Are the Bellagraph Nova Group all that they seem?

63 Responses

1. “We run into the future and we do it faster than anyone else.”

   If they really tried to run faster than anyone else into the future, I think they would actually slow down time but that’s a story for NUFC blog’s physics correspondent.

   Hugh, you are our physics correspondent, what is your view?

2. It’s true, time slows down with speed, although you have to be travelling at an appreciable percentage of the speed of light to notice much. From the perspective of a photon, no time passes at all between it leaving its source and arriving at its destination.

3. That’s exactly what I thought, Hugh. That kind of bollocks really gets on my tits.

4. Chuck, I have posted my reply to you here as the blog you posted your last comment on is very old now

   Atomisation. When people are atomised, broken apart from each other, they gravitate towards alternative solutions, a world where things are at least consistent and logical within their own bubble, even though they have lost touch with a reality which is highly complex and hard to grasp within an atomised society. They turn to the strong man who will get things done, who will ‘Get Brexit Done,’ who will ‘Make America Great Again.’

   This atomisation has been done deliberately in the interests of control, to break up things that make people who have little power as individuals powerful through collective action, such as the Trade Unions you mention, but it can have disastrous consequences, as we saw in the 20thC with two world wars and several genocides.

5. Worky

   I fail to understand whatever it is you meant to pass on, it’s all very vague and the only ones actually mentioned in your statement, are Trade Unions .
   Do you include them in your statement or do they just appear as part of an inclusive “Atomized” grouping, two world wars and several genocides indeed ?
   Actually possibly the most active of countries involved in those
   disasters, perhaps you should check out the country that has either
   declared war or is responsible for the millions of deaths from both wars and punitive actions against colonies reaching in the tens of millions or more, and shipped so called coolies to all parts of the world to replace those who refused to work for the empire, which also supplied soldiers to the Raj in two ww’s.
   Plus the various so called famines which took place in Ireland and India, which some may have an inkling about which between them amounted to at least five million deaths, though I fail to understand how they could have been named famines while exporting foodstuffs from both areas.
   Sounds more like a description of genocide to me , no ?

   Though the present heads of states of both the UK&US do fit the bill, bullies who will do anything to maintain in control, though neither justifies his ability to either understand the job requirements, playing it by ear and leading their respective nations to ruin.
   I mean with what justification can either of these incompetents use in regard to antagonize other countries and trade groups by constantly criticism.
   The fact the US can take care of this question through future regimes (hopefully Biden will have the common sense to renew old alliances) whereas Boris will continue to play it by ear, digging a hole for future PM’s and working according to WTO rules, with no attempt to solve the remaining trade issues with the ROI even attempted.
   Yes he figures his bulldozing ability is for others to deal with and
   act as if the ROI being a former colony can be ignored , instead of realizing it’s now part and parcel of the EU.
   Certainly such issues as fishing and cross border and customs relationships with one of the UK’s last colonies, the statelet of NI, will remain an issue which only time and the voting public , can solve, which is also inevitable.
   And to remove themselves from NI , could be an unexpected action
   that could be a cause for the two islands off the coast of Europe, in regards to both personal friendship and trade, which is not insignificant, get this done before the Scotts finally decide to split and are confident finally to paddle their own canoe, which I believe is assured and not that far away.
   As for NUFC, not another season where due to our owners not willing to reduce an overpriced club, the side will again provide lousy football (get a real manager) and struggle to remain in the EPL.
   How do the fans put up with it puzzles me to no end.
   Ah well !

   S

   w

6. OK then, Chuck, people who feel isolated, who don’t feel like they have a stake in society. A society in which individuals are disconnected from each other is the society most likely to fall to extreme alternatives. I’ll let you speak for your side of the pond but I think that Trump is a symbol of societal atomisation. Over here, society has become more and more atomised since the days of Thatcher, Reagan and the new political consensus of Neoliberalism. It’s a dangerous game.

   Yes, 19th Century Imperialism did play a role in the horrors of the 20th Century in Europe in terms of race thinking and such but all you ever want to do is turn every bloody discussion into a rant about British Imperialism! It was a Europe wide phenomenon. It was also a phenomenon of Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. The first genocide of the 20th Century was carried out by Germans in Namibia. Dr Mengele’s mentor, Dr. Eugene Fischer used to carry out hideous medical experiments on Namibian children too.

7. So I turn on the TV and what’s on? A documentary about Kenya and the Mau Mau.

8. Worky
   Yes and you can expect more documentaries in regard to the history of “The Empire” which has never yet been attempted, apart from those which rarely reach a large enough audience,
   Just think of the money that could be generated by a grand version of “The Empire” by the well funded “Beeb” like the big house series that was so popular in the US, “Upstairs and downstairs,” “Downton Abbey” etc.
   Though it would no doubt be very careful to project a history that reflects the “Nial Ferguson” version whitewashing the Empires history.
   We , or many of us reject out of hand Fergusons version of Empire
   as it appears and though a decent scholar, like most he fails to include the savage treatment and wholesale plundering of the colonies, no doubt purposely, resulting in his version of what he claimed to have taken place as the truth and in exchange concentrated on the regular nonsense of educating the natives and providing law and order, healthcare and in general improving the lives of those living within the boundaries of “The Empire”, which we are all aware is nonsense.
   And yes I’m just as tired of your history and not a particular fan of
   “American exceptionalism” or “manifest destiny”, a fancy name for grab it quickly, we being the stronger. Hell it worked in both the Caribbean and Philippines, but unfortunately was both the wrong period of time, which was close to the ending of colonization.
   Too bad you lost the American war of independence, because of taxation without representation.
   What an Empire that would have been !
   PS, did the documentary in any way influence your opinion of what actually took place or are you satisfied with the governments propaganda. ?

   which used the same tactics, taking over half of Mexico combine this with manifest destiny

   and attacking the then decrepit Spanish Empire and retaining those islands in the Caribbean and the Philippines.

   And yes you mention “The Mau Mau”and Kenya, a ten year plus
   uprising that ended up with Jomo Kenyatta signing the agreement .
   And yes most thought of Kenyatta as the father of the country, however the fact is he was the UK’s “ace in the hole”and while others were both killed and tortured in the various concentration camps, Jomo was quite comfortable.
   Which is no more than a nugget when compared to the Empires
   other colonies, which is no doubt that the only attempt at whitewashing the history

   h

   left the wealthy immigrants in retention of lands the lands previously owned by the kikuyu tribe and too this day use the former owners as low paid workers

9. Chuck, do you remember a film called ‘Simba‘ starring Dirk Bogarde? It was about the Mau Mau and the Mau Mau charcters in the film were played by real Mau Mau who had been arrested. After the film they were taken away and shot. The link above is to the full film. It’s stunningly offensive. Dirk Bogarde should have been shot for appearing in it.

   I think that Mau Mau is one of those phony, scary sounding names, like when you Yanks kept referring to the Vietnamese NLA/NLF by the deliberately scary sounding name, “Viet Cong.” They never called themselves the ‘Viet Cong’ and I don’t think that the Mau Mau ever referred to themselves by that name neither.

10. Worky
    yes of course, “give a dog a bad name”we are all aware of how that works !
    As for the truth of what took place in Kenya has been disputed for years by those that imposed their will on a people who had previously owned the country.
    Using concentration camps and torture, in attempts to quell the movement of Kenyans to rid themselves of these recent wealthy immigrants and attempt to regain their land.
    Mostly consisting of former soldiers returning home having been used as British allies during ww2.
    Until recently this had been denied by most British Governments and the official records of torture and death are highly suspect, with possibly more than double or more, all of course denied until recently when a few Kikuyu sued for offenses and received a pittance in answer.
    Oh ! that we could have access to official British records
    which no doubt is a condemnation of “The Empire” and it’s treatment of those incorporated into that Empire and attempts to hold onto them, and the wealth appropriated from them, which was as anyone can see a failure, the Commonwealth being the best they could come up with,
    Which has been basically ignored by former colonies.
    It’s over seventy odd years since the end of WW2, more or less the beginning of the end of colonialism and many former colonial nations adopted certain parts or colonies (yes. those with a good number of white people) France and The

    Netherlands, with the same lifestyles and laws of the mother country.
    Whereas most of the former lands of any consequence,
    (Read white dominated) had already been granted (Dominion status) Australia, Canada , New Zealand and Ireland.
    As for the future without the EU markets the country no longer a manufacturer of any degree having gone from an industrial nation to a service industry, I have no idea who’s idea this was, but it aint gonna work and when
    continuing as a single country attempting to create new
    trading partners under WTO trade rules, fugedaboudit !

    As for the term “Mau Mau”the naming is somewhat confused whereas “Viet Cong” simply refers to the underground army of South Vietnam, “Charlie” being the most commonly used term by the US military.

    As for Dirk Bogarde and Simba, possibly a propaganda
    film that I missed, thank goodness, he must have been a bit short of cash at the time,

    Ah well Dirk, that doesn’t make you a bad actor !

    using

11. Well here we are again, with our grand new editions, no not the ones we could have had if the sale had gone unopposed by the clubs in the top six (the prevailing rumor) which sounds like the likeliest of the rumors, being they being the clubs most effected.
    As for the deals around the present players both those signed and those under scrutiny look like a decent group, doubtful whether they can achieve much more than the crowd before them, but in with a better chance of avoiding relegation.
    I just don’t get it ?
    What ?
    Why now that the sale and it’s rumors have gone away, that our owner has decided to spend a few quid on rebuilding, so far the incoming group appear to be either veterans of the EPL, with youngsters also being looked at.
    A side that can survive the dreaded term relegation, a group which we have belonged too for the last five or so years. not very impressive and not exactly playing a very pleasing style of football.
    However there are plenty of billionaires still without a side in the EPL and following the failure of the recent sale agreed upon by both parties but objected too obviously by top of the division sides, they being aware of the increased competition it will bring.
    A stupid move by those members involved, which will eventually be disclosed, as will as the reasons for objecting to the sale.
    Which could be reflected within the bidding on other Saudi deals
    consisting of over three hundred billion $ which is earmarked to be
    spent to rebuild the country into a member of a modern society with all of the bells and whistles that reflect a modern society from a tribal kingdom dominated by one family .
    Well I guess we can relax and spend another season watching another lower half of the league side, but I have to say that Bruce has certainly done better than expected with this signings and hopefully our Dear Leader finds another Billionaire on the lookout for a football club, hopefully one in the North East, no not Sunderland though I would have no objection to their returning to the EPL.

    /,

12. Worky

13. Atomisation
    Sure ! one can find them on the train, crossing busy streets who cannot resist the glances they give to their smart-phones every few minutes, there must be a wealth of rubbish that is exchanged between those involved.
    That’s the present danger to most Smart Phone (SP) users, or as you describe to-days users
    Then to prove how important it is Apple recently published it’s net worth at over two billion.
    The Information involved is basically supplied by the users who pay little attention to what they divulge, that has the ability to become a passport, drivers license, personal history, education and medical record, in fact a complete history which is also contained as a personal history by governments, who’s purpose is to get the low down on everyone.
    It’s attraction is beyond belief , with just about everyone rich , poor and in between, which in certain circumstance is essential to complete certain tasks once done by question and answer, or on a written sheet.
    Notice for instance when arriving at a medical facility one is handed an I-pad which is in fact a questionnaire which is used as a replacement for a pen and sheet of paper.
    But how atomized are we take for instance the solid south, a

    Democratic stronghold consisting of the states of the Deep South .
    voting so because of the fact Lincoln was a Republican and since
    the civil rights movement signed into law by President. Johnson
    in 1965, is still the solid south only it votes as a solid block republican .
    How atomized is that ?
    Of course there are just too many well organized people , those in religion, workers unions , and hundred of societies, but laws change and unless one is familiar with to days electronic machines
    will be forced to produce certain information and if necessary forced to learn certain procedures, in order to implement society’s
    rules and regulations.
    Were I younger I doubt this lifestyle we presently supposedly enjoy compared with the years that have passed by are filled by the introduction of a constant flow of credit cards, each using a different way to pay, some you tap, others insert and end up with the same end result, use your cell phone stupid.
    My belief is the future without a smart-phone is impossible .
    as it will be your identity, like some robot from another age.

    a

14. Had we not been exposed to a deal that would make NUFC the wealthiest club in the EPL, agree to terms with
    the prospective buyer then wait for months to activate the deal, then to be told by some fall guy representative of the EPL, that the KSA were the problem, actually to ensure that the actual Government of the KSA were not
    involved via calling any deals to be made, which in reality has been imposed by objections of those top earning clubs in the EPL, who object to another club about to replace them or compete with them.
    It’s my belief that had the club, Ashley and the Saudi’s,
    should have taken the matter to court, being the buyers were found innocent of any crime or misdemeanor and
    would have decided to buy only to be told they had to provide proof of who in fact would be in charge of the
    decisions the actual club owners or the Saudi government.
    Something that is apparently something totally new, which could have come to light in a serious court case and perhaps resulted in a few owners and representatives of the top clubs to make a run for shelter.
    However the Saudi’s still have time and money to spend but obviously not on court cases or anything thing that portrays them in a poor light.
    Ah Well !

    so
    Gives one an idea of how bent professional football is at present, when supposedly UEFA and FIFA remain, following the supposed cleaning up of the corrupt system was never completed.
    Yeah some of the old heavies were fined and some spent time in jail, but not enough to clean up the organizations
    general corruption, face it any business that deals in big money earnings and especially during the transfer windows, is a major target for the pimps and hangers on, never mind the well paid lawyers on retainers.
    Which if you are wondering why the NUFC -Saudi deal was about try asking any of the present owners of those within the top eight sides or the wealthiest clubs who saw a threat to the presence of another wealthy club competing against them. .

15. Aye, it’s all starting off again, Chuck, did you read all of that letter from Richard Masters to Chi Onwurah?

    https://chionwurahmp.com/2020/08/premier-league-ceo-richard-masters-responds-to-chis-letter/

    Pitchforks are being sharpened, torches are being lit once more. As an MP, Onwurah’s carrying the banner for the fans but she’s not the kind of person who would want the Saudis running anything.

    You just have to let it go, Chuck. Newcastle United is like a tragi-comic opera that never ends. It’s the curse of the Gallowgate or whatever.

    The Mau Mau are on the TV AGAIN. It’s a shame you can’t get BBC4 over there, it’s just non-stop Mau Mau at the moment. It’s moving on to Biafra now.

    Re Apple, I think you’ll find it’s worth a hell of a lot more than two billon! maybe two trillion? I don’t know. Was it Amazon or Apple who was the world’s first trillion $ company? That didn’t seem very long ago. Apple is losing its direction again, it’s no longer breaking records, Jobs is dead and Tim Cook is a boring man with no vision. That’s me trying to think like someone who is interested in Apple anyway. I think they’re an evil cult who brainwash all their users.

16. Worky
    Well it’s about time the remnants of the Empire fessed up to the horrors of their past, otherwise it would be left to those like Nial Ferguson and possibly backed up by the literati from Oxbridge, that would be those opposing the removal of racist Cecil Rhodes statue presently at Oxford.
    Had they listened to Liverpool MP Bessie Braddock, at that time they would have have realized the future would be one of a constant struggle with those demanding independence from the Empire and the truth concerning Kenya would become known to those who were victims of British propaganda.

    t
    Two trillion or six zillion we are using to-days numbers as if they had been only recently invented, but for one company to reach two trillion in such a short period of time is in itself amazing
    Obviously you don’t care about Apple products, they are so far ahead of the average producers, their products are the result of so much thought and seldom attacked or hacked, in fact years ahead, possibly the most copied
    products ever

    As for the Sale, if Ashley and the Saudis don’t take their case to the courts, shall the EPL then decide whatever they want in regard to who can become an owner when it’s proven both they and the seller are in agreement to a deal and the fact the Saudi government may be that owner, whats the difference, as no crimes or misdemeanors have taken place and the fact there are already those with titles within the Emirates who openly admit to owning EPL clubs plus those that have club in other countries, I mean whats so special about The Saudi’s, other than the objections of the top and wealthiest clubs not to have to compete with them.
    Ah you say, because the Saudi’s are bombing Yemen (yes with the aid of British bombers and British operated
    guidance systems) but is that any different from the fact Britain has been killing the people from Afghanistan for the last fifteen years ??? a stupid return to take over a country that has little in the way of resources, which
    destroyed the Empires last invasion during the nineteenth century, with only one returning, I’m sure you are all familiar with the sketch of the sole survivor riding a half dead horse, sent deliberately by the “Wiley Pathan”named by a former Gurkha officer serving on the North West Frontier between the wars.

    And just because the EPL has certain rules does not mean the are sacrosanct they can be challenged in a court of law and can also be described as a force to prevent trade, meaning lets get to the bottom of this plot and see who the main culprits are, not just fade away as I’m sure there is closer to two hundred thousand fans than a mere one thousand odd fans who want to know the reason/s for the months of delay that ended when
    the Saudi’s had had enough of the leagues delaying tactics.

17. A good start to the season, a fairly convincing 2-0 victory over a team who should be about the same as us with two of the new players on the scoresheet, hopefully that will take your mind off the Saudis and the Mau Mau, Chuck? That new left back from the Canaries seemed to have a decent game too.

    Your sweetheart at Leeds certainly had a go against Liverpool, that was a really exciting game, as the 4-3 scoreline suggests.

    Apple have always been a closed system and they rip you off something rotten. I never liked the mouse with only one clicker and you could never get quite as much software for them neither.

18. Well seeing as I missed the game (same old crap with every main network that takes over “the soccer thing” and the boring commentators with their shrill voiced mediator.
    I projected the fact NUFC would win, not being a fan of WHU, though they bought a decent youngster in Rice, who I believe will move on, being too good for WH.
    Like to see him come to the Magpies.
    Well three points is a good start and one has to include Steve Bruce in the praise as I understand the ten men behind the ball approach has been abandoned, but not entirely, looking at the possession figures.
    Some fans are still considering this as another season of
    playing catenaccio style football, but hopefully Bruce can save that for the top six sides and turn Wilson and others
    into a decent attacking force, being to now serve up a repeat of last seasons tactical game, ten men behind the ball would be an insult to the fans.
    After all the club has a decent goalscorer, speed and a yet to decide where he wants to play midfielder, also our
    playmaker with the occasional goal or two, yeah John-Joe Shelvey, though I suggest we keep an eye out for an up and coming playmaker as he will need replacing soon enough.
    Guess our dear leader has joined in following the success of business deals so far and may have enough pocket change to invest further, almost like the year he invested in Sissoko and the other Frenchmen that raised
    a profit from selling on, hell we might have to give the old scout a call.
    On the other hand , Boris has been warned by former PM’s not to attempt to bully his way to an agreement in the present negotiations for a Brexit, that such tactics are an attempt to force the EU to finally accept his bullying and not too bright decisions, which if he continues will definitely end with a NO DEAL and like the recently celebrated agreement made outside of Brexit, the Japanese treaty, which is no different from the previous deal, but hey, you gotta make if sound good.
    But the people of NI voted (around about 60%) to stay within the EU and are getting what they voted for , subsidies from both sides, yet continue to milk The EU &
    the UK for whatever they can get, it’s like looking after a family of
    sick people, which could last until the native Irish become politically dominant and vote to re-unite with The Republic, which demographically may be in the immediate future .
    The only question is would most residents vote themselves out of The National Health System?

19. Chuck, you’re a hindsight Nostradamus, confidently predicting the result after the event!

    It was a difficult one to call, two ‘old school’ British managers of similar vintage with squads of a similar kind of level.

    I must admit that I’m quite interested in ‘Dirty Leeds’ now though after what I saw. Bielsa only has a budget team, and unless he brings in some good new signings soon, even if he only keeps them up this season, he’s done his job. They went out there like they were Liverpool though.

    It was 55.8% who voted to remain in Northern Ireland. I thought it was around 55% so I checked. If Ireland took on Northern Ireland, they would also be taking on a large deficit for a small country, the Protestants would kick off as well.

20. And yes my main man Bielsa did an incredible job with his players and as things turned out, we ended up watching a decent game where Citeh didn’t really dominate and were lucky in fact to a degree,
    I can see where with the right players Bielsa could end up as one of the most successful EPL managers.

    As for Brexit, it appears Boris and his gang of a nowhere cabinet are about to insist in changing an earlier agreement and was heavily criticized by not only the ROI PM, but by ex-British PM’s Major and Blair in a statement which I quote (“cavalier bombast passing as serious diplomacy”) though Boris claims it’s an insurance policy, to insure what !
    Look I hope the UK get the deal they want, but I’m also sure there are those that rue the day they voted so.
    As for NI already a statelet that is loosing jobs steadily, to rely on the UK for subsidies in order to make work for the average working person, better for the UK, to just hand it back to the Irish and kiss ass to the Scotts hoping they won’t leave whatever is left of the Empire, amazing the changes that took place by globe makers, removing those pink areas down to England and Wales , well they can relax now it will only be accomplished before long, but if Boris continues to ask to re- do earlier contracted deals, the UK may find itself the only country working under WTO rules and paying for access to the EU markets via tariffs.

21. I have to admit I owe an apology to Mr Bruce, whom I had thought no more of than BSA or any one of those I referred to as “a retread”, you know the guys sixtiish, not that smart but who fed off relegation heading sides, playing a set piece defensive side, who’s job it was to score from set pieces, mostly corners.
    And though Bruce has yet to show us an inspirational style of football, not quite yet, but having goal-scorers
    and some interesting players, we are willing to wait and see how he may play this year, if he still plays a defensive ten men behind the ball,” fugedaboudit” !
    I may change my mind !
    However I doubt he’s gonna have anything like the side he wants and I have yet to see the club play a decent game of football and still feel it’s unlikely, not this guy .
    I also have a feeling we will be picked up by an interested buyer, being our beloved owner needs the money for his other ventures, I suppose it’s possible that the recent deal with the Saudis can be resuscitated if they remain interested and as a socialist the term for rich person remains, Thief !

    ‘

22. Bielsa reminds me of Erich Honeker’s old slogan: “Vorwärts immer, rückwärts nimmer!” (Forwards always, backwards never!). The Leeds fans certainly seem to like him so far. Despite an impressive start (and despite losing), he is still going to have to bring in some more players. He’s brought in some fancy forward from Valencia but most of the side is Championship. They are one of the bottom two in terms of squad value, though he has quite a few very young players who are still unknown quantities.

    Saturday evening certainly wasn’t a five at the back ‘park the bus’ arrangement, it was 4-4-2. West Ham seemed to have slightly more of the ball if anyone did, but it was roughly even. It was also roughly even in terms of shots etc but we took our chances and they didn’t. It’s beatable Brighton next and then Spurs, but a currently underperforming Spurs under Mourinho. If we beat Brighton and get six points in the bag, that would be a good excuse to have a right go at the bigger side rather than going back to trench warfare.

23. Chuck, on the subjest of ‘retreads’ as you call them, you shouldn’t always write people off. Remember Mauricio Sarri at Chelsea? For many years he was a lower league no hoper, a bottom feeder. He was a very mature manager when he got a chance with a serie B side called Empoli, got them promoted, kept them up, then the much bigger Napoli took a chance on him. He was like Keegan there, very close but no cigar, though he did win Serie A manager of the season. After that he came to Chelsea and won the Europa League, then Juventus and the Serie A title. Fairytales can come true! Someone could write a decent Hollywood screenplay about Sarri’s rise from the bottom to the top.

24. Unfortunately we here little news from our TV providers they haven’t gone out of their way to inform us concerning how to catch the weekend or any other scheduled EPL games, well perhaps they did but I certainly wasn’t made aware of it.
    Anyhow all I got were highlights, apparently the Newcastle game was late and only available through streaming. ah well !
    It appears to be a misprint to see the club placed so high
    in the league standings, don’t worry ain’t gonna be for long, though I have a feeling we may not be a side that reaches any particular heights, but I doubt we will be threatened by fears of relegation.
    Naturally we have to be aware that there is still a chance that the sale may yet occur, though unlikely, but there’s always that chance that some billionaire may see the point of investing, after all the Saudis are not the only
    people, with money.
    Whats the difference, if we had a super rich owner we would be disappointed with a mere winning season, wanting a cup or championship, but as we presently are
    we are happy enough to finish within the top ten.
    We did decently in the market, which was lucky, now lets see how good our manager can school the players we got, hopefully not like the last ten years where survival within the EPL has been essential and the only way to achieve it was to put ten men behind the ball.
    I would rather ignore football than watch that kind of awful game, got it Steve ?

25. Chuck, as you missed the game, one of the new boys, Hendrick from Burnley (signed on a free) was the man of match. He didn’t register much with me before but his debut for the Magpies was outstanding. He provided the assist for Callum Wilson’s goal (who was also good) and scored himself. The new left back, Jamal Lewis also looked like a talented young player as well. We’ll probably see Ryan Fraser (also free) in the next game. Ashley’s got some more more bargains like that time he hoovered up French players like Sissoko for next to nothing.

26. Another debutant signed on a free (Ryan Fraser) and another goal, though it wasn’t a great game by all accounts with Bruce sending out the reserves for the most part. Blackburn played well for a Championship side too.

27. Worky
    yeah ! I saw Hendricks play before but paid little attention, though he appears to be a regular for the ROI, but the two ex Bournemouth
    players for a combined fee of 20M. was a decent trade, don’t know about the defender but he’s young and will no doubt end up a decent wing back, hopefully he can also play on the right as Yedlin is heading back to the MLS.. but I never thought he was much of a defender, had good pace but thats about it.
    I believe there’s been an improvement to the side, which could mean we don’t have to play that unbearable defensive game, though Bruce was a defender himself and it’s natural for him to set up defensively.

    The two ex Bournemouth players, our French winger combined with the pace of our South American forward could be enough to scare most sides, combine that with a couple of good wing backs and there’s your attacking force, (though I still believe we need to improve ) could be enough to keep us comfortably around the middle of the league.
    And I guess we may try hard for a cup, no not the FA Cup, a cheaper one perhaps the League cup or whatever they call it nowadays.
    And I still believe there may be a mega Billionaire awaiting his opportunity to purchase the club, why not !

    Hey our dear leader needs the cash to buy another box store , so he will be up against Amazon and other on line sellers, which I remember buying cheap copies of paperbacks, thinking these
    people will go broke before long, boy was I wrong and as technology increases there will be those who check things out at the box stores and buy on line, a delivery is almost instantaneous.
    At least we can relax, having what I think is a fairly well balanced side that can almost guarantee a mid table finish.

    through

28. I’m no expert on Hendricks but I would guess that he was brought in for his utility in midfield, he can be plonked pretty much anywhere in the middle of the field, defensive mid, central mid, attacking mid and winger.

    As for Ashley and is ‘box stores’, I think he’s trying to go upmarket, after all, he certainly couldn’t go downmarket! Sports Direct is now the ‘Fraser’s group’ from the formerly respectable ‘House of Fraser’ department store chain he bought, along with ‘Flannels’ which sells fancy designer gear from all the names. Maybe he’ll end up like Trump, ie knock down many of the shops and build what you Yanks might call ‘uptown condominiums’ or something like that? Maybe even a few casinos too?

    I don’t know about the States but I remember the fall of the ‘Net Book Agreement‘ in the 1990s over here, which happened at the same time as the rise of the WWW and of course, the rise of Amazon. Yes, the delivery is very efficient, but that’s probably because the drivers are electrocuted remotely if they’re five minutes late and docked a month’s wages. These so-called ‘disruptors’ have billons behind them and are willing to run at a big loss for years to achieve market domination (see Uber), then, when they have a monopoly, it’s no more mister nice guy and the prices get ratchetted up.

29. Well what-a-ya -know, at a glance it appears we agree on summit !
    And though I think we have improved the side to the point we may not have to watch what it appears to be Bruces one and only match plan, that of defending constantly and hoping the side may score on either a breakaway or set piece.
    Not something anyone would want to watch for a full season !
    Lets see what happens, being it is far too early to make assumptions .
    And by the way I suggest you check out the Beeb’s
    Culture section.
    Again I’m ahead of the crowd as it’s about Empire and truthful history, but carefully tucked away in the culture
    section, so as only those who like myself stumbled on it
    got to read it, which is almost a case of ,
    “we printed it you must have missed it”
    But why at this particular time ?
    Being they have not really done anymore than admitting
    a certain amount of blame and in turn blaming the times
    that existed as the main culprit.
    ah well , I’m not aware of whoever conjured up the title of “Perfidious Albion” but whoever it was ended up with the most authentic title, as history tells continues to tell us.

30. Chuck, that isn’t true. That has been the game plan a fair bit of the time but not all the time. Where I would criticise both Bruce and Benitez is their spurning of Gayle in favour of the big target man approach. It was a harder argument to make with Rondon but Joelinton was useless, and Almiron was goalshy for ages too. Maybe he was under pressure from above because Ashley blew £40 million on Joelinton but I don’t know. When you can’t score you have to defend.

    ‘Perfidious Albion’ was the French of course (who else?) But only because they were just like us. They had their colonies and their slaves too, as did most of Europe, but we were better at fighting than them. The ‘Seven Years War’ was the big crunch game to decide who was the king of the jungle, and our little spat in a fairly unimportant colony called the ‘United States’ was a bit of French revenge for losing the world cup final of war to the British.

    I will make a recommendation to you for some reading on Imperialism if you are really interested in it, though I may have done so already, J.A. Hobson’s ‘Imperialism: A study,’ which is without a doubt the greatest book on the subject.

31. Worky
    Well I’m kinda engaged with the book”The People” described on the cover of as the rise and fall of the working class. that and an account of the voyage of an opium smuggling former slaver in the late nineteenth century and named “Sea of poppies” plus the history as seen through the eyes of the only Indian writer to counter
    the pro Empire novel, Nial Ferguson’s version of “Empire” I get bored by reading the same story from start to finish, unless it’s unusually good.
    And yes I think our manager has done a decent job in getting rid of mostly unused bodies, but what about our
    expensive center forward. With all of his goals yes all two, I would certainly fire whoever recommended that deal and our super fast forward from South America , hell he’s not much better, kinda like his predecessor the Spanish kid brought from Spain, who after a number of seasons was found to be a flash in the pan, bring back the one scout that did bring in some excellent players, the guy with the permanent ticket to France and Spain.
    As for Bruce, he got lucky as far as trades are concerned
    but will never be a leading manager, he has a better side than last years bunch, but I doubt if he can decide the necessary tactics, I mean compare him to Bielsa who gave Liverpool a scare in the first of this seasons games,
    which included most of his championship side, give this guy some money and he could be dangerous.
    Though one veteran stated he had played for him a few years back and considered him to be a hard taskmaster
    with the same tough training and found little to be happy about during games, described as it’s hard and not a lot of fun, repetition day after day and was glad when they eventually parted company.
    Soh ! how about a tenth to fifteenth place finish, there’s too much talent at St. James’to be relegated , but they are going nowhere either.
    And I doubt they will be working for a new boss if Ashley
    needs to sell.
    But ok I will give “Imperialism”a look also.

    .

32. Unfortunately we still need a regular striker, our Brazilian
    goalscorer has not cut the mustard and doesn’t look like he can, meaning don’t be afraid to sell the guy and admit
    to the fact someone screwed up on this deal and has to go.
    No point in keeping this guy and come to think about it, we can dump Almiron also, lots of pace but no goal scoring talent .
    So why not renew the seasonal train ticket for the guy that brought in some decent Dutch and French players,
    And of course we need a defender and a holding midfielder, though our new guy is excellent at both games, which makes him quite valuable, Hendrickson, who has a goal and an assist already.
    But this club is far from being a side we can be proud of, which is why we have to develop our youngsters and what about the two Shank bro’s. couldda had thirty grand for one from Man. U., but I guess we can use them and if that’s the case FFS use them.
    Cant say I agree with the present rules concerning loans, which only benefits the big clubs, especially Chelsea who have them in numbers.
    With other clubs forced to pay their wages and have them recalled when needed, stock- piling players and getting them Premiership training, not a bad deal, is it ?

    Unfortunately those making the rules are like everywhere else used to getting their own way and a few bob to write those rules in favor of the wealthier clubs, but this is an outrageous practice that has to end, as it puts the smaller clubs at a decided disadvantage .
    ah well !

33. Well that was a bit of a stinker! There was a bit of an attempt at a comeback in the second half but it was back to being completely unable to score. When was the last time Andy Carroll scored a goal? He must be the most goalshy striker in the Premier League by a long way, ahead of Joelinton and that’s a real achievement in itself.

34. “See 32 above”

    Same old shit I stick by my comments @above.
    FFS another season of ten men behind the ball.
    Some folks just never get it, we got a lousy and obviously cheap manager who has no money to spend and a creepy owner who should never have bought the club in the first place and is having trouble selling it, which is a problem and there is more than meets the eye
    going on with this deal, therefor it would be unwise to just let it go , without the public becoming aware of the why’s and wherefore, as we have been treated like some bunch of idiots who are not on a need to know basis.
    Lets hear the real deal here, why let the league escape without injury as they are the ones responsible for this ridicules situation and when that’s done lets force through a revision of these idiots who have refused (yeah
    I know what has been said about their excuse) but the truth will eventually out itself and a few heads will role.

35. Chuck, I don’t think £30,000 would have been a good deal for Sean Longstaff in today’s market, perhaps you meant that alleged £35 million bid from Man U?

    Almiron did start to find the goal last season, but Bruce hasn’t been starting him this season. When he was talking about the West Ham, Bruce said he thought West Ham might be too physical for him, but he didn’t start him against Brighton neither.

    They’re not “forced” to pay their wages, and smaller clubs have been rising through the ranks to challenge the select group at the top to the point where ‘the usual suspects’ are no longer guaranteed with a place in the top four, or even a top six which is now expanding even further, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham, the previous top six which had replaced the previous top four are now expanding further. Whilst teams such as Leicester and Everton certainly have money behind them, they are nothing like Chelsea and Man City, and Liverpool’s rise back to the very top has been remarkably modest combined with those two teams.

    The “ridiculous situation” you prate about is also up the prospective takeover consortium. Have they given an undertaking that they would waive all rights to the strict confidentiality which is a part of “FPPR?”

36. Workey
    that may in fact be true about young Longstaff, but I really haven’t reached any conclusion about his abilities
    not having seen enough of the kid, ditto his brother.

    What I have seen is a poor side with an even worse manager in the wrong division and unfortunately the same old cheapskate owner.

    It’s obvious the present scouting system is not up to par
    throwing all that money on a Brazilian flop, who had two goals for the season and it’s doubtful if we can get half of it back, were they to sell him,

    The problem remains the same, Ashley obviously has no idea, but it’s his money and eventually his choice of any spending and what does he know about football, like I stated here before, the main problem is Ashley and his hands on need, the need of a control freak,even though he knows FA about football, but insists on being in charge of everything.

    What this club needs is a knowledgeable upper management group, if one notices the fact that most top sides also have top management people, apart from nufc. I have been saying that for ever.

    If this scenario continues we will probably end up like Sunderland or Boro. and that’s a serious statement.

    Hopefully a take-over happens within the next six months to a year and we are still a top league side, though facing the drop as you do each season. lets see !

    Looking at the recently promoted sides, there’s no guarantee of a quick one season down and back again, like our last relegations, and the recent top sides are not guaranteed any easy games, except against nufc perhaps.

    Don’t like what the owner does, has no clue !
    Don’t like the manager, the last of the UK re-treads !

    there is no top management, excluding Ashley
    A crap bunch of scouts.
    A lack of talent and very little in the way of tactical reality,
    apart from ten men behind the ball and a hope of scoring from a set piece, typical BSA and the rest of the left over crowd that last played in the former century.
    Just don’t get it how clubs with half the average nufc crowd each fortnight, can be run efficiently and successfully, like say Southampton and one had only to watch the Leeds vs Liverpool game to realize how much it takes to run a football club.
    Not some cheapskate rag trade jerk, who right now needs money to refinance some of the big box stores he bought in a fire sale “The Pandemic”. well at least he is taking the league to court, where we will find out exactly why the sale was opposed and by exactly who, which I believe may surprise some, as now it has been stated the
    present government has had an involvement, hopefully
    this treatment of football clubs by the league body and possibly instructed by the government is prevented by the courts and the rules under this section re-written.

    d

37. Well Joelinton scored two this evening. It was only against Morecambe but it might build his confidence up a bit. There is worse than Ashley, you mentioned Sunderland. They had a billionaire owner from Texas who as rich as Ashley. To the delight of many Geordies, took them from the Premier League all the way down to League One, then he left.

38. Worky
    Perhaps you missed the fact that Ashley’s rule here also included free advertisements and a profit, from crowd and transfer fees which if not collected during the
    year immediately following their purchase, players will then be sold for a further profit. It being the plan for both Spanish and French
    players, which due to the useless procession of lousy managers
    were clueless about how to use them.
    Which is the reason we are left struggling to avoid relegation.
    That and the fact Ashleys need to spend money to invest in his real business was always the most important and who has openly admitted he doesn’t have enough (2 B.) to invest in both.
    Which is why he is taking the League to court, knowing well that another bid, like the one offered by the Saudis is a once in a lifetime offer and unlikely to be matched by any other.
    If you are looking for someone to blame, Try Maggie Thatcher who is responsible for changing the countries direction from a country that earned it’s keep by manufacturing things and switched to a devious method known as a service industry, dealing and attempting to control the usage of capital by various means, not all legal, and not unlike the recent Panama Papers, which described generally is used by the wealthy and located on just about every island and speck of land, like all of the former colonial spots that couldn’t
    afford to become independent.
    Yes indeed London has also retained it’s position as the place to do business, with it’s Merchant Banks and other markets , shipping markets and insurance companies, etc.
    And being the Northeastern part of the country is now a tenant of a former center of . steel – coal-.Shipbuilding-armaments and
    other types of heavy industries and now has call-centers @ a few quid a day and were it not for the University would be a barren dump of a place funded by a few low paying organization’s.
    As for Joelinton and the signings by Rafa and Bruce, listen the whole side is a bunch of crap and deserve to be relegated and Bruce should be fired before he does more damage, if that’s possible.
    And IF we are relegated , there will be no more returning the following season, being there’s more money to buy both managers who know what they are about and the players who can make it work.
    See “Bielsa”and Leeds along with the most recent members of the championship sides, all decent clubs who intend to remain in the money league.

    i

    9

    t

39. Chuck, I miss nothing! I have no time for Ashley, his ghastly sportswear huts and his tacky adverts all over St James’ Park and yes, we have been relegated twice, but at least we’re not Sunderland!

    Newcastle has an excellent University but Durham is the North East’s traditional seat of learning. Durham University is one of the greatest in the world. On the other hand, in my student years, the place you ended up if you couldn’t get in anywhere else was another University in the North East, Sunderland Poly. No one ever mentioned Teesside University, I don’t even know if it existed?

    Joelinton’s signing was chalked up to the geniuses behind the scenes, Rafa famously had doubts about whether he was worth even half what Ashley paid for him and I very much doubt that Steve Bruce had much to do with it neither. I have a half baked ‘surely they weren’t that stupid?’ type hypothesis. In the real world, Joelinton hardly set the world on fire at Hoffenheim, he only scored 7-8 goals a season there. However, when I was searching around looking for a reason why Ashley paid £40 million for such an unprolific striker, I happened upon his performance ratings in those football / football manager games. He was unusually highly rated by them at the time he was signed. They made him look like Alan Shearer! But surely they didn’t go by that though?

40. Worky
    I’m going to remember this year, as a totally f***ed up year, actually
    it’s one that should be completely erased from most folks heads.
    To begin with early March was when the sh*t hit the fan, with the pandemic, which caught just about everyone by surprise, leaving most countries at a loss on what to do about it.
    Yeah , we all washed our hands repeatedly, though one couldn’t find a mask for love or money and apart from that, you were on your own,
    Of course our dumb-ass president was assuring everyone to get a test and of course wash your hands, though none of the services or equipment was readily available and he still ignores wearing a mask unbelievable !
    Though in certain cases the state governors provided the information and advice which reduced the state of New York’s residents too one of the nations lowest growth rates, though at times sounding like a drama queen, though in one of the nations most affected areas at that time,.
    However we are far from “free and clear of the pandemic” and a continual observation of whatever advice (from those with medical degrees) instead of listening to an idiot who @ one time observed
    the fact household cleaners eliminated the virus and offhandedly raised the question that perhaps people could inject whatever brand of cleaner was suggested,
    Not that Boris is any better, wasn’t he heavily in favor of Brexit and now that he has inherited the PM’s job wants to have things already agreed upon cancelled, which give those he may call upon to reach future trade agreements to negotiate as an untrustworthy adversary.
    Actually it is essential for the UK to reach a trade agreement with the EU, but it doesn’t appear to bother Boris one bit.
    And if there is no agreement with the EU, there will be in turn no trade agreement with the US, which has been stated by both house leader Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, possibly our next president ?
    The UK, which now consists of the three countries and the UK created six Irish county statelet, is not the once mighty Empire that no longer governs with fleets of warships and could rally millions of empire soldiers to it’s cause , but a former empire now vaguely remembered only in a history book and that book will be definitely
    a questionable version of it’s history if printed in the UK.
    Not unlike Neal Fergusons infamous version of the Book titled “Empire.”a highly criticized version of the Empire and it’s relationship with the truth.

    While looking at football I once again see NUFC in the lower reaches of the Premier league, once again struggling to survive the worlds toughest league.
    I see a side that is no better than las years bunch, why ?
    Because Ashley has spent money on transfers, yeah but not enough and the fans from what I see of the present side are fed up with the defensive tactics and if you pay for a striker, one would expect him to score more goals than two, in a season.
    What with the pandemic and all of it’s problems, and a lack of money, the most one could hope for is a repeat of last seasons position.
    Which may not please the hard core of fans and lead to smaller crowds, I would advise our cheap-ass owner to sell now when he needs that extra few million to invest in further expansion of his new approach, selling stuff a step above his cheap-ass sports direct crap.

41. Worky
    I’m going to remember this year, as a totally f***ed up year, actually
    it’s one that should be completely erased from most folks heads.
    To begin with early March was when the sh*t hit the fan, with the pandemic, which caught just about everyone by surprise, leaving most countries at a loss on what to do about it.
    Yeah , we all washed our hands repeatedly, though one couldn’t find a mask for love or money and apart from that, you were on your own,
    Of course our dumb-ass president was assuring everyone to get a test and of course wash your hands, though none of the services or equipment was readily available and he still ignores wearing a mask unbelievable !
    Though in certain cases the state governors provided the information and advice which reduced the state of New York’s residents too one of the nations lowest growth rates, though at times sounding like a drama queen, though in one of the nations most affected areas at that time,.
    However we are far from “free and clear of the pandemic” and a continual observation of whatever advice (from those with medical degrees) instead of listening to an idiot who @ one time observed
    the fact household cleaners eliminated the virus and offhandedly raised the question that perhaps people could inject whatever brand of cleaner was suggested,
    Not that Boris is any better, wasn’t he heavily in favor of Brexit and now that he has inherited the PM’s job wants to have things already agreed upon cancelled, which give those he may call upon to reach future trade agreements to negotiate as an untrustworthy adversary.
    Actually it is essential for the UK to reach a trade agreement with the EU, but it doesn’t appear to bother Boris one bit.
    And if there is no agreement with the EU, there will be in turn no trade agreement with the US, which has been stated by both house leader Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, possibly our next president ?
    The UK, which now consists of the three countries and the UK created six Irish county statelet, is not the once mighty Empire that no longer governs with fleets of warships and could rally millions of empire soldiers to it’s cause , but a former empire now vaguely remembered only in a history book and that book will be definitely
    a questionable version of it’s history if printed in the UK.
    Not unlike Neal Fergusons infamous version of the Book titled “Empire.”a highly criticized version of the Empire and it’s relationship with the truth.

    While looking at football I once again see NUFC in the lower reaches of the Premier league, once again struggling to survive the worlds toughest league.
    I see a side that is no better than las years bunch, why ?
    Because Ashley has spent money on transfers, yeah but not enough and the fans from what I see of the present side are fed up with the defensive tactics and if you pay for a striker, one would expect him to score more goals than two, in a season.
    What with the pandemic and all of it’s problems, and a lack of money, the most one could hope for is a repeat of last seasons position.
    Which may not please the hard core of fans and lead to smaller crowds, I would advise our cheap-ass owner to sell now when he needs that extra few million to invest in further expansion of his new approach, selling stuff a step above his cheap-ass sports direct crap.

    Actually I didn’t intend to compare Sunderland and Newcastle as cities and understand that though only twelve or so miles apart, there are entire families split in their support for either team.

    Neither of the cities has anything special about them , Sunderland smaller and though in a lot worse state, were it not for the massive
    Nissan works which I cannot believe voted for Brexit, they crazy or what ?
    Newcastle was as I remember it a city full of offices of the large manufacturers that once surrounded the city, coal-steel-shipbuilding – armaments and other suppliers.
    To-day it’s call centers and the expanding university clients.
    Which indicates there was no plan other than to rid the country of unionized jobs, whatever happened was up to the locals to fix, but how does one fix an entire section of the country to re-invent it’s self from de-industrialization?
    On the other side is Durham, a city that is visually pleasing, with a river where one can rent rowing boats and it’s ancient cobbled streets are
    both attractive , and it’s University is recognized as fairly decent and been around a lot longer than the old “Kings College” @ Newcastle which has had enormous growth over the years .
    Yes I have nothing bad to say about Durham and I intend to visit it for the miners Gala if they intend to re-introduce it, seems strange to see the old timers marching with bands and banners, in an area that closed it’s last pit, in what was possibly before the end of the last century.
    And a pleasant town in which to live.

    yes

    y

    I hope

42. Chuck, you still have November and the hillbilly uprising to think about if Trump loses. Millions of ‘red caps’ on the march for election justice! They’ll be carrying more than pitchforks too! He’s firing them up for it with his nonsense about election fraud, refusing to step down and such. Boris hasn’t said that yet, he hasn’t talked about injecting people with cleaner neither. What he has done though is give the so called ‘track and trace’ system to the infamous ‘Serco’, a company which has very strong links with the Conseratives through the Soames family (which is the Churchill family) rather than having the NHS run it. A life and death pandemic and it still hasn’t stopped the blatant corruption and nepotism. Starmer’s bringing back the same idea into Labour too, romancing rich donors who will all want their quid pro quo.

    Newcastle was brutalised somewhat aesthetically with stuff like Eldon Square shopping centre and all that. I think that T.Dan Smith (corrupt 60s former council leader) said he wanted to make Newcastle “the Brasilia of the North.” The Regency period architecture there is very good.

    Oh well, Spurs tomorrow.

43. WorkyCaught the final thirty minutes of the Spurs game, saw nothing to contradict my statement in #41 above.
    Face it we got a poor to useless side that once again looked awful while desperately defending against a mediocre Spurs side.
    As for Bruce, a reflection of every manager who has been chosen by our dear cheapskate owner, now desperate to sell.
    Actually the exception being Rafa, who had offered to take over the entire management of the club, apart from having monetary control , unfortunately for the fans as it would be an offer which was ten years too late.
    However I don’t believe anyone thought that our owner would remain so long, but while he earned money which was used to bolster his other business !
    It’s no secret he maintained a strict control over the football business , but has been active in expanding his core business by purchasing a string of big box store
    and has yet to realize Outfits like “Amazon”a multi billion dollar organization and others are the way to go in to-days world .
    But I guess we have to take a wait and see attitude in regards to any future buyer, being he (Ashley) needs the dough, but there are big box stores closing everywhere and any place there’s a Wallmart store, you can’t undersell anything.
    Well there are those like the Saudi’s, recent newcomers to the world of business, who’s idea may be to show how to invest and through spending could cause the business world to take them seriously, not just a major seller of petro-chemicals and fuel .
    I must admit I was surprised to find them as serious contenders and paying over the top, for a side that lately has been relegated twice and knowing Ashley’s reluctance to spend, it’s actually the farthest major city from London, where one would imagine they could have bought a London club.
    Ah well suppose we will have to await the court case being initiated by Ashley, probably out of desperation I would assume.

    go

44. There’s no doubt who the man of the match was in that game, for both teams, not just Newcastle, it was Karl Darlow in goal, which is a good thing as Dubravka looks like he’s going to be knacked for a while. Darlow was superb. Dubravka isn’t the only big injury either, there’s St Maximin, Gayle, Schar, and Jamal Lewis and Ryan Fraser were touch and go yesterday too. As for ‘mediocre’ Spurs, their squad is worth three times Newcastle’s.

    You need to dry your tears over the Saudis, Chuck. Your place must be flooded out with them by now! I did try to manage your expectations by pointing out how TV rights are everything in football and that the Saudis couldn’t expect much joy after they’d committed the ultimate sin and showed no remorse for it, but as usual, you wouldn’t listen.

45. Worky
    Since I only watched the final thirty minutes I can only judge from that viewpoint and yes Darlow had a fine game, which is more than I can say for the rest, and did I see anything to improve my attitude to-wards the side, nah !
    Nice to see a couple of recently promoted sides doing well, looks like Leeds promotion is for real and will certainly scare a number of opponents this screwed up season.

    Nah, a misjudgment, being I don’t really care about Saudia Arabia,
    however to have them owning and paying the bills of NUFC, is not a bad idea, though others obviously have their objections.
    Unfortunately certain Yemeni’s are bearing the constant attacks of
    the Saudi armed forces, where under British ground attack planners
    control they shift one pile of sand to another and these arms etc don’t come cheap.

    I have the belief the solidarity between The Saudi’s and the UK, is both very close and very old, a partnership in all but name, which raises the question. why the refusal of the Sale for the simply deciding who had the final word in controlling the club, the Saudi investment fund or the Saudi government, or so they say?

    There is also . an as yet undeclared British government interest that has yet to be disclosed and only through time will it become apparent, hopefully during Ashleys attempt to thwart his business
    plan, which is to sell the club.

    And we all wish him gone, but he is his own man and appears to know how to make a buck, then go in peace !

46. Chuck, it was a load of sand in the days of Empire, by the time the oil started gushing in KSA, your side of the pond was the new game in town. Before that it was Iran and Iraq for the British. The Saudis buy a lot of state of the art weaponary from both sides of the Atlantic, mostly yours, but they seem to need alot of help running it. I daresay there are even more Yanks there showing them how to start up an F-16.

47. Yes the US had little to do with Saudi Arabia until the early thirties, though it would be fair to say the UK, is still
    a close second in it’s dealings with the Kingdom.
    The British came to their aid prior to ww1, protecting them from the Turks, a major player in the war that was about to start and was allied to Austria-Hungaria & Germany.
    Following the defeat of The Central Powers, the Empire at the time resorting to keeping a fleet of warships there a continuous patrolling of the Persian Gulf, where most oil traffic passed through, abandoning their responsibility to the Saudi’s.

    And though there are thousands of Saudi students at various collages throughout the US , it appears the Saudi public can have a better time in London during that hot period known as summer, plus the fact many own homes there, it creates a certain

    positive relationship with the UK, no longer a real military
    power, unless you are talking about Argentia or some other wanna-be country.
    In which case the Saudis need real power and have obviously made a deal with them, the US.
    Strange that the majority of those involved with the 9/11
    attack just happened to be both Saudis and Egyptians,
    so call allies of the US ?
    And yes it was the Brits and of course the French who carved up the Arabian peninsula, post ww1. where they appear to have created a couple of new countries Jordan and Iraq, installing a king to each, Jordans royal family are still there as for Iraq, they got rid of their phoney king in 1958, and installed a military leader, but the fact the UK at that time had regained access to Irans oil supply
    by installing their own puppet regime under the new Shah, the CIA and MI6, doing the organizing, I happen to be aware of that since my travels took me to that part of the world at the time.
    However it still mystifies why the Saudi deal with NUFC fell through, as I believe there is much more than meets the eye here and certainly the UK government mentioned
    so recently.
    Face it no jumped up secretary of the league would take the responsibility of refusing ownership to the Saudi’s
    Which makes it even more curious , as to why ?

    .

    owers,

48. Chuck, it started with Ayman al-Zawahiri in Egypt and then Bin Laden as the Saudi connection ut he ended up becoming the most famous one. Al-Zawahiri was tortured by US backed Egyptian goons and he turned bad. Bin Laden was pissed off with the al-Sauds and their relationship with the US. It all goes back to Roosevelt and the Quincy Agreement:

    “From 14 February, President Roosevelt and King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, known in the West as Ibn Saud, met aboard Quincy. During the meeting, President Roosevelt tried to persuade Ibn Saud to give support for Jewish immigration to Palestine, and hoped that Ibn Saud might be able to offer constructive advice on the Palestine issue. There, Roosevelt and Saud concluded a secret agreement in which the U.S. would provide Saudi Arabia military security – military assistance, training and a military base at Dhahran in Saudi Arabia – in exchange for secure access to supplies of oil”

    Another League Cup game tomorrow aginst Newport. They’re League Two but they specialise in cup upsets apparently.

49. WTF, Chuck?

    “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem, this is a left-wing problem”

    Whither America?

50. Worky

    these cups just annoy me the same way the owners did years ago, squeezing in as many games as possible for the revenue and then the only “other was the league cup, who’s name has changed often.
    Unfortunately it’s fine for such clubs as those who dominate the top spots in various leagues in and out of the UK, Glasgow Celtic usually involved in the European championship until they lose, then revert to the Euro cup.
    Which is a nice piece of change, but lets not get carried away, their earnings are from mainly bums in seats, being no one wants to watch a second tier club or a lower standard of football from a former European champion
    and they stay in business by having great support and a very good scouting system, plus foreign players are aware that they will get exposure and possibly a better contract as a result.
    However I recall the year we did well in the Euro championship, sure it took more revenue , but to do this one needs a sizable squad as it drags on forever and most clubs are more interested in their survival than a good run in a no-where cup tie.
    Ah well !

51. Worky
    Yes since Trump saw the obvious situation and decided that cunning and the abuse of power has reached a point seldom seen in the US, stretching reality with his lack of reverence for both the two party system and bringing about a national opposition of left vs right.
    There are what was once known as the Tea Party, a group of white middle class contractors and tradesmen, who had decent incomes and of course the upper middle professionals and rich, vs, the recent immigrants and lower income, including African Americans and the fastest growing group, The Latinos , who are being targeted by political and union recruiters and those of the left.
    It’s inevitable that those who quote the constitution as religious folks are fond of doing with the Bible, who consider both they and their ancestors built the US and therefor should be he ones to control it, the others must learn to do the same.
    However thinks are inclined to change, this is nothing new here, being the immigration laws have changed drastically first under JFK, then piecemeal throughout the
    years. with African Americans it was equal but separate
    until 1965 when the civil rights act was introduced.
    Well certainly most people are aware of their rights to-day and the most recent scuffles with marchers have put a scare into most police forces knowing how many Citizens have weapons as heavy as they do and the threat of reducing the twenty and out or de-funding the department ensures this.
    Were this to lead to any chance of a civil disturbance, most people would I believe refuse to be involved, certainly with a political split.
    However a constitutional conference is due being unlike the Bible it is seldom questioned and obviously will have to change due to general changes that take place and never forget this constitution which enabled slavery to continue until it took a civil war to end was written by a majority of slave owners.
    Yes, both our countries are embarking on new courses.
    as the world does continuously and we must cut our cloth accordingly.
    Though looking at the Tory party who in comparison with those whom they replaced, with a leader such as Boris, the one world leader who is possibly worse than Trump, who may be a problem to get rid of and even if we do , who do you have, yeah Biden, ermmm ! no thanks, but I suppose he is better than Trump, in any case Biden is only gonna be there for one term, if in fact he lasts that long, being the main is way past his best .
    But when looking at to-days world leaders one wonders
    how many countries find and seem to welcome only those who they believe they are smarter than, where do all of these jerks emerge from ?

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52. Just scraped through on penalties against a League Two side, though they have been giant killers in previous games. Oh well, at least we’re through.

    Chuck, the Tea Party’s so noughties now, isn’t it? Those ‘Proud Boys’ are like the British thugs of the 70s, they wear black and yellow Fred Perry tops, though Fred has stopped making them now because of the infamy.

    How are all those ‘checks and balances’ getting along over there?

53. Yeah I guess so !
    The Tea Party it appears have rid themselves of their camouflage of consisting of regular white unemployed working class and small contractors to that of a bunch of
    uneducated idiots who believe they are entitled to a job and everything that goes with it and the fact they are not of the recent mainly hispanic immigrants.
    Believing they have more entitlement to a job and the life-style that goes with it.
    The division is there for all to see, especially south of the Mason- Dixie line, where they are there to cause trouble with the removal of statues, no different than that which took place in the UK, while being confronted by Neo-Nazi and racist thugs.
    Well I guess they are the descendants of former slave-owners, who through miss-use of politics have had a certain control of most political positions and I guess I don’t have to mention the various police departments, which operate without fear of retaliation.
    Well things are changing, of course our president has reached out these thugs (proud boys) using them as a threat in traditional union leaning states (mainly cities) throughout the west coast and are mostly racist and anti
    union.
    Yes there are any number of individuals who have no idea about politics and Trump has them, a solid 40% of the voting public (I find it hard to believe there are so many people who believe anything he sez)
    And though I have no time for his opponent Biden (just another political clown) a man who not unlike your recent
    shadow PM, sends a message, be careful who you vote for.
    On the other hand, there may be a bit of uncertainty surrounding this approaching election, with the possibility that if defeated , the Republicans can call for a re-do, because of the change in election procedures in regards to the “The Pandemic”, by using the USPS to mail in votes.
    Though nothing like the UK faces by disengaging themselves from the worlds biggest trading block, to possibly working under WTO rules, which is the dumbest choice yet made by any country.
    So the word on that is don’t attempt to contradict the Belfast Agreement by attempting to reduce or eliminate anything which has already been agreed, like Boris is about to do , being the old tactic of divide and conquer
    no longer works, unless you have the backing of most countries and the UN, which has little power to do anything other than be a center for the worlds problems.
    I really hope you guys know exactly what you are doing , other than satisfy the for voters, who obviously have no clue, other than elect the present PM, who has demonstrated he knows as much as the pro- Brexit voters themselves and it’s going to be a case of “a wing and a prayer”
    Ah well life is like that I suppose !

54. Well Chuck, even you can’t complain about that game. Callum Wilson’s one of the Premier League’s top scorers so far after scoring two today. We need St Maximin though and he limped off again.

    As for Brexit, we’ll see. We’ve done it before when Henry VIII left the 16th Century EU, the Roman Catholic church. Maybe we should do what he did back then, conquer Ireland. We knew how to get things done back in the old days. None of this red tape nonsense.

55. Worky
    Yes we do have checks and balances, do you ?
    If you are about to tell me, where in the Runnymede
    testament it mentions them.

    Hmmm ! another win I missed, which by the way puts the side in 6th. place, at least until to-morrow.

    Regardless. I haven’t changed my mind about either the team or it’s excuse for a manager, yeah in 6th to-day but
    I’m sure we will struggle later as there are quite a few decent sides in the EPL, Watched the Citeh ! vs Leeds
    game and the Everton game, both were very good games, with little to tell between sides both playing in an entertaining style, attack and counter attack, though Everton appeared to be more consistent and will do well this year, about time I thin
    Makes one wonder how NUFC would be doing right now
    had the Deal gone through.

    Mostly through good management Leeds”led by Bielsa gave Citeh a game, with each side playing high lines and unafraid to attack and the passing was perfection, I believe Leeds edged the second half, not an auspicious occasion for the citeh manager, who should be walking this club through the League and cup ties, with the amount of money he has spent, but I suppose everyone
    can’t be good for ever and if asked who did I think was the best manager, had to be Bierlsa.
    Why ?
    Just tally the cost of each side and make a comparison !
    Some interesting games to-morrow also.
    Well looks like refusing to wear a facemark can spoil ones day, not only that but all of those who follow our dear leader and for that reason refused to ware a mask.
    Though VP Spence must have known something being I never see him without one.

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56. Watching the ex champions Man. U.get hammered by what I consider Spurs to be, a middle table side, and yes I believe they are still a decent club, considering the cost of building a state of he art stadium and may prevent (like Arsenal before them) from having the dosh to spend on players.now or in the immediate future

    And yes (better take a photo ) of a presently nufc club NUFC Sixth place league spot, as it can’t last.
    Loved the citeh vs Leeds game and can only conclude the man is without a competitor and understand why both Pochetinno and
    Citeh’s manager recognize him as the most knowledgeable of managers.
    The game was a delight to watch, neither side reverting to any ten men behind the ball tactics, with crisp passing from both sides .
    It would be interesting to see Bielsa with a team built on the spending of Guardiola, as this was basically a champion from the championship vs the top spender or close too it, Citeh !
    six —one to Spurs…..
    I see Bruce is crowing over his defeat of a relegation candidate and making the claim, ten men behind the ball is normal for most non top sides, oh yeah ?
    Could it be he concentrates mostly on defense, being apart from our French winger the rest are no better than average and that’s where they are going no-where !
    It would be nice to be spending those petro-dollars on players had we not become victims of either politics or money, I just don’t understand why a club cannot be a member of the EPL, either by a fund that is destined to bring a mainly petro generating country into
    a modern state, or whether it’s the country itself, being there are a lot of questionable clubs owned by foreign interests, but I just don’t get why Saudi Arabia should be singled out.
    Anyhow hopefully Our owner will find out what it’s all about as the courts can demand information and of course to have an offered
    arbitration panel. chosen by the EPL is no more than what it sounds like, a fix.
    Look what this club needs is a top level management system, being we are all aware that our dear leader, knows F. A. when it comes to football and is only interested in making a steady profit and all of the decisions, a control freak !
    Ah well !

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57. Chuckles, you really need to dry your tears over the Saudis!

    On Bielsa, he is known as ‘the madman’ (el loco) so I think that the big teams are rather scared of him, a bit like Brian Clough with the England job. He lasted two days at Lazio, which must be some kind of record? I remember being very impressed by his Argentina side at the 2004 Olympics, which they won. Coloccini was one of them but I didn’t take much notice of him at the time as I was watching two young players called Tevez and Mascherano. Tevez won the golden boot. Bielsa was very forward back then too, no mucking about.

58. Worky

    Yes, I watched a couple of Leeds games, attempting to see if I could figure out what Bielsa was up to.
    Unfortunately I ended up more confused at the games end, sure we all understand Guardiola has also changed his game plans or tactics, but only slightly , it’s still a form of tiki- taka, short passing working the ball out from the back instead of the long ball, which keeps possession, but takes for ever and when across the halfway line the real breaking down begins, all very predictable and how most clubs in their countries leagues play, about as entertaining as ten men behind the ball !
    Of course our ten men behind the ball Manager has stated that most lower placed sides, those facing relegation , all play that way, which I don’t believe.
    It’s interesting to see different clubs using different tactics, but all I can tell you about Citeh and Leeds is the fact Citeh, has more dosh ergo better talent, but the game looked even enough. with each side earning equal possession, it was certainly not a case of Citeh dominating .
    However this has been overshadowed by two former giants of the league Liverpool and Man. U., both being drubbed by relegation bound sides, with basketball-like scores, well a little poetic license here.
    And though Newcastle also won well, it was the attitude from Bruce who apparently didn’t care to hear about his defensive tactics and this win was about letting the fans know about it.
    I still believe he may be the last of the re-tread type managers and can’t see him lasting long when the club does get sold, which will hopefully be soon.
    Also interesting to see how well Everton, who were much like NUFC, now with a bit of money and leading the league, about time, leaving Nufc as one of the lowest spending clubs in the league to struggle on and it doesn’t look like Ashley has altered his approach. Spend only whatever it takes to survive in the EPL, thought there for a moment we would be the wealthiest club in the league and it still could happen, though those who know f**k all are convinced otherwise yet cannot explain as to why ?
    ‘t

59. Strange things going on in the EPL, with the two top ranked sides getting hammered by a former relegation bound side, that escaped the drop and has managed to retain it’s best player, talking about Villa here and it’s England midfielder and the fact the recently promoted Leeds and their progressive minded manager Bielsa are causing a bit of consternation among the group, who are completely confused as to how to compete , not knowing how to counter tactics they have never played against
    Even when asked by Bielsa after the game against Citeh
    what he thought, had the decency to state he wasn’t sure and would have to study the game .
    All of which is both new and entertaining and I’m sure most footballing fans are glad to see him managing in the EPL.
    Yes the Premiership is obviously wealthier than most other European countries leagues and reflects it in the varying styles of play, having managers from both the continent and South America, which reflects the wealth of the league, mainly due to TV revenues.
    It the EPL, does and should reflect the best there is to offer for fans, that is unless you are NUFC fan, which has been owned by a billionaire who has actually made a profit from the club despite being relegated twice .
    A club without the usual top level management people
    being our owner appears to be a control freak, plus his list of signed players were young enough to make a profit from usually during their second year at the club.
    I won’t mention the names of the cheap-ass managers we have had to watch, with no clue and as things stand we probably have the last useless England manager in Bruce, no change here and I can think of plenty of things I could or would do, rather than watch our team play
    eighty minutes of defensive football, then declare that every club in the lower realms of the EPL has to play that way against the top sides.
    Which is nonsense and everyone knows it.
    All of which can be blamed on our owner, who has made money, from the club, has used the stadium as an advertising board for SD his real company and took profits from (sold on) continental signings.
    However there’s always the future, which everyone is looking forward too however no one has paid much attention to what that might be, who knows if we can rid ourselves of this pandemic, there will be major changes I believe and life will certainly become different once again, what those changes will be we can only guess for the most part.
    As long as it’s “not” ten men defending and hopefully a new owner.

    eighty minutes of defensive football, “fugedaboudit” !

60. Chuck, Bielsa’s football is skillful and techincal, it’s ‘tiki-taka’ with all the short passing and constant pressing when out of possession etc, but it’s also very direct and straight ahead, like a battering ram going forward through the middle of the pitch. The speed is very exciting. He seems to be getting alot out of the players he has considering how demanding his style must be. The Leeds fans seem to feel the same way about him as Newcastle United fans felt about Keegan in the 90s because his team are ‘Entertainers’. Many teams get promoted, do very well in the first half of a season, only to get ‘found out’ then sink like a stone. I think Bielsa needs to reinforce his side further just in case.

    I hear that Trump’s going to have Barack Obama and Joe Biden arrested for treason now, and on the other hand, people are muttering about leading Trump off the stage and into a mental health facility using some powers or other. ‘Only in America’ as they say.

61. Worky

    Yeah that I understand, they actually use a type of Tika-Tacka, but never the short diamond repetition passing along one of the side lines , going no-where like both Citeh and Arsenal and Swansea
    Which to-day has become become cut down on the tika-taka though they do on losing possession, go after the ball hard, being possession is all important, but doesn’t preclude longer airial passing, and like you noted resort to a force full side getting that ball in possession to take a shot.
    It actually appears both Citeh and The scousers each employ a differing system, both having good technical players and numerous players who can score .
    My main problem is having to watch sides bringing the ball forward,
    Taking all day to force the ball over the halfway line.
    To say it was annoying and boring, being you could pre arrange everything that happens and once over the half way line, they usually have no idea on how to break down the defenders.
    At least that appears to be the norm, boring !

    But football can and does change and will change.
    But not before we get a decent manager, yeah! yeah! I like Bruce, seems a decent guy, but he’s no manager and until we get a wealthy owner who can resolve that question, we all never see the kind of football that is both a winning style and entertains, Ah Well !
    I purposely left out the question of the changes proposed by both Chelsea and Liverpool and the top wealthy clubs in the PL, who are looking for the lions share of income to resemble something similar to La Liga, where both Real Madrid and Barca. dominate earnings.
    I warned about this situation years ago, mentioning the former group of eighteen starting a super league, well now that the EPL are the major league in Europe (wealth -wise) they could be looking to ensure their role by Reducing the size, by going to eighteen clubs, they also believe the clubs play too many games, which will take care of that problem, but it will also become a problem for the second tier attempting to regain a former slot in the top division.
    there’s a lot to consider, pro and con.

62. Chuck, Chelsea weren’t involved, it was just those pesky Yanks who own Liverpool and Man U trying to use a major health crisis to gain more power for themselves, which is despicable. Even their own clubs voted against it as the vote was 20-0, and rightly so. The owners of Liverpool have damaged their reputation, and Manchester United’s owners had an awful reputation anyway.

    Tiki Taka wasn’t supposed to be a boring, pragmatic style of football, though Brendan Rodgers made it look that way when he was at Swansea. Fair play to him though, his head has shrunk considerably since Liverpool and Leicester play good football under him.

    Football styles get ‘found out’, when other teams see the advantage and copy a new approach, then, gradually, the new approach becomes less of an advantage when everyone else plays the same way and so football keeps evolving technically. I loved it when Claudio Rainieri brought back aspects of Arrigo Sacchi’s thin 4-4-2 to Leicester and completely took the League by surprise.

63. Worky
    yeah, the reason I wanted to catch the Leeds game was to see how they dealt with the top six, especially “Citeh”
    who are the only side still using tiki- taka to it’s ultimate .
    Which didn’t bother Bielsas side one bit, apparently there is like all tactical usage a counter tactic and perhaps they had instructions from Bielsa, who knows ?
    Though I don’t recall any repetition of dealing with Citehs game , using a number of differing efforts to bring the ball out from their own end.
    The difference is their “is” choice, whereas with guys like
    Bruce in control one can usually determine where or who .
    is the intended target and without good technical players it usually gets turned over
    And yes I remember watching Arsenal and Swansea, who were really into that particular style of play, though Arsenal who took it to the ridicules levels by playin keep the ball, and along the sidelines which was ridicules, being they looked like they forgot that scoring goals was the purpose of the game not possession.
    Of course Rodgers adjusted his possession game and is a decent manager nowadays while Wenger was given the bums rush outta Arsenal, though we have to give him some respect, he being the only EPL manager to have an undefeated season.
    When I then look at NUFC, I see a side suffering to stay afloat in the PL with a manager that is happy to just have a job, no better than those that had the job before him, but certainly not Bruce, who though a Geordie is not the answer.
    Though he apparently thinks he’s the main man, nah the club is a joke with an owner who knows f**k all about the game, who doesn’t have a clue, couldn’t even sell the club even though the prospective owner was more than willing to pay an over the top price.
    even know how to sell the club, what a mess !

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