Toonpack

Well said Stevie

how much have u seen of pieters nurse-boy? I don't know how much he's seen but I would guess Carr has seen a fair bit and if he thinks he's OK that works for me over and above what any football fans may say.

It's nowt to do with bargain fees it whether a recruit's price fits with the operating model and he won't budge from that. Given the first choice defence performed better than any defence we've had for donkey's years at the start of the season, the argument it would have been even better with Enrique is not cut and dried. Obviously I'd have liked to keep him personally but he held all the cards and his contractual position drove the fee.

How silly. Is he also going to sue Nexus (to change the name of the metro station) and whichever authority has the decision to rename St James' Boulevard? Presumably St James Gate office block near the Redhueugh Bridge will also be sued to change the name of their office block too. Nowt to do with signage: It is with surprise and disappointment that Newcastle United received a copy of your letter sent out to ITV and other media outlets in relation to the renaming of the old St James’ Park stadium to the Sports Direct Arena. We note that a motion was passed by Newcastle City Council to contact the media and request that they use the name of St James’ Park and that the media were contacted and requested to use the name of "St James’ Park" and to refuse to use the correct name of "Sports Direct Arena". Newcastle City Council will be aware of the prominent role that Newcastle United Football Club plays within the local community, and we feel that this issue is being used by the council as a cheap publicity stunt during these hard economic times. Everyone within the local region is aware that Newcastle City Council has a "black hole" in the accounts which means that there will be further cuts in services and jobs by the Council this year. Indeed in The Chronicle last October Councillor Forbes was quoted as saying "We are now having to pick up the pieces, and the issue for us is that this makes the savings we have to find next year even deeper. <a href="http://trinitymirror.grapeshot.co.uk/northeast/redirect.cgi?target=http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/jump/nechronicle.5293/article_mpu;slot=article%5Fmpu;sect=evening%2Dchronicle%2Dnews;templ=page;cat=News;reg=NE;st=other;oid=30682202;sz=300x250;gs_cat=GS_CHANNELS;tile=4;ord=554033596?" target="_blank"> <img src="http://trinitymirror.grapeshot.co.uk/northeast/redirect.cgi?target=http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/ad/nechronicle.5293/article_mpu;slot=article%5Fmpu;sect=evening%2Dchronicle%2Dnews;templ=page;cat=News;reg=NE;st=other;oid=30682202;sz=300x250;gs_cat=GS_CHANNELS;tile=4;ord=554033596?" width="300" height="250" border="0" alt="article_mpuAdvertisement" /> </a> They have ducked £8m worth of difficult decisions and instead left them for us to deal with." As Councillor Forbes and Councillor Faulkner are no doubt aware, Newcastle United Football Club have, under the present ownership, had to face up themselves to the era of austerity that affects all areas of life of which professional football is of no exception. It has been well documented that the present owner of Newcastle United Football Club, Mike Ashley, has personally loaned the club over £100m and that a rationalisation of the whole operation of the football club has been undertaken. Having gone through such hard exercises the club finds itself in an altogether more healthy and robust position than that which they were in upon Mike Ashley’s arrival. Newcastle United also feel that it is only right to point out that several other professional football clubs around the country have renamed their stadiums in an effort to garner increased revenue for their clubs. In the Premiership alone, Newcastle City Council must be aware that Arsenal Football Club now play at the Emirates Stadium, Manchester City now play at the Etihad Stadium, Stoke City play in the Britannia Stadium, Bolton Wanderers play at the Reebok Stadium, Wigan Athletic play at the DW Stadium and Swansea City play at the Liberty Stadium. There are, of course, many more professional football clubs in the football league that have renamed their stadium for precisely the same commercial reasons. We find it difficult to understand Newcastle City Council’s intransigent approach to what is a basic economic factor of the modern era - namely maximising corporate revenue to ensure the survival of the football club. Again, the club finds such an approach by the council to be strange given that we were not aware of any such outcry when the Tyne Theatre and Opera House Theatre was renamed the ‘Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre" (and before that the "Journal Tyne Theatre") nor of any issues about a Grade 1 listed building having the corporate logo of "Volvo" fixed to the front of the building. This would have nothing to do with the fact that Newcastle City Council purchased the theatre from Adderstone Properties and transferred the freehold ownership to the Tyne Theatre & Opera House Preservation Trust we are sure. We also find it difficult to understand this antagonistic stance taken by the council given the high level of co-operation given by the club and council in the preparation of the successful bid to bring the 2012 Olympics to Newcastle with the club holding nine matches in the football competitions. Newcastle City Council must be aware of the Newcastle United Foundation encompassing the widest ranging community football programme in the Premier League ranging from Disability Football Development Officers to Family Learning Co-ordinators through to Health & Wellbeing Co-ordinators reaching out and doing active work within the community. Newcastle City Council will also be aware of the unprecedented steps taken by Newcastle United Football Club to reduce the costs of tickets for various members of the community such as young people aged between 18 and 21 and family ticket prices again showing the club’s awareness of the current economic situation that is faced by the area and the country as a whole. As we said at the start of this letter, we are surprised and disappointed at the approach taken by the council, but are heartened to note that the BBC, ITV and other media outlets have responded, quite properly, by confirming that they will refer to Newcastle United’s stadium as the "Sports Direct Arena" during the reporting of matters connected to the club as they do with other professional football clubs throughout England, Wales and Scotland. If we suffer any financial loss as a result of Newcastle City Council’s actions we reserve the right to consider our legal position in respect of the actions of Newcastle City Council and/or actions of individual councillors for economic loss. It simply remains for us to ask Newcastle City Council to consider the role that Newcastle United Football Club plays within the community, the active steps that have been taken by the present ownership to strengthen the ties with the local community in real and p ractical ways, and to review and rescind its motion and work together with Newcastle United Football Club in the future. Yours faithfully Derek Llambias, Managing Director.

So what did Reina do then, in your eyes? Was he being a pal in trying to remove an errant eyelash with his forehead? Did he have a worrying looking mole that desperately needed a second opinion? I hate that if you think X than you're Y shite. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a clown. He was aggressively squaring up to Perch, trying to get in his face. As Perch didn't move, I think he expected him to push back when he leant in a 'locked horns' scenario, and from the angle from the side it looks like he realises this isn't going to happen and pulls it, barely making contact, if at all. Whilst not particularly nice, it was just all bluster in the way it usually is. It obviously, obviously wasn't an attempt to strike him with his head a la Zidane. But go ahead and view it as such through black and white glasses, while I just quietly despair at how the game is played by fairies. So do I, but the game is what it is, no point getting all angst'd up about it. There's no black and white glasses about it at all, by the rules of the game (as it is today) it WAS violent conduct, there is absolutely no doubt in that. If a NUFC player did what Reina did I'd be giving him pelters for stupidity.

Excellent post 100% spot on. Every squad needs "journeymen" because you can't keep "stars" happy sat on the bench, if you have a manager who can maximise the performance of the bit part players when they are needed, you're in pretty good shape.

Perch highlighted a sending off offence that had been committed, Carroll tried to invent one.

Why not? Booking them isn't really working, is it? Because it's down to the ref and they get conned for 90 minutes each and every week, the ONLY way to do it is retrospectively with video evidence fine and ban the fuckers.

The real culprits are the players, the refs have an impossible job. By the letter of the law it was violent conduct, there is no need whatsoever to stick your head into someone's face, however minimal the contact. Sheer stupidity is the crime but the rule states violent conduct. Perch was absolutely 100% correct doing what he did given the way the game is played these days. It's not particularly paletable, (especially to someone like me who watched in the days when players kicked lumps out of each other, dusted themselves down and got on with it) but it's the way it is. The game is 75% cheating these days, if you can't beat them, join them, even then what Perch did was not cheating, what Carroll did was.

Yes it is, also watch the Williamson header just before the head but icnident, Carragher is pulling Perch back by the shirt as he follows in.

I think it's because the average footballer is a bit dim

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'd rather they stamped out the "fouled by the slight breeze created by a defender" problems first, over-reacting to highlight a nailed on a red card offence is way down the list for stamping out IMO

The replacement of Carroll was worth the wait, in hindsight.

Given the way the game is nowadays, can't believe anyone thinks he did anything wrong.

It's not like this happens on the rare occasion, either. You aim a headbutt at another player, and you're off. No questions asked. Most players won't stand there and take it, they'll make a meal of it for reasons given. And why not? If one of our players was stupid enough to stick his head into an opponents face and said opponent went down like he'd been shot, the last person I would villify would be the opponent.

Yep, one was making sure a red card offence didn't get missed, one was trying to secure a red card offence out of nothing.

Yes that's what I meant. He is always going to do things his way and why shouldn't he given his achievement? Considering his ego, empire and success it's laughable to suggest he would not want to succeed as a football club owner. I've been saying that for a while, buggers like him don't like be be "average" at anything, ever.

Was the same yesterday too. Genuinely seems to be the biggest crime of the lot going by the likes of 606 etc. Of course he overreacted. But the way I saw it - and I'd rather he hadn't, don't get me wrong - is that players react like that to make sure the ref is aware of the incident. If you just stand there and take it like a man, then perhaps the ref will be a bit lenient towards the attacker. Like Murphy on Tiote last season, Murphy then proceeeded to boss the game. They all do it, if it's a red card offence and you can highlight it, or make sure it gets just punishment, do it because the other fucker will given half a chance. About time we had a cynical edge (like all the rest do). It's the modern game, don't particularly like it, but when in Rome.......................

Aye, plus we 'improved' (league position wise) at the start of the season when we only sold our three top players and didn't replaced them. The 'easy start' if everyone can recall it. It's just an old man shouting slogans at the end of the day. It's easy to say just buy everyone and just keep everyone too. The reality is you can't do that, the reality is certain, select other clubs can offer more, the reality is timing (of incomings and departures) is a huge issue, the reality is availability of strategic target personnel is an issue when you're operating a non-casino transfer budget. The net effect has been a huge progression this season. The money that has been available has been spent very well. The playing squad is stronger once again overall. Not spending more money (or spending more earlier) cost us our chances of FA Cup progression at a time when the squad was depleted. That's the reality. The whole spectrum has to be weighed up in minute detail now we don't have a casino budget anymore (and now that other bankrolled clubs do). Aye, you'd have be a one eyed buffoon to not see we are now in the best shape on and off the pitch we have been for fucking years, whether it brings a trophy is another matter but we didn't win one 'the old way' so it's a moot point. I still expect Ashley to stick it to us, but that's only natural given his bungling adolescence as a football club owner. Maybe he has matured, and maybe some fans have along the way. You utter utter pathetic shambling CHUM. If by "matured" you mean learned, I would agree as I really do think he's learned about "the business of the game", he'll likely continue to piss off the fans here and there as I believe he will undoubtedly do it "his way" and screw everyone else's opinion.

I haven't mentioned Bolton at all. Bolton had a completely different strategy to us, and that was to build a team for a season, made up mainly of players loaned from abroad. We, on the other hand, are buying players who are young or approaching their prime. This has the effect of ensuring that we can either take advantage of the best years of their careers and / or receive decent compensation if the player chooses to leave for a big pay day. I am capable of forming my own opinions through reasoned logic. Whilst I'll read what other people have to say, I am my own man, and will form my own views. There are sound, reasoned views coming from match-goers as well as those who don't go the games, just as there are bizarre views from both camps. In all honesty it generally doesn't make that much difference whether they go to games or not. In order to break into the top 4 quickly, we would need to spend at least £200m and consistently pay out ridiculous wages. In other words, we'd need to mortgage the stadium and Mike Ashley would need to write a quarter of his fortune over the next couple of years. Not going to happen. I want a club which is self-sufficient and able to pass the UEFA Financial Fair Play rules with flying colours. If Ashley pumps in quarter of a billion, we will fail the tests, we won't be allowed to qualify for Europe and the best players will want to go elsewhere. So our options are: a) Ashley pumps in silly money so we can rise up the league, but we can't play in Europe as we're a substantially loss making business Ashley oversees a strategy of going after the future stars, building a team which appreciates in value. We may receive huge offers for players, but use this cash to fund the purchase of more players who fit the buying policy. c) Ashley refuses to sanction the sale of a player who wants to leave, as "we're not a selling club", resulting in unhappy player disrupting the team and negatively affecting team morale. To me, option B is the only option. It's sensible and will ensure long term growth and long term stability. In the medium term, the best up and coming players will want to come to NUFC as we have a reputation for giving players a superb grounding and introduction to the Premiership. Over time, we'll improve our reputation to the point that we're seen as a better option than many of the clubs that we once sold to. We need to continually improve, but sometimes it's about taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. Throwing money at buying players doesn't mean we're going to suddenly become world beaters. We need to be signing players who WANT to play for us. We shouldn't be signing players who are only coming because we're offering more money than Spurs / Liverpool etc. We should be signing players who buy into our approach and strategy. This makes building the squad a more time consuming activity, but it gives us far less chance of buying duds like Guivarch, Luque, Bassedas, Maric, Owen, Boumsong etc. I'm not totally sure what you want from the club. You bang on about wanting us to be progressive, but by the very defnition of the word we have progressed: - more points - more goals - more clean sheets - more full internationals - bigger attendances - higher league placing - top players secured on long term deals, so they either stay or we received suitable compensation for them - club is no longer loss making - healthy cash balance to fund future developments - no reliance on bank funding whatsoever This makes us progressive. Excellent post and worthy of far more than the claptrap it will doubtless elicit. Agree, excellent post, although he'll probably ignore it (he may now claptrap it just to prove me wrong of course)

Link please Gem

there's no dialling tone...... just the sound of backtracking...... Surely you didn't offer him out, did you ??

Erik Pieters ‏ @_Erik_Pieters_ Close Go Magpies #newliv / 2nd Goal of Pepiss Cisse 25min left..!! #keepitgoing http://pic.twitter.com/idpswleA

Agree, think Pardew has played the HBA situation perfectly, disciplined him to be playing how Pardew want's him to play and has now fashioned the team to accomodate him and maximise his undoubted talents. HBA is now chasing and harrying and being a real threat going forward. I think Pardew has got him doing the things he wanted him to, to be able to be "happy" going 4-3-3