The Toon Army Thread

NUFC Tiger

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robertg22

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http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...de-quiet-revolution-newcastle-uniteds-8646526

Thought this was a decent read -the improvement of our academy has been a rare shining light this season, especially compared to previous years (remember when the club was initially not granted a tier 1 rating?).
We're probably going to need to rely on the academy signings, the business model will dictate that we get them up to speed, sell them off and move to the next one. Sad but true.
 

NUFC Tiger

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Just saw this - is Derek 'Lambeezee' telling porkies? Wouldn't surprise me if one of Cashley's minions did something like this to be honest.

LLAMBIAS, who claimed he was attacked in a city centre bar for the second time, insisted he won't be scared out of Ibrox.

BAFFLED police revealed that they had no record of an attack on Rangers chief executive Derek Llambias. Llambias claimed he was attacked in a Glasgow city bar for the second time and vowed he won’t be scared out of Ibrox.


Had a chuckle at this too:

“Derek and Mike Ashley can’t understand why there is hostility to the new set-up. They want to rebuild Rangers into a strong team capable of challenging Celtic again and being a force in Europe. They keep asking themselves where Rangers would be but for the £10 million loan from Sports Direct.”

I suppose just like they did with us right? :rolleyes:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rangers-chief-derek-llambias-claims-5168541
 

Childish Gambino

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Thoughts on Ashley 4 years on??
Sorry for the late reply. My patience is wearing thin with Ashley but at least he has stuck to his plan and we continue to be a side capable of a mid table finish whilst making a nice profit.

With the development of the academy and younger players coming through the system it might give us a chance to be very competitive in a couple years time. I think we just need to be patient. I will wait until the end of the season to see who we recruit as manager and players brought in before I finally give up on Ashley though.
 

NUFC Tiger

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Sorry for the late reply. My patience is wearing thin with Ashley but at least he has stuck to his plan and we continue to be a side capable of a mid table finish whilst making a nice profit.

With the development of the academy and younger players coming through the system it might give us a chance to be very competitive in a couple years time. I think we just need to be patient. I will wait until the end of the season to see who we recruit as manager and players brought in before I finally give up on Ashley though.
I like your optimism Childish Gambino, if nothing else, Ashley should at least be applauded for helping secure the club's financial position which reportedly was very precarious when he came in. Even when we went down (though relegation was probably his fault) he stumped up more money to keep the club afloat to help prevent us becoming a Leeds. I think we are one of the very few teams that operates on a profit year on year which is also a good thing IMO.

On the flipside though, the issue with Ashley is he purely a businessman driven by money and his sporting good empire. It's all well and good for the club to make money but if he's taking a lot of it and not reinvesting much back into the team, then, we will continue to tread water. He's running the club on a budget - just enough to keep us competitive and keep the fans coming but not enough to push on up the table. Just look at all the sports direct advertising he gets for free on matchdays. At any other team, companies would be paying millions to have their brands shown during televised matches but Ashley's getting it for free.

It's crazy to think we can boast the 3rd highest attendance in the UK and 8th in Europe IIRC as well being in the top 20 of the wealthiest club's in the world but can't compete with teams like Southampton, Everton and Swansea who've all overtaken us.

While it's good the academy seems to be performing well and showing signs of producing some quality youth talent. You just can't help but think Ashley will sell them without hesitation if decent money is offered.
 

NUFC Tiger

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On a more positive note, check out the amazing crowd we got for the FA Youth Cup Quarter Final. Reported crowd of 11,664.

Sadly we lost 3-0 but still a great crowd to see the youngsters in action.

 

NUFC Tiger

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Some concerning news that Dummett could be out until April with a knee injury - that wouldn't be good given how threadbare our defender stocks are. It would at least give Haidara a good run in the team but also means we're stuck with Williamson. It might at least open a door for Curtis Good to get into the side though which would be great to see.
 

tige19

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I like your optimism Childish Gambino, if nothing else, Ashley should at least be applauded for helping secure the club's financial position which reportedly was very precarious when he came in. Even when we went down (though relegation was probably his fault) he stumped up more money to keep the club afloat to help prevent us becoming a Leeds. I think we are one of the very few teams that operates on a profit year on year which is also a good thing IMO.

On the flipside though, the issue with Ashley is he purely a businessman driven by money and his sporting good empire. It's all well and good for the club to make money but if he's taking a lot of it and not reinvesting much back into the team, then, we will continue to tread water. He's running the club on a budget - just enough to keep us competitive and keep the fans coming but not enough to push on up the table. Just look at all the sports direct advertising he gets for free on matchdays. At any other team, companies would be paying millions to have their brands shown during televised matches but Ashley's getting it for free.

It's crazy to think we can boast the 3rd highest attendance in the UK and 8th in Europe IIRC as well being in the top 20 of the wealthiest club's in the world but can't compete with teams like Southampton, Everton and Swansea who've all overtaken us.

While it's good the academy seems to be performing well and showing signs of producing some quality youth talent. You just can't help but think Ashley will sell them without hesitation if decent money is offered.
You know what, the sad thing is that MA could, at the click of his fingers change the whole attitude Geordies have towards him. He has made this club stable, sustainable and profitable yet he has shown ZERO ambition and that's the issue. Can you imagine the love our supporters would give him if he actually dug into his pockets and said 'guys, here is 50 mill, I want you to sign 3 stars'. Let's look at this for a second, the guy is worth 4.9 billion (James Packer is worth 4.7 billion), he is the 5th richest person in the UK and the 254th richest person in the world, money is not a problem for this man. Our attendance is at a record low, season tickets are down and retails sales down, MA is obviously smart, now is the time if ever to invest ON THE FIELD.
 

NUFC Tiger

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You know what, the sad thing is that MA could, at the click of his fingers change the whole attitude Geordies have towards him. He has made this club stable, sustainable and profitable yet he has shown ZERO ambition and that's the issue. Can you imagine the love our supporters would give him if he actually dug into his pockets and said 'guys, here is 50 mill, I want you to sign 3 stars'. Let's look at this for a second, the guy is worth 4.9 billion (James Packer is worth 4.7 billion), he is the 5th richest person in the UK and the 254th richest person in the world, money is not a problem for this man. Our attendance is at a record low, season tickets are down and retails sales down, MA is obviously smart, now is the time if ever to invest ON THE FIELD.
Exactly right mate. Maybe he feels hurt and jaded by the fans abuse of him but if he realised how much the club means to the fans, he might begin to understand the frustrations. If he invested a bit of money into the team and gave us all a plan on how he wants to take the club forward, large sections of the fanbase would probably support him again. Club's need hope to get fans excited and passionate. He's sucked the life out of the club but it wouldn't take a lot for him to restore some either.
 

NUFC Tiger

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NUFC Tiger You were right about Dummett - out for the rest of the year it seems. Cabella also looking likely to miss this week. We will probably get destroyed by city. Don't think I'll be staying up for this one :)
Yeah mate, seems Dummett's injury is worst than initially feared. If he is out for the rest of the season surely has to point out again how negligent the club has been in the transfer window. Loaning Santon, selling Yanga Mbiwa and then even loaning out youngsters like Mbabu and Streete to Rangers leaves us incredibly vulnerable down back.

Saw the Cabella injury news, that's a shame - to get anything out of the City game, you feel he had to play. Apparently City are impressed by Perez (if he has a good game, I wonder if they'll consider a move for him in the summer transfer window...).

4.30am kickoff doesn't make it very tempting does it? :D

I'm going to try and watch the game. Not sure if I go for the all nighter or set the alarm. See how I go.
 

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NUFC Tiger

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tige19

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The whole joint needs to get turned upside down! Every single department bar the academy is an absolute shambles.

I'm gonna watch the first half and if were not 3-0 down I'll be buying lotto tickets.
 

tige19

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Saw a great piece on Carver the other day, I don't know where the bloody link is but it's very insightful. In a nutshell it says he's a hot headed useless sod lol, couldn't agree more.
 

NUFC Tiger

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We can only hope! :p

Team:
(4-3-3): Krul; Janmaat, Coloccini (c), Williamson, Haïdara; Sissoko, Anita, Colback; Pérez, Cissé, Gouffran

Subs: Raylor, Obertan, Ameobi, Riviere, Abeid, Armstrong, Woodman (GK)

Would have had Abeid in there for mine but probably not a bad side (Cabella missing is a blow).
 

NUFC Tiger

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Much like last season, I feel our season ended when the window shut and yet again, we didn't sign anyone. Heck, we didn't even appoint a new manager!

Players have no motivation, Carver's clueless and all the while Cashley gets his money. Sad times. :(
 
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