It’s time for change!

Posted on August 27th, 2012 | 46 Comments |

NUFC Blog logo.
New stuff on the way!
Dear readers, just thought I’d take some time to let you all know, especially you regular readers out there, what’s happening with the site.

As you may have realised, there have been less blogs than usual over the last few months, and no prediction competition for the first half of this season too. My colleague, Hugh, was in charge of the prediction competition and has been busy working hard for the last few months. Because the prediction competition we run on this site is quite time consuming to set up and run, I’ve been busy too, and there have also been alot of other things besides just writing the blogs which need catching up on, I decided to leave it this time. However, I havent discounted the possibilty of running a second competition later in the season IF enough people are interested. Sorry about that!

Whilst alot of the stuff I’m working on will be “housework” type stuff which will hardly be noticed, there will also be some new stuff which will. For instance, I’ve been working on a video section for the site to showcase some excellent Newcastle United videos, and I will also be working on some Apps for the major smartphone platforms. I’m hoping that there will be some other new things for the site too, so if there are any of you out there who might have some suggestions for improvements, please let us know via the comments below if there is anything in particular which you’d like to see! However this may also mean the loss of a few existing things too as we try to concentrate on other stuff which you don’t see enough of on other blogs.

As Hugh will still be away for a while yet by the look of things, things may continue to be rather slow in the blog side of things for a while whist I’m working on the improvements, but we will try to keep up keep up with as much coverage on the matches as we can, and also get back to normal as soon as possible.

That’s about it for now except to say thanks for your continued support.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1095 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

46 Responses

  1. Hey Worky, this is my site of choice and whatever works for you is good for me. I’m just sorry that I live stateside and am unable to attend any of the matches so that I could pitch in with the occasional blog myself. Change can be good, though Hugh’s wry humour is missed.

  2. Has Hugh gone for good? I never knew he went.

    I am all for the changes. Just wish we get more discussions going. I lurk most of the time but I always read up daily.

  3. Not sure a phone app will help me out with my phone Worky!

    Could you bring it out as a patch to “Snake” plz? :D

  4. Bottom line WT is we need a place where there’s no NUFC R’s licking nor catering to the masses or writing what everyone else is writing !

    Honest, blunt and down to earth commentary is what most of us want. We also need a place where NUFC fans, especially those from abroad, can gauge the temperature of the club, the board, management as well as the fans without being spoon fed shlte.

    So if you need help in delivering that let us know !!!!

  8. how about live streaming of games on this site be nice to watch the match’s live on this site with usual banter and stuff going on during the match

  9. Would need some hefty license to stream on here legally. Wouldn’t take them long to shut it down illegally either. Shame though.

  10. A chat box may be possible? Like the public ones on the majority of the free streams but with less drivel.

  12. for youtube vids people can record themselves and talk about a topic posted on this site, would open up to many discussion’s and insight on what is happening with nufc

  14. Um,i recently removed a load of apps from my phone,but this is essential,keep up the great work.we have the best fans..anyhow what is the latest,still think hatems going and carrol not coming back,..

  15. I hope that Arsenal will not be willing to pay enough for Cabaye. Wenger doesn’t like to overspend and hopefully Cabaye will look at Arsenal and wonder if they are any closer to winning anything than they were last year.

    I think it is up to us now who we sell as it is so close to the deadline that a player cannot “agitate” for move.

    So, if we can get Debuchy, and that’s a big if, I am hopeful of us having a decent first team but very limited depth after that.

    There’s not much money in the Europa League so maybe Fatman and Pardew see that as just a nice day out for the fans?

  16. We’d be selling Cabaye to our direct competition aswell. Is any of this last minute Debuchy bid based on anything?

  17. Av read in the papers the last2days that arsenal were ganna make a bid for Tiote,then the next day it was Cabaye.also read man utd were ganna bid4both ov them.IMO it’s all paper talk,pure garbage.
    I hope this rumour that we’ve upped the Debuchy bid is true.now all we need is for copenhagen to hold onto there 1nil lead n put lille out ov the champions league.if that happens our bid could be accepted n Debuchy could become a NUFC player.
    Here’s hoping anyway….HWTL

  18. gs, there could also be the possibility, that dracula and fatboy slim, become part of the, “who needs them club”.
    the way they have acted towards other clubs, since becoming involved in football, could see clubs not being prepared to deal with them.
    their bullying and strongarm tactics, are already upsetting characters abroad.
    they have already peed off most of the premiership, to the point that, we very rarely sign anyone from a british club.
    that could be to do with the fact, that ashley is very hard to deal with.
    i think they need to look at how they deal with other clubs, because it could come back and bite them.

    i think fatboy and the gimp, could be in for a rude awakening, because i cannot see them getting the fees they crave, for their players.
    it goes without saying, that i hope no one comes in with any bids, for messrs cabaye and tiote.
    on the flipside, it will be brilliant, as it will no doubt, do ashley’s head in, if he’s not the centre of attention, on deadline day.
    imo he lives for these days, when he can play shopkeeper, this is why he’s involved in football, to have clubs falling over themselves to buy his stock.
    he is doing everything in his power to try and drive prices down, in football.
    it could become a double edged sword, for him though, as clubs will no longer pay the big fees, so he will lose out.

    the andy carroll saga, and dracula’s boasting, about charging clubs interest, for late payments etc, and their admitted all round skullduggery, may come back to haunt them.

    although cabaye and tiote are decent players, i cannot see clubs forking out, massive fees for those two, to be fair.

  19. One thing that is overlooked in our small squad is that we would like to keep all of them bar Xisco. I see headlines about other teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs and they are about shipping out deadwood to make way for new blood. Getting rid of salaries so they can get players that better fit their system.

    Not a day does by that there arene’t articles about getting rid of Adam, Carroll,Downing, Arshavin, Bentner, Jenas, Dawson even Defoe and Nani. There are a lot more as you all know.

    Now this could be an indictment of Ashley because the teams that we are competing with have all this fat to trim and we don’t. And yet Ashley is unwilling to add muscle, so to speak.

    There is room for a few more players at NUFC and there is really no excuse for not getting 2 or 3 in the next few days. We all know the finances are in great shape and the sqaud is also in great shape except we need more Experience-Quality-Depth. We have the money, we have the salary space, we have the squad space – do we have an owner who is willing to commit. He is a renowned gambler, but he doesn’t even have to go all in, he can make a value bet at this point.

  20. You know, the relegation clearout and Graham Carr’s astute scouting have put us in an eviable and almost unique position of strength here. Ashley made his early mistakes but you have to admit the bastad is lucky.

    He must be able to see this as a smart and greedy businessman? For not much more investment he could have a successful club and/or a very saleable asset.

    Oh, referring to my post above I think there is a good case for keeping Ryan Taylor, Williamson, Gosling and Obertan because they are decent squad players at pobably low wages for a top half premiership club.

  21. GS says:

    “Oh, referring to my post above I think there is a good case for keeping Ryan Taylor, Williamson, Gosling and Obertan”

    There isnt a legal high flier in the world, not even OJ’s lawyer, who can make a case for keeping Obertan :)

  22. GS says:

    “There’s not much money in the Europa League”

    Not CL style fortunes but enough, as they say, to pay for a player or two. More to follow shortly.

  24. GS says:
    August 28, 2012 at 6:32 pm

    “We all know the finances are in great shape”

    GS, I don’t know that.

    From everything I’ve seen, Newcastle United has the third highest debt in the Premiership (£131 million), behind Manchester United (£308 million) and Fulham (£193 million).

  25. I don’t really want to get too much into finaces though Worky, so let’s just say our CASH FLOW is in great shape, especially with Europe and the extra TV money.

  26. is there any truth in the rumours, about debuchy going to real madrid?, apparently that’s the crack in france.
    another rumour about andy carroll going out on loan, to ac milan.

  27. Im sure cabaye had the chance to play for arsenal,he even went to the emirates stadium and spoke to wenger,but chose to come to newcastle,lille had done the double and qualified for the champions legue,but he chose to come to a club not in european competition,why take a step back?

  28. GS says:
    August 28, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    “I don’t really want to get too much into finaces though Worky”

    It was you who brought it up, GS. You wrote “We all know the finances are in great shape,” but how can you know that if you don’t want to get into the club’s finances?

  29. TROJAN RECORDS 73 says:

    “another rumour about andy carroll going out on loan, to ac milan”

    Clubs should market a game called “Bullshlt Bravado” where you try to outwit your opponents by calling their bluff over players who they want to buy, but cheaply.

    So you run around and create rumours that your star striker is off to Italy on loan just so you can counter rumours from the other club that they’re now looking in Europe for a forward because they cant get the star striker for fifty quid and a SD T shirt :(

    As I said earlier what does this say about the clubs involved and how does it impact on the players caught up in this shambles ?

  30. Worky, that’s why I changed it to cash flow. Will you accept that our current cash flow is enough to cover costs without us having to get into the whole financial statement? Then, that our revenues are going to increase if we qualify for the group stages of Europa and with the new TV deal. Therefore, we can probably afford new players. We may need an overdraft or temporary loan from Ashley if there isn’t the cash on the books, but the future change in revenue will cover that.

    That’s all I am saying Worky, future revenues that we know are there should cover a couple of new players.

    Unless Ashley decides to syphon it off :)

  31. GS, In the club’s last accounts, there was mention of a £9.5 positive cash balance at the bank. The debt figure I gave above was from the time of the club’s last published accounts with £140 million debt to Ashley minus the account balance.

    As well as this, a profit of £32.6 million for the club’s last year of trading “has been transferred to reserves.”

  32. sampdiago says:
    August 28, 2012 at 10:01 pm

    sampdiago, sorry about a couple of your comments being held in moderation. I’ve tried to fix it so it doesn’t happen with future comments.

  33. Ed is all over Debuchy to Real Madrid like a rash.

    He does make a good point about Neil Taylor, which some have already made on here. Same point as has been made about Victor Moses and Ashley sometimes being penny wise and pound foolish.

    Is it deja vu all over again?

  34. GS says:
    August 29, 2012 at 12:28 am

    “Ed is all over Debuchy to Real Madrid like a rash.”

    I read it GS, he’s changing his tune. One of the comments on there made me chuckle a bit:

    “If true, big if of course, it certainly supports the notion that other clubs are now letting Newcastle do their scouting for them and also sheds a darker light on Mourinhos’ recent text to AP wishing us well in Europe. Cynical?”

  35. It should be an interesting few days. I love the overreactions and hysteria it causes. Some Blogs were hilarious when we sold Carroll and even more so last year at this time when nobody came in, with the helecopter on standby and all the Sky reporters outside the grounds.

    Do you know we even get like 8 hours of “deadline day” here in the USA transmitted live from the Sky Sports studios?

  36. Workyticket no problem mate.I worry when the club makes statements like,”We will only sell players like colochini,cabaye or tiote for substantial amounts”how about saying at this point in the transfer window,or at all they are not avalible we have that buisness model and dont really say no to money,but we are a football club competing to stay in the premier league,and it is not an easy league.

  37. Yeah the media are like sharks in a feeding frenzy, anything from Ashley signing Rooney, to real offering £10m. for Debuchy.
    No doubt there may in fact be a good number of deals go through at this stage, as is normally the case, leaving little time for any brinkmanship.
    But unless one is super optomistic, appears we are not about to get either Debuchy or Douglas.
    Too bad as our defense lacks depth, especially with the additional number of games in the Europe competition.
    A couple of injuries would expose us to people like Williamson and Raylor as fill in defenders and with quality like that, we are going nowhere.
    Well, everyones great expectations have once again foundered due to Ashleys belief he is a dealmaker extraordinary, when in fact he’s no more than a cheapskate who got lucky in previous deals and believes he can repeat it by playing a long game.
    Shit thats two of em, AP also plays a long game, with the ball that is, hoofing it right down broadway.
    My advice dont expect to match last seasons performance, when we should (if Ashley had any ambition)be expecting a possible top four.
    Ah well !

  38. chuck, the one thing you learn from mike ashley’s tenure, just think of the worst case scenario happening, then you wont be disappointed.

  40. sampdiago says:
    August 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    “Workyticket no problem mate.”

    Sorry it happened again. I’m getting it sorted now though (honest!).

  41. chuck says:
    August 29, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    “My advice dont expect to match last seasons performance, when we should (if Ashley had any ambition)be expecting a possible top four.
    Ah well !”

    We should be fighting it out with someone like Everton for seventh, that is the benchmark for Pardew. If we finish above that we will have done well, and if we finish significantly below that we will have done poorly.

    However, one factor which might play a large role is that whilst we have a very good first team, we need more depth beyond that in the defensive and striking departments. This means that we will be more subject to the vagaries of injuries, Europe and stuff like the African cup of Nations so we will have to trust to luck to a greater extent than most. Pardew’s game is quite physically demanding and the players seem to train quite hard, hence we are getting quite a few injuries once more.

  42. Sorry to chime in late, worky-I’ll be pleased as punch if the blog continues as it has been. I would, however, like to get at your sources. Any chance of adding links? You’re obviously better informed than I am from reading the standard publications. I’ve started to delve into continental sites and publications where I can read them but I’m lost in terms of knowing how credible foreign language sources are, relatively. Also, my iphone doesn’t like this site and I can never log in…but really, no big deal.

  43. Thanks tunyc.

    I have been linking most of my sources my sources recently. It did used to get a bit frustrating sometimes though when I spend hours of research on a story no one else was looking at, only for someone else to nick all the sources I had spent hours finding and sifting through and have a similar story up about half an hour later!

    You seem to be quite intelligent and the kind of person who studied at a University. Well, I don’t know about you but in the early days when I started studying, I was also taught how to study, ie how to tell the diffference between good, reliable sources and poor, unreliable sources, the correct protocol for citations in pieces of writing and that sort of thing. I have also known journalists and talked to them about the various subterfuges they use to dress up bollocks and make ot look more convincing. Some are rather obvious, simple and used all the time. If someone has something definite like a named quote from a primary source, they won’t fanny around using terms such as “we understand that…” or “It has been suggested that…” and so on. Sometimes when they write something like “a source at the club says…” it is errant tosh, then again, sometimes it isn’t. I myself have spoken to people to don’t want their names to be splashed across this site, like football coaches and people who work in marketing. I spoke to someone in marketing when I was doing stories about the renaming of St James’ Park, and he was very helpful in confirming what I suspected already.

    Sometimes, when a “very high source” or “a highly placed Newcastle source” has allegedly lifted the lid on what is going on behind closed doors, possibly to smear one or two popular managers after they have just been sacked, I happen to know that it has been a certain Owl like Managing Director at the club ;-)

    On the iPhone thing, is it using Safari? I’ll try and look into it.

  44. “Sunday Sun down as Magpies soar

    “Trinity Mirror blames 20% fall in sales on regional paper’s local team, Newcastle United, doing so well in the Premier League

    “Trinity Mirror’s Sunday Sun has suffered a sales decline of more than 20% in the first six months of the year, with the publisher blaming the circulation drop on the paper’s local team, Newcastle United, doing too well in the Premier League last season.”

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/29/sunday-sun-abc-figures-down-20-percent

    And nothing to do with the Sunday Stun serving up complete and utter bollocks every weekend?

  45. I think Pardew may be on the pull. I just saw him on Sky Sports News and it looks like he has put some dye in his hair. There are dark bits and a yellowish hue, so he may no longer be the “silver supremo”. Maybe it was the lighting, but I don’t think so.