On Sunday morning I woke up and it was one of those days that I was dreading. I felt awful, nervous, numb. It got worse towards kick-off time and didn’t ease until that final whistle blew.
I was even just about to set off in the car and head up to Newcastle, grab a ticket and go. A compulsion. In their hour of need my club needed me. After all this time away, disassociating myself from it all. I still had that urge.
Even after everything that has gone on I still had the urge. Even after the rotten performances, the dire results, the lack of direction, my own willingness to stay away from it all until it got better, or at least until there was light at the end of the tunnel, I still had the urge.
In the end I didn’t. I couldn’t have faced the drive home if the worst had happened so I went to my parents house to watch it – a house full of Newcastle supporters, United. Nervous, and after messing about with my old mans telly, I flicked Sky back on and about fell over when I saw Mike Ashley giving a TV interview, ahead of the biggest game in years, live.
Alright it might have felt a bit scripted at times, but you know what? Fair play. For years we’ve had nothing, not a bean, then all of a sudden there is something. Which now begs the question of why it’s taken so long? Will that be the last we hear? And, perhaps most importantly, will what was said signal a change in our approach?
Now I’m not going to get personal with it like other sites have and make playground remarks about speech because that’s childish and threatens to undermine the very good work that has been done with protests to date, but instead I wish to focus on the content. You can watch again on the video below.
So having digested that do I think we’re about to see a wholesale change in our approach? No, not one bit. It was nice to hear that we’re going to try and win something – ambition at last – but the reality is that eight years later should not be the time we set about trying to win something. That should always be our goal because it’s hard enough to win a cup let alone to do so without actively trying.
Unfortunately for me this is far too little far too late and three minutes on the telly won’t alter my opinion of Mike Ashley’s tenure on Tyneside. Words. That’s all they are. Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words and so on.
It is actions that Ashley is being judged on because we’ve never had any words from him, and it’s actions that he’ll continue to be judged on. We’re not for sale (we are, as are all businesses at the right price) officially, so again we will see if things change. They won’t, but one can hope.
There are so many things that need sorting out though from the position of manager head coach right through to the threadbare playing staff and blatant lack of squad depth which has hurt us for seasons now. It’s actually a time where Ashley has talked the talk and can show that he can walk he walk.
However, I fear we’re just being paid some lip-service with all of this!
Ice, Their capacity for ruining the feel good factor in record time is quite staggering mate. 👿
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim I can’t stand Mike Ashley. He is a total **** and parasite and I’m saddened we still have this leach at the club.
Terry(Quote)
So W/Ham get into Europe via fair play lge
icedog(Quote)
KIM@76 your spot on mate,my feelings too 🙁
icedog(Quote)
He gets another years free advertising that’s all staying up means to him.
Terry(Quote)
The thing that gets on my nerves, Kim is the fact that they had the arrogance to assume the people on their original shortlist would still be available and let’s be honest it was an unbelievable underwhelming shortlist. I think we all knew they’d have to start again but they said at the time they’d done all their work and wouldn’t need to do it again. Well shock horror – they have to start from scratch! It took them a month last time just to arrive at Carver. I’m sure it will take that time again.
Stuart79(Quote)
Kimtoon: it was Morata of Juve that got nutted in Italy’s biggest game of the weekend. I thought this thing would have gone viral on Youtube rather than all of the cat videos.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Maybe jabba is waiting for the fixtures they come out 17june,to see how much he needs to spend to scrape another season in the PL
icedog(Quote)
Don’t worry, Ice, he will of already factored in Bournemouth being almost certainties to go down, so only two spots available now…
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart – 3 promoted teams and Mackems are favoutes to go down, then us. We are managerless, rudderless and clueless at the moment so we need to get things sorted out quickly.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What the **** is all the hysteria about today?. The season only finished 48hrs ago!! – were people honestly under the impression that we would have someone in position already?!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
All these stories and comments about McLaren, Carver, Charnley etc etc are just journos guessing. Nobody actually knows anything. The club haven’t made any kind of statement so the guessing goes on and on.
I’ve said all season the club needs a total clear out, not just of personnel but of ideas too. There’s a thick air of yesterdays men at the club, guys who hark back to the 80s and early 90s. 2015 football is totally different.
If I could choose the coach I’d consider Neil Lennon.
georgio(Quote)
I still can’t figure out McClaren – successful at Man U, Twente and Boro (Uefa Cup final and league cup win). Failed at Wolfsburg and Forest. I would give him a C+ at Derby and who doesn’t get sacked from England?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: what hysteria? Have you been on the Chronicle board 🙂 McClaren 1/3 at Ladbrokes for the job.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy@86, Do you honestly think we’ll have a new coach in place before the middle of june?
Fact is all the other clubs will have been busy working on new recruits but how can we even begin to sell the club and it’s plans with out a coach. For heavens sake they have had since last January to line up a coach.
kimtoon(Quote)
Not too keen on Steve for the job if I’m honest.
kimtoon(Quote)
You’re right Kim – the clock’s ticking and it’s a very short close season. We need a new guy now to prioritise comings and goings. Not least because the players need to know what they’re coming back to in just 5 weeks time.
georgio(Quote)
IMO just watch the betting very closely watch for a sudden rush as you cannot tell me he won’t tip the wink to one or two mates as who’s got the job
icedog(Quote)
Actually, Sharpy, it’s not quite hysteria more a case “Here we go again”. Do you honestly believe there is a plan in place? When most of the journo’s are saying they’ve had to start again for their search it’s not a good sign. In fact it smells of the same old bull **** we’ve seen over the last few years. That’s the thing that’s getting everyone annoyed.
Did I expect them to have someone appointed by now? Not at all, but I certainly expected them to have a preferred candidate and it doesn’t look like they do.
Stuart79(Quote)
I think what we need as head couch is a planner, we don’t need another shouter.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Guardian reporting the same as Caulkin and Ryder about the shortlist including McClaren, Garde, Carver and Laudrup. Also states won’t rush and will have someone in place by beginning of July… You couldn’t make this stuff up! Which player would join a club like ours without even knowing who the gaffer would be?
Normal service is resumed… Dithering and doddering their way through!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu, Like I said, the fans should NOT renew ST until they tell us who the new coach is going to be. I don’t think that stance is the least bit unreasonable .
kimtoon(Quote)
I really am trying not to dwell on Carver too much but what type of idiot books their holidays for 2 days after the most important game of his life and tries to give an ultimatum to a club after winning 3 in 20 games? Wasn’t there supposed to be an “inquest” a “post-mortem” even though it turned out there was no corpse. Hopefully, it is JCs career that RIPs.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Cannot believe that Charnley is still farting on about choosing the new HC. How much more bloody time does he need? He,s already had months. And as for considering Carver he must be bloody joking. Here we go again delay and more delay and then we miss the opportunities. Maybe that ‘s the deliberate ploy. Wait until the STs have been bought then reel out the usual excuses.
Groucho(Quote)
So the USA have pulled the plug on the preseason games,toon pulled out a couple of weeks ago,it now leaves a few clubs in the ****,Swansea Lyon ect
icedog(Quote)
What would fans think if it was G Hoddle ??
icedog(Quote)
Stu – you’re right there mate. Normal service has been resumed – people on here jumping all over negative articles without any fact or direct quote from the club at all:
http://mobile.newsnow.co.uk/A/774948147?-11058:809:t
It’s Lee Ryders opinion and he’s named the obvious. It’s lazy journalism.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Charnley and Carver are very much alike – no balls.
Groucho(Quote)
Ice – would you rather take Hoddle over McClaren?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy at 102. Yeah that didn’t long lol
MDS(Quote)
A friendly against Bacelona or Real Madrid would be good.
Terry(Quote)
Sharpy – That is utter tosh! Do you really believe Caulkin, Ryder, Taylor and Douglas are all wrong? So they have all decided to make this story up between them?
If you believe that, you haven’t been reading articles from the journo’s over the last few years. When more than one runs with a story it’s usually because someone at the club has briefed them. Do you not accept that?
Stuart79(Quote)
SHARPY that’s a strange one mate,SM doesn’t pull any trees up for me,and I think why after so long out of the game why has Hoddle not been offered any jobs in the past,mind Hoddle did say a couple of weeks ago that he would like the toon job also Hoddle has never been quoted in any of the bookies charts,do they know summit we don’t??
icedog(Quote)
Stuart take a breath man
MDS(Quote)
Dam I saw Oliver from the People in the village this morning but was stuck in post office he’s canny to talk to,would have asked him his take on it,he did say the day after Pardew walked that Carver would get the job until the end of season unless someone fronted up,I said nee way but he was right
icedog(Quote)
Doesn’t take much breathe to type, MDS.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – so where’s the statement from the club, or even the ‘source’. On the contrary mate – it’s because I’ve read papers for years that I take whatever they say with a pinch of salt. For every story they get right there are dozens more they get wrong.
I’m sure someone posted this morning that 2 different papers owned by the same media groups were running conflicting stories – whichever sells papers mate.
It’s been 48hrs since the season ended – which other club have made an appointment yet?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Ice – that’s my put off with Hoddle, just how long (and wondering why) he’s been out the management. I keep mulling over McClaren, and whilst I can understand people not being excited or overly keen, I’m just not that put off by him. He’s an old pair of slippers 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – Nobody is saying we should have made an appointment and please tell me which paper names their source in the article? Clearly someone at the club is briefing them as they all have the same story. For instance the Hasselbaink story. It was one journo who took a punt, nobody else ran with it so that should be taken with a pinch of salt but not when a few run with the same story.
Stuart79(Quote)
ile beleive it when it happens the fat c@nt 🙄
batty(Quote)
Stu – they’ve offered forward the names of Carver (the bloke who’s filled in for the last 6mths), McClaren who has been the front runner since Jan, Garde who’s was the foreign manager most heavily linked and Laudrup – the bloke KK suggested this week – they don’t need a source mate 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
BATTY don’t mince your words mate,say it as it is lol
icedog(Quote)
Sharpy – The actual names don’t bother me. I couldn’t care less what names they’ve come up with as they can be plucked from the air. My concern is that they have all said that the club are in no rush to appoint somebody. That bothers me actually as this is the biggest issue we have at this moment. It’s that big that if Carver appointed we can completely forget Ashley’s interview.
Stuart79(Quote)
We need momentum and if they know who they want they should stop fucking about and go get him!
Stuart79(Quote)
I do think Carver will be given the job permanently. There’s your pound by pound replacement. The horse to the cart.
Stem(Quote)
He’s certainly looks like a horse in Eric’s opinion.
Stuart79(Quote)
STUART the only thing I can think of for the delay is they have had knock backs somewhere down the line hence going back to the drawing board,but jabba seemed bullish and thought he had someone over the line which makes me think its Laudrup he has a month to go on his contract
icedog(Quote)
The other thing, and this is only my opinion and what I would have liked was if the club would have made some sort of statement. They’ve been making statements and writing open letters over the past few weeks when their **** cheeks were clanging but now they go quiet? I would have like them to make. Statement, apologising, thanking the supporters for sticking with them and re confirming what the owner said and letting everyone know they’re now working on appointing a permanent coach and bringing players in to take the club forward. I genuinely think that would have helped and built on the momentum.
Stuart79(Quote)
Another I find strange is Watford,getting rid of their manager I mean the guy came in as their forth manager of the season and still got them up into PL,bloody strange imo
icedog(Quote)
stu spot on with your posts 😉
batty(Quote)
The transfer window is about to open. I looked at wikipedia and the rules are very complicated but it said that in England teams can sign EPL players as of the last competitive game and that the window officially opens June 9. The reason a lot of transfers do not occur until July 1 is that most contracts do not end until June 30. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been agreed though.
Dithering on appointing a manager would appear to me to put us at a disadvantage in transfer negotiations as I am sure most players would like to know who they will play for. To be sure, there are a lot of mercenaries out there but do we want THEM? Maybe if they are all the quality of Demba Ba, but they aren’t. We would be just as likely to end up with someone of the quality of Amdy Faye 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – One of the major things we have all asked is that the players we bring in are of a better mentality with more heart, desire and respect for the club. Players like that want to know who they’re playing for. Mercenaries aren’t bothered and only want money and a big move after a year.
It just seems all a bit contradictory to me.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – 100% agree with post 123 mate. Ashley acknowledged his mistakes (though didn’t apologise) but Charnley hasn’t held his hands up yet.
Ice is right as well. If it’s Laudrup they want, it could be a few weeks yet. If Bilic goes to WH then I think that will get the ball rolling.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Derby haven’t messed about have they… Clement to be appointed.
Stuart79(Quote)
Carver’s the cheapest option at the moment. His a geordie and loves the club. His the best manager in the premier league. Why wouldn’t the fan’s want him ?
Stem(Quote)
I still reckon it will be Carver. There’s not many people dumb enough to work with the clueless crew as Troy puts it.
Stem(Quote)
Sharpy, Laudrup would be a poor hire as he cant be appointed within the next 5 minutes.
MDS(Quote)
MDS – Yes he can. He can’t start until his contract expires on 1st July but he can certainly be appointed in 5 mins. So could Klopp, McClaren or Bilic. Your sarcasm makes you look stupid sometimes as you don’t make sense.
Stuart79(Quote)
you might find that quite a few Swansea fans were happy to see the back of Laudrup because they doubted his commitment. Apparently he was pretty laid back, taking private holidays, missing training etc which didn’t go down too well with the fans..
Munich Mag(Quote)
Stuart all Carver needs is a few wins behind him and people like Eric might start to think his alright after all.
Stem(Quote)
i think if he appoints carver it will be same old story meself and agree with the poster that say the manager will be a big indication of ashleys intentions for the club,not 1 newcastle surporter with a bit of sense wants carver
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Colocini and Williamson need shooting. Awful defenders and you can’t blame Carver for getting on one about it.
Stem(Quote)
Stu so you think his club would let him talk to other clubs much less take another job right before their Asian Champions League match?
I didn’t mention the others
MDS(Quote)
if ashley backs up his interview he could dare i say it become the hero on tyneside instead of the villian
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
I was proving the point, MDS that any manager can be appointed at any time but don’t have to start until a certain date. It happens all the time where managers and players know they’re going to be somewhere else before the season ends.
Anyway, my point is that if, and at this stage it’s only if, they take a while to get the guy in it does put us at a disadvantage. It also gives supporters the idea that they’re yet again dithering like they did in January and look what happened then.
Munich, you’re right about Swansea and Laudrup. There were problems with the players very early on as they didn’t like his laid back and arrogant ways so the stories go. Having said that, I really enjoyed the football they played and from the names on the shortlist from what we’ve seen he would be my preferred choice.
Stuart79(Quote)
Munich/Stu – I reckon Laudrups laid back approach may come as a true blessing to our players after Carvers wired approach
Sharpy17(Quote)
To be fair, Sharpy I think Hulk Hogan would be a reduction in intensity from Carver.
Stuart79(Quote)
I am absolutely certain there are transfer targets that we have been in touch with but the question is whether they will come without a manager? De Jong said he was impressed last year by Pardew and that was a major reason he came to NUFC. Will good players sign for a managerless club? I also think that when Carvs said he has been invited into the inner circle on transfers that that was Carr and Charnley paying lip service to him. If they really went after McClaren twice and as recently as the Leicester game then they were just stringing Carvs along. Not lying, because he has been assured he has a role at NUFC, but not really telling the whole truth either.
I have no inside knowledge of anything, it is just my guess and opinion.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’d cautiously accept Laudrup. He is well connected in the football world and gets teams playing nice footy. His move to the car east is a bit weird and ties in with MM saying he is not very serious about his job – but then you don’t get success such as Swansea’s cup win and Getafe’s good league positions without putting the planning and graft in. My only worry is he generally does not stick around for long and Swansea’s form did plummet after the Cup win. Maybe once he won something, he was no longer trying and that’s where the talk of him going on holidays etc came from? Either way, if he came here and got us playing good football and won a Cup he can feel free to jump ship – because he’d still leave us far more successful than we have been for at least 50 years! And if he won a Cup, MA would sell up?!
Shamrock(Quote)
Frankly, I didn’t think what Ashley had to say was a surprise. All he did was say what we rational people have assumed all along. 🙂 (hey, what happened to the emoticons?)
Still, his interpretation of the words might be a bit different from those read by hopeful Geordies (or mischievous ones).
The only surprise was that he actually said something.
brisvegas(Quote)
some good news at last…..
“The process to decide who will be the next head coach and confirm the list of summer transfer targets is expected to get under way today, with Charnley meeting up with board members to thrash out a plan of action.”
YCMIU 😈
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Whats the rush people ask? Well we’ve been on this coach search lark for 6 months and 3 of the shortlisted, one has been sacked for miserable failure in the Championship, one we don’t want and one doesn’t want the job!
Sounds like it’s all going swimmingly…
Stuart79(Quote)
BB: this just gets more confusing by the minute. The news I have seen is that McClaren turned us down/delayed us twice and is still favourite. Carver said himself that he was on an in situ job interview and is supposedly still going to have a formal interview after abject failure. What have they been doing for 5 months? I don’t think a board meeting (who are the members of the board anyway?) to decide a new “mission statement” and press release should be seen and as progression. We need action, not words.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stuart – I think we said the same thing, I was typing as you were posting 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Nah really, who are the members of the board? Kinnear has gone. Llambias has gone. Irvine is going. Who is left? Is it just Carr and Charnley? Word has been that Fatty has abdicated responsibility on all football matters to Carr and Charnley but still has to sign off so that is not really abdication is it?
If it is really only Carr and Charnley, do they not have mobile phones, skype, google?
Where has Carr been for 5 months – could he not make it to SJP to have a chat with Charnley about managerial prospects?
Eric Sykes(Quote)