http://www.footballdigest.org/2015/04/28/newcastle-united-supporters-are-a-fickle-old-bunch/ Newcastle United supporters are a fickle old bunch… ….is the opinion of a football fan that hasn’t a clue of the true goings on at St. James’ Park. If you firmly believe Newcastle United fans are a fickle bunch of noisy Northerners then I feel embarrassed for you. Either you’ve been trapped under a stone for the past 50 years, or you don’t actually follow much of what happens at St. James’ Park, bar a quick watch of Match of the Day. Either way – do you have the right to cast a blunt, uneducated opinion on the club’s loyal followers? Being honest, I couldn’t be more disconnected from the current ‘sporting organisation’ then I am now. Any hope, excitement, life has been drained since Mike Ashley bought the club in 2007. I’m tired of Newcastle United and I’m not the only one. Recent attendances will suggest exactly that. Since Mr. Ashley gained control of Newcastle, the club has stooped to incredible lows, both on the pitch and off it. He arrived with little to no knowledge of how football works, and it soon told with the carnage that was to unfold in the 2008/09 Premier League season. Long story short, the club was relegated for the first time in 16 years. A swift return to the top flight ensued, as Chris Hughton led NUFC back in historic style. Then after a decent start to life in the Premier League, Hughton was sacked for reasons that are still unknown. He was replaced with an unemployed Alan Pardew, who had been sacked by then League 1 outfit Southampton. The mind boggles , even to this day. Every neutral will point to the following season in which Newcastle finished, quite remarkably, in fifth place. It was a fantastic season which saw an array of talented players mark some memorable nights on Tyneside. Pardew received his managerial accolade at the end of the season, it was a job well done. It should have been the foundation of a potentially successful spell for this football club. But what happened? In a summer that presented Newcastle United with a real chance of adding some quality players to an already solid squad, the club faltered and balked at the idea of being competitive. One player in the shape of utility-man Vurnon Anita was the only senior signing. ONE ADDITION from a club that was flush with both TV and competition money. Disgraceful. And from then on things turned sour. While some effort did go into the Europa League, the club’s league form suffered more than it ever should. In fact, if it wasn’t for a disastrous mistake from QPR goalkeeper Rob Green on one of the last Premier League gameweeks to gift Yoan Gouffran a goal – I am convinced we probably would have been relegated that season. The Pardew Excuse …but Alan Pardew had all his best players sold against his will, and he wasn’t allowed to buy any of his own players which meant his hands were tied. Another argument in defence of Pardew which I see all the time. Truth is, yes, Pardew wasn’t given free rein in the transfer window, that is well documented. He had no say in some of the transfers. Indeed he had no say in the recruitment of Yohan Cabaye, Mathieu Debuchy, Papiss Cissé, Demba Ba, or even mostly recently Daryl Janmaat. But did he taken credit for their efforts as well as repeatedly put a public price-tag on them? A quick Google will tell you all you need to know. Do not be fooled, however, Pardew was allowed to recruit a player or two of his own. Gabriel Obertan is one player he insisted on. Yoan Gouffran is another. He also wanted to bring Darren Bent to Newcastle United last season – the same Bent that couldn’t make the cut at a relegation threatened Aston Villa and that happens to be currently plying his trade in the Championship with Derby County. Spot the trend? I thought so. Pardew oversaw an abysmal run of results both in the 2013/14 season AND this season while at Newcastle United. There is no escaping that. At another other club in the division, he would have been sacked. But at Newcastle, things are done differently. Calamity Carver That brings me on to a certain John Carver. A Geordie. A former associate of Sir Bobby Robson. He may have started with the right intentions, but it is clear that he isn’t the right man for the job. Recent verbal attacks on Newcastle supporters prove that he isn’t a very nice chap to people who have paid their hard-earned money to watch absolute s***e for the past three months. Saturday’s defeat to Swansea City marked a 7th defeat in a row, making history just like his former partner in crime, Pardew. But hey, Newcastle United fans are fickle right? They’re never happy, they demand trophies. The only thing that Newcastle United supporters demand is effortfrom everyone concerned. That includes the players. A considerable number of the squad should hang their head in shame at their efforts this season. 5 derby losses in a row, going down without a whimper on countless of occasions. Paid tens of thousands a week, and they look like it’s a hindrance to them. A joke. please log in to view this image Form – Tell me why NUFC fans aren’t entitled to be livid? This leads me towards the end. We have an owner that won’t speak to fans. We have a manager that isn’t capable of doing his job. We have a backroom team that are so incompetent it’s not funny. We have no hope as a football club if we continue this way. Mike Ashley has littered the stadium with advertising for his cheap sportswear company. He doesn’t pay a penny for this advertising. This alone, is criminal. This is the same Mike Ashley that paid £3m to say “F**k Off, PK” in the infamous Goal III movie. Yet when it comes to sanctioning funds to recruit new players, he will, and has plenty times in the past – scuppered a move over half a million quid or less. Newcastle fans, including myself, want our football club back. We want a club to be proud of. We want to have a desire to compete at the very least, from board level to pitch-side. We don’t want to be a cheap advertising vessel for a tacky sports brand which has been exposed as employing people in foreign countries for a pittance. Slave labour, even. This is where the protests come in. Nothing will change at this football club until Mike Ashley leaves. There will never be trust between the board (which has admitted in court to intentionally misleading, and lying to Newcastle fans on a consistent basis) and supporters ever again. This is a loveless, stress-inducing marriage, as West Ham’s Karren Brady so rightly put it. We are a crossroads and there is a decision to be made, but I know for a fact that if John Carver is given the full-time role in the summer, it will be the end for many Newcastle United supporters, including myself. As the worst team in the Premier League at the moment with no real purpose, we would like to have an owner that likes the club for a start, and secondly, wants to see happier days on Tyneside. Too much to ask? But Newcastle fans are fickle, aren’t they? By a chap called Kevin Doocey. Nicely put, sir.
Pretty spot on that I reckon and says it all. Quite easy from that (which is also easy to forget) at where the turning point was. The recruitment of 1 player (Anita) following our 5th place finish is where it all stems from for me. Pardew was pretty much pissing into the wind from that moment forth regardless of whatever ineptitudes people wish to throw at him - and no he isn't entirely blameless either more the lesser of two evils if you will. I saw a post on my facebook wall the other day about the boycotts and that this particular person was supporting them but not because they wanted Ashley out but because they wanted things to change. Things will NEVER change as long as Ashley is in charge so until he goes we will continue to be treated the same way all of his staff on zero hour contracts are. We are a means to an end and he cares not one bit about ****ing anybody off. As long as we are in the premier league he will rake it in from the TV money and the advertising of his tatty jumble sale outlets. If we wanna boycott games and hit him hard then lets target ALL of the scheduled televised games. Lets empty the ****ing stadium for the TV cameras and see how quickly they pull our fixtures from their schedule...who's going to want to televise a game when the stadium is deserted? As soon as the TV revenue drops then maybe so will the penny with that fat ****. Not shopping in Sports Direct isn't going to make one bit of difference. There is no other sports retailer in the UK that can touch him in that respect and possibly even Europe so a few Newcastle fans boycotting his shops will probably just make him laugh his fat ass off a bit harder. Not to mention his fat fingers in other pies, i.e. Debenhams, Tesco, USC, Lillywhites etc.
Really well put together article, well done Rolando. I was unaware of the 3 million he paid to be in the movie, it's really disgusting that he will happily waste millions on his own selfish frivolities, but penny pinches to such a degree when it comes to transfers, that we have undoubtedly lost some very good potential recruits for the sake of small change where he is concerned. The only other thing that l would note, which for me personally is a major factor, is the fact that the club have publicly stated that they have no interest or desires regarding competing for and doing well in anything outside of mid table premiere league survival. Just think about that, would any fan and supporter of any team, football or not really be okay with that? If it wasn't so utterly tragic it might be funny. So are we a fickle bunch, us Toonies? Well in some ways yes l think we are, and before you all dive for the keyboard, let me clarify ..... We are utterly sick of failure, but only because to fail and be mediocre is now ingrained in our clubs ethos from the top down. We want a team to compete and fry it's very best, week in and week out, not just when they can be arsed or they are putting themselves in the shop window, Mr Sissoko springs to mind. We want a club to shown some ambition to win trophies and build on success, not dismantle the squad every time it looks to be in a good position to push on. That's not being unreasonable, not in my opinion. So what about this fickle l hear you ask? Well we huff and we puff, we chant and protest and boycott, good old fashioned defiance, we complain to all and anyone who will listen, we ask the local press to back us, we ask celebrities and other sports persons to back us, ....then.... Fickle old Geordies still turn up in their tens of thousands to have their hearts torn out yet again. So Mr Doocey, you Sir are correct, we are a fickle bunch, and to Mr Ashley et all, just remember that everyone has a breaking point, many have reached theirs already, some have not, all it takes is time but eventually all will get to the point of no return and it cannot come a day to soon.
