Chaser

I did exactly that, forgetting that I was at work. Should not have been given the airtime

I heard a couple of hours after others did, and to receive the text message just made my heart sink. I knew he was ill and frail as I had seen the pictures that we all saw, but the news of his passing has still rocked me. I have said to others for years that this day will give me great sadness. I am not afraid to say that as a grown man I have shed a tear for him tonight, he was, is and will always be an inspiration to me, a true gentleman and a role model for everyone in the way they live their life regardless of whether they like football or not. A truly great man, he was graceful, noble and showed enthusiasm and spirit for everything which he did. I was honoured to meet him. His passing is all the more upsetting to think that he has seen his beloved club torn apart, and the world of football in general become a greedy selfish environment. My thoughts go out to his family and those who were close to him. RIP Mr Robson, for you were my hero.

I reckon Carroll will do ok in the Championship, but i'm not confident about Ameobi. He didnt make the grade when he went to Stoke and so I dont think he's going to be any different this time around. I reckon Smith has more of a chance of more goals than him and thats worrying. Goals do however, rely upon service from the midfield. That is something we are not going to get with the current crop of misfits.

You dont often get stuff that hits hard on this board (this side anyway) but that hit me right in the nutsack. Needless to say that following it, it made me have a check around myself. A very courageous post, and thanks for sharing it with us. I wish you all the best for the future bud.

We're in danger of becoming the new Oxford, never mind Bradford or Leeds. Im going away for a week on Thursday morning, and I'm going to try and steer clear of any NUFC news until I return. I just hope that on my return I'll be provided with a pleasant surprise, rather than what I'm expecting.

The only decent one from the 3 Legends was Gatesy, even though he was ex-Sunderland. Miss his input on the show.

I've not made much comment on the plight of the club in recent weeks, but after seeing the last few weeks which have produced little to nothing, I fear the worst is yet to come. I certainly dont see us being promoted in the following season, and I think we will emulate Leeds. We had no quality when we were relegated, morale was at a low both on and off the pitch and we have very little assets with which we can cling onto hope with. Over the next month I foresee very little activity on the takeover, we will be no further to appointing a new permanent manager and I think the few players who we could say could get us out of the mess will be moving onto pastures new. Other Championship teams have a march on us already, and we are a rudderless ship heading for rockier ground. The rot started with Shepherd and continued to greater depths with Ashley. This club has been decimated over the years by mismanagement and poor judgement, and if Shepherd was to return to the helm, we would be jumping back from the fire into the frying pan. Our plight seems currently the worst in the entire football league, and it is a disgrace to think that a club which a firm foot in the top 5 clubs and continues to be one of the biggest in the world is currently collapsing like a pack of cards from the inside out. How long will the fans continue to put up with this? Apathy seems to have been taken to a new level in the last few months, with relegation occurring with little but a whimper. I dont want to see scenes of mongs on Sky Sports but it seems that they are a by-product of some kind of action to prompt those in the know to tell those who provide this club with a base with which it functions what is going on. The contempt with which the current regime have treat the fans is un-disputable. Malaysian investors? I do worry where football is going with all of these takeovers from consortiums and mega rich foreign businessmen. Clubs like Man City and Madrid are spending foolishly far beyond what other clubs could compete with and in the world of modern football it is only money that talks. Competition is dying and FIFA seem to be doing very little to reign these clubs in. In little over 10 years we have seen top earners increase tenfold, with clubs paying £200k after tax!?? One bloke to kick a ball around for 90 minutes a week, train a few times etc whilst we have poor sods like those 18yr old kids going to war to fight for £200 a week. Where is the justification in what these clubs provide? They are about as far away as the average football fan could be. I digress... I dont envisage any light at the end of the tunnel come August and think we are in for much of the same come kick off for the new season.

I always thought they were Mitre Delta Magma's which were the business. Caseys round our end. The better quality of ball meant the leather stayed on rather than them becoming a soggy carcass. When we ended up losing them, someone would always bring out a floater or one of those other plastic balls which were a bit heavier but still shit.

The thing is, someone made him captain. He didnt appear to lead the team on the pitch and off it was practically mute. When we wanted someone to stand up and be counted, he went missing. The effort works both ways, yeah we should have provided a better team to provide him with opportunities, but he should have made an effort both on and off the pitch when we rescued him from his "Madrid hell".

Just like Dyer I hope he gets injured in the first few games and then spends most of the season struggling to regain fitness. Nothing but a blight on this club, took his money and did as little as possible. Never showed promise and was one of 11 reasons for being relegated. We would have been no better off with 10 men in some games.

I think we'll be on hold until the start of the season and then it'll be too late. Year after year we have destroyed pre-season with one thing or another and this season looks to be the worst yet. Unless miracles happen, I see us with no hope in hell of getting promoted. We'll be fortunate to stave off relegation.

Even if we do get ourselves a new board by the end of June, the damage has already been done as the pre-season is on hold until this is sorted. We cant sign any players until then, and I reckon players wont want to be waiting to find out whats going to happen, even if they are interested in moving to us.

because it came from mike ashley maybe?? Maybe I should have worded that better, I'm suspicious about the timing of the statement. Me too, wasnt there something very similar when Keegan resigned?

The only issue with buying home grown players is whether or not clubs would be willing to release them for realistic prices. I wouldnt be surprised if Cox was a daft price, even for a league 1 player. The players who we are looking to recruit, dont have to be capable of winning the Premiership, or even challenging the top 4. They need to be good enough to bounce us back up in the shortest possible time (1 season hopefully) and with a bit of luck, they will have something about them which can be developed to form a nucleus of a side once we do get back in the Prem. If you look at a lot of the clubs who havent returned to the Premiership, they have been clubs which maybe haven't had the cash to invest, and havent been able to restructure. I am concerned that we dont have long to turn it around, and we are going to need a total rebuild as some of the players we have wont have the energy required for the Championship, and the others wont want to drop a division.

I will come at this from 2 angles. We are the biggest draw in the Champioinship without a doubt. Any player who cannot attain to Premiership standard or is looking for a club on a free could be tempted to join us in a hope to spring back up and get premiership status again. The only flip side of that is the like of Leeds/Sheff Wed should have done the same as that and it really hasnt worked out. The benefit we have over the likes of Leeds is that it looks like we might be able to afford players therefore being an attractive prospect.

It is a dark day for me. Ive been quite flippant about it the last few weeks and although I did predict that all 4 sides would be beaten, I never thought about the prospect of relegation as a reality, and now that its been confirmed, Ive felt numb, angry, total disappointment, disillusion and disbelief. This club has danced with the greats in the last few years and now needs to turn up at the likes of Scunthorpe, Bristol City, Plymouth, Peterborough to name a few. The general standard of the Championship isnt that high, although at the top it is pretty tough to climb out of it. We need to restructure, galvanise and regroup for next season in the hope that we can spring back up. A club the size of Newcastle (similarly Leeds) should not be in the second tier of football and we need the players who can back that up. Its going to be a long season next year, but I hope that we can kick start early and carry the momentum as the season progresses.

The thing I like about Shearer as a manager is that when he says something, he really means i and he tells it like it is. He doesnt shy away through soundbites and isnt scared to tell the public what is going wrong. I think he did well to restrain himself today as he was about to name and shame at one point. If he can identify the problems, he gets my vote for next season

Im in a Quandry. I only have Setanta at home so bar watching it via a stream, i need to go to the pub. Trouble is, the pub will be full of Boro fans and therefore if a miracle happens and we survive, ill be only one happy in there (for about 5 seconds before I get lynched). Other option is to go to our lasses place however her dad and brother are Man Utd fans so ill just have them sitting gloating on the sofa.

I reckon Butt would do us ok for another season in the Championship. Alongside Guthrie, who I fully expect to stick around, they could be quite a decent midfield pairing down there.

I wouldnt be adverse to FFS coming back with some wedge, provided that he didnt send us to financial ruin trying to make us great again.

Reading his book at the moment. Only into his youth days at the moment but ive been told its an interesting read.

We've been crying out for pace for the last couple of seasons with only Martins with any speed. Lovenkrands doesnt cost us anything, has already settled at the club and he is a different option to what we have. I'd keep him. Theres others i'd remove before I'd let him go.

As soon as we offer him a new deal, he'll get injured again.

To go: Cacapa, Geremi, Owen, Barton, Gonzalez, Ameobi, Viduka, Butt To stay: Harper, Taylor, Martins, Bassong, Enrique, Guthrie Not too bothered whether the rest stay or go, cant see the likes of Colo leaving after 1 season, god knows whats going to happen to Xisco and dont know whether anyone would take Smith. Still dont think we'll do much in the market this summer. Tweaking rather than overhauling (the latter of which is what is needed)