Owners

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moomba said:
Ones that have played in the premier league this season.

Schmeichel (Leicester)
Trippier (Burnley) Onuoha (QPR) Boyata (City) Mee (Burnley)
SWP (QPR) Barton (QPR) Whelan (Stoke) Ireland (Stoke)
Sturridge (Liverpool) Pozo (City)


Also have Richards (Fiorentina), Denayer (Celtic), Lopes (Lille), Rekik (PSV) and Guidetti (Celtic) out on loan at top flight clubs in other leagues
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Not a bad team moomba overall.

Had a crack at a Toon team (not quite as good though!).

3-5-2 formation

Forster (Southampton) or Krul (NUFC)
Ramage (Palace - on loan at Barnsley) Dummett (NUFC) Taylor (NUFC)
Sammy Ameobi (NUFC) Abeid (NUFC) Vuckic (NUFC) Armstrong (NUFC) N'Zogbia (Villa)
Carroll (West Ham) Shola Ameobi (Palace)

Adam Johnson spent 2 years as a junior with us before going to Boro. SM's man Harper has also played in the PL this season I think.
 
Dirty Bird said:
I'm running my own club fine, leading us to promotion :p
#MemberOwned #PunkFootball
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Now I had been meaning to ask this. As one of the few fan owned clubs, I don''t suppose you mind telling us a bit more about the club as one of the many owners of the club?

I know that it's 12 pounds for membership, which gives you one share and right to vote with, and no matter how much one contributes, everyone's vote is equal.

How often do fan votes go out (is it just for big decisions, or for minor matters as well? You also have a board, so I assume that they act on behalf of the fans) and what was the last decision you were involved in? (I presume that it's online in order to help international fans).

It would be quite enlightening to hear from someone that actually is from a fan-owned club to give their experiences with the notion.
 
Fryer Tuck said:
Woah, really? I thought the guy was more of a private individual. Looking at this, and looking at what Newcastle is now, that's very jarring.

I am also surprised at the lack of investment after Newcastle finished 5th. You would've thought if anytime was a good time to make an impact on the world stage, now would be it. Instead, he just well, sold out and added to his empire. Also, according to the figures, Ashley's worth 3 billion pounds, Roman's 5.5 billion, so the resources are clearly there to take Newcastle further.
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He has generally always been quite reclusive - when he first came to us, there was some talk that he was trying to shake that public image. He stood amongst the fans at home games, went out on the town and shouted people drinks and was essentially, just like 'one of the fans'.

The suggestion is though he was quite hurt deep down when the fans turned on him after he started making some poor decisions/choices - sacking a club legend like Keegan (and then lying publicly as to the reasons for doing so) appointing Jo(k)e Kinnear and ultimately seeing the club relegated.

After our relegation, he said he'd made mistakes and would put the club up for sale but after no serious bids came, he was stuck with us, and we with him and he essentially started the process of rebuilding the club's value up again - but not for the fans, for his own profit and benefit of Sports Direct.


Fryer Tuck said:
The question is, would I be able to find anything relating to Newcastle United?: http://www.sportsdirect.com/football And the first thing I see is Liverpool, and Arsenal. There isn't any special Newcastle United page on the Sports Direct website. Even in his attempt to promote Sports Direct, he hasn't made any attempt to link back to Newcastle.
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This bit is another (sadly) frustrating aspect of life under Ashley. Newcastle is just another brand in Mike Ashley's collection. He (and Sports Direct) don't care about the club at all.
On the Sports Direct website, in the news section, there was an article published a few years ago saying that Newcastle would try and sign Rooney (this was when he was having his contract dispute with Man Utd around 2012 or 2013 IIRC). The suggestion was simply laughable given how little he was spending on players - plus our 'wage cap' in place.

That might have been fine but the same website is also guilty of publishing 'exclusive' stories saying Cabaye would be sold Man Utd (ultimately PSG). How do you think that made the fans feel when a website owned by the club's owner was purporting a late sale of our best player (put that in hand with our track record of not replacing sold players and just pocketing the profits).

The most recent annoyance (and sadly things like this are all too common for Toon fans) is that Rangers FC merchandise was available for purchase on the Newcastle United official club store. Where is the logic? If I'm a Newcastle fan, why would I go onto the Newcastle shop website and want to buy Rangers merchandise? Similarly, if I was a Rangers fan - the logical action would be to go to another club's website and buy my merchandise there. :rolleyes:


That's really impressive by your Thai owners - and that's exactly the kind of thing a lot of Newcastle fans are upset with. Your owners have embraced Leicester and the community - as demonstrated by contributing to that appeal. They also appear to respect the club and its history whilst also having a clear vision for how they want to grow the club (by raising its profile overseas).

The contrast to Newcastle under Ashley is quite stark. Ashley seemingly makes decisions (like Oyston) to incite the fans. He's also on frosty terms (to put it mildly) with the local council and government MPs. He has also shown that he has no interest in promoting the club. The club exists to make money for Ashley, to promote his business interests and nothing more.

While I think we have the third best home attendance in the league, I'd be very surprised if our global fanbase was in the top 7/8 - simply because in an era where the league has boomed in popularity, the club has sat on its hands whilst others have made links to huge growth markets such as Asia and the US.
 

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NUFC Tiger said:
He has generally always been quite reclusive - when he first came to us, there was some talk that he was trying to shake that public image. He stood amongst the fans at home games, went out on the town and shouted people drinks and was essentially, just like 'one of the fans'.

The suggestion is though he was quite hurt deep down when the fans turned on him after he started making some poor decisions/choices - sacking a club legend like Keegan (and then lying publicly as to the reasons for doing so) appointing Jo(k)e Kinnear and ultimately seeing the club relegated.

After our relegation, he said he'd made mistakes and would put the club up for sale but after no serious bids came, he was stuck with us, and we with him and he essentially started the process of rebuilding the club's value up again - but not for the fans, for his own profit and benefit of Sports Direct.




This bit is another (sadly) frustrating aspect of life under Ashley. Newcastle is just another brand in Mike Ashley's collection. He (and Sports Direct) don't care about the club at all.
On the Sports Direct website, in the news section, there was an article published a few years ago saying that Newcastle would try and sign Rooney (this was when he was having his contract dispute with Man Utd around 2012 or 2013 IIRC). The suggestion was simply laughable given how little he was spending on players - plus our 'wage cap' in place.

That might have been fine but the same website is also guilty of publishing 'exclusive' stories saying Cabaye would be sold Man Utd (ultimately PSG). How do you think that made the fans feel when a website owned by the club's owner was purporting a late sale of our best player (put that in hand with our track record of not replacing sold players and just pocketing the profits).

The most recent annoyance (and sadly things like this are all too common for Toon fans) is that Rangers FC merchandise was available for purchase on the Newcastle United official club store. Where is the logic? If I'm a Newcastle fan, why would I go onto the Newcastle shop website and want to buy Rangers merchandise? Similarly, if I was a Rangers fan - the logical action would be to go to another club's website and buy my merchandise there. :rolleyes:


That's really impressive by your Thai owners - and that's exactly the kind of thing a lot of Newcastle fans are upset with. Your owners have embraced Leicester and the community - as demonstrated by contributing to that appeal. They also appear to respect the club and its history whilst also having a clear vision for how they want to grow the club (by raising its profile overseas).

The contrast to Newcastle under Ashley is quite stark. Ashley seemingly makes decisions (like Oyston) to incite the fans. He's also on frosty terms (to put it mildly) with the local council and government MPs. He has also shown that he has no interest in promoting the club. The club exists to make money for Ashley, to promote his business interests and nothing more.

While I think we have the third best home attendance in the league, I'd be very surprised if our global fanbase was in the top 7/8 - simply because in an era where the league has boomed in popularity, the club has sat on its hands whilst others have made links to huge growth markets such as Asia and the US.
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I guess I can understand that, but surely as a businessman, he should be used to this sort of thing. You’re not going to make the right decision everytime, and you will get criticised for it. Yes, Newcastle got related, but they did really well to recover. 100+ points, and even finishing 5th a couple of seasons later? Now that’s what I call rejuvenation. You have to take the lows with the high, such is business.


The key thing is as long as you learn from your mistakes. I’m sure the fans would’ve been pleased beyond anything with the way they responded to the relegation. Fans are more keen to remember the good times, especially if it makes them a better club because of it.


Such a shame it wasn’t the case.


Wait, he published negative stuff like that? Gee whiz, no wonder...

Ah yes, Rangers merchandise, I think we all remember that one. http://www.themag.co.uk/2015/02/newcastle-club-shop-selling-rangers-merchandise/ Of course, I clicked on the links, and tried to search it. Looks like it’s no longer there, but the very fact it was up there in the first place? Shameful. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to try something that made a little more sense: See if I can find Melbourne City merchandise in the Man City shop, and vice versa. Turns out I couldn’t… however, if looking for New York merchandise, that’s a different story. While you can’t get Manchester City gear from the New York shop, you can get some New York gear from the Manchester City shop. http://shop.mcfc.co.uk/stores/mancity/products/product_browse.aspx?category|category_root|16143=Fashion&category|cat_16143|23632=Collections&category|cat_23632|50861=NYCFC So they’re not immune. But it does make one wonder: Why only New York? Where’s Melbourne? Where’s Yokohama? Seems a little biased, isn’t it?


It is a shame. The football club should be for the fans and the community. To be on bad terms with even the city council… that just sums it up.


It’s funny that people have fears of foreign investment, and how the worst owners in the English leagues are actually English. Yes, we still have Allam of Hull and Tan of Cardiff, but at least their fans are having some impact. Why, just recently, Cardiff is going back to blue as their main colour, and will have a new logo to bring back the bluebirds: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...6-season-Bluebird-returning-centre-stage.html (The downside is that the dragon is no longer Welsh). Then again, I did hear that Allam is applying yet again for a name change: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull...-Hull-Tigers/story-26332910-detail/story.html We’ll see the outcome of that in July most likely, since it requires the fans to agree to the name change.


Top 7/8… something that Newcastle really should be. Sad to think that you’ve been passed by Chelsea and Man City as their reach is spreading across the world with their marketing ploys. You can find Chelsea and Man City stuff everywhere (I still remember this from Top Gear:
lDjfo6f.jpg
A Chelsea Poster in the Shan in Burma. Now that's global reach!) As noted, it’s not like Newcastle is skint, Ashley’s got almost as much wealth as Roman, there’s no reason why he can’t do something similar with Newcastle, the foundations are already in place. Now I don’t know exactly how popular they were in the 80s, but Newcastle are looking more and more likely to end up like Everton. Bad enough that most international fans don’t exactly know of the significance of the Derby (then again, most oversea United fans didn’t rate the Manchester Derby). Then again, Newcastle has really been a British underachiever despite being the face of the North East (Bad enough you’re not even the most successful North East Club). Here you guys are, with a multibillionaire, and yet aren’t going anywhere, that’s just tragic. Who knows if your next owner will be just as rich (if there’s a next owner to come soon), there was a golden opportunity to take the next step up.
 
what's with that chelsea shirt though, don't remember those thick light blue/dark blue stripes
 
Fryer Tuck said:
I guess I can understand that, but surely as a businessman, he should be used to this sort of thing. You’re not going to make the right decision everytime, and you will get criticised for it. Yes, Newcastle got related, but they did really well to recover. 100+ points, and even finishing 5th a couple of seasons later? Now that’s what I call rejuvenation. You have to take the lows with the high, such is business.


The key thing is as long as you learn from your mistakes. I’m sure the fans would’ve been pleased beyond anything with the way they responded to the relegation. Fans are more keen to remember the good times, especially if it makes them a better club because of it.


Such a shame it wasn’t the case.


Wait, he published negative stuff like that? Gee whiz, no wonder...

Ah yes, Rangers merchandise, I think we all remember that one. http://www.themag.co.uk/2015/02/newcastle-club-shop-selling-rangers-merchandise/ Of course, I clicked on the links, and tried to search it. Looks like it’s no longer there, but the very fact it was up there in the first place? Shameful. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to try something that made a little more sense: See if I can find Melbourne City merchandise in the Man City shop, and vice versa. Turns out I couldn’t… however, if looking for New York merchandise, that’s a different story. While you can’t get Manchester City gear from the New York shop, you can get some New York gear from the Manchester City shop. http://shop.mcfc.co.uk/stores/mancity/products/product_browse.aspx?category|category_root|16143=Fashion&category|cat_16143|23632=Collections&category|cat_23632|50861=NYCFC So they’re not immune. But it does make one wonder: Why only New York? Where’s Melbourne? Where’s Yokohama? Seems a little biased, isn’t it?


It is a shame. The football club should be for the fans and the community. To be on bad terms with even the city council… that just sums it up.


It’s funny that people have fears of foreign investment, and how the worst owners in the English leagues are actually English. Yes, we still have Allam of Hull and Tan of Cardiff, but at least their fans are having some impact. Why, just recently, Cardiff is going back to blue as their main colour, and will have a new logo to bring back the bluebirds: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...6-season-Bluebird-returning-centre-stage.html (The downside is that the dragon is no longer Welsh). Then again, I did hear that Allam is applying yet again for a name change: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull...-Hull-Tigers/story-26332910-detail/story.html We’ll see the outcome of that in July most likely, since it requires the fans to agree to the name change.


Top 7/8… something that Newcastle really should be. Sad to think that you’ve been passed by Chelsea and Man City as their reach is spreading across the world with their marketing ploys. You can find Chelsea and Man City stuff everywhere (I still remember this from Top Gear:
lDjfo6f.jpg
A Chelsea Poster in the Shan in Burma. Now that's global reach!) As noted, it’s not like Newcastle is skint, Ashley’s got almost as much wealth as Roman, there’s no reason why he can’t do something similar with Newcastle, the foundations are already in place. Now I don’t know exactly how popular they were in the 80s, but Newcastle are looking more and more likely to end up like Everton. Bad enough that most international fans don’t exactly know of the significance of the Derby (then again, most oversea United fans didn’t rate the Manchester Derby). Then again, Newcastle has really been a British underachiever despite being the face of the North East (Bad enough you’re not even the most successful North East Club). Here you guys are, with a multibillionaire, and yet aren’t going anywhere, that’s just tragic. Who knows if your next owner will be just as rich (if there’s a next owner to come soon), there was a golden opportunity to take the next step up.
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You'd think so wouldn't you? Being an owner, you'd surely have a reasonable expectation of being criticised for some of your decisions given how much emotional investment fans have for their teams. I think a lot of fans, while not happy with some of his decisions after we got promoted such as the sacking of the popular Hughton and sale of Carroll (I think the fact he wasn't replaced was the real issue many fans had as the $35m offer from Liverpool was too good to turn down) could at least see his rationale behind them. It was more the manner that the club tarred Hughton after sacking him (despite sitting I think 11th at the time, recording a 5-1 thumping of the Mackems and being quite 'safe' as a newly promoted side) as well as the 'we will not sell Carroll this window' promises from both Pardew and Llambias (managing director at the time). There were actually allegations that Carroll was forced out by Ashley (despite signing a new long term deal) who was desperate to accept the money from Liverpool's bumper bid (Carroll is a local lad and his dream was to always play in the Number 9 shirt like his idol Shearer).

While Ashley has the money to bankroll the club, I don't think many Toon fans are too fussed that we aren't spending extravagantly - it's more the fact we spend so little (even compared to the newly promoted sides!), or more often in recent seasons, nothing at all.

Our squad has some glaring issues and a bit of investment has been needed for a few years now (we still have the same CB's we did when we were in the Championship 5 odd years ago!).

Our financial statement for the last financial year even revealed we had about $34m literally just sitting in a bank account. We've gone 3 out of the last 4 windows with no permanent first team signings, have the second leakiest defence in the PL and yet the club doesn't want to invest that money back into the team. Just mind boggling really. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32322555
 
I reckon a lot of it comes down to communication with Ashley.

If he'd said "this is the situation, this is how we're going to going to fix the situation and this is how long it's going to take" I reckon Geordies would accept it.

I reckon most football supporters would accept a period of austerity if it was for the good of the club, and there was light at the end of the tunnel.

But Ashley has just done his thing and I reckon most Geordies think thats the way it's always going to be until he leaves.

Villa in the same boat. Once you remove that hope from supporters a football club can be a really negative place to be around.
 
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moomba said:
I reckon a lot of it comes down to communication with Ashley.

If he'd said "this is the situation, this is how we're going to going to fix the situation and this is how long it's going to take" I reckon Geordies would accept it.

I reckon most football supporters would accept a period of austerity if it was for the good of the club, and there was light at the end of the tunnel.

But Ashley has just done his thing and I reckon most Geordies think thats the way it's always going to be until he leaves.

Villa in the same boat. Once you remove that hope from supporters a football club can be a really negative place to be around.
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Pretty much moomba. I think if he could give the fans something to take away that would indicate the direction he wants to take the club/what his intentions are, that would be a help as many feel that he's purely there to make a profit. As the saying goes 'hope springs eternal' and I think a lot of fans hope he will (if not sell the club, re-asses) how he runs things. So far, almost every decision made by the club seems to be one that reflects what's in the club's best financial interests, or more specifically, Ashley's - not necessarily those of the fans or the city or the team.

Ashley's running of the club has created plenty of cynicism and pessimism. There's only so many times the fans can be lied to, ignored and mistreated before even the most loyal and ardent fans start to lose interest.

It's not a surprise that quickly after many fans claimed they wouldn't be renewing season tickets and the AshleyOut campaign launched, the club responded (via club legend and paid club ambassador Bob Moncur) by saying they'd 'invest' in the summer.

Quotes:
“I also asked Lee (Our managing Director) about investment in the squad in the summer. “And he reinforced the message that John Carver had already given. “We will be spending money in the summer to take the club forward.”

Unfortunately, that most likely means we will still be selling off players to raise money so we can spend. There's no give with Ashley, it's all give and take sadly.
 
On the NYCFC merchandise and no Yokohama/Melbourne City I can only presume it's down to supply and demand.

I went to the pre season games and there was quite a few people buying NYCFC stuff.

All unbranded as I'm guessing there isnt any Adidas stuff for sale in our club shop.
 
I have to say, if I won the lottery after it had been rolled over about 100 times I'd quite fancy buying Newcastle and turning it around.

Step 1 - get the local media onside. Give them a day of my time explaining my vision for the club. Let them put it out as a supplement in the paper. Cover money, cover transfer policy, cover everything. Make the club transparent.

Step 2 - get the legends onside. Any takeover is going to lead to a big feelgood factor, get the legends back involved with the club and ride that sentiment.

Step 3 - Sort the manager situation. Finances may dictate otherwise but why shouldnt a club like Newcastle aspire to someone like Klopp. If not him go for someone young, tactically aware who gives chances to youth and plays attractive football.

Step 4 - support the academy. Every club likes to see their kids break through into the senior team. I reckon it gives the whole club a lift. Spend, spend, spend in this area. You will make your money back.

Step 5 - Get rid of Wonga. I don't personally have a problem with the sponsorship but a lot of Geordies do. Try and cancel the deal, brief your new mates in the press that you are trying to do this and put pressure on them to agree.

Step 6 - burn the Sports Direct freebie signage.

None of that is rocket science, but it would change the whole aura of SJP. A happy ground is a much better atmosphere for players to play and I think little stuff like that could make a difference.

On transfers I think you have to accept realities and that players will be sold. You've already informed the supporters through the local press so they know why it happens.

But if you sell someone sink it back i to the playing squad. Give it to Graham Carr to find 2 or 3 gems in the lower divisions.

I also lean towards quotas on academy players. Two per match day squad. But thats just my own little thing.

The club is profitable atm (even with a lot of advertising thrown in for free) so there is a lot of scope for improving things.

Then if the next Messi comes through the academy I"ll sell him to City for nothing, sell the club and leave town. ;)
 

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NUFC Tiger said:
Striped Chelsea top doesn't look too bad IMO :D
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Works better than the verticals: http://image-load-balancer.worldspo....aspx?photoNum=1&t=I&catalog=Soccer&img=92151

Hoops are for QPR.

NUFC Tiger said:
You'd think so wouldn't you? Being an owner, you'd surely have a reasonable expectation of being criticised for some of your decisions given how much emotional investment fans have for their teams. I think a lot of fans, while not happy with some of his decisions after we got promoted such as the sacking of the popular Hughton and sale of Carroll (I think the fact he wasn't replaced was the real issue many fans had as the $35m offer from Liverpool was too good to turn down) could at least see his rationale behind them. It was more the manner that the club tarred Hughton after sacking him (despite sitting I think 11th at the time, recording a 5-1 thumping of the Mackems and being quite 'safe' as a newly promoted side) as well as the 'we will not sell Carroll this window' promises from both Pardew and Llambias (managing director at the time). There were actually allegations that Carroll was forced out by Ashley (despite signing a new long term deal) who was desperate to accept the money from Liverpool's bumper bid (Carroll is a local lad and his dream was to always play in the Number 9 shirt like his idol Shearer).

While Ashley has the money to bankroll the club, I don't think many Toon fans are too fussed that we aren't spending extravagantly - it's more the fact we spend so little (even compared to the newly promoted sides!), or more often in recent seasons, nothing at all.

Our squad has some glaring issues and a bit of investment has been needed for a few years now (we still have the same CB's we did when we were in the Championship 5 odd years ago!).

Our financial statement for the last financial year even revealed we had about $34m literally just sitting in a bank account. We've gone 3 out of the last 4 windows with no permanent first team signings, have the second leakiest defence in the PL and yet the club doesn't want to invest that money back into the team. Just mind boggling really. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32322555
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Well, the good news is at least the club is well secured financially, but the bad news is that the club is in an unhealthy state. As I noted, when we played at St James earlier this season, the match was delayed due a giant screen not being properly installed. Yet everywhere I look at the ground, there’s Sports Direct signs everywhere, and if it’s not Sports Direct, it’s Wonga. Has Ashley actually made any attempts to improve the facilities (and not improvements that allow for more ads, which I bet that TV screen was mostly used for)?

moomba said:
I reckon a lot of it comes down to communication with Ashley.

If he'd said "this is the situation, this is how we're going to going to fix the situation and this is how long it's going to take" I reckon Geordies would accept it.

I reckon most football supporters would accept a period of austerity if it was for the good of the club, and there was light at the end of the tunnel.

But Ashley has just done his thing and I reckon most Geordies think thats the way it's always going to be until he leaves.

Villa in the same boat. Once you remove that hope from supporters a football club can be a really negative place to be around.
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Nailed it on the head, I’d say. Just no communication between owner and fans, though I get the feeling that the owner has to real intention in communicating to the fans.

You can throw Sunderland as well. It's bad for all concerned. Players are not playing for the badge anymore, you have Sunderland and Newcastle players being friendly with each other. There's no passion when your football club is in a bad place.



NUFC Tiger said:
Pretty much moomba. I think if he could give the fans something to take away that would indicate the direction he wants to take the club/what his intentions are, that would be a help as many feel that he's purely there to make a profit. As the saying goes 'hope springs eternal' and I think a lot of fans hope he will (if not sell the club, re-asses) how he runs things. So far, almost every decision made by the club seems to be one that reflects what's in the club's best financial interests, or more specifically, Ashley's - not necessarily those of the fans or the city or the team.

Ashley's running of the club has created plenty of cynicism and pessimism. There's only so many times the fans can be lied to, ignored and mistreated before even the most loyal and ardent fans start to lose interest.

It's not a surprise that quickly after many fans claimed they wouldn't be renewing season tickets and the AshleyOut campaign launched, the club responded (via club legend and paid club ambassador Bob Moncur) by saying they'd 'invest' in the summer.

Quotes:
“I also asked Lee (Our managing Director) about investment in the squad in the summer. “And he reinforced the message that John Carver had already given. “We will be spending money in the summer to take the club forward.”

Unfortunately, that most likely means we will still be selling off players to raise money so we can spend. There's no give with Ashley, it's all give and take sadly.
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Well, slow and steady, at least they took down the Ranger gear. Hopefully fan power can help improve things further.

moomba said:
On the NYCFC merchandise and no Yokohama/Melbourne City I can only presume it's down to supply and demand.

I went to the pre season games and there was quite a few people buying NYCFC stuff.

All unbranded as I'm guessing there isnt any Adidas stuff for sale in our club shop.
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Really? Dang, learn something new… Guess some people from Manchester will see this as an opportunity to get New York stuff, which is of course a very popular destination to get merchandise for, (New York caps and shirts and what have you).
 
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chef said:
Guys like Ake, RLC, Christensen, Solanke etc also got a taste of first team football. I have no doubt that these guys if good enough (got to remember it's easier to get a game at a club like Soton than it is at Chelsea) will get opportunities.
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This will be the key & and last hurdle for Chelsea to be officially self-sufficient. The success of the academy can come in 2 ways. The kids come through and play for the first team, or they are not quite at Chelsea level (no disgrace in that) and sold for decent sums to the mid-lower PL sides. Kinda like what we have done with our academy with Kane, Mason, Bentaleb being deemed good enough but the likes of Caulker, Livermore, Luongo etc. sold for decent fees.
 
moomba said:
I have to say, if I won the lottery after it had been rolled over about 100 times I'd quite fancy buying Newcastle and turning it around.

Step 1 - get the local media onside. Give them a day of my time explaining my vision for the club. Let them put it out as a supplement in the paper. Cover money, cover transfer policy, cover everything. Make the club transparent.

Step 2 - get the legends onside. Any takeover is going to lead to a big feelgood factor, get the legends back involved with the club and ride that sentiment.

Step 3 - Sort the manager situation. Finances may dictate otherwise but why shouldnt a club like Newcastle aspire to someone like Klopp. If not him go for someone young, tactically aware who gives chances to youth and plays attractive football.

Step 4 - support the academy. Every club likes to see their kids break through into the senior team. I reckon it gives the whole club a lift. Spend, spend, spend in this area. You will make your money back.

Step 5 - Get rid of Wonga. I don't personally have a problem with the sponsorship but a lot of Geordies do. Try and cancel the deal, brief your new mates in the press that you are trying to do this and put pressure on them to agree.

Step 6 - burn the Sports Direct freebie signage.

None of that is rocket science, but it would change the whole aura of SJP. A happy ground is a much better atmosphere for players to play and I think little stuff like that could make a difference.

On transfers I think you have to accept realities and that players will be sold. You've already informed the supporters through the local press so they know why it happens.

But if you sell someone sink it back i to the playing squad. Give it to Graham Carr to find 2 or 3 gems in the lower divisions.

I also lean towards quotas on academy players. Two per match day squad. But thats just my own little thing.

The club is profitable atm (even with a lot of advertising thrown in for free) so there is a lot of scope for improving things.

Then if the next Messi comes through the academy I"ll sell him to City for nothing, sell the club and leave town. ;)
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Moomba for Chairman/Owner!

...except for selling the Geordie Messi for free. That might get the Toon Army to get their pitchforks out ;)

I've always had the view that the club has a stack of potential. It just needs the right owner with a vision to realise it.
 
Boycott seems to be getting some coverage which is good to see - even CNN are reporting on us! :D

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/17/football/football-newcastle-united-zombie/

Surprisingly good read (despite the 'soccer' mention). I seem to find that articles published by neutrals (non Toon related) are generally better - they give that perspective without the emotional attachment.

A few good pieces from the article:

"Ashley is a fabulously wealthy man, and a controversial one. He has grown his Sports Direct empire significantly since acquiring Newcastle, piggybacking on the Premier League's profound global reach to spread its name far and wide. From a turnover of $1.8 billion in 2006, it recently announced a "record" 15% rise in annual pre-tax profits to $359.8m and a turnover of $4.05bn. There are stores in 19 European countries and an expansion into Australia and New Zealand is planned. But the company, whose logo is plastered all over Newcastle's St James' Park stadium..."

"But fans are at a loss to explain why a man whose fortune amounts to $4.5 billion, according to Forbes, seems so reluctant to chase success for a club that is the 19th wealthiest in Europe. "People are miserable, fed up," Forbes added. "Newcastle's current performance is like a permanent cloud over the city. "The club feels soulless — an island. In the same way the senior management doesn't have any engagement with fans, they don't have any engagement with the city either. "People have worked out the current owner has a business model, which is participating in the Premier League but not winning it. "What people see is a disinterested owner, interested only in the cash the business generates, not the trophies it could produce."

"What Newcastle fans want to see is a club that, even if it fails, it is at least trying to be the best it can be. That means attempting to win things, taking a few risks. "It could be a northern powerhouse. At the moment, it's almost a shell of a club, it exists just to exist and that's not what fans want from a club that is supposed to represent the city much better."

Just need a good effort tonight for the boycott. Seems quite a few will still be going to the game to 'support' the team (despite it being pretty clear the team doesn't care all that much).

If we can get under 40k, that would be huge (our lowest PL home attendance).
 
An Allam Out thread has been launched and puts his reign at Hull in a pretty bleak light. Yes he pumped in money to save us - but as with Newcastle our debt has grown - in fact almost doubled I believe - and he is charging interest on his 'loan' which was supposedly a 'gift' to the city. A common defence of Allam is he saved us from becoming a Portsmouth, but we were never in as poor a position as Portsmouth, and may have gone down to League One but then would have slowly recovered.

http://www.allamout.co.uk/
 
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