Some unbelievable stuff on there! They've inordinately proud of their attendances and laughed at us for not filling the SoL when we were playing relegation football every year. Now going to the matches is "lining Ashley's pockets" (as if it wasn't before) and you just know they'll keep buying the replica strips and other merchandise. Mad...
They're undoubtedly the best show in town at the moment tbf. I make no apology for talking about them, they're beyond parody as usual. Benitez 'quits' in May but strings the fans along til he's in China Gets someone to knock off a quick C'mon Toons and smell you later bye bye note. Their strikers slink away. The cone shuffler takes the first team to China for pre-season. The billionaire Sheikh turns out to be a mirage or a pyramid salesman. An ex-Sunderland professional Geordie is 5th on the list after another ex-Sunderland manager turns them down. Sheff Wed are insisting on £5 million compensation and Ashley won't pay. The supporters have issued their billionth 'that's it, we're boycotting and this time we really really mean it' statement. Haway man, if you can't talk about all of that on a football forum there's no point having one.
Had a quick look at the comments on there (I'm really bored) and have to say, WTF!? The overriding theme seems to be "people who are attending are traitors because they're lining Ashley's pockets". Are they really that stupid that they don't realise he gets the money from the season tickets whether or not they actually go... Beyond thick Also, my favourite comment has to be this little pearl: They still haven't learned to spell
I'm not doubting they're incredible value at the moment to laugh at, wasnt really my point. More the fact there's already a decent thread on here about them so it's almost going over the same stuff. Also the fact Fredor has come out of nowhere to make another one about them with no intention of speaking about SAFC on the SAFC board.
If you are able to, go back to some of my comments and find I predicted the confidence held in both management and wealthy ownership was misplaced, no one feels more than me the decline in football in the North East , the system is wrong, I have come to realise the ONLY solution long term for competitive football is the one used in Australian Rugby League, the Salary Cap, no matter how wealthy a club, they are each given the same amount allowed to be spent on wages, I was sceptical at first but we now have a situation where the top positions are constantly changing year to year with competitive games every week
The problem isn’t Newcastle or Sunderland. The problem is the north east (and other areas too). If I were a billionaire wanting to plunder my fortune into a club, I wouldn’t bother with the north east. A club like Leeds I might consider but these foreign investors have only really ever heard of London and the north west. The rest are screwed. There’s no real solution (that I can think of)
I think that's a bit of a myth and a self fulfilling prophecy to some extent. The NE has, for example, two of the best universities in the UK. Both Newcastle and Durham are, I believe, only just behind Oxford and Cambridge in attracting public school leavers. Newcastle University certainly attracts students from well off middle eastern families. So people from these places most certainly are aware of the NE. The key thing is that, to people from outside the country, the NE clubs are not fashionable and therefore of less interest. The solution is, anyone wishing to market the NE's clubs to foreign investors has to work harder than someone marketing a London or Manchester based club. It's not like foreign Billionaires haven't been involved in NE clubs, let's not forget that Ellis Short, the Texan, was once owner of Sunderland. Billionaires are certainly willing to buy football clubs in unfashionable areas- the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought Leicester City and that's not exactly first on the list of places you'd pick if you were looking for the highlife. As I've said on other posts, the NE certainly does have things that are attractive to the extremely wealthy. It's just a case of finding the right club for the right billionaire!
That's quite correct and something I've said for years. The world has changed massively and sometimes in ways we don't even consider. We may love the NE, I know I do, but beautiful empty beaches, Hadrians Wall and friendly locals have absolutely zero appeal for the foreign wife of a millionaire mercenary player. They want glamour and that's something we just don't have. Owners want somewhere they can take their guests and family when they pop in for a match, there's virtually nothing for them. They certainly don't want a city centre full of stags & hens or a seafront with people fishing off the pier. Both clubs have to literally bribe players to come and, as soon as the novelty wears off, the wags are wanting away. It's all over for the NE clubs I'm afraid and both Short & Ashley recognised that and wanted out. Neither could find buyers because the amounts needed to 'push on' are too big. Ashley is faced with spending multi millions on the ground/facilities then huge amounts more to creak into the top half for virtually no reward. I've no idea who'll buy the club or why tbh. As I said the world has changed and we're the ex-industrial North whichever way you dress it up.
Excellent universities do. Grouse moors do. Horse racing stables do. I think your experience of the NE must be very different to mine. There is much, much more to the NE than former industrial areas and the seafront.
The universities aren't excellent mate, sorry, they're very good but not where the mega-rich send their children. The grouse moors aren't anything better than elsewhere and the stables way behind Newmarket, etc. I'd imagine my experience on the NE will be much the same as yours and yes of course theres more to the NE than 'grim up north' but it's not where the extremely rich want to be. Sorry but I've spent the last 20 years working for them and they barely know where it is.
