A message to Mike Ashley: Sort it out or risk relegation AGAIN

I think all Newcastle fans are reaching breaking point on the takeover saga. Fresh ‘news’ surfaced last night over a potential second party now entering the bidding. Under the Ashley regime it is wiser to take these claims with a pinch of salt, after all it could be a PR stunt or smokescreen from Ashley to draw attention away from his lack of spending…again.

The constant dithering, lack of investment and interactions or updates with the fans is nothing new. But here is how Ashley is harming the club once more…

Rafa’s budget

It is quite incredible the manager has not been told this yet. Even if he admitted it is just loan signings and cast offs, then at least we could try and formulate a plan. To be nearly half way through the window and not even know your budget is embarrassing. The January window isn’t new, Ashley has owned the club for ten years – it must be a stalling tactic to try and shirk any investment as usual. He needs to meet with Benitez ASAP and back him. It is also laughable to think what Lee Charnley does in all of this, other than bring the club into tax probes. As the go between Ashley and Rafa and the guy tasked with getting deals done, this window is another big failure on his already abysmal record.

What happened to backing Rafa this window regardless of the takeover?

It was this idea which made sense when the club being put up for sale was announced. This was widely reported by outlets like Ashley’s favourite, Sky, to protect is investment and ensure we stay up. After all, a sale would certainly not happen or be worth half the amount if we end up in the second tier once more. But Mike seems to want to gamble with our future again and risk a trio of relegations in 11 years.

Ignoring Rafa and forcing him out

Ashley needs Benitez and surely even he knows it. He is the last thing stopping fans deserting this regime once and for all. I have no doubt Rafa is a big selling point and is attracting buyers in the first place. So keep him happy; if you can’t invest then keep open communications with him and try and sell the cub quickly so he gets his money and we can move on. Don’t keep him in the dark, leave him exposed in the transfer market and with the thankless task of facing the media. Forcing him out could send us down. Rafa will have a breaking point.

His incompetence off the pitch has taken away from the momentum we’ve built on it

Newcastle actually have some momentum. Key wins at West Ham and Stoke and progression in the cup was much needed after a poor run. But as usual, we can’t focus on this and are drawn to talk of the takeover, we’re scraping for loans of Chelsea reserve payers and a bullying case against our own staff is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Ashley has not run with the club with any class since he bought NUFC, we know that. However, our squad isn’t good enough to take anything for granted; we need to focus on the pitch and attentions elsewhere harm our chances of staying up. Benitez has made that clear and he will be frustrated to see Ashley continue to shoot his own club in the foot.

Risking the club’s future to get more cash

To me it feels like Ashley is gambling again. A relegation clause is the sticking point with talks with PCP. Rather than invest some money now on players and make it back by a sale, Mike probably thinks he can get away with singings no players, banking on us staying up and getting the sale in the summer. He is gambling again on his inability to not know anything about football.  We are unbearably close to the relegation zone and it’s demoralising he is risking going down again.

How are you feeling with the takeover saga? Do you think it will still happen and what might happen to our beloved NUFC in the mean time if it doesn’t?

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Simon Riddlesden

Lifelong Newcastle United fan and East Stand season ticket holder. Observations from a supporter who has followed NUFC during Champions League participation and through relegation, taking me from Milan to Scunthorpe.

50 thoughts on “A message to Mike Ashley: Sort it out or risk relegation AGAIN

  1. Thanks Simon.
    I have just lost the property I was buying which is so frustrating after so much effort and time went into it , not to mention legal cost so it must be a bit like that for staveley and pcp on a bigger scale of course. There is nothing worse than arsehole venders dicking you about. I had that situation a year ago with the last property I tried to buy, after 126 weeks and £2,500 laid out they asked me for an extra £10,000 !! I think it’s a similar situation, they will agree a price and he will move the goal post, that’s how he works.
    He is a cancer on our club, the worst of owners as he has zero ambition and see’s us as only an advertising vehicle for Sports Direct.
    Ido not believe he has ever had any intention to sale tbh , it’s a ruse to gain yet more exposure of him and his company and not to invest this window.
    If he really doesn’t want to sell at her price, just take it off the bloody market so Rafa ,the team and the fans can concentrate on fighting relegation.
    Oh and I hope he doesn’t expect an uptake in season tickets cause he is on a very slippery slope here, no way back with the vast majority of the fans after this if it falls through.

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  2. I’m with you Simon – sick to death with the whole sorry, laughable situation. Even our collective karma doesn’t deserve this level of incompetency. Unbelievable.

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  3. kimtoon:
    Thanks Simon.
    I have just lost the property I was buying which is so frustrating after so much effort and time went into it , not to mention legal cost so it must be a bit like that for staveley and pcp on a bigger scale of course. There is nothing worse than arsehole venders dicking you about. I had that situation a year ago with the last property I tried to buy, after 126 weeks and £2,500 laid out they asked me for an extra £10,000 !! I think it’s a similar situation, they will agree a price and he will move the goal post, that’s how he works.
    He is a cancer on our club, the worst of owners as he has zero ambition and see’s us as only an advertising vehicle for Sports Direct.
    Ido not believe he has ever had any intention to sale tbh , it’s a ruse to gain yet more exposure of him and his company and not to invest this window.
    If he really doesn’t want to sell at her price, just take it off the bloody market so Rafa ,theteam and the fans can concentrate on fighting relegation.
    Oh and I hope he doesn’t expect an uptake in season tickets cause he is on a very slippery slope here, no way back with the vast majority of the fans after this if it falls through.

    Kim, an interesting sideline to this is that the ten year season ticket deal comes to an end after this season. If he still owns the club next season you will see a big drop in attendances.

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  4. Even the most imprudent of gamblers would invest to secure an investment. Is the man potty?

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  5. Ok taking my paranoia to an extreme or possibly having some black humour fun as reviewing whats going on again and again and again is getting dull

    How much is the real estate that is SJP and associated facilities worth.

    Could it be he’s decided to deliberately allow the club to fold but will attempt to let it wither rather perform a coup de grace

    Hypothesis .. Benitez sells assets (nitro/ mbemba etc) .. using the term advisedly .. no replacements.. money banked .. relegation this season.. Benitez walks .. MASH lackey in place as manager .. fans walk .. pl tv money From this season banked .. other players sold as can’t afford wages .. down we go through the league’s .. MASH housing / Casino built on SJP

    Happy to see this scenario blown apart?

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  6. Stu, I hadn’t realised that mate, very interesting. Could this whole takeover ruse be about getting folk to invest in another 10 year deal ? or am I being overly sceptical ?

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  7. GlosMag:
    Ok taking my paranoia to an extreme or possibly having some black humour fun as reviewing whats going on again and again and again is getting dull

    How much is the real estate that isSJP and associated facilities worth.

    Could it be he’s decided to deliberately allow the club to fold but will attempt to let it wither rather perform a coup de grace

    Hypothesis .. Benitez sells assets (nitro/ mbemba etc) .. using the term advisedly .. no replacements.. money banked .. relegation this season.. Benitez walks .. MASH lackey in place as manager .. fans walk .. pl tv money From this season banked .. other playerssold as can’t afford wages .. down we go through the league’s .. MASHhousing /Casino built on SJP

    Happy to see this scenario blown apart

    bloody hell mate, don’t go giving me more reasons not to sleep 😆

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  8. End of the day he’s a total ****, sorry if that isn’t ladylike but I just loath loath loath that man.

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  9. You are constantly being asked to support a club that the owner himself does not support (in anyway). He cares nothing about the supporters as has been proven over the years, many times, in many ways. He knows he can hurt you more than you can possibly hurt him.
    I still have the “lovely” Mr Llambias’s words ringing in my ears “You do not know how horrible we can be” By now I think we do!
    Get used to it Ashley doesn’t like you and cares even less.

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  10. Westham offered mbemba, west ham interested in puttin sakho in the deal if things progress. A would be happy with that

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  11. Phil Neville being interviewed for England womens job.

    First of all; Are there no women qualified to do the job, what with it being a women’s team?

    Secondly, how is phil Neville qualified to do the job? What managerial experience does he possess that catapults him to International level?

    Last point, given that the last manager left because of racial tones and that the mens team will be invokingbthe Rooney Ruke next time around – surely the FA should be doing the same in rhis current selection process?

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  12. The doctor who BURNT his initials into 2 patients livers avoids jail because the judge acceots he was tired and stressed when he did it and did not foresee that it would cause anything more than minor harm to his victims.

    **** that ****.

    I’d put that on par with serious sexual abuse. Imagine having to walk around knowing your fricking organs have been branded by somebody like he owns you – and you are sentenced ro life with those marks like a chain hung around your neck, like he owns you.

    What a c@@t.

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  13. shamrock:
    The doctor who BURNT his initials into 2 patients livers avoids jail because the judge acceots he was tired and stressed when he did it and did not foresee that it would cause anything more than minor harm to his victims.

    **** that ****.

    I’d put that on par with serious sexual abuse. Imagine having to walk around knowing your fricking organs have been branded by somebody like he owns you – and you are sentenced ro life with those marks like a chain hung around your neck, like he owns you.

    What a c@@t.

    spot on Sham, just saw it on the news, wtf did he get out of doing that ?

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  14. The way things are going in the premiership with defenders costing over £60m and strikers like Kane being touted as worth £200m , and along with the wages those players demand, how are clubs outside of the top 6 expected to compete.? The answer is that they aren’t.
    I know there are a lot of fans hoping that we are soon sold and also expect whoever buys us to have a bottomless pit of money to buy the best players available. What if they haven’t got that sort of money?
    When the bubble bursts, which it will,a number of clubs currently in the premiership and paying over the odds for players will certainly find themselves in financial trouble.
    I can see the day coming very soon when the minimum price for a seat in any premiership ground will be in excess of £100 per game.
    How many average Joe NUFC supporters are going to be able to find over £2000 for a season ticket.?

    The argument that we will lose season ticket holders, or even have lower gates if we are relegated, is lost when you just look back at last season when our gates in the championship were comparable.
    We will lose a lot more supporters if they are priced out of a season ticket in the premiership.

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  15. Rafa on transfer window: “We are still working on things. I am hopeful we will do something. (No) I still don’t know the budget but we are working on it” #nufc

    6:00 am – 12 Jan 2018

    1 Retweet

    joke, how the fig can you not bloody know by now

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  16. It’s now hilarious, Kim. This smacks of a owner who couldn’t give a ****. Very dangerous for those who care. I’ve stopped caring about the football whilst Jabba is here.

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  17. At least there is Man City and Liverpool on Sunday. One is dirty Mid East money the other a US Hedge fund but they do have David Silva and Mo Salah. We have Mo Diame.

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  18. shamrock:
    Phil Neville being interviewed for England womens job.

    First of all; Are there no women qualified to do the job, what with it being a women’s team?

    Secondly, how is phil Neville qualified to do the job? What managerial experience does he possess that catapults him to International level?

    Last point, given that the last manager left because of racial tones and that the mens team will be invokingbthe Rooney Ruke next time around – surely the FA should be doing the same in rhis current selection process?

    Have they never heard him commentate? The man’s a fool.

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  19. Personally I’m still confident that this takeover will happen.
    I think if it was going to collapse, it would have before now. I agree it’s frustrating how long it’s all taking, but if Ashley was the problem & pissing about as suggested – I’m pretty sure Staveley is no mug & would have walked away by now.

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  20. I can’t say I really like the idea of swapping Mbemba of Sakho.
    I know Rafa isn’t keen on Mbemba, but I think he’s a better defender than Lejeune personally – and probably on par with the other 2.
    But the other plus with him is that he isn’t half bad as a left or right back either.

    Can’t say I rate Sakho all that highly either personally.

    My question would be, with WH being in the same relegation battle – why would they be so ready to let Sakho go?!.

    I know Palace have been keen on him too though – is he better than I’m giving him credit for or what ???‍♂️ – still wouldn’t be at the cost of Mbemba for me though.

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  21. kimtoon:
    Thanks Simon.
    I have just lost the property I was buying which is so frustrating after so much effort and time went into it , not to mention legal cost so it must be a bit like that for staveley and pcp on a bigger scale of course. There is nothing worse than arsehole venders dicking you about. I had that situation a year ago with the last property I tried to buy, after 126 weeks and £2,500 laid out they asked me for an extra £10,000 !! I think it’s a similar situation, they will agree a price and he will move the goal post, that’s how he works.
    He is a cancer on our club, the worst of owners as he has zero ambition and see’s us as only an advertising vehicle for Sports Direct.
    Ido not believe he has ever had any intention to sale tbh , it’s a ruse to gain yet more exposure of him and his company and not to invest this window.
    If he really doesn’t want to sell at her price, just take it off the bloody market so Rafa ,theteam and the fans can concentrate on fighting relegation.
    Oh and I hope he doesn’t expect an uptake in season tickets cause he is on a very slippery slope here, no way back with the vast majority of the fans after this if it falls through.

    I agree every single word.

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  22. funrafa: I agree every single word.

    And I am sorry you have to go through the similar situation in your personal life …

    Maybe it is just not meant to be. The next one maybe a perfect one for you and your family. Don’t give up!

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  23. Going with a Toon 2-0 win. There really isn’t much to choose between the bottom 14 teams so you never know. I think Swansea have the worst squad in the PL but that doesn’t guarantee us success. Hoping Tammy Abraham doesn’t come back to haunt us. I mention it in the same way as if you speak a wish that it won’t come true 🙂

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  24. Funrafa, thanks, I live in hope mate.

    Eric, it’s the new manager I worry about mate, he’s had the beating of Rafa twice last season 🙁

    Also Merse and Lawro tip us to win, never a good omen

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  25. Don’t be surprised to see a quite impressive Swansea tomorrow. Our form at home is pathetic and Swansea will have had a bit of time to work with their new manager. It will be a tight game.

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  26. Agree with Kim & Stu. Plus every time when we in the transfer window mess, our win rate is not that good. It will be tight at the least.

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  27. Yeah i think ever game will be tight – I come to expect that now.

    But I’m confident of a toon win tomorrow, providing we approach the game in the right way.

    It felt like our main priority against Brighton was not to loose the game. We need to be positive and really go at them.

    3pts tomorrow and I think another 15pts after that would see us safe. I think 38pts will be enough this season personally.

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  28. kimtoon:
    End of the day he’s a total ****, sorry if that isn’t ladylike but I just loath loath loath that man.

    kimtoon:
    End of the day he’s a total ****, sorry if that isn’t ladylike but I just loath loath loath that man.

    Of coarse your ladylike it’s just your not a snob mate

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  29. Sometimes I think the Fatman does things just to be contradictory. How else can you explain Dennis Wise, Derek Lliambas, Pardew for Hughton, leading on Shearer and Rafa?

    So what if Stavely and Co want a relegation clause. The best way to ensure that there will be no need to pay it is to sell the club to them and let them invest in the players to keep us up. By not investing he is risking relegation and a 50% drop in the value of his investment. It is only an investment now and an advertising board because he has said himself that he has no interest in the club anymore. How can this man have got so rich when he doesn’t know anything?

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  30. Icedog:
    Looks Palace are pulling out of deal for W/H strikers,not the type of striker they need say club

    Why bid for him then ??‍♂️?

    Could that mean that there is actually legs to this suggestion that we could be swapping Mbemba for him then?

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  31. Eric Sykes:
    Sometimes I think the Fatman does things just to be contradictory. How else can you explain Dennis Wise, Derek Lliambas, Pardew for Hughton, leading on Shearer and Rafa?

    So what if Stavely and Co want a relegation clause. The best way to ensure that there will be no need to pay it is to sell the club to them and let them invest in the players to keep us up. By not investing he is risking relegation and a 50% drop in the value of his investment. It is only an investment now and an advertising board because he has said himself that he has no interest in the club anymore. How can this man have got so rich when he doesn’t know anything?

    Eric, I can only assume there’s someone close to him who’s very clever. He can’t possible be this stupid.

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  32. kimtoon:
    End of the day he’s a total ****, sorry if that isn’t ladylike but I just loath loath loath that man.

    Kim – neeone really likes ladylike ladies anyway, up their own **** most of them.

    I laughed when I read this one – have you seen Micky Flannigans stand up where he’s on about casual cnuting? ? – if not I think you’ll find it on Utube. My other favourite is him on about going to Sainsbury’s – I can relate to that one too ??

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  33. Eric
    Ashley got so rich because he knows a lot more than you think.
    Stuart
    The person close to Ashley who is very clever – is Ashley himself.
    I posted on a previous thread the cost to Ashley on being relegated this season .
    He gets £150m from the Premiership, and a further £110 m from the sale of the ten players I mentioned. Then of course, he will not buy in the Summer transfer window , shaving £25m off the wage bill from the sale of those players and if Rafa goes he will be cutting the manager wage by a few more £million.
    Take a look at how Sunderland fared from being relegated last season.
    £99.9m for bottom place and £47m parachute payment , £30m from the sale of Pickford and Mannone. What did they spend? – well they bought 3 players, a goalie, a defender and a striker for a grand total outlay of £1.25m. I also believe that, apart from Rodwell, the players had relegation clauses where they lost 40% of their wages.
    The only winner I can see from that relegation is Ellis Short with a profit of £175m.
    Similarly , the only winner from our being relegated is Mike Ashley.
    Also , when looking at those figures can you not see that an offer of £300m is nowhere near the asset value of NUFC that Ashley can see very well?
    That is why I said he would value the club at £400m and would be mad to take a penny less.
    Sadly , I live in the real world.

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  34. Icedog:
    Of coarse your ladylikeit’s just your not a snob mate

    Tom boy me mum used to call me Ice. When I got wed I needed a nice frock to change into for the evening bash and when I went into town to buy it me mum and dad dared me not to come back with trousers. Anyway I swear I must of checked out every clothes shop in town that day, nowt looked right or felt comfy and I ended up taking a trouser suit home. I did buy a beautiful silk shirt complete with diamante broche to pin at centre of collar though. 🙂
    I have never took off a dress as quick as that wedding dress after the day reception in my life, hated it.

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  35. sidekick:
    Eric
    Ashley got so rich because he knows a lot more than you think.
    Stuart
    The person close to Ashley who is very clever – is Ashley himself.
    I posted on a previous thread the cost to Ashley on being relegated this season .
    He gets £150m from the Premiership, and a further £110 m from the sale of the ten players I mentioned. Then of course, he will not buy in the Summer transfer window , shaving £25m off the wage bill from the sale of those players and if Rafa goes he will be cutting the manager wage by a few more £million.
    Take a look at how Sunderland fared from being relegated last season.
    £99.9m for bottom place and £47m parachute payment , £30m from the sale of Pickford and Mannone. What did they spend? – well they bought 3 players, a goalie, a defender and a striker for a grand total outlay of £1.25m.I also believe that, apart from Rodwell, the players had relegation clauses where they lost 40% of their wages.
    The only winner I can see from that relegation is Ellis Short with a profit of £175m.
    Similarly , the only winner from our being relegated is Mike Ashley.
    Also , when looking at those figures can you not see that an offer of £300m is nowhere near the asset value of NUFC that Ashley can see very well?
    That is why I said he would value the club at £400m and would be mad to take a penny less.
    Sadly , I live in the real world.

    Ashley had to pay £20m into NUFC bank account in January 2017 to cover the short fall from relegation, and that after we sold some very saleable assets. We don’t have them assets if we went down this season. With Rafa gone we also wouldn’t have 50k+ crowds and of course there’s no guarantee of getting up. Immediately his asset is reduced by £100m. The longer the club stays in the Championship the more he would have to cut its cloth accordingly, thus reducing the chances of promotion.

    Basically, relegation isn’t a complete disaster if you go straight back up. If you don’t – it’s then a disaster. Especially for someone who has £250m in cash tied up in the club. No Championship club is worth that.

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  36. Also Sidekick, just check our accounts from our season in the Championship and wait for Sunderland’s – they will not be pretty!

    I’d also like to know how l, after selling ten players for £110m we would have a squad capable of getting promotion. Not that I tho k we have ten players that could bring that much money in…

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  37. kimtoon: Tom boy me mum used to call me Ice. When I got wed I needed a nice frock to change into for the evening bash and when I went into town to buy it me mum and dad dared me not to come back with trousers. Anyway I swear I must of checked out every clothes shop in town that day, nowt looked right or felt comfy and I ended up taking a trouser suit home. I did buy a beautiful silk shirt complete with diamante broche to pin at centre of collar though.
    I have never took off a dress as quick as that wedding dress after the day reception in my life, hated it.

    That’s my girl???

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  38. Funrafa mate, how are the Mackems OK after being relegated? They have close to a PL payroll with **** players. Ellis Short would have sold them if he could but now they are worth only about 60 million so he is holding on for dear life because he has other money. Villa, a club not that much different to NUFC, were sold for less than 100 million.

    Blackburn, Bolton, Leeds, Wigan, Coventry…

    Relegation is not a windfall for owners EVER. EVER. EVER.

    Show me one time and I will believe your twisted logic.

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  39. Villa and Leeds were at least as big as us. Villa won a European Cup and Leeds dominated under Revie when we were mediocre at best. In my lifetime we have been slightly above average, been relegated about 5 times, won f-all except for the Fairs Cup which only Aussie Magpie Fan considers a real Trophy – you qualified for it by holding a business fair FFS! We had Keegan bring us hope for 3 years and then Dour Kenny bring his Has-been Pals in and decimate the team.

    Bobby Robson was an oasis in this desert but was short lived and sacked. Now we have hope because we have Rafa, but it is the hope that will kill you.

    I might cheer up if we win tomorrow 🙂

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