"Satan's mirror has two faces."Well, Newcastle United have finally managed to finish in the top half of the Premiership under current owner, Mike Ashley.
This is our first top ten finish, and qualification for European competition, since Glenn Roeder’s Intertoto “Dream Team” managed seventh, and Europe, after a storming finish in the 2005-06 season.
However, we fans are constantly reminded that this can only come at a very high cost, that the name of the club’s traditional home, St James’ Park, must be sacrificed to become a free publicity vehicle for Sports Direct, that we must also be subjected to a myriad of fit inducing signs publicising Sports Direct throughout games, that we must pay a £25 membership fee to purchase a season ticket, or even just one away ticket and so on…
Mirroring the spin department of the current administration at 10 Downing Street, everything is blamed on our previous administration for allegedly taking us to the edge of the financial abyss, with neither the world economic crisis, nor relegation to the Championship playing any part whatsoever. Even after five whole years, when controversial decisions are made, the spectre of the Byker Beelzebub himself, Freddy Shepherd, is constntly raised, and the club’s current owner is hailed as a messiah who has somehow led the club from the verge of complete extinction. So, now that the club has completed it’s fifth season under its current ownership, I thought I would put this to the test, measuring the performance of the current owner, both on the pitch and on the balance sheet, against his predecessors under the leadership of Shepherd. (more…)
Newcastle United change kit, 2012-13.Well it’s that time of the year again, with NUFC Direct announcing the latest change kits for next season.
Above is the shirt for the outfield players, with the goalie’s shirt below. This is the story we posted about what the new shirts might look like back in January. The change shirt and the goalie’s shirt you can see towards the bottom of that piece have the same designs, but as you can see, are now in different colours. Of course, there have also been some changes on the shirt sponsorship front since those days, with Virgin on the ridiculous replacing Northern Crock.
But what do you think of the new shirts so far? Answers on a postcard, or alternatively, use the comments section below.(more…)
For the sake of poor fans says Llambias.Newcastle United’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias, has been speaking to David Conn for yesterday’s Guardian.
In the interview he spoke on how he has received so much abuse from Geordie ingrates that he doesn’t hear it any more, how Mike Ashley told him that he would have “a horrible job” in May 2008, just before he took over as managing director to oversee Ashley’s Sports Directification of the club, how the club spent all of the £35 million Andy Carroll money (although the club made a mighty profit of £36.731 million on player trading without amortisation in their last set of published accounts). Conn also wrote of many other things Llambias supposedly revealed to him in what is a rather fawning piece overall.
Irritatingly, for much of the “interview,” Conn give his own version of what Llambias told him, rather than just giving the quotes themselves in something which reads like a PR piece, something Llambias usually reserves for his friends at Mirror Group titles such as the Mirror, People, Chronicle and Journal. But I digress. (more…)
How do you feel about the renaming of SJP?Christina from Newcastle University is currently writing a dissertation / thesis on the renaming of St James’ Park by Sports Direct, and part of her research work takes the form of a survey to record fans’ feelings on the project.
It is quite painless and should only take a few minutes, and it would be great for Christina’s project if as many people as possible could fill it in. The greater the sample group, the more accurate it will be in reflecting the feelings of we fans on the scheme.
Here’s what Christina herself has to say about it:
“Hi there! My name is Christina and I am a student in Newcastle University. I am currently writing my dissertation which is about the renaming of St James’ Park. The results of this survey are essential for the research. Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire!”(more…)
Pardew: More sponsorship, or the players will go!In a move which may or may not be coincidental with the kerfuffle over the club’s recent stadium rename, Alan Pardew has told the Sunday Mirror that though Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias have put the club in a much stronger position finacially, it still needs to bring more sponsorship in.
He also added that if the club failed to bring in more sponsorship, we may lose our best players. The grey gaffer started with praise for Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias’ financial stewardship the club, though it is still in more debt than it was when Ashley gained control of the club in the summer of 2007.
