Apparently it is on the coast, as I had a rather pointless argument with the producer of the BBCs Coast about why they were covering Newcastle, when they had a more important maritime city actually on the coast called, Sunderland. His weak argument is as long as a river is tidal it is coastline. Hence, Hexham is on the coast as it is tidal…..
Yeah, Ant and Dec there , now that relegation avoided and it’s party time . Probably greasing up to the owners for permission to record in Saudi - “I’m a journalist - get me outa here “
It really didn't take long for them though they were dressed in teatowels from day one. What was obviius was how many ignored the question being asked about their owners thoughts on the clubs tweet of support to the player coming out. Plenty mentioned how if the Saudi "fans" weren't happy they didn't want them supporting the club but none had a comment on the owners beliefs on the subject! Plenty also tried to say the Saudis commenting were bots aswell! I'm just glad the Premier league got assurances the Saudi state wasn't involved *cough cough cough* bullshit!
I can imagine having the Saudi's as owners will give some sort of silverware at some point, whether it be the League Cup or Champions League glory. But somewhere down the line, be it 5 years, 20 or 50, having such a 'temperamental' ownership who are so closely linked to the political stage could leave the club sitting underneath the Sword of Damocles. I'm a anxious pessimist, so if I was a Newcastle fan and continued my support I'd always have that niggling thing in the back of my brain that would hinder my enjoyment towards celebrating future success, the guilty feeling that we are owned by the Saudi's. And even if I could get over that, there would be that niggling fear that having a 'temperamental' owner with unlimited funds, there is always the chance that he would be willing to push the nuke button on Newcastle if he pulls a strop. Any poor publicity and money loss would be a drop in the ocean to him. The short to mid term future is looking rosy, but the long term could potentially be less secure.
If things go as planned even into the distant future, they would become a soulless club like Man City. Winning their first trophy will be joyous. Their 2nd, 3rd, 4th equally so. However when success becomes the norm, winning countless trophies, the novelty will wear off. Look at the FA cup final. I read that it was a canny game but had the hint of a pre season friendly feel to it. When the FA cup has become a second rate trophy to those sort of teams? Its ****e really. Clubs like ourselves and Newcastle would kill for an FA cup win. Giving the choice of supporting a team who occasionally wins a minor/major trophy every 5-10 years or a team who wins a one every season and sees disaster as finishing 3rd in the Premier League, I know which one I'd rather choose. The club that still has a soul. If I was a Newcastle fan under this regime I would still choose that scenario too.
I play a game on the X-Box called Fallout 4. You are basically dropped in an open world (Boston) post nuclear apocalyptic world in just the clothes that you are in surrounded by murderous lunatics and radioactive monsters. Soon you become armed with a pistol and a few caps (money). The aim is to survive the world whilst looking for your kidnapped son. Along the way it is essential to find/buy better weapons and more caps in order to progress against harder and harder foe. The satisfaction generated by trying to improve your characters perks (strength/speed/gunmanship etc) whilst desperately looking for better weapons and armor is, well, satisfying. Hours and hours are spent doing this until, at random, you may stumble across a legendary explosive weapon (often a shotgun). This basically turns all enemies into a bloody mess. You start walking around like The Terminator. This is at first enormous fun, blasting Deathclaws and Supermutants to pieces from point blank range whilst standing out in the open instead of the usual hit and run tactics and hiding with a standard weapon. In the meantime I have soon become the Elon Musk of post apocalyptic Boston, having generated thousands of caps, making the satisfaction of scrimping and saving, buying and selling pointless. It then becomes apparent that the whole enjoyment generated from the game has virtually vanished. The weapon is totally overpowered to the point that its almost cheating. Being the grim reaper is boring. I start thinking about how much more fun it was cheating death with only my 'peashooter' and vault suit in tow. So I start the game again and get just as much enjoyment going through the hours and hours of trials and torments. I have done this 4 times. Once I get an overpowered gun I just cant help using it.....start again. I still havnt completed it and seen how the story ends. In general Man City supporters have the Exploding Shotgun whilst I'm currently armed with my SAFC 'peashooter'
I do the same thing on all these types games, the Fallout's, Skyrim. I intentionally go looking for the overpowered weapon or a way to grind my xp and then I find its too easy get bored and turn it off. Though admittedly I rarely see through a game as it becomes repetitive. But I agree Man City fans seem bored of winning.
Man City and Liverpool have lost 5 Premier League games between them this season. Chelsea in 3rd place have lost 6. Spurs in 4th have lost 11. Just as well Liverpool have broken away from the also rans over the last few years to make things interesting but how long will it last? Their success is not built on as strong foundations that Man City have so I suspect they may gradually fall back into the pack at some point.