If we did it for one person’s wages, we’d have to do it for the next and then we’d get a reputation. At the moment, players and agents know that our first offer is very close to the final offer. Once it’s off the table, it’s off the table and it only goes down. It’s never up, it’s always lower. There are more football players than there are clubs. The manager has his targets and we just move on." http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Newcastle-exclusive-Owner-Mike-Ashley-and-MD-Derek-Llambias-still-call-stadium-St-James-Park-despite-renaming-it-in-sponsorship-deal-and-say-fans-should-do-so-too-article875683.html

Was that it or did he actually threaten your person/safety/life etc? send me your email address & i'll forward the whole thing on if you're that interested No need old son, I think I get the jist of it.

Was that it or did he actually threaten your person/safety/life etc?

What are the odds on us qualifying for the Europa League? certainly not odds on but a good chance I'd say. This gives the impression that either theyre going to sabotage our league posistion themselves to prevent it or theyve not taken it into consideration in the planning for next season. I'm keen on european football, but I think it would be utterly pointless next season.

Aye, playing hardball in the market there Dekka, good darts son. Still, players like Tiote and Cabaye grow on trees, you can just go and pick them off the branch. Graham Carr knows, you know....

Only season ticket holders can apply mate.

You wouldnt be saying that if youd read this..... http://www.amazon.com/Mayan-Prophecies-Unlocking-Secrets-Civilization/dp/1852309067

And the award for the North East's "best dressed man of 2012 goes to..........."

Not like you to twist something. Luke Edwards looks as if hes well in with the powers that be at the club judging by this story and has to toe the party line. Keegan took his former employers to a tribunal so he could prove he was constructively dismissed by them. I think most of us know the truth.

heres the article, not a lot we didnt know really, but a few things of interest.... 7 Comments While rival chairmen may have smirked at Mike Ashley’s public relation blunders since he bought the club in 2007 and rival supporters revelled in seeing the Magpies get their wings clipped by relegation to the Championship in 2009, it is Newcastle United who are feeling pleased with themselves at the moment. Sixth in the Premier League, five points ahead of Liverpool, ten points ahead of Sunderland, two points behind Chelsea in fifth, things have gone surprisingly well on the pitch. But their progress has not been confined to the decisions coming out of manager Alan Pardew’s office or because of the players recommended to him by chief scout Graham Carr. As revealed by Telegraph Sport on Tuesday, Newcastle have bucked the Premier League trend and will announce a small profit when they officially release their annual accounts on Thursday. As things stand, Telegraph Sport can also reveal the club is on course to make a profit of around £10m for the forthcoming financial year, money that will, managing director Derek Llambias has assured, go straight back into the club for player recruitment. Related Articles Newcastle due to announce profit05 Mar 2012 O'Neill says Pardew influenced referee04 Mar 2012 Coloccini and Krul pen new deals03 Mar 2012 North-East sleeping giants awake02 Mar 2012 Pardew puts accent on Newcastle vision02 Mar 2012 Newcastle eyeing Europe01 Mar 2012 In a favourite phrase of his, Newcastle are now “wiping their own mouths” as a business. That was the task given to him when he succeeded Chris Mort as chairman in 2008 and while he probably still wouldn’t win any popularity contests on Tyneside, Llambias has done what was asked. He has cut costs and increased revenue streams and appointed a manager, Pardew, who has not only kept Newcastle in the Premier League – and therefore protected the business – he has also put them on the cusp of Europa League qualification. Most importantly of all, he has stopped asking owner Ashley for money to prop up a business he had gone into naively as a result of failing to look at the books properly before buying it from Sir John Hall and Freddie Shepherd. Llambias inherited a mess. Mort had appointed Kevin Keegan as manager – a good move – but he had saddled him with a continental style management structure with Dennis Wise – a bad move – as head of player recruitment. He also took over a business typical of top flight football that was out of control, a business which needed millions from its owner each year to remain afloat, let alone stay competitive at the top end of the division. It was a disaster and when Keegan stormed out as a result of boardroom interference player recruitment in August 2008, he turned Ashley and Llambias into hate figures. Twice Ashley has tried to sell the club and twice he has failed. He had lost interest, owning a football club was supposed to be fun, now he just wanted to get rid. When he couldn’t find a buyer in a global recession, he ordered Llambias to at least make sure he did not have to lose any more money bailing it out. It has been a long and painful journey. For every step forward in the public relations battle – Ashley covered loses of £500,000 a week in the Championship – there has been a disaster, like the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool last January or the decision to rename St James’ Park the Sports Direct Arena, after his own retail chain. To be tolerated and, even admired for the way they have brought spiralling debts under control, is a huge improvement on where they were two years, even 12 or six months ago. They deserved some of the criticism. They make mistakes, they upset people, ruffled feathers and went back on the odd promise. They have, at times, acted with all the sensitivity of a drunken barber holding a cut-throat razor. This season, though, has been a triumph, not just for the team, but also the business. With the £35m from Carroll looking a superb transaction, it has, in the main, been reinvested in the team. There is even some left to spend in the summer. They have a smaller budget than the rest of the teams in the top six, but they are holding their own nonetheless. Newcastle do not pay for players in instalments, they pay the whole fee up front so they completely own the asset. They agree contracts – including the recent significant ones with captain Fabricio Coloccini and goalkeeper Tim Krul – with players that do not have bonus payments or image rights. The weekly wage is the weekly wage so they can keep complete control of their wage bill. They do have debt, around £111m, but it is all in the form of interest free loans from Ashley, not the banks. They also try to tie all key personnel to long term contracts, so that their market value is at its highest, hopefully to ward off interest, but if one of the “top four” calls, it ensures they can get the highest fee possible. As for agents, Llambias “will not be bullied” in negotiations. It has, at times, caused problems and led to the departure of Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton in the summer, but it also ensures they are not taken for a costly ride by those who make money out of the talent of others. The one blot is the release clause in Demba Ba’s contract, but nobody knew he would have the season he has had and the Senegal international may yet decide to stay at Newcastle if they qualify for Europe, even if others have a vested interest in getting him to move. While some will scoff at the suggestion they need help keeping their houses in order, Newcastle are in better shape than most ahead of the implementation of Uefa’s Financial Fair play regulations. Llambias privately fears their rivals will get around the rules with extravagant sponsorship deals from their owners or companies linked to them. But for a club without a benefactor, Newcastle have every reason to be pleased with the shape they are in. For the first time since Ashley’s first season in charge, there is optimism of a brighter future with him at the helm and that is priceless. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/9129072/Newcastle-United-buck-Premier-League-trend-by-posting-profit-as-Mike-Ashleys-club-perform-on-and-off-field.html

Anyone watching the repeats of the ludicrous but completely fabulous Game of Thrones on sky Atlantic? Mrs Pl has got me into it as she's read all the books. The fat one from Full Monty as king of some fantasy realm, Sean Bean as his mucker, extreme medieval type violence and incest (among other sexually deviant acts)...whats not to like?

Oh and try not to be so sensitive

Get yourself a girlfriend. And stop being so self absorbed. Which a girlfriend will help you with. And when you've just about had enough of her obsession with herself you'll remember tonight and how utterly tedious feeling sorry for yourself is for others. Hope that helps

Much against my better judgement I was once talked into paying to listen to Le Tissier speak at a charity curry night I knew I shouldn't have handed the cash over, and sure enough the big nosed cunt didn't turn up. The late Alan Ball was sent in his stead, and he rolled out a "England 66" routine so old and cliche drenched he'd obviously done it 100s of times. To be fair to him, he was good on the Q & A aftrwards and stayed late just to have the crack with quite a few of us, our table included. He came across well and had obvious real passion for the game without being all " times were 'ard when I were a lad" about it. You'd have to pay me to watch this bunch of fuckin strap-ons "perform" on stage mind. Is this one being aimed at the ironic/student market?

Cant disagree with any of that. The last 8 weeks have changed the way I think, I've been pleasantly surprised and I'm encouraged. We still shouldve signed a centre back mind. And I cant force myself to beleive Ashley won't fuck it all up or sell us to a money launderer for a fat profit now weve stopped losing money

A poor season? The signs to me are theyre all in decline and the reasons for that are pretty clear and as youve pointed out they are all mangerial. And not a lot that can be done quickly about it at any of theses clubs when you look at the personalities involved.Theres a chance for a changing of the guard at the top of the league in the next couple of seasons and we're well placed to take advantage. Doubt if we will, or I just cant beleive that Ashley is capable of getting it right for as long as we need to keep challenging. He'll fuck it up by letting too many players go all at the same time iyam. I hope to be proved wrong.

Wait a minute it was you who was claiming that it was easy in 93 but now we're challenging Arsenal,Chelsea and Liverpool "18 months after being in division 2" its difficult? I happen to agree with what you're saying, but giving that as an example earlier in the thread isnt the best thing you couldve used to illustrate your point because what has happened since promotion contradicts what you're claiming. It has been relatively easy. and correct me if I'm wrong but the club also operated at a loss in 09 and 10? We've acheived a lot quickly, and a lot of people share the credit for that including Ashley. But it was similar the last time we were promoted too. Remember we slipped back from 2nd to 7th in our second season in 95. This season barring a abysmal collapse our league placing will go up by about half a dozen places. Or is this part of your "its more difficult now" argument?

We've spent half a season in the top 4, 18 months after being in Division 2. Its like 93/94 all over again if we're to go with what Chez is saying With us its been undoubtedly down to the managers in the main part. Although we wouldnt have spent much time in the top 4 around the latter part of the last decade as it was virtually a closed shop at the time. Its in a complete state of flux now mind. Now is the time to strike when Arsenal and Chelsea look shadows of them former selves and Man Utd are up to their ears in debt and need to replace Fergie soon. Maybe we will be stronger in 18 months when we've sold a few and replaced a few. Bottom line is football is cyclical because humans control the finance of clubs, and humans often fuck it up, whatever the level of money sloshing around.

The Spurs "project" is interesting....I can see the similarities but at the moment I certainly don't trust the present club management enough to beleive that they'll see it through to the stage that Spurs are at as we see them now in 2012. When Redknapp took over they were bottom of the league but Comolli had recruited the basis of the present squad. Pardew has started from a much weaker posistion squad wise. Spurs have also waxed just as the (media) accepted "big 4" have dropped a level or two and have seen the incredible spending power of Man City blow everyone else out of the water. Now is a good time to be a team "on the up" and in a lot of ways now is one of the most interesting times to be following us in our recent history. Don't know what the financial fair play rules will mean for any club in the top division but if we take them at face value then we're going to be looking pretty strong. Theres so many teams with huge debts, ourselves included. I think if your debt is owed via a club owner to a bank then your pretty much fucked (strong rumours that if West Ham fail to go up then they're screwed too) Ours is a different debt, its all owed to one man who, it would appear, hasn't borrowed a penny since he bought the club. That may well be very important indeed when you look at the debt manu are carrying and they will also see Fergie retire sooner rather than later. Our present owners keep springing surprises (on me anyway, and I defy anyone who predicted who would have signed contracts with us in 2012 to say it was anything more than guesswork based on nothing in particular) so maybe we'll continue to progress for a couple of seasons until we reach where Spurs are now (maybe). But two of Spurs best 4 players are on loan and to move to the next level for them the other two will have to be sold. Will the replacements for Bale and Modric get them closer to Man Utd? It will be interesting to see them compete at the top level with that policy and build a new stadium like Arsenal have. As far as we're concerned I think we've gone from being incapable of making two good decisions/moves in a row to getting two out of three right. Thats progress as far as I can make out. We'll see.

I learned at the weekend that Pat Heard is now a stage hypnotist and illusionist. Which is a natural career progression as the fuckin useless prick only gave the illusion of being a footballer. No wonder Waddle and Beardsley fucked off.

What is it? Teams who have played in the premier league?....work server says no to sporcle