StevieRoss

Why did any of you expect any better than the shite Cabaye served up? Did you really believe the Puppet's bullshit? Cabaye was a dead ordinary player in the crap French league. Do some homework, read the forums from over there. His transfer was all about lining pockets such as those of that crook Carr and who knows who else.

"The thought of a top 10 finish is the furthest thing from the thoughts of our owner and his lackey. Maintaining top flight status is all they care about and if they can save a quid by finishing 17th instead of 10th they will." Well, this is undeniably true, but it's all about the spin. Ashley, Del-boy and the Puppet think the fans are stupid, but not so stupid that's they'd swallow a line about us challenging for Europe etc. Top 10 finish though, they probably think we'd believe that (of course there are those poor deluded souls like the "Team Positive " faction who really do) and be relatively happy. To go on record aiming to finish 17th (our best possible finish in my opinion) is just too much of a PR lemon.

Well, I think Kennedy is the best LB I 've seen at the club, and Enrique the best since him. There have been others in between I never saw much of I guess, so it is just my impression, I'm not being categorical about it.

The last real quality left back I remember at Newcastle was Alan Kennedy....history repeats...

In some parallel universe, Xisco is upfront, partnering Fabio Zamblera...with Tamas Kadar at centre-back...

What you all need to get your head around is that he doesn't give a fuck about the club. He's not like us, or Bobby, or Shearer, or even Freddy. He's been on the Courvoisier XO with his mates one night and had a bright idea - "I'll buy a football club!" Of course, it's all gone pear shaped, and now he's trying to cut his losses. He doesn't give a fuck about the club, the tradition, the fans - in fact he probably hates us all. This has become purely a bad business decision he's trying to make the best of. Don't expect him to do anything in the interests of Newcastle United ahead of the interests of Mike Ashley.

And depite all of the fans (well, most of us) - and players now it seems - feeling cheated, betrayed, cuckolded - call it as you like, Ashley will feel that he's getting the club just how he wants it. He has the perfect number two for his purposes in Del-boy (lying, manipulating yes-man), and the right sort of manager (plausible, spineless yes-man). Costs are coming down, he's probably been able to launder a bit of cash into his private accounts from transfers, and things generally are looking up. The challenge is to keep the club up of course - for the stated "top 10 finish" required, read "mid-table safety". Pressure then on Del-boy and the puppet, but there are always risks in business, I suppose...

Wherever he's played Bellamy has been a complete tool. Maybe that's exaggeration, but I've certainly heard it from Norwich, Coventry, West Ham and Cardiff supporters. I had no time for him at Newcastle. In the same mould as Dyer really. Looked fast and flashy, did some memorable things, but ultimately didn't make a great contribution and was a pain in the arse. I'm no fan of Michael Owen, but to be suggesting (as some seem to be) that Bellamy has been a better player is breathtaking nonsense...

I don't agree at all. It's all about achieving more than you thought you would achieve. Man U and Chelsea fans are so bored with winning the league, they can only get pleasure when they surpass their rivals' number of league title wins. Nick, this is a ridiculous post I have to say. Perhaps Man Utd and Chelsea fans have become bored with winning, but the implication that, therefore, Newcastle fans shouldn't be aspiring to win something - anything - is just nonsense.

But Nick, Bellamy had fallen out with the club's managers. Robson couldn't control him and Souness was hired, at least in part, to wield the stick. No doubt Shearer bad-mouthed him to Shepherd but it well known that Bellamy was on the outer with management by then anyway.

Ultimately, teams are judged by what they win surely? And don't we all want to support a successful team? Being "entertaining" losers lost its novelty for me a long time ago. Yeah, sure we can have nice memories of great individual matches, but it's looking like I'll go to my grave having never seen Newcastle United actually "win" anything, and I can't say I'm satisfied with that... I absolutely want us to win things but I disagree with the insinuation that there's little else to football. I don't think I implied that there's "little else". My point is that without being the supporter of a winning team - even once - the experience of being a supporter has a hollowness about it that you can't deny. You can't tell me that all these people on this forum don't feel an ache that will never really be quelled until this team of ours actually wins someting? I agree, Stevie. I don't want to put words in your mouth but I just took it to mean that those times meant very little to you when you said 'meaningless'. It's a shame and, imo. very unlucky on our part that we didn't win anything with Robson or Keegan at the helm but I thoroughly enjoyed those times and would swap them for now in a heartbeat. Winning something would be great but very few sides actually do manage it and I'm not sure something like a League Cup win in the current climate would come close to the periods I mentioned. I didn't use the word "meaningless" actually, I quoted you, but that's splitting hairs. This is purely personal and subjective, but I'd take a League Cup win over all our noble defeats and runners-up finishes. If I could turn back time, I'd take beating Man City in that League Cup final in exchange for our participation in the Champions League and FA Cup final losses....there is nothing, NOTHING like actually winning..

I've never suggested that. Read properly what people write. My point is that no matter what the club achieves is not impressive if it's based on getting the club into debt. Plus, Bellamy, one of the most important players in Bobby's team was sold against his will, simply to please Shearer. Freddie was a disaster. I don't think that's really accurate Nick. Bellamy and Shearer fell out, yes, but by then Bellamy had become a loose cannon. He feigned injuries, threw a chair at Carver (reportedly) and in general had become unmanageable.

Ultimately, teams are judged by what they win surely? And don't we all want to support a successful team? Being "entertaining" losers lost its novelty for me a long time ago. Yeah, sure we can have nice memories of great individual matches, but it's looking like I'll go to my grave having never seen Newcastle United actually "win" anything, and I can't say I'm satisfied with that... I absolutely want us to win things but I disagree with the insinuation that there's little else to football. I don't think I implied that there's "little else". My point is that without being the supporter of a winning team - even once - the experience of being a supporter has a hollowness about it that you can't deny. You can't tell me that all these people on this forum don't feel an ache that will never really be quelled until this team of ours actually wins someting?

Ultimately, teams are judged by what they win surely? And don't we all want to support a successful team? Being "entertaining" losers lost its novelty for me a long time ago. Yeah, sure we can have nice memories of great individual matches, but it's looking like I'll go to my grave having never seen Newcastle United actually "win" anything, and I can't say I'm satisfied with that...

Fucking hell. If supporting Fat Fred to nth degree and seeing no wrong he done is LM, you my lad are the fucking polar opposite. You fuckers never heard of grey? As in the stuff in the middle? Freddy for any short comings was not abysmal like. MO was a fuck up, but was Shearer? Ferdinand, Beardo? Lee? Robert? Bellamy? Given? and on and on and on. He was a twat who loved his face on Sky sports and in hindsight, Id say didnt manage the clubs finances that well. Im not sure where it went wrong, but it did. I always blame the season Partizan stopped us getting back into the CL, I think then it started going tits up. but come on, We were in with the shout of the league under two of his managers, couldnt have been all bad surely? In my opinion, the contract that Shearer was given in 2004, which gave him about 100,000 a week, was another colossal waste of money, on behalf of Freddie. Bellamy was sacked by Freddie, simply for falling out with Shearer. (another stupid Freddie decision). Ok, its starting to makes sense. So, you wouldnt have signed Shearer. Maybe Paul Kitson and Paul Dogleash was the better idea all along right? And those FA Cup Finals, games in Milan and at home to Barca, they were meaningless because we never won anything really right? Scratch that, you're not making sense. Nutter Yes, they were in the scheme of things. In the words of the great philosopher Billy Bremner, "you get nowt for being second"...

He always spoke highly of Hughton, and I have no doubt he was disappointed with his sacking, and the subsequent appointment of Pardew. I think that was fundamentally when and why we lost him. He hasn't been the same under Pardew. He seemingly doesn't like his slimy, two-faced persona...

Born into a Rangers family, the pro-Celtic bias on this forum sickens me I have to say. My Protestant family moved to the north east from Glasgow to work in the mines at the end of the 1800's like a lot did and they were all orange because the fucking Catholics didn't like to get their hands dirty. My grandfather played for Newcastle and so did his cousin (Caldwell and Forrester were their names) before the Great War. So fuck you Celtic apologists.

Born into a Rangers family, the pro-Celtic bias on this forum sickens me I have to say. My Protestant family moved to the north east from Glasgow to work in the mines at the end of the 1800's like a lot did and they were all orange because the fucking Catholics didn't like to get their hands dirty. My grandfather played for Newcastle and so did his cousin (Caldwell and Forrester were their names) before the Great War. So fuck you Celtic apologists.

This time, almost exactly 30 years ago we had just signed Malcolm Macdonald. Today it's "Demba Ba". Please forgive us old-timers if we are not getting too excited....

This bloke is the best LB in the business at the minute. Weren't you just criticising Cabaye in another thread for playing in an mediocre league? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you're an avid watcher of football in Portugal. Coentrao was the best left back at the World Cup. Not sure, but I don't think Cabaye was the best midfielder there... (As it happens, I've seen Coentrao play half a dozen times for Benfica.) Do you really want to go there - we got a better player with Cabaye, or Real Madrid have with Coentrao..?? Are you really going to win that one?

This bloke is the best LB in the business at the minute. Baines is better than Enrique.

Excellent business??? He's a second tier player from a mediocre league and nobody else was interested. Gameiro or Gervinho might have been "excellent" business, this bloke is scraps....

For Christ's sake, the vast majority of the squad "isn't good enough", if your criteria is to challenge the best teams in the PL. Who would make a CL club first eleven? Maybe Enrique. Barton, Tiote could be squad players. Coloccini, squad player at a pinch. That's it. Ameobi, Guthrie, Best etc. are rubbish, but so is our squad overall, and it's obviously not going to change under Ashley. If we get rid of them we'll just sign more rubbish 'cos that's what comes cheap. I'm not defending them, just pointing out that it's unrealistic to expect to get anything better.

Nick will then tell us how the club is streetes ahead of our trophy winning rivals. FYP. It's funny how some promising youth players develop into stars and others fall off the face of the planet. With the exception of Andy Carroll we're specials for the latter. This has been one of my (many) criticisms of the club and one that spans many years, so it's hard to point the finger or know why.

They'll never get 4 mill for him (that's the asking price I think?), so it's likely he'll be staying. Maybe his relatively young age is an upside that Ameobi and Lovenkrands don't have. I've written him off, but I did the same with Tomasson, Saha and Rossi...