Shearer takes charge at Newcastle

[EJG1980]

I think Hull could end up being a lifeline for Newcastle (or Boro). Hull have got a very nasty run in and are in dire form, so if Newcastle can scrape one win from their last four games that might be enough to keep them up on goal difference.

Edit: then again Newcastle's looks pretty nasty too!

[VR46]

Going to end up very tight, especially if West Brom manage another win or two.

Bad joke you've probably all already heard and I'll go to hell for but hey-ho.

What's the difference between Shearer & Newcastle United?

->Open Spoiler<-

Shearer will be on Match of the Day next year

Ok, I'll get me coat.

[abigsmurf]

Newcastle have 2 games left they could realistically get points from. They don't seem to have the fitness or the motivation to get 6 points from them. They should've been going all out to win the game yesterday but 30 minutes from full time they apparently looked like a team that had been playing 120 minutes and were waiting for penalties.

[Pavey]

The unacceptable face of English football

Reminds me of a joke from years back, 'If hooliganism is the ugly face of English football, what does that make Peter Beardsley?'

Newcastle themed too, double win

[Kongster]

The way in which Newcastle as a club is run is something of a bad joke. Relegation will be the pinnacle of all the tomfoolery.

[abigsmurf]

One thing I've noticed especially in the premier league, especially in recent years is one golden rule : if the fans aggressively turn on owners, doing so will give a result the fans won't like. It ends up with the club being quickly offloaded to the highest bidder with little regard for if it will be good for the club or not; Man U being bought with it's own money by a tycoon with no interest in the sport, The protests against Hicks and Gillets only seemed to serve to drive a wedge further between them and delay the new stadium until they couldn't afford it. The Mike Ashley affair didn't reflect well on the Newcastle fans in my opinion and they're reaping what they sowed.

Fans constantly tell owners to stay out of the footballing side of things, perhaps fans should stay out of the business side of things.

[bowser123]

One thing I've noticed especially in the premier league, especially in recent years is one golden rule : if the fans aggressively turn on owners, doing so will give a result the fans won't like. It ends up with the club being quickly offloaded to the highest bidder with little regard for if it will be good for the club or not; Man U being bought with it's own money by a tycoon with no interest in the sport, The protests against Hicks and Gillets only seemed to serve to drive a wedge further between them and delay the new stadium until they couldn't afford it. The Mike Ashley affair didn't reflect well on the Newcastle fans in my opinion and they're reaping what they sowed.

Fans constantly tell owners to stay out of the footballing side of things, perhaps fans should stay out of the business side of things.

???
Nobody was forced out of Old Trafford. Martin Edwards chose to make it a PLC. He chose to sell the biggest, controlling share he owned. Two Irish billionaires decided they wanted a massive stake and between them owned near half the club. The same two people became pissed off over the horse spunk affair and promptly sold shares large enough to force a full takeover.

If the fans would have made a bigger deal of it, in bigger numbers, maybe the current Goons would have thought twice.


Also; Deadly Doug Ellis, he got a bit of stick, no? You can't escape the criticism Lerner gets.

[abigsmurf]

That's my point. The two biggest shareholders got tired of the crap they got from Man U's fan base over that race horse rubbish and offloaded their shares which were gladly scooped up by the Glazers looking to expand their empire.

I don't think a more aggressive fan reaction would've put off the Glazers too much. Afterall, they have next to zero financial liability for the club itself. Protests would hurt the fans more that it'd hurt them.

[bowser123]

That's my point. The two biggest shareholders got tired of the crap they got from Man U's fan base over that race horse rubbish and offloaded their shares which were gladly scooped up by the Glazers looking to expand their empire.

Na, you're remembering it wrong. The reason the Irish wanted out was because of Ferguson. They decided to inconvenience and embarrass Fergus for the way he acted and did that very public 100 questions for the board thing.

There was distaste at the 100 questions and how it was all being dragged out and destabilisng the club that brought opposition from fans to the pair, but they'd decided they wanted out before then.

All the stuff of disrupting race meets came after they decided to sell. I mean take a step back, it's illogical for them to want a sale and chant "Utd, not for sale" no? Then again it was a PLC and for sale every day so the whole slogan was farcical, but you follow my gist?

I don't think a more aggressive fan reaction would've put off the Glazers too much. Afterall, they have next to zero financial liability for the club itself. Protests would hurt the fans more that it'd hurt them.

If the fans had boycotted then they wouldn't have taken over. The whole business model of them is based on fans, be it going to games or in the future hopefully having TV rights to sell their own games. Had there been a total boycott then they wouldn't have taken over. They intend (and have) to milk people for as much as they can, improve on sponsorship deals and corporate links. they then sell this for more than they paid. I feel thats painfully obvious by the fact they have no idea or plan to move the debt other than to service interest; is that because they're stupid or because they don't intend to be there long?

That boycott plan is flawed though as you can't stop people doing what they want and quite clearly the overwhelming majority did want to attend. Be it out of ignorance, loyalty, a desire not to see Utd do a Leeds and be forced into administration and sell all their stars or whatever, they didn't do it.

The sad thing is nobody has come up with an alternative to the boycott plan and that was proven years ago to be pie in the sky... I mean if fans won't go when the team is doing badly, the manager is allegedly past it then it won't happen now.

There's also the school of thought that I partially belong too; the club will always be able to find a buyer so better to ride this out and hope the next one is better than go the ruinous to rebuild route. I personally won't give the owners a penny, nor will I subscribe to Sky Sports, but I do think it's likely there will be another buyer.

All that said had there been an uproar over the place becoming a PLC all those years ago then the next chain of events wouldn't even have happened.

[prinnysquad]

I'd like to see Newcastle get relegated.

Obviously as a Sunderland fan, there's a healthy rivalry going on there, but at the same time I think a year in the Championship might just give some fans the kick in the arse they need.

Let me say here that what I'm about to say only applies to a section of Newcastle fans. I know loads of Newcastle fans who are realistic, enthusiastic supporters. Yet what I can't stand about some Newcastle fans is that they think they've got a God-given right to be near the top of the table. The fans who twisted and moaned when Bobby Robson only finished 3rd, 4th and 5th, because they believed they should be higher. The fans who don't remember the bad old days pre-Keegan, when they finished 20th in Division 2. The ones who only remember the copious amounts of cash and free-flowing football. Because despite it, they won sod all. Traditionally, pre-Keegan era, Newcastle had never been more than a promotion/relegation club who occasionally hit the heights of 8th in the old division 1, but more often than not languished in the mid-to-lower half of the table, or got relegated.

These fans need a reality check and the club should redraw their ambitions. All this talk of being a massive club has held them back for years. Financially they are, but their infrastructure is shot to pieces. Managers get no time to build a team before they get sacked. Then they get lumbered with a turd because in their haste to sack someone they don't look at who the potential replacements are. Honesty, some Newcastle fans think that because they finished 2nd nearly 15 years ago, they should be entitled to be one of the best. Newcastle have been toss for years now, and the sooner these cretins realise it the more likely it will be that the club will be able to build from the bottom again, like when Key-gun took over.

[Kit]

Great post.

It’ll do them the world of good to go down, and make a few fans (shame they're the vocal ones) realise the Premiership doesn’t owe them a place in the top 4.

[toythatkills]

... occasionally hit the heights of 8th in the old division 1...

Which old Division One?

[Kieran76]

I'd like to see Newcastle get relegated.

Obviously as a Sunderland fan, there's a healthy rivalry going on there, but at the same time I think a year in the Championship might just give some fans the kick in the arse they need.

Let me say here that what I'm about to say only applies to a section of Newcastle fans. I know loads of Newcastle fans who are realistic, enthusiastic supporters. Yet what I can't stand about some Newcastle fans is that they think they've got a God-given right to be near the top of the table. The fans who twisted and moaned when Bobby Robson only finished 3rd, 4th and 5th, because they believed they should be higher. The fans who don't remember the bad old days pre-Keegan, when they finished 20th in Division 2. The ones who only remember the copious amounts of cash and free-flowing football. Because despite it, they won sod all. Traditionally, pre-Keegan era, Newcastle had never been more than a promotion/relegation club who occasionally hit the heights of 8th in the old division 1, but more often than not languished in the mid-to-lower half of the table, or got relegated.

These fans need a reality check and the club should redraw their ambitions. All this talk of being a massive club has held them back for years. Financially they are, but their infrastructure is shot to pieces. Managers get no time to build a team before they get sacked. Then they get lumbered with a turd because in their haste to sack someone they don't look at who the potential replacements are. Honesty, some Newcastle fans think that because they finished 2nd nearly 15 years ago, they should be entitled to be one of the best. Newcastle have been toss for years now, and the sooner these cretins realise it the more likely it will be that the club will be able to build from the bottom again, like when Key-gun took over.

Post of the year and quoted for truth.

[abigsmurf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/8033495.stm

Suspended and almost certainly on the way out at the end of the season. Rumours flying around that he got into a very heated argument with shearer.

Begs the question: what club would be stupid enough to sign Barton now?

[toythatkills]

The same question that's asked every single time he signs for someone new, though.

Yet he always gets signed.