Scottish Mag 3 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 The situation at Newcastle United is without precedent in world football. Nowhere else and at at no other time has a body of supporters persisted in returning to a football stadium in such numbers and at such cost as we do currently. Nowhere. Never. Not Man Utd, Celtic, Rangers, Liverpool or any of the other alleged bastions of support in football. Not in Barcelona, Real Madrid - anywhere. Let no-one have one word of criticism for the Newcastle United support and certainly not the likes of Joey Barton, whose purpose at our club is what exactly? But it cannot be expected to continue. Over the last decade we have finished more often in the bottom end of the table than the top and you don't need me to tell you about our cup winning exploits. The current shambles of a football club cannot expect to be sustained by the hard-working people of Tyneside and beyond who are providing the cornerstone finance for the whole shooting match. If Ashley and Mort believe supporters will continue to turn up to watch their football club humiliated in the manner of Saturday night and drift further aimlessly then they are sadly mistaken. The club will always have its hardcore who will turn up to watch eleven NUFC shirts blowing on a washing line but there are others who have put up with too much for too long. Ashley and Mort should beware for it is a chill wind that is blowing down Barrack Road right now. Not that I or any others expected Newcastle United to do anything on Saturday. I don't know which is the sadder, the statement of grim recognition at our reduced status or the status itself. No-one is kidding anyone. We are on the shit. Relegation is not a fanciful prediction of the pessimists amongst our number, it is the reality. That we are not in a worse situation illustrates the paucity of quality beneath us. The lusty roars in my pre-match boozer when the scores came through that Portsmouth and West Ham had scored their winners against the SMB and Fulham illustrated perfectly our current mindset. We're in a battle against relegation. Fucking hell, man! The Man Utd game? Well, we knew we'd get nothing. Just like the trips to Arsenal. We knew we'd get nothing there either and I rather suspect there are those who have written off the trips to Portsmouth, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham as well. Our games with Reading, Fulham and The Mackems have taken on a massive significance. If we don't win those three games then the mood on Tyneside will blacken. Should we not win on Saturday at home to Blackburn then I believe huge questions will begin to be asked as to whether Ashley-Mort-Keegan have a clue about what they are doing. There are those already amongst our number who are questioning KK as some kind of marketing stunt rather than a serious football appointment. Again and again I am hearing proper, time-served Mags of the type that have never sent an insane text to The Comical or phoned up the daft bastards at Century to talk shite for 5 minutes, openly question bringing KK in as a replacement as manager and compare the decision to dismiss Allardyce at that point in the season to the worst of Shepherd's manoeuvrings in the past. Those questions are a whisper at the moment but they are becoming louder. We were humiliated by Man Utd. We know they are much better than us. In fact it is embarrassing to be honest that two teams with such a chasm in quality between them are even in the same division. But they don't win every home game 6-0 or their aways 5-1. Teams go to Old Trafford and give a better account of themselves and are often undone by a moment of genius, a tired mistake or favourable refereeing decisions (that looked a good shout for a penalty for us when Owen was felled in the box and its now within the gift of Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand to bring incidents to the Referee's attention that were not picked up by his assistant and have Faye booked) but Man Utd murdered us on Saturday night - 5-1 but it could have been a lot more and for long spells of that game they were playing well within themselves. It did not seem to matter to our players that we were conceding a fourth or a fifth goal. It was utterly shameful. It was cowardice. They are not fit to wear the shirt. There has to be a big question asked about the character of the players on the pitch on Saturday night but also some of them who, we are told are "injured". Not for the first time, in fact its a feature of this team that heads drop and we chuck it in. There is a lack of fight and there is a lack of professional pride. It looks like we have a load of bad heads at the club. Again. As for the "injured" players. Well, frankly, there are those amongst our number who don't believe certain players who aren't in the first team picture maybe aren't doing enough to earn their corn and are happy to pick up their fat contracts and have absolutely no commitment to our club. Players, Manager and coaches (do we bother with them any more?) should know, the supporters know more about what goes on in training grounds, treatment rooms etc than they might imagine. You also have to question the coaching set up. I know its early days for KK but I looked at our bench last night and you know its just not right. We're told Chris Hughton is on his way to takeover as first team coach but whether this alone can add to the know-how at the club remains to be seen. Too little, too late? But all of this has been in the post for a long while. In many ways, the chief architect of our inexorable decline is out of the firing line. Freddie Shepherd was at our club for a decade as Chairman and the infrastructure is woeful. We have no youngsters coming through, the scouting set up, although being addressed, is a joke and we have a squad which is painfully small. The story is we have a small number of quality players but I'm sorry, who are they exactly? They are just names, players living on reputation who have done nothing for us. Fat and over-fed. Under Shepherd, the club made one disastrous decision after another - managerial appointments, player purchases and inertia behind the scenes. Over the last two years, the club has barely strengthened and last year's forays into the transfer market resembled more a re-arrangement of the deckchairs on the Titanic than serious team-building. Allardyce told us at the time he had misgivings about the players he was bringing in - particularly foreign defenders and Jesus, how right he was. Roeder's team-building the year before was pitiful as well. Don't get me on about Souness and Shepherd for whom much of our ills needs to be credited. Where we are now is the culmination of successive bouts of incompetence. But Ashley and Mort need to take some responsibility also. Until there is serious money for team-building allied to the strategic work they are telling us they are undertaking then they will be vulnerable to the shit-stirring that they are carpet-baggers from London out to turn a quick coin. Although the players can't be bought until the summer, the deals can be set up as of now. We need to know the preparation is going on now. And of course the national press love it don't they? If they can make a bad situation worse then the braying pack of hyenas will do so with relish. One thing is for certain, the press have us pencilled in as the club in crisis, the club to be destroyed and to be fair we're making it easy for them. Kevin Keegan wore the air of a man at breaking point in TV interviews after the Man Utd game and much as we respect the man for his integrity, his commitment for our club and his achievements, I'll make no apologies for saying, Newcastle United comes first and it did not inspire confidence. Sadly, he resembled the forlorn figure we saw in the last days of his Man City tenure rather than the ebullient young manager whose teams played some of the best attacking football any of us have ever seen from NUFC. If this continues we are in the realms of a heartbreaking conclusion. But KK is the man who has to lift these players ahead of Saturday. He is the man who has to influence certain players that its better to be out on the park giving everything for a football club that gives them so much rather than skulking in a treatment room nursing not very much in particular. Nothing else but a win this Saturday. It really is make or break. Keep On, Keepin' On ... 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Guest alex Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Do True Faith ever do a headline that doesn't borrow from New Order, The Smiths or Joy Division btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakehips 0 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 (edited) Do True Faith ever do a headline that doesn't borrow from New Order[/i], The Smiths or Joy Division btw? Although I like T/f a lot, they do have this propensity for anything relating to the above mentioned bands being 'top notch' and uber cool. There is one contributor who starts every paragraph with a line from a 'trendy' 80's band and I get the impression that they all get a little carried away with just how cool they, and their musical tastes, are. I recall one regular reporter, who tries to be as cool as the rest, got sadly mistaken when he quoted a line from That's Entertainment as 'Reading the graffiti about slashed seat and fares' or some such nonsense. Edited February 25, 2008 by snakehips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jusoda Kid 1 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Sharpening their knives for KK already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammynb 3640 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Do True Faith ever do a headline that doesn't borrow from New Order, The Smiths or Joy Division btw? They've had a few clash ones! Would you rather a good Madonna or Kylie inspired one (no, I mean a headline Alex) occasionally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Do True Faith ever do a headline that doesn't borrow from New Order, The Smiths or Joy Division btw? They've had a few clash ones! Would you rather a good Madonna or Kylie inspired one (no, I mean a headline Alex) occasionally? I'd just like them to get out of the 80's now and again. However's writing them must be as old you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammynb 3640 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Do True Faith ever do a headline that doesn't borrow from New Order, The Smiths or Joy Division btw? They've had a few clash ones! Would you rather a good Madonna or Kylie inspired one (no, I mean a headline Alex) occasionally? I'd just like them to get out of the 80's now and again. However's writing them must be as old you cunt [/stevie] Hey if they were as old as me, it would be all zepplin, new york dolls and maximo park [/tom] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I don't think I even agree with the basic premise of the article. It's true to say that the situation is unacceptable but I think we'll go on and continue to accept it anyway - if/when we do go down, we'll go down with full houses imho. There's no pressure on the board in that respect. We're so far down the line since we last won anything that the management of the club don't have the ghosts of previous successes breathing a chilled reminder down their necks. There isnt the fear of failure that is absolutely palpable at some other clubs, where a luminously trophied air hangs thick about the place. If we were to win anything it would be seen as a massive bonus-but none of the players who are here, or who have been here for years now for that matter, actually fear ending a season empty handed. Until we can foster those sorts of conditions then we'll always end up potless and possibly worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norbert Colon 0 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Well if we are staying with the eighties themes after saturdays performance the headline should have been Atrocity exhibition - like most of their articles i agree with some of it but i think the part about keegan is unfair - his side has just been humiliated on national television - what is he supposed to look like - if he was smiling we would say he was taking the piss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 He should throw in some serious bi-polar shit, keep everyone happy tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Well if we are staying with the eighties themes after saturdays performance the headline should have been Atrocity exhibition - like most of their articles i agree with some of it but i think the part about keegan is unfair - his side has just been humiliated on national television - what is he supposed to look like - if he was smiling we would say he was taking the piss Joy Divison pinched that off Ballard btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Well if we are staying with the eighties themes after saturdays performance the headline should have been Atrocity exhibition - like most of their articles i agree with some of it but i think the part about keegan is unfair - his side has just been humiliated on national television - what is he supposed to look like - if he was smiling we would say he was taking the piss Joy Divison pinched that off Ballard btw Fucking hell your lass mustn't be able to drive you to the airport fast enough on a Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norbert Colon 0 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Well if we are staying with the eighties themes after saturdays performance the headline should have been Atrocity exhibition - like most of their articles i agree with some of it but i think the part about keegan is unfair - his side has just been humiliated on national television - what is he supposed to look like - if he was smiling we would say he was taking the piss Joy Divison pinched that off Ballard btw I defer to your greater knowledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Well if we are staying with the eighties themes after saturdays performance the headline should have been Atrocity exhibition - like most of their articles i agree with some of it but i think the part about keegan is unfair - his side has just been humiliated on national television - what is he supposed to look like - if he was smiling we would say he was taking the piss Joy Divison pinched that off Ballard btw Fucking hell your lass mustn't be able to drive you to the airport fast enough on a Sunday. She makes me get a taxi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 We might end the 00's like we ended the 80's at this rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11080 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Bad hair, shit music and huge mobile phones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadrian 0 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 i dont like the article personally , and i normally think highly of them . im not sure what people expect keegan todo with these players , i mean half of them allerdyce brought in and they let him down , the other half have been letting our managers down for years . the fact they highlight we havent strengthened in years , and we have had the same set of players for years , they have had 2 managers sacked before keegan so god knows what they expect kev todo with them ! the writing was on the wall for me in the first half of the season , regardless of how allerdyce sent them out to play , they still couldnt beat derby or reading . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 175 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Bad hair, shit music and huge mobile phones? What bounder said that to you ????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Patrokles Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Do True Faith ever do a headline that doesn't borrow from New Order, The Smiths or Joy Division btw? You 'borrowed' that from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11080 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 yer mum oooohhhhhh Zing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaser 1321 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I think I agree with the sentiment in that theyre basically heeding a warning to Mort/Ashley that this cant continue. For too many years have we underacheived and just when we thought we had turned the corner with new chairman/manager at the helm, things really do seem worse than ever. It seems ironic that under Allardyce, we had one of the best starts of the season yet we find ourselves now with the lowest points score since we moved into the prem. SA must be rubbing his hands with delight at seeing us implode since his departure. Looking at the remaining fixtures, I can see us getting no more than 11 points from those games, which may just be enough (39) to keep us up. It is then make or break for the board/management to get it right this coming close season to turn our fortunes around. Unfortunately with each game, that optimism fades a little further. After all, why would good players come to a club who has no European qualification, and has seen the management team do nothing with the current crop to suggest that things will get any better in 2008/2009 season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11080 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 out of interest, where do you see the points coming from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I reckon 39 points would easily see us stay up btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Bad hair, shit music and huge mobile phones? What bounder said that to you ????? so true! First time I read that I read it as 'bouncer' too, which is probably even truer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I reckon 39 points would easily see us stay up btw. Yeah me too...tho I'm more concerned about our chances of actually amassing those 39 points to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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