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Agent Bruce

Agent Bruce

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2011
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A B&W Place.
It seems our local MP's are carrying a flag for us in our 'Save St.James' Park' campaign.

Even a local Sunderland supporting MP has spoken out strongly against it.
____________________________________________________________

Today in Parliament....


An Early day Motion supported by: Ian Mearns, Pat Glass, Ian Lavery, Catherine McKinnell, Chi Onwurah, Nick Brown, Mary Glindon, Dave Anderson, Stephen Hepburn, Alex Cunningham and Dennis Skinner:

Newcastle United and the renaming of St James’ Park.

That this House deeply regrets the decision to rebrand the historic home of Newcastle United Football Club, St James' Park; condemns the corporate vandalism perpetrated by the clubs owners in removing the name “St James’ Park” from the stadium; warmly endorses the now famous front page banner headline of the local Evening Chronicle ‘St James' Park and Always Will Be’; notes that the Chief Executive of Newcastle's new shirt sponsor, Virgin Money has added her concerns about the rebranding and hopes that others will follow her example; notes that Newcastle City Council have debated and agreed a motion stating that the Council have no plans to change any way-finding signs which bear the name St James’ Park, rather than the name of Mike Ashley’s business; and urges Mike Ashley the owner of Newcastle United to reconsider his decision.

Will the Fat Man listen now?
 
To be honest, away fans rarely need a signpost to show the way to St. James' as it's fairly prominent on the city skyline.

I can't see Mike having a change of heart and relenting with his decision to proceed with the name change.
 
barnaby said:
Ashley wont change his mind.
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He won't change his mind because of what anyone says. This sort of thing does tend to make people less interested in sponsoring the stadium though.

It wouldn't surprise me if 5 or so years down the line Ashley moves on. If there is no serious cash to be made from sponsoringthe stadium it would bve cheap way for a new owner to make himself popular by changig the name back.

There's nothing anyone can do to change the situation in the immediate term but a long term atmosphere of hostility and/or derision may be effective at the end of the day
 
Freddd said:
He won't change his mind because of what anyone says. This sort of thing does tend to make people less interested in sponsoring the stadium though.

It wouldn't surprise me if 5 or so years down the line Ashley moves on. If there is no serious cash to be made from sponsoringthe stadium it would bve cheap way for a new owner to make himself popular by changig the name back.

There's nothing anyone can do to change the situation in the immediate term but a long term atmosphere of hostility and/or derision may be effective at the end of the day
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I don't think showing hostility is the way forward as it has negative impacts on the club itself.

Simply having all supporters and local media referring to it as St James' Park will suffice.
 
overseasTOON said:
I don't think showing hostility is the way forward as it has negative impacts on the club itself.

Simply having all supporters and local media referring to it as St James' Park will suffice.
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Hostility may not have been the best choice of words. Antipathy to the concept of re-naming the stadium, projecting a understanding that any new sponsor would be poorly regarded by the local fans and a large cross section of the public, and a general attitude of derision for the whole shabbiness of the exercise is all that I was suggesting. I agree protests and boycoutts would be counter productive.

And yes, of course, continuing to call it St James and do what we can to encourage the media to do likewise.
 
It needs to be made clear that a major concern of fans is that the stadium has been renamed without any extra revenue being generated. A lot of fans were resigned to the thought of being 'Nike Arena' (for example) for £10m a season as 'this is the direction football is taking' but at no point has MA come out and said that he is paying for this sponsorship (which in essence would just be him knocking chunks off his loan) and THAT is the problem.

Continue to focus on the name alone (which I agree still doesn't sit well) and it will put off potential investors, leaving it the Sports Direct Arena for longer, which is just what he wants.

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather it went back to St James Park but a choice between an outside company sponsoring the name for £6m-10m a year and Mike Ashley's tacky sign with implied payments.... easy for me.

I say MAKE A CLEAR AND PUBLIC PAYMENT OR TAKE THEM DOWN. If he insists on the name I think they should come out and say, "The loan repayment due to MA from NUFC has been reduced by £Xm". At least then it could be seen as a business transaction and not vandalism.
 
Scott Dann's OK Bollocks said:
It needs to be made clear that a major concern of fans is that the stadium has been renamed without any extra revenue being generated. A lot of fans were resigned to the thought of being 'Nike Arena' (for example) for £10m a season as 'this is the direction football is taking' but at no point has MA come out and said that he is paying for this sponsorship (which in essence would just be him knocking chunks off his loan) and THAT is the problem.

Continue to focus on the name alone (which I agree still doesn't sit well) and it will put off potential investors, leaving it the Sports Direct Arena for longer, which is just what he wants.

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather it went back to St James Park but a choice between an outside company sponsoring the name for £6m-10m a year and Mike Ashley's tacky sign with implied payments.... easy for me.

I say MAKE A CLEAR AND PUBLIC PAYMENT OR TAKE THEM DOWN. If he insists on the name I think they should come out and say, "The loan repayment due to MA from NUFC has been reduced by £Xm". At least then it could be seen as a business transaction and not vandalism.
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I agree with that and it's been an underlying cause of concern for me since it was announced.

Let's be honest; this exercise is being passed off as a showcase to a potential sponsor of what it could look like. So, he HAD to remove the lettering and replace it because Managing Directors of large global companies cannot perceive what a sign outside a stadium would like with their company name and logo?

If there was openness about the changes and a clear financial input was being made then I'd accept it as part and parcel of the way football is heading but this does take the mick.
 
overseasTOON said:
I agree with that and it's been an underlying cause of concern for me since it was announced.

Let's be honest; this exercise is being passed off as a showcase to a potential sponsor of what it could look like. So, he HAD to remove the lettering and replace it because Managing Directors of large global companies cannot perceive what a sign outside a stadium would like with their company name and logo?

If there was openness about the changes and a clear financial input was being made then I'd accept it as part and parcel of the way football is heading but this does take the mick.
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Perhaps there is a difference of opinion amiong the supporters as to whether we'd rather have Brand X Arena with one additonal £10 million player a year or have St James without it. Personally I'd rather sit in St James and watch the squad without, say, Cisse than sit in Brand X Arena with, say, Cisse. Perhaps other people think differently.

From my point of view, the best we can hope for is for no one to sponsor it. If no one does, it will be the SDA for a few years but will revert to St James Park. Once Brand X starts paying money to sponsor it, it will stay sponsored, like the League Cup (currently Carling, formerly Littlewoods, etc).
 
Must admit I'd put the name above the money but it is what it is. Personally I never took the "10m player" statement seriously. Without throwing in the bad publicity over the renaming issue, I never saw a big sponsor chucking that money our way. It was a win win for Ashley as if the unlikely happened and a sponsor did take it on he scores, if not he gets to advertise his main business. It was an empty proposal.

If I was honest I don't think anything is going to change regardless of protests, MP's etc. And I couldn't really give a **** anymore. Why get upset about something you can have no impact on. Someone somewhere down the line will restore the correct name
 
Warm Pouch said:
Must admit I'd put the name above the money but it is what it is. Personally I never took the "10m player" statement seriously. Without throwing in the bad publicity over the renaming issue, I never saw a big sponsor chucking that money our way. It was a win win for Ashley as if the unlikely happened and a sponsor did take it on he scores, if not he gets to advertise his main business. It was an empty proposal.

If I was honest I don't think anything is going to change regardless of protests, MP's etc. And I couldn't really give a **** anymore. Why get upset about something you can have no impact on. Someone somewhere down the line will restore the correct name
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This.

Exactly what I was trying to say
 
Warm Pouch said:
Must admit I'd put the name above the money but it is what it is. Personally I never took the "10m player" statement seriously. Without throwing in the bad publicity over the renaming issue, I never saw a big sponsor chucking that money our way. It was a win win for Ashley as if the unlikely happened and a sponsor did take it on he scores, if not he gets to advertise his main business. It was an empty proposal.

If I was honest I don't think anything is going to change regardless of protests, MP's etc. And I couldn't really give a **** anymore. Why get upset about something you can have no impact on. Someone somewhere down the line will restore the correct name
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This and as has been said in many posts it will always be SJP to fans and hopefully Jeff Stelling <ok>
 
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