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good post sir. it was indeed sad the way bobby robson's time with us ended. all the more tragic when you think what was about to happen to the club less than 3 years later in the form of ashley. it's almost unthinkable now, such have expectations been lowered that finishing 5th would be viewed as a major disappointment. that said, we were declining as a team. our peak under bobby was the 4th place finish, not the 3rd a year later. the 03/04 season 'failed' by comparison to those before it and the semi final ties against marseille proved a disappointing flop. dyer, despite being a little cunt, managed to stand head and shoulders above everyone else in his disrespect for robson, but as you say there was a general air of lack of discipline, probably reaching a head with whatever shite went on in the grosvenor hotel in london. i do recall there was a lot of puzzled/bemused frustration towards robson's attitude towards solano who he appeared to have issues with after he reversed his decision to retire from playing for peru. nobby, if i recall right, was always hauled off, it became very predictable. it had reached a head in a lot of supporters eyes, we needed a clear out of undoubtedly talented 'bad apples' or a manager who could pull them back in to line. shepherd mindbogglingly opted for the latter with souness in the role. within a few weeks dyer was caught pissing in a doorway on the quayside, souness opting to paint over this, but by then i think souness had already targeted bellamy as his scapegoat. our demise was gathering speed and the rest is history. as for the mackems.... my time on this flawed but beautiful planet of ours is getting ever shorter, it's probably bordering on the impossible that i and many others will get to see the embarrassment of the mainly pardew inspired six in a row righted. for this, i hope the horrible cunts disappear in to footballing obscurity. they can then collectively stand and scratch their thick skulls pondering where all their many percevied football 'friends' have disappeared to as it dawns on them nobody gives a fuck.

He means SBR. As for the mackems, I thought we were all deluded, yet getting us challenging for honours and into the champions league equates to mediocrity? Make your minds up ffs. And they’re only trying to claim Robson because they’re such an irrelevant nonentity. To quote man himself “What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.” Which highlights a big difference between the two clubs. Virtually every Newcastle fan seems to have a deep affection for the place regardless of whether they’re from there or live there. Sunderland fans, on the other hand, often have no sense of connection to the place beyond the club itself. Which is understandable given it looks like Vladivostok

Out of nowhere interview with Phillipe Albert in the guardian... pretty good, lots on Keegan: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/17/philippe-albert-newcastle-keegan-asprilla-manchester-united-interview I also find it remarkable how down to earth he is. I mean apparently he retired, put his money away and got a normal job as a green grocer. Now he looks after horses for his wife's business and just seems happy.

I'm at my daily mail reading mother in law's. I told her Corbyn has made a commitment to keeping our local A&E open when the Tories are trying to shut it. Then I showed her this Sunday dinner has now been cancelled

Does anyone know if Italian trains are decent?

You owe me a fiver. The pair of you can chip in £2.50 each if it’s easier.

PL's potential Mother-in-Law: (When PL is out of earshot) ....."I'm sorry....> insert current Mrs PL's name here <....but I'm afraid Robert is going to have to stop coming around for dinner with his communist ideas and rabid propaganda. I'm sure both sides have done wrong and when he shows us stuff from his phone it just upsets your Dad and the budgie. It'll be for the best." Current Mrs PL: "Oh take no notice, mum, he's just a bit northern, that's all."

Happy days

A bit off topic, but just watched the full interview with Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis. Fucking hell. First, Maitlis did a fucking brilliant job there. What a car crash that was for his royal highness. He was unable to sweat back in the day because of PTSD apparently . Second, how the fuck anybody can support the monarchy after this? He's a fucking obvious nonce, full stop. Then think back to Charles wanting to be a tampon etc. Get rid of FPTP joke democracy and this fucking royal family while we're at it. Our country's constitution, unwritten as it is, is not fit for the 21st century.

Aye, why would we want to build a statue of a lifelong Newcastle fan who represented the region impeccably as manager of sides like Barcelona, and Porto. Came back home to manage one of the most exciting sides in NUFC history, leading them into being regular participants in the Champions League, before founding a fantastic charity that has impacted the lives of my family and many more throughout the region. Yes there was booing and frustration towards the end of his management of us, I remember many being mostly pissed off at the likes of Dyer and Bellamy being disrespectful towards him. Either way it is regrettable and was linked to the inflated standards the fan base had at the time thanks massively to how highly we had been established during his tenure (and of course Keegan before him). It’s obviously nothing like what the mackems portray it was though, and it must be really nice to have a fan base where you can’t look back with hindsight and point out anything regrettable from a section of the fan base eh. He did attend some mackem games as a kid, from what I’ve heard he did so even later in his life as well. He did this as he loved football and he loved the North East, not because he was a fan of Sunderland but they’re using this to try and twist it into their weird little agenda. They’re welcome to do so, I personally find it pathetic and a little sad that they’re trying to point score in an area they could just appreciate a true legend of our region but I am not shocked at all, it’s exactly what I expect from them. The fact the absolute wretch who posted that put “seemed like a good bloke” sums them up tbh. Sir Bobby Robson “seemed like a good bloke” grow up for fuck sake, the man was phenomenal, had time for everyone by all accounts, and was respected by anyone that knew of him. I can speak to how brilliant his charity is for our region, and I’m so glad that he got his wish to leave that as his legacy. Legend.

fucks sake man, spoilt my sunday evening that has. kinnear, in fairness was probably well on his way by then to a world normally inhabited by those who've had a good hit on a dmt pipe. llambias, like ashley, has been very fortunate in who he's bumped in to while with both newcastle and rangers. although didn't he come close to getting his comeuppance in a darlington hotel before a pre season friendly? ashley, llambias, charnley, bishop and barnes... all five of them hideous, smarmy and slimey cunts you wouldn't be in the least surprised to learn knocked about with prince andrew.

A player I've genuinely never heard of just got subbed on for England.

And of course Portugal were shite and Ronaldo largely anonymous.

Aye, sounds interesting. I’ve gone for Ronaldo hatrick + Portugal to win both halves at 20/1.

And took them into the third tier of English football

You could add that they built a statue to a man who was born and lived his entire life on Tyneside and captained Newcastle United with distinction.

There was a tweet about this that I can’t find now... ”this is like the Simpsons episode when they let Homer design a car”