maggiespaws

The Trent suits me as I dont know either. It depends where peasepud wants to meet for the tickets really. I'll bell you when I get up there. I'm leaving later on this afternoon.

Thanks to peasepud I will have two tickets for the Charlton game on Wed. Anyone up for a few beers so I can meet you all? I'll be meeting peasepud in either the Trent or Union Rooms. It'd be canny to put some faces to names.

I was just waiting for a comment like that

The Darkness - One Way Ticket to Hell..... and Back as I'm going to see them tonight. I still think their 2nd album is pants.

I must be so unaware. I know I left newcastle 14 yrs ago, but I dont remember any of them

Ah yes - I'd forgotten about that

I have to say, I see Leazes point on this one. If you put hindsight aside, Dalglish at Blackburn had a good track record (not so good at Liverpool - but everyone has to cut their teeth). Gullit left Chelsea in a better position then when he started with him and looked like a manager who embraced modern working and training techniques. Robson's track record spoke for itself. No comment needed. Souness had some scottish success, but really, you could see form his record at Blackburn and Liverpool the he was never going to be a good appointment. Sheperd to my mind has done what a chairman should do. 1. Try to appoint a manager that will take the club forward 2. Back his manager (with both money and support) 3. Manage the clubs financial state and through investment etc strengthen the club He's done all 3 has he not? (again, ignoring hindsight) His fatal mistake was firing Robson without a suitable replacement. This meant that he had to settle for someone who did not meet point 1 - Souness. He had no way of knowing that Dalglish or Gullit would turn out the way they did. I know I didn't. There was no writing on the wall for those two. SJH put the club in the strongest position I think it's ever been in, so in that sense, FS inherited the golden egg. His job was to take that golden egg and turn it into a platinum one. Something I honestly believe he is trying to do. But it's not any easy task. In some ways, SJH had an easier one. If what he said in the brothel is actually true (we all know that sleazy journos like to take one comment and twist it into something else to make a story) then I have not forgiven him for that. It was inexcusable. But we don't have to love our chairman for him to do a good job though do we? I also agree that his timing has left a little to be desired. I didn't like the way he got rid of SBR and the bad position it forced us into. He's not perfect but I think there are worse chairmen out there we could be stuck with. The grass is not always greener - as we've found out with managers. He needs to get this next appt right as one mistake is forgivable, in business two is not.

Quoted for truth. It did us more harm selling him for relatively little money, then it would have done keeping him on the books and paying him a salary to be a bench player. Still, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Perhaps if we hadn't have been through such an injury crisis we would not be saying this. Perhaps Moore is a mint CB that's yet to show us his stuff? Perhaps I need more water in this

Well, I hope his problems really are sorted now. He add to our team when we play and if he keeps his head down and works hard I think his past misdemenours will fall by the wayside. But, it's going to take time and plenty of work on his part.

Voted Hitzfeld, but I'd be equally happy with some else such as Hiddink or Eriksson. Al three have performed well in the top flight of the countries they have worked in. As for Hitzfeld not wanting to apply, I dont blame him. I think Eriksson was right when he said 'good managers dont apply for jobs, they are approached'. I am unsure about the likes of O'Niell and Allardyce ass they are still relativly unproven. I really believe we need to get this right this time and we cannot afford to take a risk on someone unproven. The likes of Eriksson, Hitzfeld et al will not be cheap but people want to play for them. Good managemeent and good players breeds success. We have more chance of keeping hold of players like Owen if we employ the right manager that players want to play for.

That's worse than low like. It just shows the gulf between us as nations though. England screw up the world cup and they're forced to endure a few weeks of guff from the press - they get 3 days hard labour after being cut off from family/friends for a few weeks. For all we can appear to be far too liberal and 'wishey washey' when it comes to peoples feelings sometimes, I'd still take that over the complete lack of basic human rights some people are still subject to in this age. Not telling him about his dead bairn would be unthinkable over here.

I reckon we're gonna need to beat every team we play for us to win the FA Cup!

http://a924.l609521693.c6095.g.lm.akamaist...reflector:21693 82749[/snapback] Nice one Bizza! Where the hell did you get that from??

I hate both lots, Miserable Mick Martin and Justin Lockwoods shite commentary, then you have the sycophants of BBC Newcastle. 82742[/snapback] Miserable Mick and Lockwood aren't much better, true. They're made to look good by Lowes though, who is simply full of shit. Anderson is all right IMO. 82744[/snapback] Aye, but shite commentary is better than no commentary at all!

Anybody got a link for a radio webcast? CenturyFM said they'd do all nufc games but have missed the last few....... radio newcastle is no good as I'm not in toon

Naaa, come on Chester! I've got family there and wor kid's boss knows the directors. I can feel an away trip coming on!!! Directors box* anyone........ *Bearing in mind the Deva Stadium can only hold 12 on a good day and the Directors box is an old bus shelter

LM, I've read your post, but I'd replied to HTL first and some of it will be repetition. I actually agree with a lot of what you are saying, I guess some of my viewpoint is a little muddy. Perhaps the crux of this was that I felt that as we were stuck with him, we should at least get behind him and the team otherwise we really were screwed. I appreciate your points about bellars and in some ways agree with you. but as I have previously stated, I dont think bellars was without blame in things. I think my argument(for want of a better word) is weaker because I can see both sides of the coin and therefore am not as staunch about a particular side as you are. I agree the whole thing could have been handled better but it wasn't. As for this being a website, yes it is. But by support, I meant in person, in voice at games not on a forum where no-one at NUFC gives a shit.

Again' date=' I agree. His mistake was calling him a wanker and a liar in public, thus opening the door for GS to get rid of him. Dyer, by comparison, has kept his head down as he can see what happens. Bowyer is being very professional and getting on with his job and quietly looking to move. I haven't forgotten I just dont think I'm either getting my point across, or you're choosing not to understand it ;-) Perhaps I'm guilty of believing the people I hold in higher regard at the club. If they are' date=' then they out of line. Bellars should never have said what he said on TV. True or not. This is one of my points about him.

Nice one. didnt think of this cos they never usually have it on. forgot this was the fac so i could get it here.

is it on the radio anywahere? centuryfm are covering the boro match. i need internet radio as I'm in mancland so metro is out

No I haven't as I will explain now..... Yes, you were right, but then it didn't take a genius to work it out did it? His track record of winning major english and european trophies was a bit thin - but still thicker than the others who turned us down. Bad sales - I'm still undecided about some of the sales but that's personal opinion and it's pointless dicussing it with you anyway as you have made your mind up and do not intend to move on it. Overspending... should the blame for that not lie with FS? Souey doesn't agree the price, he makes his wish list. FS sorts the rest. Agreed our results this season have been worse than last season and morale is low yet again, but it hasn't always been that way. As has been explained to you by not only myself but others in this thread - because we were stuck with him. As I mentioned in my post, you can't expect to get the best out of someone if all you do is tell them they are shite and you don't want them there. FFS, if I did that to one of my staff I'd have my arse dragged into an Industrial Tribunal! Now whilst the situation doesn't directly translate to football fans and the manager, the overall gist of what I'm trying to say does. Support someone and they stand a chance of succeeding, put them down from day one and they dont. I did because both Shearer and Given said it iirc and until recent months there is the possibility that it was better. We'll not know until the next autobiography comes out will we? I don't agree with you there and we've had this conversation before as well. Bellars was as much to blame for his own demise as Souey was. Not withstanding the 'fucking prick' comment when he was subbed, going on sky and publically calling his manager a liar instead of being a man and dealing with it indoors was unforgivable. For all of Roberts failings (and he had a fair few) I'm still not convinced we should have gotten rid of him as we've never replaced his incandescant skills. Having said that, 8/10 games he couldn't be arsed and it it was like playing with 10 men. Can't argue with you there No, we didn't. Not all of us (I can at least vouch for myself anyway), and also see my previous comment about the book. He has spent a lot of money (although if I'm being pedantic, he's requested we buy players who have ended up costing us a lot of money). His recommendations of course will go a long way to determining how much FS is willing to shell out - I'm not blind to that either. However, I think some of his buys have been good ones. Others need time and a fair chance to prove themselves (just like their their manager did). As has already been pointed out (a couple of times now), not faith - support for a manager we were stuck with anyway. It's called looking to the positives and making the best of what you have been given. It's also called being annoyingly British Something else we agree on.

So just to clarify; in saying the following: "So what's your stance now Gemmill, out of interest? Are you finally going to admit you were wrong in your assertion that Souness should be given a minimum of 2 years to prove himself, regardless of results and performances on the field, and his PR off it? Can we finally expect an "I was wrong" Gemmill exclusive?" you were in no way whatsoever interested in petty point scoring? 73850[/snapback] Oh whatever. Maybe it is points scoring, but you seem to be incapable of admitting you were wrong. Ever fancied a career as a lawyer or politician? 73852[/snapback] tbh, he isn't/wasn't wrong. I f I understand this right, Gems said that he should be given time to properly settle in, and make his impression on the squad - a viewpoint I also shared. Let's face it, nobody was ecstatic when we secured his services but rather than instantly write him off some of us took the stance that he should be given time and our support. He's had this and proved that the impression he can make on the club is a bad one. That doesn't mean Gemmil or I or anyone else who felt that way were wrong to do so. After all, it's not as though we have any real influence on who the board picks as a new manager. If we'd dug our heels in and shouted 'Souness out' from day one do you think Shepard would have changed his mind and dispensed with Souey????? Would he bollocks. I still stand by my decision to back Souness just as I feel we should back any new player who joins the club - a stance I think is maintained by Gems as well. You stand no chance getting any sort of performance out of a player or a manager if they feel their back is against the wall from day one. Souness shouldn't have been employed form day one, but as we made a pig's arse in dispensing of our last manager he's what we ended up with. Once we had him, he needed a fair crack of the whip. He's had that and although I've felt (and stated in earlier threads) that he should be given til the end of the season, our performances, tactics, morale etc is so bad that I think he needs to go sooner rather than later. I also think we've been very unlucky with injuries and we have been without at least 2 or 3 of our best players, all season, at any given time. This has not helped. If we'd had them fit more, I believe we'd be in a better position. Not neccesssarily up there with Chelsea but not quite in the position we are in now. If this had been the case, I don't think Souey would have come in for quite the same level of grief. Having said all of that, even a fit squad wouldn't completely hide his tactical frailties - they would however have papered over the cracks and kept us in a more comfortable position. Success (or rather victories) breeds confidence - something we're lacking at the minute...... along with direction... [/war and peace]

I suppose if the recent reports of bust-ups are to be believed, then we don't even have a happy dressing room. I'd like to change part of my original post. I refered to the players as an unhappy, directionless, disparate group of players. I'd like to change that to 'collection' of players as the word 'group' imply's Souness has organised them to a degree. I'm not sure I agree with your bit on the players fearing their exit from the club if they critisise as, on one hand, I can't see Shearer and Given for example taking it lying down when the club's going south. Then again, I can't see them creating a situation whereby Shepard would have to choose between player and manager either, so I guess that blows a hole in that theory.......

Not facing the music is a heinous crime in my book. He's commited that crime and I reckon the opportunity for redemption has passed. Spineless get!