brummiemag1

Leazes, these clubs with smaller crowds than us like Liverpool and Spurs have got it all wrong, why be ambitious and spend money when you can settle for years and years of mid table mediocrity - its a fucking disgrace and people need to wake up and demand and expect more than that - we should raise our expectations and be aiming to challenge for the major honours in the game again - not settle for being a Bolton or a Stoke

His teams try and play good football though. Teams like Villa are the same as us, little ambition, destined to be mid table for the next decade or more, so may as well appoint a manager who plays decent football, at least you can enjoy some of the games

absolutely designed to fail, is just an opinion. The very fact that the club, in fact the absolute reason they could not sell those shares, which were open to anybody, businesses, supporters, only underlined how little interest there was in the football club, that they could not raise such a small amount of money. Where were all these businesses and supporters that appeared once the club started kicking forward and it all started to mushroom ? You may be right about Keegan, in fact I probably agree, but this only shows the people who give SJH all the credit for everything are wrong, [but they know they only do this because they want to hurl any brick they can find at Shepherd and blame him for everything]. Keegan forced their hand, no doubt, however, when I quoted this very extract from Keegan in his book a few weeks ago, Toonpack even disagreed with that.....I reckon he just wants to argue with me the same as people like him want to blame Shepherd for everything, as already said. The FACTS are that the Halls and Shepherd owned the club from 1992 until 2007, it was the best period in half a century for NUFC, and it was all down to them, and Keegan who started it all and did a job that very few managers could have hoped to equal, yet Toonpack and people like him even denounce this because "he won nothing" and "they left debts [stadium debts] when it all ended". Personally, I think if there was a stadium debt of around 70m quid, structured like a mortgage and repaid in accordance with revenues like a mortgage, for what we had, the rise of the club and everything that came with it including the springboard for a bigger future in terms of the raised status, stadium, training ground, profiles etc, it was cheap at the price. It is quite unbelievable that people are actually slating the club for expanding the stadium and looking at longer term revenues and potentials and then get slated for it. It is also shameful that people actually mock the signing of top quality footballers at this club, who brought all of this, and have absolutely no appreciation of how everything changed at the football club. They converted this club from a situation like Sheffield Wednesday are in, into one of the biggest clubs in europe, and fools took the ambition etc for granted. The club is now in decline again, and Man City being bought by a bunch of Arabs, along with the previous purchase of Chelsea by Abramovic, has nothing to do with Mike Ashleys decision to convert this club into a selling club again competing at the levels of the likes of Blackburn and Bolton. Liverpool are doing it right. They are, in the opinion of their manager, buying what they judge to be a quality footballer, instead of selling them and cementing their status as also rans with cheaper inferior middle of the road replacements. Agree 100% with you. Its baffling that more people can't see it! We should be competing with the likes of Liverpool and Spurs, not selling our best players to them or anyone else who offers enough money.

If the club seriously had any ambition to build to challenge for a Champions League place in a few years time then I would expect them to spend all of the £35 million received for Carrol plus another £20 million on top. Sounds ambitious but if we hadn't sold Carroll then I would have expected us to spend £20 million on new players in the summer. No chance, I realise that - he will probably spend £20 million in total, sell Enrique and some people will be saying its a good transfer window - laughable

Fuck me I haven't posted on here for a long time but I don't need to post because Leazes Mag says more or less everything I want to say. And I would say most of my friends agree with him as well. Newcastle United should be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, our support is potentially second only to Man U in England - in fact it was bigger than Man U after World War 2 - its about time we had owners again who try and realise that massive potential We should be aiming for the top - not a top 10 finish - we have the stadium and the support - we need an owner with the ambition to realise our massive potential - how some people still try and defend Ashley beggars belief

I dont understand what Arsenal fans are moaning about I would give Wenger a 10 year contract at Newcastle tomorrow if I could - marvellous football - brilliant manager Not that he would be the slightest bit interested in coming to a club as unambitious as us

You have to admire Ashley really - it seems he has been very good at lowering expectations to an extent where a lot of people on here and on NO are satisfied with mediocrity He's no clown he knows what he is doing How we have declined under this wanker- we used to have to have 52000 every week with a 10,000 waiting list - we have lost 15000 fans already - wait for next season when we regular;ly get below 40k Ashley has turned us from being one of the biggest clubs in the country into an also ran - happy to stay in the top division and nothing more

Sadly Aston Villa, a much smaller club than us, but not a small club, have a lot more ambition than us - they will overtake us and leave us behind Judge Ashley by his net outlay in the summer - if he spends 35 million then actually he has spent nowt - judge him by net outlay - then we will see the ambition he has for our club Sadly the Aston Villas of this world will leave us far behind

Sad to see so many people slagging off Keegan again on Newcastle Online

Completely disagree with us playing anything less than a full strength team in all competitions We should be trying to progress and win these competitions

Not bigger than us but along with other midlands clubs like Villa and Wolves they are certainly more ambitious

We won't play a full strength team in the Europa League anyway so whats the point

But his argument has not been taken apart - most of what he says is spot on and its shame that more people don't recognise it. This club is in serious decline under Ashley, he has turned one of the biggest clubs in the country into an also ran, a mediocre mid table team where premier league survival is the only objective. No ambition whatsover.

No but sadly a lot more ambitious than us in recent years

just like the good old days. Still, its all "business". The good old days didn't have Bosman, it's called common sense same rules for everybody. Run the club like Netto, and your best players want to go because they see it for what it is. Just like your good old days. There's a fact of life that you need to get your head around. When and if certain clubs come calling you just are not going to be able to hold onto your players. The summer will be the test, if he gets sold to someone like Villa or Everton THEN you can rightly whinge. I think selling our top goalscorer to Liverpool for a record fee is a basis to "rightly whinge. Obviously you don't - but tell me when this last happened rather than the other way round when we ourselves bought the best players from other premiership clubs, something which the vast majority of people came to expect and something which someone your age should understand better - assuming you really did support the club in the 70's and 80's as you claim. First bold bit -then if you think £35m for Carrol should not be taken then you are a fool, not to mention the fact that Liverpool are still seen as a "monster" club, wrongly IMO but that's life. Not having a plan B was whinge-able but the sell decision, at that price, was a no brainer. When did that happen, when we bought the top 4-6th placed (you know the teams I mean) best players ??? you're a fool if you think you should sell your best players. You're also a fool if you think that Liverpool should be buying our best players. Liverpool were the most successful club for a lot of years, but selling them [no to mention the likes of Spurs and Villa] our best players for career and monetary reasons ? The last owners bridged that particular gap, and you're an even bigger fool if you can't accept that. You're also a fool - again - if you think we will see anywhere near that money invested in quality footballers as happened with the sale of Andy Cole as the managers decision I see you are completely avoiding the topic - every time - of supporting the club prior to 1992 ? They attracted you didn't they, now you criticise for not winning the title ? What "sheer" hypocrisy.....which answers your last point perfectly. Don't be stupid, you can't compare the club then (70/80's) to now, or the way players are handled, bosman changed everything. Oh and stick your attracted by 92 crap, I watched Alan Foggon and Micky Burns and Graham Oates and Glen Keeley and George Riley etc etc etc The only period when I didn't consistently go was when Keegan was a player here strangely enough, due to other priorities. I don't think you should sell your best players BUT I accept it as a fact of life in the modern game when those considered the established "big-boys" come knocking and turn a players head, or someone offers you a stupid amount of money, you're screwed. Everyone has their price and there is a pecking order and we ain't in that top tier (and sadly never really have been established there). Do you think for a minute the former owners would have turned down £35m for Carrol, really ?? As for the reinvestment (or not) we won't know until the summer will we (I accept FFS would likely have spent it - well what Barclays would have allowed him to) What you really need to accept is that the Keegan "glory years" were our blip, we had our Shankly moment and we screwed it up, we won nowt, and let it all slip away and it's a LONG road back. Fact: the previous owners did not ie DID NOT - sell our best players for monetary reasons or create a club whereby our best players wanted to leave to further their careers or for monetary reasons. You can dispute this all you like and make up anything you like or spin it any way you like, but this is the facts. We will NOT re-invest the 35m quid in quality footballers, read that carefully, we will not reinvest that 35m quid in quality footballers with the intention to improve the team overall from the one that Carroll played in . Understand ? I'm afraid the statement "we won nowt", true as it may be, only highlights your complete fickleness and lack of appreciation of the fact that at least we had a go, a good go, and came within 90 minutes of landing the league or the FA Cup on 4 occasions, and played in europe more than any club bar 4 in the 15 years they owned it. You show me any other owners of NUFC who have did this, which makes the Halls and Shepherd the best owners we have had at this club by a million miles and Mike Ashley is positive proof that it may take a long long time to find someone else who understands the club like they did and matches it . What a shame that people failed to appreciate and can still only look back now and criticise. That is all my point is, and what is always has been. Appreciate what happened, and accept they were good, because you might never, never see it again in your lifetime. What I really don't get my head around is people who say they were around before 1992 and failed to appreciate it and took it for granted in the end. Fools, all of them, especially when they can't admit they got it massively wrong. Spot on, under the Halls and Shepherds we were one of the big boys, we were a buying club, we didnt sell our best players and most of all we had ambition. Ashley has thrown that legacy away Clubs like Villa and Wolves are now showing far more ambition than us - we will be overtaken and left behind by clubs much smaller than us but with far more ambition The novelty of year on year survival in the premier league will soon wear off - thats the most we ever achieve under Ashley - its shameful for a club with the potential of Newcastle and yet unbelievably some people still try and defend him and compare him favourably with the previous owners

Pubs near the ground are nothing special - plenty of good pubs in Brum though and there will be no problem wearing your colours You may want to stay on and around Broad Street (the main pub area) and then jump into a cab to get to the ground. Probably the best place to go after the game as well Alternatively you could pub crawl your way to the ground, starting on Broad Street, then pubs near New St station then some decent pubs down in Digbeth on the way to the ground

I agree with everything that has been said - my ultimate sporting hero - his approach, his ambition and the style of football to name a few things Keegan made me believe anything was possible and back then it really was - fantastic days unlikely to ever be repeated - never with these wankers in charge Keegan knew the potential of the club and understood the passion of the fans and he was given the financial backing to make it happen - the only time in my life that the owners and manager started to realise the massive potential that is Newcastle United If Ashley had backed him financially second time around and shown a bit of ambition then it could have happened again - His treatment by Ashley was shameful I would have him back as Manager tomorrow Happy birthday Kev

nailed Yes agree 100% - Ashley and the relegation have set the club back by a decade or more. We are a million miles away from challenging for the top 4 and as you rightly point out, it could have been so so different if we had an owner with some ambition who was prepared to take Keegans advice and realise the potential of the club.

nailed Yes agree 100% - Ashley and the relegation have set the club back by a decade or more. We are a million miles away from challenging for the top 4 and as you rightly point out, it could have been so so different if we had an owner with some ambition who was prepared to take Keegans advice and realise the potential of the club.

Playing anything less than our strongest possible team is a complete disgrace in my opinion. If we win tonight we have decent chance of winning it or at least getting to the final. For me and most of Newcastle mates this game should be more important than the West Ham game last Saturday. Arsenal have not won a domestic trophy for 5 years so they are taking it seriously. We haven't won a domestic trophy for 55 years and we are not bothered. How shameful is that when potentially we are the bigger club. Its a joke - when the hell does it become acceptable to go for the cup. This represents a great chance of getting to the quarter finals and to play anything less than a full strength team is completely unacceptable. No wonder they are predicting a low crowd

To quote one of my Newcastle mates its all part of NUFC becoming a nothing club languishing in the bottom reaches of the premiership. Its very sad, the slow and steady decline of a great club that should, based on support and potential, be one of the top clubs in Europe. We will achieve nothing under Ashley, he is destroying the club

I'm interested in these sort of debates and arguments - I think they are important because after all we are talking about the longer term future of the club - and I agree with Leazes Mag A lot of people, particularly on NO are getting excited because we have had a couple of results and one lad has described it as a "canny transfer window" FFS we have signed a Forest utility player, a bloke whose injured until Xmas, an overweight has been and a loan player - this is hardly the makings of longer term progress. Ashley has got lucky in that Hughton is turning into a quietly effective Manager and players like Carrol are progresing faster than I expected. If the billionaire Ashley was prepared to spend 20 - 25 million a year net for the next 4 or 5 years then we just might be able to challenge for major honours again in 4 or 5 years time. It seems he has no intention of doing so. In addition to the shameful treatment of Keegan and lieing to the fans he has no ambition whatsoever and unless we spend significant amounts of money year on year the best we will ever be is a mediocre premier league team whose main ambition will be year on year survival. For a club with our fanbase and potential we should be one of the powerhouses of Europe and Ashleys's lack of ambition is completely unacceptable

Agree 100%. Lets play our strongest team and go for it. In my opinion its just as important as the next league game and represents our best and probably only chance of a trophy. They will play a weakened team so we do stand a chance. A good cup run would be fantastic

have you anything constructive to add here, regarding what is required at the football club to improve and attempt to challenge the top clubs ? We won't challenge the top clubs for a long time. We got up there, dropped out, and wasted too much money ontoo many shit managers trying to get back in. No club can mount a continuous challenge to the top clubs for years and years, and when it slips away you have to pick up the pieces and start again. We will never challenge the "top" clubs as long as someone with no ambition like Ashley is in charge. We were and should be one of the top clubs, based on our level of support and potential support we are one of the top clubs and we should be challenging or building to challenge for major honours but that will never happen with Ashley in charge, we are destined to become one of the also rans if we're lucky and for a club of our size that is completely unacceptable. To be upbeat and take positives out of a 3 0 hammering, when not so long ago we were competing with them for trophies, just sums up how low the expectations have become and Ashley can at least take credit for that

I'm bringing a couple of Villa fans up this weekend and I want to show them the best pubs Newcastle has to offer on the Saturday before the game, by way of an all day pub crawl. Was planning to start off at the Strawberry on Saturday lunchtime, then walk down to the Quayside in the afternoon (via the Newcastle Arms and Bogeda) to take in the Crown Pasada and walk along to the Free Trade, before heading back to some more lively type pubs in the Bigg market area in the evening, maybe the Old George. Trying to look for that rare combination of pubs that have character, serve decent beer and are lively! Anyone got any other suggestions for the afternoon or evening?