We're stuck with him (probably).It seems there was no breakthrough in the talks between Moat, Llambias and Harris yesterday and a report in The Chronicle claims that the sale saga could drag on for another week before Ashley calls it a day and takes the club off the market.
North East MP Nick Brown has now called for Ashley to sling his hook, saying:
“It breaks my heart. Mike Ashley hasn’t made a go of it.
“He should call it a day, sell up to somebody who can make a go of it and who has sufficient money to give it a decent go this year and have an exciting campaign to get back in the Premiership where we belong.
“Every day that goes by makes this harder. The uncertainty is damaging the club.
“The club personifies the city. It is one of our great corporate citizens. How many other cities our size could regularly deliver a gate of over 50,000 for a home game?
“They have got to get that passion and sense of commitment, which I think has never gone away, rallied behind something that has got a chance of succeeding and the present set-up is disastrous.” (more…)
Different allegiances but talking the same languageNo one can sympathise more with your current situation than the Leeds United fans that preceded you. It seems unjust for a club with such an impressive fanbase to be totally annihilated and ruined by incompetent ownership and bad management, but the Premier League has gotten into such a crazy situation with money that teams wanting to compete put themselves so heavily into debt in a bid to do so that it can backfire catastrophically. The saddest thing is that the players, owners and pretty much everyone else associated with the club will move on and happily forget their part in causing this destruction whilst the fans are the ones that suffer most.
I am of course a Leeds United fan. I was approached by the sites admin before the match and asked whether I’d be willing to write a review of the night’s events from an outsider’s perspective. I was more than happy to do so as Newcastle is a club I’ve always been fond of. It comes from growing up near the Kellingley Pit (about 15 miles from Leeds) where many of your fellow Geordies moved to work. I became friends with a lot of these people, as did all the people of my hometown and a friendly rivalry between Newcastle and Leeds emerged. (more…)
Smith - Toon enforcer?Predictably, a lot of the chat has been about the suggestion that an Iranian tycoon called Sirous Mahjoob is bidding for Newcastle United and may (re)install Kevin Keegan as manager.
Much doubt has been cast on whether this chap actually exists in the first place, let alone whether or not he’s bidding for the club. In general it’s the red-tops and Sky that seem to have been running with this story, although few of the broadsheets and local papers have touched it.
But let’s see what other news is around.
According to The Chronicle, Alan Smith has been laying down the law to players following the 6-1 defeat by Orient. Yesterday he said:
“Some people have made it public that they want to go, while others have got their head down.
“That is entirely up to the individual.
“We won’t have a go at anybody if they want to go.
“But they must cross that white line and give 100% when they wear a Newcastle shirt.
“We won’t have any qualms if they walk away if they get a better offer elsewhere.
“Every player in the dressing room last night, whether they want to stay or go, gave 100% and we cannot have any complaints.” (more…)
Sick as ****Once upon a time, comparisons were made between the clubs based on positive notes such as the club history, the passion of the fans and their desire for success diluted with a realistic and humorous outlook on the game. Instead, the familiarity these days is apparent for a different reason. It doesn’t take a genius to draw a parallel between our decline and that of our old friends down the road, Leeds United. That’s why people have been doing it for the last couple of years or more.
Mismanagement and poor finances off the field together with mismanagement and poor performances on the field led to the downfall of the once great Leeds. A club who, less than 20 years ago (just less mind), were the English Champions. Holding off the challenge of their bitter rivals across the Pennines to take the 1991/1992 title, while the destiny of Newcastle United was being re-charted dramatically by a certain messiah (ahem….). (more…)
My amateur photographyWell the weather was drab, the performance was drab and overall it was, well pretty drab.
In keeping with the theme so far, the opportunity to go and see the lads again was off the back of my own game being cancelled. But as with the Darlington game, late notice meant the only person keen to make the trip to Huddersfield was me. Note to self – get some ‘reserve friends’ who are regulars to games as a fallback. As it happens, the timing was quite tight and so it was only viable to take my own car as most sensible folk would have already left.
Shoving a lovingly crafted sandwich and some pop on the front seat I headed to the services, dieselled-up and typed the postcode into the sat nav. It told me I’d be there at 7.35, so I was a bit sceptical about my chances of getting parked and into the ground and imagined some worst case scenarios of getting there late and missing half the game or not gettin there at all. As it turned out, I made good time and pulled off the M62 at 7.20 with 4 miles to go. Which was just as well because that’s where the traffic for the ground started. Having snaked slowly to within a few hundred yards of the stadium I dumped my car strategically just off the main road and asked some lads for directions to our end. That’s when the heavens opened. (more…)
