Shepherd Praises Ashley...McKeag Jr has a pop

[Guest alex]

Everyone re-writing history after 10 games...Welcome to North Korea.

It was a bright cold day in November, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

[Park Life 71]

It's in Hall's interest to talk up Ashley. He's the one who approved the sale. He's made out from the start that he saw Ashley as being in the best interests of the club. Obviously he's keen to be vindicated.

 

Pretty much. Though it is fair to say the club seems to be on a steadier financial footing.

[Guest alex]

It's in Hall's interest to talk up Ashley. He's the one who approved the sale. He's made out from the start that he saw Ashley as being in the best interests of the club. Obviously he's keen to be vindicated.

Aye, definitely. Which is something else to take issue with given he was desperate to sell rather than concerned about handed over the club to a suitable custodian. And he's a mackem.

[Toonpack 7240]

Think they put a couple of milion in didn't they?

 

£6 Million I believe it was, but it wasn't personal dosh it was a Cameron Hall Ltd loan at 6% interest which the club paid. A leveraged buy out if you will.

[Guest alex]

Think they put a couple of milion in didn't they?

Obviously there was an initial outlay but he didn't even stump up the cash to get KK back the 1st time. Newcastle Breweries did. Fair play for what he did for the club like but his position now is a bit of a joke given the state he left the finances in etc.

[Toonpack 7240]

Sir John Hall has some fucking front like

I think the magnitude of difference between a million and a billion gives him some justification for saying what he does.

What I took issue with was:

He says he put his money in. Did he fuck. He took much more out than he ever put in even before he sold it. You can argue about whether that is fair enough but that doesn't alter the fact he's lying.

He says he'd be doing it like Ashley, despite the fact he did it in completely the opposite way, using credit to gamble on success. He also couldn't have paid off the loans because he didn't have anything approaching the necessary capital.

The suggestion he's 'intensely' criticised Ashley in the past is also a fabrication I think.

Got you. He probably did initially have a net personal investment in the club but that amount would have been nothing compared to what he eventually left with.

 

Nope

[LeazesMag 0]

Think they put a couple of milion in didn't they?

 

£6 Million I believe it was, but it wasn't personal dosh it was a Cameron Hall Ltd loan at 6% interest which the club paid. A leveraged buy out if you will.

 

 

 

 

 

another football post from Toonpack

Edited November 4, 2011 by LeazesMag

[LeazesMag 0]

Sir John Hall has some fucking front like

I think the magnitude of difference between a million and a billion gives him some justification for saying what he does.

What I took issue with was:

He says he put his money in. Did he fuck. He took much more out than he ever put in even before he sold it. You can argue about whether that is fair enough but that doesn't alter the fact he's lying.

He says he'd be doing it like Ashley, despite the fact he did it in completely the opposite way, using credit to gamble on success. He also couldn't have paid off the loans because he didn't have anything approaching the necessary capital.

The suggestion he's 'intensely' criticised Ashley in the past is also a fabrication I think.

Got you. He probably did initially have a net personal investment in the club but that amount would have been nothing compared to what he eventually left with.

 

Nope

 

another football post from Toonpack

[Happy Face 29]

 

Kato strikes a double body blow

Edited November 4, 2011 by Happy Face

[ChezGiven 0]

[Happy Face 29]

FORMER Newcastle United chairman William McKeag’s son today branded the re-naming of St James’ Park an insult to his father’s memory.

 

Members of the McKeag family steered the club through some of its most tumultuous times in the 1960s and again in the 80s when they fought off take-over bids before Sir John Hall eventually wrestled control of the club in 1990.

 

William McKeag, who was chairman between 1957 and 1960, died nearly four decades ago and his son, Gordon, who was chairman in the late 80s, died in 2005.

 

Now William’s remaining son, Clive, has criticised owner Mike Ashley’s plans to end 131 years of heritage by opening the ground up to sponsorship and naming the stadium the Sports Direct Arena.

 

Mr McKeag said the controversial move was a “slap in the face” for decades of management who would never have put commercialism over tradition.

 

Mr McKeag, who lives in Gosforth, Newcastle, said: “St James’ Park is part of Newcastle city. I don’t agree with the renaming at all.

 

 

“It’s all part of the malaise of football at the moment. The only concern is money. St James’ Park is synonymous with football and synonymous with the city of Newcastle.

 

“To play around with that is totally and utterly insensitive and is part of the malaise of money in football.

 

“It’s a slap in the face for all the past members of administration of Newcastle United and all the great names that are associated with St James’ Park and Newcastle United because the two are inseparable.

 

“My father spent his whole life with the club. He would spend time scouting on holiday and wherever he would be he would watch half an hour of football looking for talent.

 

“Newcastle United are doing so well at the moment and that’s great to see but unfortunately football clubs are just a vehicle for making money.”

 

Mr McKeag’s brother, Gordon, died after suffering a heart attack.

 

He was Newcastle chairman for 30 months from June 1988 after taking on the top job while recovering from a heart bypass.

 

Mr McKeag led the club through a difficult period when it was demoted to the old Division Two. During that time he fought off takeover bids from Sir John.

 

He faced opposition from the club's fans some of whom made threatening phone calls to his family home and sent hate mail.

 

William McKeag, Gordon’s dad, was a director of Newcastle for 28 years and was chairman for three years in the late 60s. He passed away in 1972.

 

Today Clive said his dead family members would have been horrified at the name-changing that club bosses claim will bring in between £8m and £10m.

 

The solicitor, who works at the family firm McKeag & Co, said: “My family’s reaction would have been exactly the same as mine but my late father would have been rather less polite.

 

“The family have been passionate about Newcastle United football teams forever. We go back for something in the region of 70 odd years having been involved in Newcastle United.”

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/11/12/son-of-ex-newcastle-united-chairman-william-mckeag-criticises-club-72703-29764063/

 

Now I never followed the ownership in detail prior to jumping on the Keegan band wagon, so Leazes will correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression McKeag would only think twice about changing young Gordon's name and the names of every one of his future genmerations for £10m. The stadium would get less consideration than that.

 

Unfair?

Edited November 14, 2011 by Happy Face

[McFaul 35]

He should fuck off! His fatha was a cunt who held Newcastle back in an era where a tiny bit of ambition would've seen us win a boat load of trophies.

[Toonpack 7240]

 

FORMER Newcastle United chairman William McKeag’s son today branded the re-naming of St James’ Park an insult to his father’s memory.

 

Members of the McKeag family steered the club through some of its most tumultuous times in the 1960s and again in the 80s when they fought off take-over bids before Sir John Hall eventually wrestled control of the club in 1990.

 

William McKeag, who was chairman between 1957 and 1960, died nearly four decades ago and his son, Gordon, who was chairman in the late 80s, died in 2005.

 

Now William’s remaining son, Clive, has criticised owner Mike Ashley’s plans to end 131 years of heritage by opening the ground up to sponsorship and naming the stadium the Sports Direct Arena.

 

Mr McKeag said the controversial move was a “slap in the face” for decades of management who would never have put commercialism over tradition.

 

Mr McKeag, who lives in Gosforth, Newcastle, said: “St James’ Park is part of Newcastle city. I don’t agree with the renaming at all.

 

 

“It’s all part of the malaise of football at the moment. The only concern is money. St James’ Park is synonymous with football and synonymous with the city of Newcastle.

 

“To play around with that is totally and utterly insensitive and is part of the malaise of money in football.

 

“It’s a slap in the face for all the past members of administration of Newcastle United and all the great names that are associated with St James’ Park and Newcastle United because the two are inseparable.

 

“My father spent his whole life with the club. He would spend time scouting on holiday and wherever he would be he would watch half an hour of football looking for talent.

 

“Newcastle United are doing so well at the moment and that’s great to see but unfortunately football clubs are just a vehicle for making money.”

 

Mr McKeag’s brother, Gordon, died after suffering a heart attack.

 

He was Newcastle chairman for 30 months from June 1988 after taking on the top job while recovering from a heart bypass.

 

Mr McKeag led the club through a difficult period when it was demoted to the old Division Two. During that time he fought off takeover bids from Sir John.

 

He faced opposition from the club's fans some of whom made threatening phone calls to his family home and sent hate mail.

 

William McKeag, Gordon’s dad, was a director of Newcastle for 28 years and was chairman for three years in the late 60s. He passed away in 1972.

 

Today Clive said his dead family members would have been horrified at the name-changing that club bosses claim will bring in between £8m and £10m.

 

The solicitor, who works at the family firm McKeag & Co, said: “My family’s reaction would have been exactly the same as mine but my late father would have been rather less polite.

 

“The family have been passionate about Newcastle United football teams forever. We go back for something in the region of 70 odd years having been involved in Newcastle United.”

 

http://www.chronicle...72703-29764063/

 

Now I never followed the ownership in detail prior to jumping on the Keegan band wagon, so Leazes will correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression McKeag would only think twice about changing young Gordon's name and the names of every one of his future genmerations for £10m. The stadium would get less consideration than that.

 

Unfair?

 

They milked for all they were worth, club was like a family jewel. What they made was paltry mind, given what came later and the money that came into the game.

[LeazesMag 0]

FORMER Newcastle United chairman William McKeag’s son today branded the re-naming of St James’ Park an insult to his father’s memory.

 

Members of the McKeag family steered the club through some of its most tumultuous times in the 1960s and again in the 80s when they fought off take-over bids before Sir John Hall eventually wrestled control of the club in 1990.

 

William McKeag, who was chairman between 1957 and 1960, died nearly four decades ago and his son, Gordon, who was chairman in the late 80s, died in 2005.

 

Now William’s remaining son, Clive, has criticised owner Mike Ashley’s plans to end 131 years of heritage by opening the ground up to sponsorship and naming the stadium the Sports Direct Arena.

 

Mr McKeag said the controversial move was a “slap in the face” for decades of management who would never have put commercialism over tradition.

 

Mr McKeag, who lives in Gosforth, Newcastle, said: “St James’ Park is part of Newcastle city. I don’t agree with the renaming at all.

 

 

“It’s all part of the malaise of football at the moment. The only concern is money. St James’ Park is synonymous with football and synonymous with the city of Newcastle.

 

“To play around with that is totally and utterly insensitive and is part of the malaise of money in football.

 

“It’s a slap in the face for all the past members of administration of Newcastle United and all the great names that are associated with St James’ Park and Newcastle United because the two are inseparable.

 

“My father spent his whole life with the club. He would spend time scouting on holiday and wherever he would be he would watch half an hour of football looking for talent.

 

“Newcastle United are doing so well at the moment and that’s great to see but unfortunately football clubs are just a vehicle for making money.”

 

Mr McKeag’s brother, Gordon, died after suffering a heart attack.

 

He was Newcastle chairman for 30 months from June 1988 after taking on the top job while recovering from a heart bypass.

 

Mr McKeag led the club through a difficult period when it was demoted to the old Division Two. During that time he fought off takeover bids from Sir John.

 

He faced opposition from the club's fans some of whom made threatening phone calls to his family home and sent hate mail.

 

William McKeag, Gordon’s dad, was a director of Newcastle for 28 years and was chairman for three years in the late 60s. He passed away in 1972.

 

Today Clive said his dead family members would have been horrified at the name-changing that club bosses claim will bring in between £8m and £10m.

 

The solicitor, who works at the family firm McKeag & Co, said: “My family’s reaction would have been exactly the same as mine but my late father would have been rather less polite.

 

“The family have been passionate about Newcastle United football teams forever. We go back for something in the region of 70 odd years having been involved in Newcastle United.”

 

http://www.chronicle...72703-29764063/

 

Now I never followed the ownership in detail prior to jumping on the Keegan band wagon, so Leazes will correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression McKeag would only think twice about changing young Gordon's name and the names of every one of his future genmerations for £10m. The stadium would get less consideration than that.

 

Unfair?

 

They milked for all they were worth, club was like a family jewel. What they made was paltry mind, given what came later and the money that came into the game.

 

one day you may understand, what they make while they own the club and what they make when they sell having backed their managers while they own the club, are two entirely different scenarios.

 

In short, the McKeags were small minded men without the ambition or desire to take risks to capitalise on the clubs fanbase, preferring to compete alongside clubs half the size of NUFC and smaller. Just like the current owner.

 

I'll have a good read of this whole article posted by HF later.

[LeazesMag 0]

no reply from Toonpack again.

 

This is becoming more regular now.....

[Craig 6375]

Clive McKeag was a mate of my dad's when he worked in Gosforth - a good lad by all accounts and definitely left the running of the club to Gordon.

 

For all the faults that McKeag had in the 80s (and I agree there was plenty!), he was first and foremost a Newcastle United fan who ultimately wanted the best for the club but didn't see the vision that John Hall could. It's easy to forget that they were running the shop when there was little money in the game - NUFC was running in debt and Sky TV and their money was a distant dream. The only liquidating assets we had as a club were the players and as businessmen, they could bring little to the table - they ran a reasonable sized solicitor firm and certainly didn't have the millions that Hall and Ashley have had at their disposal.

 

It wasn't widely reported but there was no bigger fan of what SJH & Keegan achieved than McKeag and he was there every home game til the day he died - a fan of NUFC to the end.

 

Can we truly say the same about the incumbent owner and/or MD?? Can we fuck!

[Tom 13921]

To be honest Craig I think the current owners are hitting new lows in their relationship with the fanbase. The can't allow themselves something good without a momumental fuck up somewhere around the corner.

[McFaul 35]

Clive McKeag was a mate of my dad's when he worked in Gosforth - a good lad by all accounts and definitely left the running of the club to Gordon.

 

For all the faults that McKeag had in the 80s (and I agree there was plenty!), he was first and foremost a Newcastle United fan who ultimately wanted the best for the club but didn't see the vision that John Hall could. It's easy to forget that they were running the shop when there was little money in the game - NUFC was running in debt and Sky TV and their money was a distant dream. The only liquidating assets we had as a club were the players and as businessmen, they could bring little to the table - they ran a reasonable sized solicitor firm and certainly didn't have the millions that Hall and Ashley have had at their disposal.

 

It wasn't widely reported but there was no bigger fan of what SJH & Keegan achieved than McKeag and he was there every home game til the day he died - a fan of NUFC to the end.

 

Can we truly say the same about the incumbent owner and/or MD?? Can we fuck!

You say that but he fought tooth and nail to keep the club, till he realised he was in an untenable position. Newcastle averaged 30,000 in 1984 in Division Two third highest in the country, our average attendances were amongst the best in the country, often better than Everton and Tottenham, yet they'd go out and spend £5m on players in one summer, and we'd fucking flog our best players to them. Seymour was chairman in 84, but even so McKeag was his right hand man and they couldn't even give Arthur Cox a new contract after 4 years of steady improvement, after promises were made, so he left as a matter of principle. When the FA Cup draw was ever on there wasn't various football figures on doing it, it was always McKeag and that fat cunt Bert Millichip, and I used to snarl at the telly. We were a disgrace of a club and he was the main one to blame.

 

He was a clueless disgrace of a chairman, him and the likes of Stan Seymour are the reason we stagnated from the 50's to the 90's, and saw the likes of NOTTINGHAM FUCKING FOREST leave us in their trail with a fanbase not even a quarter the size. None of them had a clue how to run a football club.

[LoveTheBobby 1]

I gave Stan Seymour the rods from the top deck of the bus when went to Benwell training ground once .

 

A fat Frank Carson of a unit .

[McFaul 35]

I gave Stan Seymour the rods from the top deck of the bus when went to Benwell training ground once .

 

A fat Frank Carson of a unit .

aye

 

Either him or Rt Hon Rev Iain Paisley

[Craig 6375]

Clive McKeag was a mate of my dad's when he worked in Gosforth - a good lad by all accounts and definitely left the running of the club to Gordon.

 

For all the faults that McKeag had in the 80s (and I agree there was plenty!), he was first and foremost a Newcastle United fan who ultimately wanted the best for the club but didn't see the vision that John Hall could. It's easy to forget that they were running the shop when there was little money in the game - NUFC was running in debt and Sky TV and their money was a distant dream. The only liquidating assets we had as a club were the players and as businessmen, they could bring little to the table - they ran a reasonable sized solicitor firm and certainly didn't have the millions that Hall and Ashley have had at their disposal.

 

It wasn't widely reported but there was no bigger fan of what SJH & Keegan achieved than McKeag and he was there every home game til the day he died - a fan of NUFC to the end.

 

Can we truly say the same about the incumbent owner and/or MD?? Can we fuck!

You say that but he fought tooth and nail to keep the club, till he realised he was in an untenable position. Newcastle averaged 30,000 in 1984 in Division Two third highest in the country, our average attendances were amongst the best in the country, often better than Everton and Tottenham, yet they'd go out and spend £5m on players in one summer, and we'd fucking flog our best players to them. Seymour was chairman in 84, but even so McKeag was his right hand man and they couldn't even give Arthur Cox a new contract after 4 years of steady improvement, after promises were made, so he left as a matter of principle. When the FA Cup draw was ever on there wasn't various football figures on doing it, it was always McKeag and that fat cunt Bert Millichip, and I used to snarl at the telly. We were a disgrace of a club and he was the main one to blame.

 

He was a clueless disgrace of a chairman, him and the likes of Stan Seymour are the reason we stagnated from the 50's to the 90's, and saw the likes of NOTTINGHAM FUCKING FOREST leave us in their trail with a fanbase not even a quarter the size. None of them had a clue how to run a football club.

 

I'm not defending what he did, but I think it was out of ignorance rather than anything malicious. You're right, they were wrong to promise something to Cox and then renage on it. But to have carried on and offered what they'd have promised would have been doubly wrong.

 

The summer you're referring to when we spend £5m on players and flogged our best players to Spurs and Everton is 1988 I presume and you're referring to Gascoigne & McDonald specifically? It's easy to say with hindsight that it was a fuck-up but at the time there was a hell of a lot of belief that summer IIRC. Gazza was going and there was nothing we were going to be able to do to stop that. Watching the Piers Morgan thing the other night should cement that fact in your mind - whatever he asked for, Spurs would give him but then Scholar had more money than sense and just kept emptying his pockets time and time again. Wasn't long before he was having to sell the club to Sugar and Venables (kind of)...

 

But back to the summer of '88 and with us, we bought Beasant (at the time considered one of the best keepers in England who'd just captained Wimbledon to FA Cup victory), Robertson who was McFaul's long admired vision as a replacement for Pedro, Andy Thorn & John Hendrie. Neutrals were tipping us to push higher than the 8th we'd achieved the previous year and maybe even chance a cup. But it didn't work - Beasant was a disaster, Thorn average & Robertson only a shadow of the player he was in Scotland. The only bright spark was Hendrie who showed glimpses here and there but in a team in disarray, was often suppressed.

 

McKeag may have backed those purchases, but I can't blame him for them - they were footballing decisions that McFaul got wrong. And that summer the club re-invested the money from the sales of Gascoigne, McDonald &Goddard (who was the biggest loss of all) and some....

 

Did they have a clue how to run a club? Nope, not really but I believe that his heart was in the right place and as a fan, he wanted the best for the club. A stubborn man would have looked at what SJH achieved and suggested that it was easy now that Sky money was at the table - McKeag never did though, he was simply delighted that his club were where they ought to be.

[LoveTheBobby 1]

I gave Stan Seymour the rods from the top deck of the bus when went to Benwell training ground once .

 

A fat Frank Carson of a unit .

aye

 

Either him or Rt Hon Rev Iain Paisley

 

Thats him !

 

Pants doon if y love the toon . . .

http://www.nufcmismanagement.info/stan-seymour.html

When Keegan joined as player in August 1982 there was a massive rush for season tickets. Queues formed all around the ground the morning after and Stan drove to St.James' obviously swelling with pride. As he parked his Volvo, Stan got out of the car to massive applause and in what was his finest hour Stan raised his arms aloft to salute the crowd. Unfortunately the portly Chairman had forgotten that he had loosened his trousers to aid his driving posture and Stan stood, trousers round his ankles, displaying a magnificent pair of Y-fronts to the massed ranks.

[McFaul 35]

Clive McKeag was a mate of my dad's when he worked in Gosforth - a good lad by all accounts and definitely left the running of the club to Gordon.

 

For all the faults that McKeag had in the 80s (and I agree there was plenty!), he was first and foremost a Newcastle United fan who ultimately wanted the best for the club but didn't see the vision that John Hall could. It's easy to forget that they were running the shop when there was little money in the game - NUFC was running in debt and Sky TV and their money was a distant dream. The only liquidating assets we had as a club were the players and as businessmen, they could bring little to the table - they ran a reasonable sized solicitor firm and certainly didn't have the millions that Hall and Ashley have had at their disposal.

 

It wasn't widely reported but there was no bigger fan of what SJH & Keegan achieved than McKeag and he was there every home game til the day he died - a fan of NUFC to the end.

 

Can we truly say the same about the incumbent owner and/or MD?? Can we fuck!

You say that but he fought tooth and nail to keep the club, till he realised he was in an untenable position. Newcastle averaged 30,000 in 1984 in Division Two third highest in the country, our average attendances were amongst the best in the country, often better than Everton and Tottenham, yet they'd go out and spend £5m on players in one summer, and we'd fucking flog our best players to them. Seymour was chairman in 84, but even so McKeag was his right hand man and they couldn't even give Arthur Cox a new contract after 4 years of steady improvement, after promises were made, so he left as a matter of principle. When the FA Cup draw was ever on there wasn't various football figures on doing it, it was always McKeag and that fat cunt Bert Millichip, and I used to snarl at the telly. We were a disgrace of a club and he was the main one to blame.

 

He was a clueless disgrace of a chairman, him and the likes of Stan Seymour are the reason we stagnated from the 50's to the 90's, and saw the likes of NOTTINGHAM FUCKING FOREST leave us in their trail with a fanbase not even a quarter the size. None of them had a clue how to run a football club.

 

I'm not defending what he did, but I think it was out of ignorance rather than anything malicious. You're right, they were wrong to promise something to Cox and then renage on it. But to have carried on and offered what they'd have promised would have been doubly wrong.

 

The summer you're referring to when we spend £5m on players and flogged our best players to Spurs and Everton is 1988 I presume and you're referring to Gascoigne & McDonald specifically? It's easy to say with hindsight that it was a fuck-up but at the time there was a hell of a lot of belief that summer IIRC. Gazza was going and there was nothing we were going to be able to do to stop that. Watching the Piers Morgan thing the other night should cement that fact in your mind - whatever he asked for, Spurs would give him but then Scholar had more money than sense and just kept emptying his pockets time and time again. Wasn't long before he was having to sell the club to Sugar and Venables (kind of)...

 

But back to the summer of '88 and with us, we bought Beasant (at the time considered one of the best keepers in England who'd just captained Wimbledon to FA Cup victory), Robertson who was McFaul's long admired vision as a replacement for Pedro, Andy Thorn & John Hendrie. Neutrals were tipping us to push higher than the 8th we'd achieved the previous year and maybe even chance a cup. But it didn't work - Beasant was a disaster, Thorn average & Robertson only a shadow of the player he was in Scotland. The only bright spark was Hendrie who showed glimpses here and there but in a team in disarray, was often suppressed.

 

McKeag may have backed those purchases, but I can't blame him for them - they were footballing decisions that McFaul got wrong. And that summer the club re-invested the money from the sales of Gascoigne, McDonald &Goddard (who was the biggest loss of all) and some....

 

Did they have a clue how to run a club? Nope, not really but I believe that his heart was in the right place and as a fan, he wanted the best for the club. A stubborn man would have looked at what SJH achieved and suggested that it was easy now that Sky money was at the table - McKeag never did though, he was simply delighted that his club were where they ought to be.

We could've done everything to stop Gazza leaving, he and Beardsley both said they'd have stayed had an ounce of ambition been shown, all of Beasant, Thorn and Robertson were disasters, and Hendrie fucked off after 5 months to Leeds. The 8th place finish should've been enough to entice them to keep the best players and build on what we already had. Not lose our best three players and have a punt at replacing them with four from lesser clubs. At the end of the day, that season would've seen us average 31 or 32,000 had we had a reasonable season. It would as well, the average gate when we were bottom with three games to go was an astonishing 26,000 four wins all season, the last three games had 14,000 there each time cos we were as good as down which effected it, but that level of support shows you what it would've been had they had a tiny bit ambition in holding our best players and building on it, but it was the same old story.

 

As for his attitude to what SJH did, what else could he say, "well we came 8th but finished below Wimbledon?". He couldn't say anything other.

[Toonpack 7240]

no reply from Toonpack again.

 

This is becoming more regular now.....

 

I apologise Leazes but I was on a plane (nowhere exotic sadly and work not play).

 

Regarding your question, I believe I do understand, here goes:

 

Taking money out whilst in charge is bad but making money on a profit from sale is fine, yes ??

 

Well that's how I see it.

 

How do you see it ??

[Craig 6375]

Clive McKeag was a mate of my dad's when he worked in Gosforth - a good lad by all accounts and definitely left the running of the club to Gordon.

 

For all the faults that McKeag had in the 80s (and I agree there was plenty!), he was first and foremost a Newcastle United fan who ultimately wanted the best for the club but didn't see the vision that John Hall could. It's easy to forget that they were running the shop when there was little money in the game - NUFC was running in debt and Sky TV and their money was a distant dream. The only liquidating assets we had as a club were the players and as businessmen, they could bring little to the table - they ran a reasonable sized solicitor firm and certainly didn't have the millions that Hall and Ashley have had at their disposal.

 

It wasn't widely reported but there was no bigger fan of what SJH & Keegan achieved than McKeag and he was there every home game til the day he died - a fan of NUFC to the end.

 

Can we truly say the same about the incumbent owner and/or MD?? Can we fuck!

You say that but he fought tooth and nail to keep the club, till he realised he was in an untenable position. Newcastle averaged 30,000 in 1984 in Division Two third highest in the country, our average attendances were amongst the best in the country, often better than Everton and Tottenham, yet they'd go out and spend £5m on players in one summer, and we'd fucking flog our best players to them. Seymour was chairman in 84, but even so McKeag was his right hand man and they couldn't even give Arthur Cox a new contract after 4 years of steady improvement, after promises were made, so he left as a matter of principle. When the FA Cup draw was ever on there wasn't various football figures on doing it, it was always McKeag and that fat cunt Bert Millichip, and I used to snarl at the telly. We were a disgrace of a club and he was the main one to blame.

 

He was a clueless disgrace of a chairman, him and the likes of Stan Seymour are the reason we stagnated from the 50's to the 90's, and saw the likes of NOTTINGHAM FUCKING FOREST leave us in their trail with a fanbase not even a quarter the size. None of them had a clue how to run a football club.

 

I'm not defending what he did, but I think it was out of ignorance rather than anything malicious. You're right, they were wrong to promise something to Cox and then renage on it. But to have carried on and offered what they'd have promised would have been doubly wrong.

 

The summer you're referring to when we spend £5m on players and flogged our best players to Spurs and Everton is 1988 I presume and you're referring to Gascoigne & McDonald specifically? It's easy to say with hindsight that it was a fuck-up but at the time there was a hell of a lot of belief that summer IIRC. Gazza was going and there was nothing we were going to be able to do to stop that. Watching the Piers Morgan thing the other night should cement that fact in your mind - whatever he asked for, Spurs would give him but then Scholar had more money than sense and just kept emptying his pockets time and time again. Wasn't long before he was having to sell the club to Sugar and Venables (kind of)...

 

But back to the summer of '88 and with us, we bought Beasant (at the time considered one of the best keepers in England who'd just captained Wimbledon to FA Cup victory), Robertson who was McFaul's long admired vision as a replacement for Pedro, Andy Thorn & John Hendrie. Neutrals were tipping us to push higher than the 8th we'd achieved the previous year and maybe even chance a cup. But it didn't work - Beasant was a disaster, Thorn average & Robertson only a shadow of the player he was in Scotland. The only bright spark was Hendrie who showed glimpses here and there but in a team in disarray, was often suppressed.

 

McKeag may have backed those purchases, but I can't blame him for them - they were footballing decisions that McFaul got wrong. And that summer the club re-invested the money from the sales of Gascoigne, McDonald &Goddard (who was the biggest loss of all) and some....

 

Did they have a clue how to run a club? Nope, not really but I believe that his heart was in the right place and as a fan, he wanted the best for the club. A stubborn man would have looked at what SJH achieved and suggested that it was easy now that Sky money was at the table - McKeag never did though, he was simply delighted that his club were where they ought to be.

We could've done everything to stop Gazza leaving, he and Beardsley both said they'd have stayed had an ounce of ambition been shown, all of Beasant, Thorn and Robertson were disasters, and Hendrie fucked off after 5 months to Leeds. The 8th place finish should've been enough to entice them to keep the best players and build on what we already had. Not lose our best three players and have a punt at replacing them with four from lesser clubs. At the end of the day, that season would've seen us average 31 or 32,000 had we had a reasonable season. It would as well, the average gate when we were bottom with three games to go was an astonishing 26,000 four wins all season, the last three games had 14,000 there each time cos we were as good as down which effected it, but that level of support shows you what it would've been had they had a tiny bit ambition in holding our best players and building on it, but it was the same old story.

 

As for his attitude to what SJH did, what else could he say, "well we came 8th but finished below Wimbledon?". He couldn't say anything other.

 

Harsh on Hendrie that like... he stayed until the following summer.

 

Talk of Gazza staying was cloud-cuckoo land man. There's no way in god's green earth we could compete with what Spurs were willing to pay him. Ferguson has said that, while he was pissed off Gazza signed for Spurs whilst he was on holiday, there was no way he'd have paid the salary that Spurs were willing to pay.

 

As for his attitude to SJH, he could have easily taken the view that Hall only succeeded because he took over at the right time (i.e. when Sky came on the scene)... but he never did. For all his dreadful decisions (and there were plenty as I've already conceded), he was a dignified bloke who was first and foremost an NUFC fan.