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Fryer Tuck said:
Two major factors:
1. They usually target a team that looks very good, and with the right amount of touching up, will be a Premier League side (Such as a losing playoff side)
2. They think they can take the Championship by storm. They're successful in business, so why can't they be successful here? (A bit of business pride) After all, you've got gold at the end of the rainbow. Just blitz the league and claim the gold! Simple!

From this current crop, if Brentford and Ipswich don't get promoted, they would be attractive targets.

When the Thais bought us out, we just lost a playoff semi to Cardiff (in a situation I don't care to remember). They originally thought they should buy their way out. So what did they do? Get Sven in and spend a crapload on individual players on huge pay packets (There were even talks about Beckham doing a loan spell with us). Naturally, it didn't work. We went backwards a bit, the players were overpaid and lazy. So what did they do? They learned from their mistake and rehired the guy that actually installed a culture and a clear direction into the club in his time here, your 'most favourite' manager of all time, Nigel Pearson.

I think Cardiff were in a similar boat. After Tan bought them, they were always up there. I think they did spend a fair bit of coin, but aside from off-field issues, there was a winning culture there amongst the playing group.

The promoted sides are not the ones that spend the most, they're the ones that build a culture, a play style, and then using their business know-how, exercise their power when they see fit. Whatever is spent in the Championship is going to reimbursed, and there's always that business sense of pride in knowing that you promoted the team to the Premier League. It looks more impressive then being an also-ran in the PL.

When I saw Fulham spent 11m on McCormack, I knew they were going to struggle. The Premier League and Championship are very different animals. Owners that think they can get in there and get rich quick have another thing coming, you need to put in some real effort to get promotion. That's the difference between those who are hasty, pumping their coin in, expecting instant success, and growing something that might actually benefit the Premier League in being respectable opposition.

That separates the Thais from the Fawads and the Raos. It looks good and very tempting, but only those that are prepared to work for it, will be rewarded with promotion. Whether they can stay up is another question.
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Your two points are contradictory though. You suggested earlier that people will buy Championship clubs as they see a huge return on investment upon promotion, but now suggest that people expecting to get a huge return are in for a rude shock. If you were right, then there would have been a buyer for Toon, as Ashley had them on the market, but there wasn't. There are three parties interested in buying Hull, and only one isn't contingent on being a PL side.
 
I don't think Pardew Out was misguided. Results may have been slightly better if he stayed but Newcastle was going nowhere with him as manager.

Personally I don't think Ashley will get the price he wants for the club even if they are relegated. But relegation isnt a huge disaster if it leads to regime change.
 
moomba said:
I don't think Pardew Out was misguided. Results may have been slightly better if he stayed but Newcastle was going nowhere with him as manager.

Personally I don't think Ashley will get the price he wants for the club even if they are relegated. But relegation isnt a huge disaster if it leads to regime change.
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The other alternative is Blackpool Mk. II, but I think Ashley has more of a financial motivation than that lot.
 

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SM said:
Your two points are contradictory though. You suggested earlier that people will buy Championship clubs as they see a huge return on investment upon promotion, but now suggest that people expecting to get a huge return are in for a rude shock. If you were right, then there would have been a buyer for Toon, as Ashley had them on the market, but there wasn't. There are three parties interested in buying Hull, and only one isn't contingent on being a PL side.
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That's the thing. The promotion to Premier League is really significant, so significant that people will try to invest in a Championship club. Of course, it is up to the owner to come to grips with Championship football. It's a big risk, but the return is even bigger, that's why it's attractive. Quite the honey trap.

This was 2009/2010, that same season, just before Championship investing really became a thing. Even if they were, what do you think Ashley's asking price would be? This also goes back to my discussion about Tottenham. No prospective buyer would buy Tottenham for a billion pounds. You're better off putting the funds elsewhere. Newcastle is a prestigious club, but will you get the most value for the club if you bought it at Ashley's price?

Actually, this is quite comparable... we've got Newcastle, Cardiff, and Leicester, heck, we could throw in West Brom as a size comparison too. Newcastle were still up there in their net worth, and they had a very good squad still... combined with Ashley's price... right OK, if you were Vincent Tan, would you pay the premium for Newcastle? Or would you see some financial viability in Cardiff City, which would probably be for one fifth of the price, and potential marketing in the East? What about the Thais? What about Zingarevich? They all bought themselves into ownerships of smaller clubs for less. One could say if they stay up, they stand to gain more value for their purchase then they would've with Newcastle at the time. (Yes, Newcastle had that amazing season, but it just faded from there. We're talking at the time, and history isn't going to play out the same.)

At the end of that season, there were clubs that were bought by foreign owners, and yet Newcastle got ignored. The problem was Ashley's price more than anything (Remembering that Newcastle was still up there in net worth).
 
Tulip said:
I think change can be a powerful agent of good, but in reality and on reflection Pardiola was doing a decent job with what he had. I know he should have helped the fans and pressured Ashley, but sometimes you need to save your own skin.

Can see a real rebirth if you get relegated. Too many faces need changing.
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Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I reckon if Pards was still in charge, we'd be sitting safely just outside the top 10. That being said, I still think getting rid of Pardew (thanks to Palace for making that a reality) was a good outcome for the fans...it's just that no one wanted Ashley to take the cheapest option available and put a caretaker (Carver) in. At the time, we looked fairly safe so they probably gambled that Carver could do enough to maintain the status quo.

How that's backfired! :$

If we go down, our shocking run of form under Carver will become mythical stuff (and not for the memorable reasons) I reckon - how a team could go from relatively safe to down (whilst having the 7th highest wage bill) will leave many scratching their heads.

Some speculation the club made an approach to McLaren (essentially an SOS) - to which he refused and as a result, the club came out with the 'official' statement that Carver would remain in charge (some reports saying Carver was willing to resign if a replacement was ready to come in...). Would not surprise me at all - we'd have to be one of the worst run clubs in all of football. :(

As for the rebirth, that was meant to happen last time! :D

That being said, I had a go trying to envision a team for next season in the championship (assuming most of the big earners are moved on. It's probably not a bad team for the championship (definitely lacking the 'strong' characters we had last time - Nolan, Barton, Smith, Butt, Carroll) but still very light in terms of depth. We'd need a RB or 2 if Janmaat is sold.

***********Darlow**********
Anita**Lascelles**Dummett**Haidara
********Abeid**Colback(c)*****
Cabella*****De Jong*****Aarons
***********Perez***********

Subs: Elliot (gk), Saylor, Ameobi, Kemen, Gouffran, Riviere, Armstrong.
 
moomba said:
I don't think Pardew Out was misguided. Results may have been slightly better if he stayed but Newcastle was going nowhere with him as manager.

Personally I don't think Ashley will get the price he wants for the club even if they are relegated. But relegation isnt a huge disaster if it leads to regime change.
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Pardew was doing alright.

As has been said before, Newcastle were 17 points ahead of us at the start of March. Now they're 1.

After the first half of the season, Newcastle were pretty highly placed.

Pardew wasn't likely to win any trophies but he also wasn't anywhere near relegation.
 
Bojan KantKick said:
Why didn't Ashley sell the club last time you got relegated?

Just want to know why Newcastle fans think that this time will be different...
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I guess that's the thing Bojan - we don't know if he'd sell even if we went down. We can just hope that relegation and continued protests would keep gnawing at his resources and his true love (Sports Direct) so he decides to cut his losses and sell up shop.

He did put us on the market but didn't get any offers to match his valuation. Check out his statement here.
From 14/09/2008:
"I am putting the club up for sale. I hope the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want," said Ashley.

He had a reported asking price of $100m - fair to say he'd be seeking more than that this time (if he put us back on the market).

He took us off the market about 3 months later (this was around the Global Financial crisis if I recall correctly so perhaps the economic climate at the time may have warded off potential buyers).

From 28/12/2008:
“I have withdrawn Newcastle United from the market, and for me 2009 will be the year in which we drive the club forward together. (…) When I took the decision to put the club up for sale in September I made a point of saying two things were very important.

“Firstly any potential buyer would have to show they had the best interests of Newcastle United at heart and had both the commitment and finance to be worthy custodians of such a fine football club before I would even consider doing a deal.


“And secondly, I gave you my word that as long as I remain owner, this club would continue to be run responsibly at all levels. I hope you will accept that I have stood by that pledge.”

What a crock. :$


He said in September last year (via a club statement) he wouldn't consider selling the club until at least 2016 (end of next season) - perhaps relegation would speed up that timeline?

“The truth is Mike Ashley remains committed to Newcastle United,” it said. “For the avoidance of doubt, this means that for the remainder of this season and AT LEAST until the end of next season, Mike Ashley will not, under any circumstances, sell Newcastle United at any price. The club cannot be stronger in stating its position on this matter.”
 
Jatz said:
Pardew was doing alright.

As has been said before, Newcastle were 17 points ahead of us at the start of March. Now they're 1.

After the first half of the season, Newcastle were pretty highly placed.

Pardew wasn't likely to win any trophies but he also wasn't anywhere near relegation.
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He was doing ok but doing ok year after year isnt what football is about.

You can say Ashley is the enemy here but as a pretty big apologist for the Ashley regime I reckon that puts him well and truly in the enemy camp.

Football supporters don't ask for much, just a bit of hope and direction. Pardew wasnt providing either.
 
moomba said:
He was doing ok but doing ok year after year isnt what football is about.

You can say Ashley is the enemy here but as a pretty big apologist for the Ashley regime I reckon that puts him well and truly in the enemy camp.

Football supporters don't ask for much, just a bit of hope and direction. Pardew wasnt providing either.
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Meanwhile they're much better off now.

Better the devil you know and all that.

Surely mid table PL mediocrity > championship. It's definitely that way for me having supported a club that's lived in the Championship most of it's years.
 
NUFC Tiger said:
I guess that's the thing Bojan - we don't know if he'd sell even if we went down. We can just hope that relegation and continued protests would keep gnawing at his resources and his true love (Sports Direct) so he decides to cut his losses and sell up shop.

He did put us on the market but didn't get any offers to match his valuation. Check out his statement here.
From 14/09/2008:
"I am putting the club up for sale. I hope the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want," said Ashley.

He had a reported asking price of $100m - fair to say he'd be seeking more than that this time (if he put us back on the market).

He took us off the market about 3 months later (this was around the Global Financial crisis if I recall correctly so perhaps the economic climate at the time may have warded off potential buyers).

From 28/12/2008:
“I have withdrawn Newcastle United from the market, and for me 2009 will be the year in which we drive the club forward together. (…) When I took the decision to put the club up for sale in September I made a point of saying two things were very important.

“Firstly any potential buyer would have to show they had the best interests of Newcastle United at heart and had both the commitment and finance to be worthy custodians of such a fine football club before I would even consider doing a deal.


“And secondly, I gave you my word that as long as I remain owner, this club would continue to be run responsibly at all levels. I hope you will accept that I have stood by that pledge.”

What a crock. :$


He said in September last year (via a club statement) he wouldn't consider selling the club until at least 2016 (end of next season) - perhaps relegation would speed up that timeline?

“The truth is Mike Ashley remains committed to Newcastle United,” it said. “For the avoidance of doubt, this means that for the remainder of this season and AT LEAST until the end of next season, Mike Ashley will not, under any circumstances, sell Newcastle United at any price. The club cannot be stronger in stating its position on this matter.”
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I can only see a few scenario's where Ashley would sell:

- Supporters of all clubs start boycotting Sports Direct due to their association with Ashley and NUFC - good in theory

- He's been waiting for the new TV deal which will increase the price that he can achieve in selling NUFC - only really applies if NUFC stay in the EPL

- Someone makes him a ridiculous offer out of nowhere - Unlikely that a businessmen would do such a thing unless they were a local.

- Relegation makes his model unsustainable as he will have to invest significant sums of money in order to improve the first team squad and get in a new manager

For mine, scenario 2 & 4 are the most likely triggers for Ashley to sell. Sports Direct boycott is good in theory but not in practice due to the cheaper prices they can offer. The TV deal mainly, along with a few other things was the catalyst for the glazer takeover and makes the spend f*** all and just stay in the EPL model sustainable. The TV deal will increase the multiple Ashley will achieve in selling assuming NUFC survive this season. Lose that and the model falls over. Most smart businessmen will not invest in a football club as it's more a passion rather than an investment. Given Ashley will want a fair premium, any investors looking at NUFC will have to wait a while to see a return on their investment. Scenario 4 whilst not ideal for the club will probably be the catalyst. From reading your previous essays NUFC Tiger , your squad was in a much better position back when you were last in the Championship than it is now. Additionally, don't think for a minute that managers don't talk with each other. SAF used to describe it as a bit of a sewing circle. Anyone contemplating the NUFC managers position will be picking up the phone and calling Pardew. I can't imagine he has many nice things to say about Ashley. If he can't get in a decent manager on the cheap and improve the squad on the cheap, NUFC could be in trouble in the Championship next season.

'Mike Ashley will not, under any circumstances, sell Newcastle United at any price'. - What a load of shite
 
Jatz said:
Surely mid table PL mediocrity > championship. It's definitely that way for me having supported a club that's lived in the Championship most of it's years.
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But that's the thing. No offense, but the expectations and desires of Newcastle and Leicester fans should not be the same at this point in time. Staying in the PL is an achievement for Leicester. The next step is to aim to maintain, then to build towards European aspirations. If there is no ambition from the club there is no point supporting them.

Geordies are a passionate bunch and simply want their club to show some ambition. Most supporters in England are the same, there are many Wigan fans who would rather their current position to not having won the FA cup.
 
Jatz said:
Meanwhile they're much better off now.

Better the devil you know and all that.

Surely mid table PL mediocrity > championship. It's definitely that way for me having supported a club that's lived in the Championship most of it's years.
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I'd rather yo-yo than be content with just making up the numbers in the premier league year after year. What a boring existence. Particularly when your club is capable of much better.
 
moomba said:
I'd rather yo-yo than be content with just making up the numbers in the premier league year after year. What a boring existence. Particularly when your club is capable of much better.
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At least you get the chance to see your club when they're in the Prem. The exposure for Championship clubs is terrible, the only games I've legally seen this season have been the cup fixtures.
 

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NUFC Tiger said:
I guess that's the thing Bojan - we don't know if he'd sell even if we went down. We can just hope that relegation and continued protests would keep gnawing at his resources and his true love (Sports Direct) so he decides to cut his losses and sell up shop.

He did put us on the market but didn't get any offers to match his valuation. Check out his statement here.
From 14/09/2008:
"I am putting the club up for sale. I hope the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want," said Ashley.

He had a reported asking price of $100m - fair to say he'd be seeking more than that this time (if he put us back on the market).

He took us off the market about 3 months later (this was around the Global Financial crisis if I recall correctly so perhaps the economic climate at the time may have warded off potential buyers).

From 28/12/2008:
“I have withdrawn Newcastle United from the market, and for me 2009 will be the year in which we drive the club forward together. (…) When I took the decision to put the club up for sale in September I made a point of saying two things were very important.

“Firstly any potential buyer would have to show they had the best interests of Newcastle United at heart and had both the commitment and finance to be worthy custodians of such a fine football club before I would even consider doing a deal.


“And secondly, I gave you my word that as long as I remain owner, this club would continue to be run responsibly at all levels. I hope you will accept that I have stood by that pledge.”

What a crock. :$


He said in September last year (via a club statement) he wouldn't consider selling the club until at least 2016 (end of next season) - perhaps relegation would speed up that timeline?

“The truth is Mike Ashley remains committed to Newcastle United,” it said. “For the avoidance of doubt, this means that for the remainder of this season and AT LEAST until the end of next season, Mike Ashley will not, under any circumstances, sell Newcastle United at any price. The club cannot be stronger in stating its position on this matter.”
Click to expand...

Wait, £100m? (Think you mean pounds: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...Ashley-flies-clubs-training-ground-talks.html ) Wow, a season earlier, it was £481m ( http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...rs-for-163481m-for-newcastle-sale-932897.html and he rejected a £200m bid.) That's a massive drop in asking price.

So in 2009/2010, the jackpot was £90m for promotion (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/8706910.stm), Tan bought 30% of Cardiff for £6m (More like £8m since he had to settle a tax bill Cardiff was facing), and the Thais completely bought us out for £39m. Quite a huge gap, you didn't even get your money back if you won promotion with Newcastle, let alone have anything to spend!

No wonder Newcastle was left alone while other clubs were taken over.
 
Redalert said:
At least you get the chance to see your club when they're in the Prem. The exposure for Championship clubs is terrible, the only games I've legally seen this season have been the cup fixtures.
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In our days down there not being able to see us play was an added bonus.
 
We got bought in 2008 for around £200m. From my memory at the time Ashley was asking much more than that.

There aas rumours that Newcastle (as well as Arsenal and Everton) was looked at by Sheikh Mansour before buying us.
 
SM said:
The other alternative is Blackpool Mk. II, but I think Ashley has more of a financial motivation than that lot.
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That's definitely the worst case scenario. Ashley stops putting money into the club and takes everything for his own gain (not much different to present but would certainly see the club deteriorate without the PL's gravy train of TV money).

That being said, I doubt (hope) it would come to that - his only concern is Sports Direct and without the global audience of the PL, he'd lose a lot of his marketing value from us - plus if the fans keep protesting ala Blackpool's fans, it would 'hopefully' ensure Sports Direct are kept in the headlines for the wrong reasons - which in turn could impact the share price/sales etc.

Jatz said:
Pardew was doing alright.

As has been said before, Newcastle were 17 points ahead of us at the start of March. Now they're 1.

After the first half of the season, Newcastle were pretty highly placed.

Pardew wasn't likely to win any trophies but he also wasn't anywhere near relegation.
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That's all generally true for sure but for many fans, the relative enjoyment of following the team has either diminished or been gone for some time.

That's the thing with Ashley. At one time, despite our horribly lacking squad, we were on the coat tails of the teams in and around the European places - the squad isn't bad on paper, a bit of investment and a decent manager and who knows what the team could achieve?If you don't try, you'll never know.

The fundamental problem with Ashley is that he's not a football man, he's a business man. He doesn't want to sell the fans hopes or dreams of seeing a long awaited trophy. He doesn't 'get' the pride the fans have in seeing the team beat their local rivals in a derby. He doesn't understand the spectacle and magic of seeing a team involved in a pulsating match. He wants to continue to run the club with the lowest operating costs he can while capitalising on the free advertising he gets. Everything else is secondary to that.

As Moomba mentioned, a bit of hope and direction isn't asking for much - it should be the bare minimum afforded to a fan. If the team is happily treading water for the owner's benefit, why bother? If the players don't appear to have any interest in representing the fans who cheer them, why bother? If the team play ugly football and there's no joy to be had watching the team, why bother?

There was a banner the Ashley Out folks brought to Leicester on the weekend that basically said 'We don't demand a team that wins. We demand a team that tries'.

At the end of the day, fans just want a team they can get behind. That is something many couldn't do under Pardew and many more can't do with this latest debacle.

Jatz said:
Meanwhile they're much better off now.

Better the devil you know and all that.

Surely mid table PL mediocrity > championship. It's definitely that way for me having supported a club that's lived in the Championship most of it's years.
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I get where you're coming from mate (FWIW, there are still quite large numbers of Toon fans who would openly agree with you - many are split on whether they want to stay up or go down).

I guess as Abba Lonie mentioned, perhaps there is a gap in stature and profile between a club like Leicester and a club like Newcastle that makes the difference?

Newcastle is in any way shape or form, an under performing club at every level. We can boast a 52k cathedral of a stadium that is normally filled to the brim, are ranked 9th (IIRC) in England for honours won and feature in the top 20 richest clubs (without even trying given Ashley's free Sports Direct advertising). We've played at the San Siro, the Nou Camp and many other famous stadia over the years. Now we're told we can't compete with clubs like Swansea (who were in League One when Ashley came in and have since won a cup competition in that same time), Stoke and Southampton.

Maybe mid table in the PL is something Leicester would cherish but there was a time when that would be considered 'poor' by Newcastle standards. Even now, Toon fans are generally realistic to realise such heights are probably beyond us now but its about wanting to have some belief the club is 'trying' to get better. If they are 'trying' and are still sitting middle of the pack then so be it. Currently, it's just a club that 'exists' - everything that was special about the club has been drowned out under Ashley.

All that being said, I'd swap positions with you every day of the week. I can only dream what its like to have hope and dreams of seeing my team actively trying to improve and rise upwards. All I can see in our immediate future is darkness sadly.
 
Bojan KantKick said:
I can only see a few scenario's where Ashley would sell:

- Supporters of all clubs start boycotting Sports Direct due to their association with Ashley and NUFC - good in theory

- He's been waiting for the new TV deal which will increase the price that he can achieve in selling NUFC - only really applies if NUFC stay in the EPL

- Someone makes him a ridiculous offer out of nowhere - Unlikely that a businessmen would do such a thing unless they were a local.

- Relegation makes his model unsustainable as he will have to invest significant sums of money in order to improve the first team squad and get in a new manager

For mine, scenario 2 & 4 are the most likely triggers for Ashley to sell. Sports Direct boycott is good in theory but not in practice due to the cheaper prices they can offer. The TV deal mainly, along with a few other things was the catalyst for the glazer takeover and makes the spend f*** all and just stay in the EPL model sustainable. The TV deal will increase the multiple Ashley will achieve in selling assuming NUFC survive this season. Lose that and the model falls over. Most smart businessmen will not invest in a football club as it's more a passion rather than an investment. Given Ashley will want a fair premium, any investors looking at NUFC will have to wait a while to see a return on their investment. Scenario 4 whilst not ideal for the club will probably be the catalyst. From reading your previous essays NUFC Tiger , your squad was in a much better position back when you were last in the Championship than it is now. Additionally, don't think for a minute that managers don't talk with each other. SAF used to describe it as a bit of a sewing circle. Anyone contemplating the NUFC managers position will be picking up the phone and calling Pardew. I can't imagine he has many nice things to say about Ashley. If he can't get in a decent manager on the cheap and improve the squad on the cheap, NUFC could be in trouble in the Championship next season.

'Mike Ashley will not, under any circumstances, sell Newcastle United at any price'. - What a load of shite
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Haha sorry for the mini essays Bojan. Hard to get all my frustrations down in a few words! :D

Yep, reckon you're on the money with most of those scenarios. I'm hopeful that the Sports Direct documentary (plus protests at Sports Direct stores by NUFC and Rangers fans as well as media coverage) might help deter people buying from SD.

I think the best thing about buying us is that whoever does, will instantly receive plenty of goodwill from the fans. Sure that doesn't mean dollars but I reckon there'd be a huge rush of people wanting to go back to St James' Park for games, buying merchandise etc.

Your last point on the manager's talking to each other was interesting too.

I think it speaks volumes that Steve McLaren rejected the chance to manage us - instead preferring to stay at Derby and try for another promotion push next season.

We only got Jo(k)e Kinnear last time we went down because no one else wanted the job...I think they even offered it to David O'Leary who'd been without a management role since finishing with Villa in 06 - and he rejected the role too. :drunk:

Fryer Tuck said:
Wait, £100m? (Think you mean pounds: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...Ashley-flies-clubs-training-ground-talks.html ) Wow, a season earlier, it was £481m ( http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...rs-for-163481m-for-newcastle-sale-932897.html and he rejected a £200m bid.) That's a massive drop in asking price.

So in 2009/2010, the jackpot was £90m for promotion (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/8706910.stm), Tan bought 30% of Cardiff for £6m (More like £8m since he had to settle a tax bill Cardiff was facing), and the Thais completely bought us out for £39m. Quite a huge gap, you didn't even get your money back if you won promotion with Newcastle, let alone have anything to spend!

No wonder Newcastle was left alone while other clubs were taken over.
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Oops, yes sorry was $100m pounds...if the club was available for that price right now, I reckon there'd be a few interested buyers.

The problem with any future sale is he'll likely look to try and recoup every cent he's put into the club. He bought us for £134m and then had to spend another £110m reportedly for his lack of due dilligence (this is a bit contentious though and the main reason our debt has 'doubled' under him). I get the feeling he'd want at least £250m which is a fairly significant sum. For that kind of money, you could probably buy half of the PL teams for a start and have a hefty war chest to spend on players and other things.
 
NUFC Tiger said:
There was a banner the Ashley Out folks brought to Leicester on the weekend that basically said 'We don't demand a team that wins. We demand a team that tries'.
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That sums it up for me. I've supported teams that were in significantly worse shape than Newcastle are in now. Right down to the third division and back, but I never had a feeling at City that we didnt want to win every cup we entered, or do as well in the league as we were capable of.

I'd certainly have a city back in the 3rd division with dreams, than a City happy with 17th spot in the league and not bothering with the cups year after year.
 
moomba said:
That sums it up for me. I've supported teams that were in significantly worse shape than Newcastle are in now. Right down to the third division and back, but I never had a feeling at City that we didnt want to win every cup we entered, or do as well in the league as we were capable of.

I'd certainly have a city back in the 3rd division with dreams, than a City happy with 17th spot in the league and not bothering with the cups year after year.
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That's pretty much it. Newcastle is a predominantly blue collar and working class city but the locals take great pride in their northern roots. I think they just want to see an honest team representing them, their city and the region with effort and determination in every game.

Under Pardew there were many heavy losses (3-0, 4-0, 5-0s and even a few where we conceded more still) and the team went down without a whimper. Toon fans don't mind to see their team lose but they want to know the team tried its hardest until the final whistle.

Even having a proper crack at the cups would be a welcome change and give the fans something to be excited about. Sunderland and Hull had good cup runs last season and Wigan before them all despite not performing the best in the league but at least the cup games give the fans a chance to dream of a visit to Wembley and the possible chance of silverware.
 
Jatz said:
Who has Newcastle lost to in recent cup runs? They weren't easy teams were they?

My only issue with wanting to go down is that you're no guarantee to go back up.
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2015 - Leicester
2014 - Cardiff
2013 - Brighton
2012 - Brighton
2011 - Stevenage
2010 - West Brom
2009 - Hull

Not exactly an esteemed list.
 
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