Time for change

Unfortunately, the two are intertwined! They are NOT seperate issues! How can selling our best player 2 days before this match have helped either AP or the team? That decision was made at the top - nowhere else! The fact Joe Kinnear has gone is irrelevent! He is the sacrificial lamb at Mike Ashley's altar!

 

I've been going less and less to the home games since after KK left from the Dennis Wise outrage. This latest incident (of selling a star player with no desire to replace him) was no shock to any of us really. So I think for the future with Ashley as our owner, we're f*cked really in the hope that we'll be allowed to go for any glory. We'll be hit hard with player asset-stripping at every, and I mean EVERY opportunity.

I feel that the club are only interested in being in the income rich Premiership - but not too high as to get into Europe. All cups will not be competed for by the first team.

But what can people do? Supporters need their fix, it's part of our social lives and we simply cannot protest, even when the facts of further heartbreaks being a guaranteed event with our controller in charge, couldn't be clearer. I worry at every transfer window.

I think about this football club every day, but I'm not (except the odd occasion for my son) setting foot into St James' Park whilst Ashley is there to laugh as he takes my money.

For those who cannot stop themselves keeping going and prolonging his reign, well they won't be the first to treated badly. We have been a selling club who've given poor value for money to Toon fans for most of the 20th century. I felt the heartbreak first hand when SuperMac was sold, then again when Waddle, Gascoigne and Beardsley were all shipped out. (Gazza's money was reinvested mind, just in crap).

My only ideas to persuade Ashley to sell up:

• Fans not renew their season tickets, and only go to the games they want.
• Don't buy a thing at St James Park.
• Collectively organised vocal and visual demonstrations at TV games. Barcelona do those handkerchiefs thing I think.

Ashley does gamble with the team mind, and it might backfire again. There is that possibility that will move him on (to Rangers etc).
We might have wait for nature's clock to do its work - bit morbid but it's a certainty to come off.

 

trouble is, I might beat him to it


[*]Fans not renew their season tickets, and only go to the games they want. can't do it

[*]Don't buy a thing at St James Park. already doing it

[*]Collectively organised vocal and visual demonstrations at TV games.
Barcelona do those handkerchiefs thing I think. got to do it

 

I believe some sympathy should be shown for Mike he is not after all an English billionaire to do so he would need to be worth 1500,000,000,000 pounds whereas all he is worth is 1500,000,000 pounds
IE an American billionaire so when you are commenting try to show some empathy for his situation

 

Reality check here.

First, a boycott will not occur. It won't. We know that - - there was outrage after the Keegan thing and it didn't happen then. There is deep disillusionment now but no real anger. It won't happen now.

Second, a boycott would be unlikely to have much affect. Not all that much of the club's revenues come from match day. A one third reduction in attendance (which would be an unimaginably hugely successful boycott) could easily be accommodated by reducing costs on players and wages. It wouldn't be pretty but the books would balance.

Third, it's not necessarily the best incentive to make Ashley leave. Ashley will not leave without getting his money back. He won't. The fastest way to get his money back would be to sell for a good price. The easiest type of club to sell at a good price is a highly profitable one.

Fourth, be careful what you wish for. We are currently a mid table premiership club with balanced books and a secure, if uninspiring, future ahead of us. We all wish we our situation was better than that but it is capable of being much, much worse.

I sympathise deeply with the OP's sentiments but think the idea is:

a. impossible

b. probably wrong even if it were possible.

 

Loved this from the Chronicle; "Mike Ashley faces a financial backlash from disengaged Magpie fans as dozens of supporters turn in their season tickets in protest."

Wow, dozens? You should see the picture that accompanies the article - pretty sure every one of them was wearing an Umbro tracksuit. 'Nuff said, really. Bet Ashley laughed his Lonsdale's off.

 

Not a pretty sight.

 

Seems like we keep going round in circles, but honestly the problem's wider. It's social, it's media, it's social media, it's economics, it's capitalism, and so on. A few blue collar's chucking in a season ticket just doesn't mean anything, as if the club retains it's status it will always attract new fans. Back when KK was doing his thing, there was no huge internet reach, no multi-billionaires' in the league, no "worldwide" marketing going on. The highest earner was Roy Keane on around £36k a week. Newcastle United would be talked about here and there, in the odd paper, in an office or factory conversation, but matchday was a big, big thing.

Now it's all about ambition, trophies, Europe, superstars, buy, buy, buy, more, more more. There are around 70 new "news" articles per day on Newcastle United, each one just opinions, none of them formed of facts. There's a need for instant gratification, a reach for the stars approach that varies depending on your platform (for us, the League or FA Cup is the ultimate goal, for City the CL, for Leeds it's promotion). Everything is compared to where the money is. Every gossip column, every back page leads with one of the "big four". It sickens, but it's true. On the day we appointed Joe Kinnear, the media were lining up around the block to have a dig and a pop. The day he resigned, we barely got a mention. Positive news is the domain of those with bottomless pits of money. It's all so utterly wrong and it has all distorted the views and opinions of the masses. Nothing's "real" any more, we're not dealing with a grounded industry - football is a weird, ethereal place normally reserved for Hollywood or Royalty; it's money we can't imagine, lifestyles we can't identify with, etc., etc.

 

Just repped most of the above posts.

 

rep

 

Just a couple of quick points on your comment Freddd, firstly, (and I'm guessing here!) if the average price of a ticket is £25, that equates to £1.3m per match! multiply that by 18 matches = £23.4m - So £23.4m is not an insignificant sum and that does not include burgers, pies, drinks and merchandise sold on match days. I wouldn't have a clue how much that is worth to the club. Can Ashley really afford to live without £23.4m?

Secondly, how secure do you think we are? We were nearly relegated last season. What's to say we won't be next time? Ashleys lack of ambition actually puts us in a very precarious position. Players want to leave already, potential players don't want to come, leaving player recruitment more difficult and potentially more expensive.

Also, Fredor, how come you know what a comma is yet you are still allergic to full stops?

 

Me and my dad gave up or season tickets this season because we cud see the writing on the wall.. Supporters will never stop going to St James and Ashley knows that. It does not matter what he does he will always have income from fans. We decided we will pick and choose what games we go to because we know their will always be tickets available 99% of the time. Fat Mike is no mug but he knows that we are!! He will not sell the club unless some daft offer comes in from some clueless idiot associated to the Middle or Far East, fact!! There is nowt we can do, all these protest just harden the guys attitude to us, and he already hates us! I think in 5 years time we will still be having the same conversations about the same issues! Its such a shame when we think where we could be if we had an owner who actually wanted us to improve. We all know his business model, buy for nowt, stack it high and sell it cheap!! If it was not for the fans we would be in Championship for sure. The minute we stop giving the team and players our support we will drop like a bloody stone, and we all know this. He knows this as well so he feels he can do anything he wants because we always give 100% to any guy or team that pulls on our shirt. Hobsons Choice and all that, ****ed if we do not do something about it, but far worse to come if we rebel against him.!! How did we come to this????? ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!

 

Match day revenue (including pies etc) is 26%of turnover. A 1/3 reduction would be about 8%. No insignificant but not crippling either.

As for being safe, no one is entirely safe. Man United could find themselves very much in queer street if they end up missing out on the Champions League 2 years running, which is very possible. Chelsea and Man City are ****ed if their sugar daddies ever get bored.

I guess Arsenal are pretty safe - - everyone else is playing a balancing act between aiming too high and going bust or aiming too low and going down. Nothing is a sure thing but Newcastle's position is pretty secure.

 

is this a wind up ?

 

No mate it is not, but if you feel you want to score humour points by making this comment then fine. Up to you. It is heartfelt and what I think. I think we are allowed to express our thoughts on here. If you do not agree, fair enough, but don't be nasty about it.

 

Sorry, wasn't trying to be nasty.

Genuine apologies if it sounded like that, which on re-reading I can see it probably did.

What I meant was that you sometimes get people trying to wum/get a bite by taking the theme of a thread and pushing it a bit further out there. It occurred to me that this might be **** stirring/wumming in disguise. Apologies again.