Villa Park...need I say more?
If you remember back to the previous two seasons before our relegations, we had finished 12th and 13th respectively and it didn’t exactly look like we were going anywhere. Yes admittedly that is where we finished this season, however for a return to top flight, and in a squad that lacked any quality in depth, 12th was a very good place to finish (it could have been even higher if it wasn’t for the last game).
Relegation is never an easy thing to go through as a player, and as proved in our situation, it separates the strong and committed from the weak. There were clearly some players that had no interest in the future of our club and simply wanted the best for their careers, and in some cases their wallets.
The likes of Mark Viduka, Michael Owen and Damien Duff were all undoubtedly top class players, but for whatever reason they never performed consistently for us and we were left with a squad of less skilled players to try and achieve promotion.
However in the Championship commitment and passion is a must, and we probably wouldn’t have come straight back up if those players hadn’t left. Although fans would have much rather watched a premier league team, I have to be honest and say I enjoyed some of the games in the Championship more than Premier League fixtures. It was refreshing to see players busting a gut to get to every ball and there is no doubt it would have significantly boosted the teams morale to be winning week in week out.
Also it made Mike Ashley realise that our current business model was unsustainable for a mid-table Premier League team, never mind a Championship team. This year has seen the best net financial income for the past decade and we seem to be a lot wiser before handing older players lengthy contracts and paying ridiculous transfer fees.
Of course no-one likes to see their team go down, but in my opinion it was worth it and we have improved because of it, what are your thoughts?
On a sidenote, any of you Facebook users should head over HERE and help us get past the Mackems in this popularity contest
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104 Comments
I agree i think getting relagated was one of the best things to happen to us in a long time and as you say seperated the men from the boys.
We look in much better shape financially than we did a few years back thanks to ashley. No more overpaid, overpriced players for us.
I just wish our fans would get behind the team 100% and get of the we hate ashley band wagon. He hasnt realy put a foot wrong since we were relagated unless you count the hughton sacking a mistake (i dont).
Lets hope for a improved league position next season and two good cup runs.
I think, in hindsight, it was a good thing, but only because it was a kick up the arse..
The thing that bugs me is that all of these changes in approach could have been done in the Premier League without us losing the money. Can anybody honestly say that we’d not have been better off by implementing said changes WITH a PL income instead of losing it for a season?
Whether or not it would have ever changed though is up for debate I guess.
Toonsy I think it could have been done if we stayed in the prem but it would have took longer and have been harder to do.
I think overall getting relegated tought us all that we dont have a god given right to be a prem team.
dave – no i dont think so , we were thinkn it could be hay fever but can newborns get hayfever??
Dave – Don’t get me wrong, I agree it was a good thing, in the end, but I still believe that everything that we’ve set about doing could have been done anyway, without the agony of relegation.
relegation defo defo toughened us up , it also made enrique and collo turn in2 brilliant players!!
Toonsy I agree mate I just think it would have been harder and took longer to do it.
Army im not sure but dont really see why not mate, did the docs not know what it was ? sometimes the midwifes are better
ahh i forgot to ask … does any1 know when the toon tickets come out for the arsenal game?? its one not 2 missed !! end of july??? …
Big dave- I hate you
Army – They’ll wait until Sky have their say first mate.
Army, got a season mate
get*
Looked abit big headed then like.
the docs just said hes picked up a cold!! hes got blood shot eyes n tht!! maybees im being to precautious bcos hes so yong but then again you have got 2 b !! im gonna take him back 2mora if hes no better!!
spencer i wish i could mate , very expensive 4 poor people like me
i would have to get a loan or summit to get a season ticket
how much are they these days?? 500??
Dont keep yourself down mate, im very lucky my dads paying for it, otherwise i wouldnt be getting on either
Anyhow, hope your kids alreet
Army mynes closet to 600 I think
Not sure though
cheers mara he will be fine
i just go 2 any game i can afford!! i went to 4 games last season
, one of them was the 4-4 game tho 
cudnt complain about that 1
600
really dear like !!
just away to the shop 4 a mars bar lads b4 it closes
…
barton has just showen that cwarr is a WUM
aye, i would have payed alot of money to go to the 4-4 game
Joey7Barton Joseph Barton
@
@Patty_518 @cwarr07 stop talking rubbish mate……..ur mugging ur self off big time on here
1 hour ago
Spence whats up with ye Lad I thought you said you were a lover not a hater
@Patty_518 @cwarr07 Contract will be put in front of you before trip to the States, 3 year deal, pen to paper time JB
You got a reply of wor joey, and I’m a lover not a ‘FIGHTER’, However I did neally clamp so tw’at at the weekend.
Alright, I haven’t commented for a while but what do you lot reckon about this team for next season? I’m not saying this will be the team but everyone likes making a dream NUFC team.
Taking into account all signings so far plus one or two others:
Krul
Simpson Colo Taylor Enrique/Izaguirre
Cabaye Tiote Barton
Ben Arfa
Ba Sturridge
I know Chelsea might want 20m for Sturridge but do you not think having two relatively proven PL fowards who you would expect would compliment eachother perfectly would be brilliant. Plus the relatively large fee would prove a marqee and Ashley would get a lot of credit and would prove where his priorities lie. Sturridge’s reportedly 60k wages shouldn’t prove too much of a problem and would probably compensate for Zog not joining on similar wages.
I think Sturridge will get a lot more goals than Carroll next season if he leaves Chelsea and this would take our overall spend to roughly 30m mark which is still a way to eclipse the 35m Carroll money and we would have a 10x better team and squad. This also is not taking into account potential sales to further improve the squad.
Feel good times would return with that starting 11 i’m sure!
Spence is this what its about
@Joey7BartonJoseph Barton
@BigDave15 slim to none……
liam we wont be gettin sturridge bud
Yes big dave
What did you ask him anyway?
Liam pull ya head oot the sand mate.
Liam – I’d like that team, but I really can’t see it. I doubt we’ll be signing a player over 10 mill let alone 20
“I’m not saying this will be the team but everyone likes making a dream NUFC team”
It’s sad that i’m even calling this a dream team to be honest, it is quite a realistic team to achieve.
i dont get why alan smith gets so much abuse off toon fans!! yes hes played poor 4 us but he hasnt played much worst than sum others in the team!! i think hes passed his best and its time to move on but alot of people say hes a disaster
Liam – Looking at that team there is one glaring weak link. Simpson
Spence @ 30
@Joey7Barton Joey what do you think are the chances of them re-opening ?
Contract talks
am back from the shop , have we signed any1 yet dave ??
Army, probably somthing to do with 65K a week he does fook all for, mind you thats the clubs fault.
Army I dont think so mate
but batty knows it all so I will ask him when he comes on 
i agree toonsy , i dont like simspon , he trys his best but hes simply not gud enough , the backing off happens every game
Joey7Barton Joseph Barton
If anything changes on the contract front, I’ll be 1st to let use all know don’t worry. Forget all this nuggets talking rubbish #toonarmy
dave
I will defend simpson from every corner, fair enough he needs to learn to not back off, and get stuck in, however, the main problem is Barton often ends up CM, leaving Simpson the cover the man with the ball and the runner (not easy). Also he is only young, plenty of time to improve and he has started to look better going forward, last point Enrique was not too get in his first full season in the prem?
I would keep Simmo there for another season, if he dosent look like hes improved, replace.
@Liam
Dont think we will get Sturridge or Izaguirre i think United is in for him
and 20 million for sturridge is way to much imo
Would be nice to have that team though still think we can get a few more good players that will be as good as that team.
Its good to see another optimistic fan on here though
Simpson is areet when he wants to be, I wouldn’t be picking faults though if we did have that team because it would be quite clear that Ashley has really high hopes rather than just protecting an investment and that would be a massive boost to the fans.
Army I dont really think he gets abuse because of much other than the wages he is on and how little he does to justify. Most people know that he will always give 100% and would run into a brick wall for the team, as I said its more that he doesn’t and wont play enough to justify his wages.
aye true , 65k a week for doin nowt is nay gud like. he hasnt scored 4 us has he?? think he scored in a friendly once and thats about it
don’t get me wrong, I think Simpson is alright. We’ve got worse players. But in THAT team he’d be next for the chop IMO
Santii I know you say 20m a lot but we were gonna be paying 10m for Gervinho or Zog and then another 5-10 on Gibson or Matuidi.
Maybe if we got Ireland on the cheap on top of that, maybe from the sale of Guthrie or Best then there would be reasonable cover for midfield and should one of the forwards get injured we could switch to 433 and bring Marveaux or Jonas or Ferguson or whoever on and play:
Ben Arfa Ba Marveaux or
Ben Arfa Sturridge Marveaux
Do you not reckon considering this isn’t even dipping past the 35m mark it’s quite sad that you all dismiss this team as being too optimistic? I like to defend Ashley when I can but I don’t understand why we wouldn’t want this team.
+ I only wanted Izaguirre if Jose left and use the money from that sale.
Army, scored a bullet header in a friendly
And in the interview after he was talking about getting into the England squad, how times change
imo simpson is championship player!! hes like messi compared to perch tho
Hindsight my arse!
spencer who was that against again??
Army not sure if I tell you the truth mate, It was one of his first games for the club I think, try Wiki mate.
@53
why dont we giv hughton perch , guthrie , ranger and lovenkrands !!! OHHHHHHHHH AND XISCO
its says sampdoria
cant remember them cumn for a freindly 
toonsy you rekn we wil get any 1 b4 pre season starts?? im doubting it now like
army, guthrie is good cover imo.
And the game was ages ago
Jol just made a good point on SSN…
He was saying there are other clubs watching each other so things are kept private
Army’s got his head oot the sand
I dont think we will get anyone until end of july beggining of august.
@Spence
Why? As far as i know we have bids in for a few players atm.
spencer your very negative , we myt have sum1 in in the next half n hour
Well that Abide will be confirmed on Friday.
santii, You got inside info? No so be quite.
Army, i’m on bobby’s reality train, cant get off
ye but Andrew, that dosent count, its already on the website
Fck this blog has a few more rose tinted buggers on her nowadays!
Wake up, man!
Lol reality train, more like bull sh*t bus
Whats that supposed to mean stu?
Santi, you didnt answer my question about whether you have inside info (even though I know you dont)
Spencer it isnt on the site yet, will be on Friday though
I do pards was at my house for dinner last night
Do you have inside info either? no so be quiet
Howay, man, Spencer! How many times do you want to be fooled?
Ashley is happy to sit around mid table until he finds a buyer – that means the likes of Carroll being sold pays the wages of new signings when its actually needed to pay transfer fees for players.
That man is money obsessed, you don’t come into like that and get sucess!
Spencer – It was Sampdoria, I went, then got SMith on my shirt. He looked class. had a goal disallowed that game too.
Andrew whats his first name
Mehdi
@stu I have not once said on this article that we are going to be signing anyone for big money, I actually, am gradually starting to accept that Ashley dosent give a flying fu’ck where the club ends up.
Jobey- At least hes been here for a few years
Cheers Jobey, I was certain that I saw somthing on the website ages ago, my bad
In total agreement with the whole article. For the first time in years I am at total ease with what is happening at the club albeit still knowing that we are very much in a state. I once again say that Mike Ashley seems to be winning me over each and everyday…..will that be enough to get me to buy another season ticket again?
Knee chance at the moment, for me he needs to step up to the punter and say……….
“Regrets, I’ve had a few, But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way”
Then I’d hope he would have learnt his trade (Football) and eaten some home made Geordie pie and that would see me and a few thousand more return………OMG I just seen a pink fly past the window oh well another season watching the matches on the telly!
Stu @ 74
You’d know about obsessions, mate.
D’oh!
… and how it clouds the mind.
we are doing nothing now that we could not have done had we not been relegated! it wasnt a necessity but rather a gut-wrenching route towards the same end-goal…..profit for ashley regardless of whatever else happens! have we yet to keep a player who has had a decent bid come in for them?
get a grip lads…if we sign some1 for big money..u will still have a go about ashley…
and all this talk of Ashley making PROFIT lol ashley is a about 100 million worse of since he bought the club and thats not including the fee he paid for the club.
@84
not anymore I’m going to give him a break and see what happens
It’s true, asim. If we get a big money player, fans would then have immediate apprehension about spending so much money on someone
thanks…sir hc rockets…what more do u wont…we got ben arfa and tiote who would walk in2 anyside in the top 4…thts a start…be postive..
guys got a few more view from the away end articles coming very soon.
Yeah, Yeah. We’ve all read and talked about relegation being the best thing for us before in hindsight. Agreed.
This has been discussed many times in the last two seasons and I am sure a similar story was posted here recently. Not a complaint just an observation.
Hello all.
Anyone around this fine evening? Will be dipping in and out. OOOH as the vicar said to the choirboy.
I think relegation was the best thing to happen to us. I think we may have seen a similar purge of players as Toonsy mentioned, but it wouldve been slower and perhaps less well received. Esp given some of the comments now that because we have £35 million burning a hole that it should all go on transfer fees. Forget about wages, signing on fees etc etc.
The rot was gotn rid of and I think we are in a much healthier position for it. I would love to think that Ashley would see reason and offer Barton another contract, but it may still not be what both parties want.
I would love nothing more than Sturridge coming too, esp given Wickham has gone to the unwashed, astute signing for the future but not sure how he will deal with the obvious pressure that will come on his young shoulders. They will also need to buy a few more so he can continue to develop. If Sturridge’s fee is around the £20 million mark, I cant see very many being able to afford him, probably Spuds if they sell a few first and the obvious Liverpool. I cant see Bolton having that amount of money, or Fulham really. Maybe another cat and mouse game to keep prying eyes away from what we are doing.
That is another thing that has changed, we are alot more secretive with transfer business and trying to keep targets under our hats which is great. Not for me as a gossip hungry monster but for the club in general!!!
Well off for a bit to look busy at work. TTFN
groundhogday again
No doubt!
Historically busy day yesterday lads n lasses. Well done all
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/255889/Joey-Barton-Newcastle-are-ready-to-wash-their-hands-of-me
Dear oh dear. If this isnt the perfect illustration of sensationalist journalism then I dont know what is. How they can come up with this title from the subject matter is pathetic. I follow him on twitter so I read it. At the moment there may not be any chance but time will tell. Its things like this that get peoples backs up
Toonsy – That why ne buggers been on here all night then?!
I have been out of range of conventional signals for last several days…… Anything happening toonsy? Have we bought any other Frenchies or have we moved into the African continent yet? Is zigs coming? Who’s going still… Did Taylor sign and what day is it as I am a bit out of it.
Craig main news is that the link Raffo has put up there about Joey is all Big Dave’s fault, that tweet about “slim to none” was re tweet to a question he asked
lol Big Dave is to feel the wrath of fleet st!
Cheers Richie I feel so much better now, knowing that I have helped
MA will want to prove that we know nowt so will over him a contract 
wait till you see.
Dave…
The Journal are saying were going to miss out on Erding.
We will always miss out on any player that involves spending any real money on at the day. That’s just the way it is alas
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