It would be pretty safe to say that Newcastle have signed a few stinkers over the years, so we thought what better to do than stick them in an all-time starting line-up for your own enjoyment!
Lining up in a tragic 3-4-3 formation, these players are bound to have had smoke blowing out of your ears at some point during your time as a fan…
STARTING 11:
GK – Matz Sels (£5m)
Signed ahead of the Championship season in 16/17, Sels was bought from Belgian side Gent for a reported £6.5million. One of Rafa Benitez’s worst signings, it didn’t take him long to lose the trust of the Spaniard. A calamitous error late on at Villa Park caused the Geordie faithful to turn on Sels just nine games into the campaign, with shot-stopper Karl Darlow proving a success for the remainder of the season. The Belgian’s career has since improved, as he is earning plaudits between the sticks for French side Strasbourg.
CB – Jean-Alain Boumsong (£8m)
A truly shocking signing, Boumsong was signed for £8million despite Rangers acquiring his services on a free transfer just five months earlier. The pick of a bad bunch of signings made during Graeme Souness’ time at the club, a string of poor performances saw Boumsong swiftly shifted out the door at St James’ Park just 18 months after his arrival, with Juventus – playing in Italy’s second tier after relegation due to match-fixing – stumping up £3million to take him off our hands. Terrible business!
CB – Titus Bramble (£5m)
Sir Bobby persuaded Freddy Shepherd to depart with £5million for Bramble back in July 2002, only for him to be voted ‘worst player in the Premier League’ by football newsletter The Fiver the following season. Boumsong’s partner in crime, Bramble helped create quite the comical double act during the mid-naughties for rival fans. One follower on our Facebook page claims he even saw opposition supporters celebrate when he came on as a sub! Bramble did go some way to make it up to us a few years later, however, when he got sent off in a Sunderland shirt for a tackle on Andy Carroll in that memorable 5-1 thrashing back in October 2010.
CB – Marcelino (£6m)
Signed for a whopping £5.8million back in 1999, it would be hard to find a Premier League centre-half made of glass more than Marcelino. We paid a hefty sum of money for his services considering the time period, and Marcelino repaid that faith by managing just 17 appearances in four seasons to cement his spot in our ‘Flop XI.’ He will best be remembered for damaging a tendon in his finger, which ruled him out of action for three months and caused hysterics on Tyneside at the time, with the Spaniard having the cheek in recently to say he was treated unfairly during his spell at the club!
RM – Remy Cabella (£10m)
Signed by Alan Pardew in 2014 for £12million, fans had hoped that Cabella’s style would see a mouth-watering blend of Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa who came before him, but what we really got was a player who just couldn’t be bothered in a black and white shirt. It is hard to believe he made 34 appearances in his only season for us, as he literally did nothing worthy of note while he played here. Now on the wrong side of 30, Cabella currently plys his trade for Russian club Krasnodar, where he once again struggles to make an impact… playing just twice since his 2019 arrival.
CM – Henri Saviet (£5m)
It’s crazy to think that Saviet is still contracted to the club, with his current deal not expected to end until summer 2021. A clear downside of the club’s ‘long contract’ policy, his £45k a week wages mean that the Senegal international has cost the club around £14million since his arrival – for just five appearances in return! The sooner this man is moved on the better.
CM – Ignacio González (Loan)
Who? You might ask. Well, considering he made just two loan appearances Gonzales certainly had a major impact on the fortunes of our club – only for the worse. When Dennis Wise signed Gonzales – despite only watching him play on YouTube – above Keegan’s head it proved the final straw for King Kev, who had just had to watch James Milner sold to Aston Villa without having a voice. Keegan claimed in his autobiography that this deal was made as a ‘favour’ to two South American agents, which just sounds like pure corruption to us. Following Keegan’s departure, we would go on to have another three managers in a season that would ultimately end in relegation. A costly mistake to say the least!
LM – Florian Thauvin (£13m)
Brought in as part of the deal that saw Remy Cabella end his disastrous spell at the club, Thauvin proved to be every bit as bad as his French compatriot. We could easily just cut-and-paste the above section about Cabella and place it in here, as his influence on Tyneside was almost identical, with Thauvin even wearing the same shirt number! He managed just six months in the North-East, before being sent back to Marseille on loan, where he has been ever since. He states that criticism he received for wearing a tuxedo on match-days severely affected his performances, yeah right! The annoying thing is, he has turned out to be quite some player since his return to France, earning his way into the national squad. In truth, he clearly has talent, but never wanted to be here and proved to be a real waste of money and time.
RF – Xisco (£6m)
One of the worst pieces of business in the Mike Ashley era, Xisco was brought in by Dennis Wise alongside the previously mentioned Gonzales. Signed for £6million and on a 5-year contract worth a ridiculous £60,000 a week, the Spanish striker actually scored on his debut, a 2-1 defeat to Hull City, but that was all we got. He struggled in his next eight appearances and spent the remaining four years of his time here on loan, costing us a disgusting £14million in the process. Add that to the £6million paid for his services, and you can bet that the signing of XIsco isn’t the wisest £20million Mike Ashley has spent! The Chronicle rightly named him as one of Newcastle United’s worst-ever strikers back in 2013.
ST – Michael Owen (£17m)
Easily the most disliked player on this list, Owen spent the majority of his time here either injured, or wishing he was back at Liverpool. A club-record signing, Owen was expected to fill the void left by the ageing Alan Shearer once he retired, but all Toon fans got in return was a player who literally bled the club dry. £110,000 a week makes him the highest-paid player in our club’s history, yet all he has done since his departure is tear into the club’s fanbase while openly admitting he chose not to play in our crunch clash with Aston Villa on the final day of the 08/09 season. Figures estimate that his time at the club cost us around £45million, with him leaving to join Manchester United on a free following relegation. So aye, thanks for absolutely nothing, Michael!
LF – Joelinton (£40M)
It may seem harsh to include the Brazillian at this stage, as he still has the opportunity to turn his life around at St James’ Park, especially given his age. But £40million is just too much of a price tag to ignore. Given the fact we have never spent this sort of money on a player before, a goal return of 1 in 29 Premier League appearances blows every other contender out the park for a spot in this team. Everyone reading this obviously wishes for Joelinton’s fortunes to change at the club, but for now, at least, he must accept his place up front!
Manager – Steve McClaren
The only manager that Mike Ashley has truly backed at St James’ Park, Steve McClaren is an absolute shoo-in to be the man leading this Newcastle side out. He was given a whopping £80million to assemble a side with the likes of Gini Wijnaldum, Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend and Aleksandr Mitrovic but still couldn’t keep us up! Most Newcastle fans gave him a chance despite a wobbly CV, probably with blinded optimism following the depressing reign of John Carver. Rafa Benitez eventually took us down despite going undefeated in our last five league games, with everybody who knows anything about football attributing that relegation down to McClaren.
SUBS:
John Karlese – Signed by Rudd Gullit for £1million in 1998, the goalkeeper made three appearances for us, conceding four on his debut against Southampton. A real waste of what was good money back then!
Yanga-Mbiwa – Billed as the future of our defence when signed in 2013 after captaining Montpellier to Ligue 1 glory, the Frenchman didn’t get anywhere close to expectations.
Siem De Jong – Another injury-ravaged player to steal a living at our club, Siem De Jong played 22 times in three years, scoring one goal. His brother, Luuk, was just as bad!
Albert Luque – Ironically, his name is still sung due to his late hammer blow to ‘wrap up’ a 4-1 win over Sunderland in 2006. This proved to be his only league goal for the club after a £9million move.
Stephane Guivarch – Big things were expected from the 1998 World Cup winner, but he proved to be another flop. 1 solitary goal against Liverpool is all he did in a Newcastle shirt before being sold to Rangers 4 months after his arrival.
It’s easy to agree with most of these. In the strange case of Saivet… The man was never played by any manager in all these years. Perhaps he trains poorly but it’s worth noting he has one well taken goal in his 5 appearances and I’m sure many players left off this list would like to have accomplished that.
Yuriy(Quote)
How on earth did that useless piece of **** Joselu not get the starring role along with Owen in your team
Danny(Quote)
He doesn’t get in because the real donkey Joelinton is way ahead of him.
georgio(Quote)
Boris struggling with this committee here like. Good luck getting a nation to sign up to your track and trace scheme while Cummings is still in place fella ??♂️
Sharpy17(Quote)
That’s a fine floppy 11 and manager there. Owen could play and he could score but he was such a pain in the **** in every other way. Schteve was terrible as manager but I think JokeInEar was at least as bad to say nothing of Johnny C., the Carver Man turned Spa owner. Worst forward ever? Clearly the Xisco Kid. He wasn’t a friend of mine…..
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I’d have to put a good word in for Remy Cabella as well. We didn’t see enough of him to judge properly. Our horrible managers sometimes cloud the issue so that it’s not possible to determine who the really horrible players were. What a problem to have! 😳
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Hoser Loo definitely deserves a seat on the bench on this list! We could probably put a side of one goal scorers out there! Hoser had at least two I think.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
We need to distinguish between old players who were starting to lose their skills and young players who just didn’t have any skills. Now your Xisco Kid was definitely young and useless whereas your Owen was skilled but getting older and even more injury prone. Two entirely different categories there I would think. As for managers we’ve had terrible managers and even worse managers and two brilliant ones in this century. Sir Bobby and wor Rafa. Then we have the rest. The dross really. Parsnip managed a fifth and for that he should get credit but everything else was drivel and drool.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I still say wor Joe would be a fine CB. Give it a try Mr. Brucie!!! Harrumph….
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Excellent comment Yurih by the way. That’s what I’m talking aboot. How can we tell if a player is poor if the horrible manager couldn’t recognize talent if it fell on top of him?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Yep, pretty sad line up really, Marcelino was just a joke really as was Xisco at£60 k a week, still shaking my head over that one. Owen.
Hopefully we get taken over and some better decisions are made around recruitment .
kimtoon(Quote)
I hope things get better soon over there. Whatever else you hear you must be aware that your covid deaths per capita are some of the worst in the world. We’re approaching 7,000 deaths now with about 40% of your population! Britain has over 37,000 deaths mainly thanks to Boris not going to his covid meetings early on and then taking action. To quote him “bad news is boring and I don’t do boring.” Sack that creep in the next election.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Actually it’s even worse than that! Canada has 70% of the UK population, not 40% so correcting for population size the UK has 3.7 times as many covid deaths. Horrific and totally avoidable if Johnson had acted early. Your numbers are even worse per capita than the US! The 4 worst leaders in the world for covid are Putin, Trump, Johnson, and Bolsonaro. Think about that. Four populists (well 3 populists and a scumbag dictator) who are completely incompetent. Remove these fools and criminals from office.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Who do we play first when the matches re-start? Just a couple of games on June 17th is it? I hope it goes well and they can control virus spread. Crazy summer of footy. And when would the new season start? Surely not mid August?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Sheff utd
kimtoon(Quote)
Watching Trumpy absolutely ripping China a new one! Good on him. It’s about time someone stood up to the Chinese. They’re an absolute menace. Also good to see that the UK have extended the possibility of visas from 300,000 Hong Kong citizens to 3,000,000.
China need reeled in and imo it can only be done commercially/economically.
Stuart79(Quote)
Agree for once . 😯
kimtoon(Quote)
The news is a scary f@cking watch at the moment like!!.
As if this virus **** isn’t enjoy, you’ve got Hong Kong and America getting torn apart!!.
Riots throughout America and Trump is picking a fight with Twitter FFS!!.
The investigation is on Saudi Arabia, but look at watch China and America are doing man … and all the while Vlad and Kim are sat watching, thinking ‘how the f@ck do we top this ****’ ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
On a positive, I am absolutely buzzing the PL is back!!!.
I was meant to be flying to Mexico mid June and just got confirmation yesterday morning that it’s cancelled (it came as no surprise obviously). It’s not Mexico, but PL footy will fill some of my time off in at least.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Aye, can’t wait mate, just hope we get a quick couple of wins to know we are safe.
The America riots are very bad, having watched the video of that guys murder ( for that’s what it was ) i can understand the anger mind.
kimtoon(Quote)
Test
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I don’t think Joelinton is as bad a player as Steve Bruce has made him look. He has been asked to play as a hold up centre forward with 2 centre halfs on him all of the time and anybody to lay it off to 20 yards away from him. His pass completion percentage is not that bad given this.
He can probably play in a Richarlison/Adama Traore role but Bruce had Gayle and Carrol injured and looked at Joe and thought – he’s a big lad he can play the Rondon role.
I think he will turn out to be better than he has looked so far. Much better, but still not worth 40 mil 🙁
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Paul Merson’s Giant Balloon Heed has said once again that Steve Bruce deserves to carry on as NUFC manager and is even saying Poch would get us relegated if we kept the same squad (which we wouldnt). Is there a bigger indication that Brucie should be sacked on the day that the takeover is announced than that he continues to receive Merse’s endorsement?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, I think Joes arrival is very fishy, it’s an awful lot of money and totally goes against jabbas usual model of buy cheap sell big. Who told him Joe was worth all that ?, Rafa warned him he was good but not 40 million good .
I agree he would likely make a good wing back/ winger, always looks comfortable defending, more comfortable than up front anyhow.
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, you still got riots in Chicago ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Weren’t any riots Kimtoon. 200 protesters last night. Chicago is a massively divided city. All of the gun violence and gang activity you see reported is on the South and West side. I dont see any of it because I live on the North side and the gangs stay in their territories. I have never even seen a bar fight after 30 years.
There are plenty of places I wont/dont go. I know where a middle aged white dude would not feel safe.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: NUFC released the accounts yesterday. It showed this years transfer activity and by the numbers it appears that Joelinton really did cost a **** load of money. Minimum 35 mil. I never believed the number that was quoted but I do now.
The accounts also show we had a built in profit of about 35 million before COVID. And that commercial revenue has been criminally neglected. It could be doubled or tripled in the 1st year of a takeover even in a recession.
Stavely and Co can spend a lot of money immediately and not run afoul of FFP.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
My guess is that new owners could put in 150 million this transfer window and not worry at all about FFP. The transfer market will be depressed no matter what numbers the papers quote. We have an opportunity to immediately jump into the top 6 by getting in 5 or 6 high quality players. I am serious. It is not pie in the sky to think we can get Cavani on a free and Coutinho on loan because their clubs dont want to pay their wages. Not with Bruce as manager though. That will be the key.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Brilliant news about Nissan too wasn’t it…? Shocked me I must say. I thought that was the first place to be closed after Brexit. Oh well… I suppose we can expect lots of journalists reporting this news and admitting they got it wrong… Then again.
I see the media are wheeling out one, yes just one, professor who’s in the SAGE group who thinks the restrictions are being lifted too early. Doesn’t that say everything about our media? Negativity is their oxygen.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu, great news about Nissan i agree.
The sage scientist are made up of many types of scientist, economic, modelers, epidemiologist, virologist, all sorts. There are bound to be differences of opinion and in a democratic society that’s how it should be. The fact that one is urging caution is hardly surprising and rightly should be heard considering we are still only just under the governments own level 4 marker, a marker that they have suddenly stopped showing at daily briefings .
I see they are already having problems with track and trace too.
kimtoon(Quote)
Stu, you really should fire off that memo to all the press outlets reminding them that only positive and non anti tory news has to be printed.
After all, we wouldn’t want the truth getting in the way of a good story/agenda would we.
kimtoon(Quote)
Stuart: they are lifting some restrictions in Chicago as well. In the same haphazard but desperate way they set them up. The Governor has been doing TV updates every day for 2 months and digging himself into the same hole that Trump is in. He is stopping that now. Best shut up and keep people guessing that you are a fool as opposed to getting on TV every day and proving that you are a fool (take mind Boris).
I am not really sure how more mismanaged this could have been so I have no faith in how they will deal with it from now on. How is that for negativity 🙂 At least we have Dominic Cummings to blindly follow as he shows us the road to Damascus (or Bernard Castle).
And who is this Gove guy? He looks like a Thunderbirds nerd puppet.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BTW: the Gov of Illinois is a Democrat and has fcked this up in about as equal measure as Trump, Boris and Cummings.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stuart: were you for or against Brexit?
I was totally against Brexit and I am not surprised what a pigs ear the authors of it are making of everything now. How about Boris installs Nigel Farage as Minister of Infectious Diseases? Would be appropriate as Nige is himself a disease on the country, humanity and the world.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m starting to wonder whether the threat of relegation is the thing that’s holding the takeover up and that it won’t happen until the threat has disappeared. Just a thought.
georgio(Quote)
BJ says the country should move on from Cummings. Move on? From the person who helped author the CV-19 rules and then knowingly endangered his colleagues at No. 10 by going there when he thought he might be infected. When he drove on roads to test his eyesight FFS, endangering everybody on the same roads – pedestrians and drivers! Move on from Cummings, flouncy Boris!
And he admitted it to the assembled press. Straight from the horses (asses) mouth. What more evidence do you need to fire him Boris? Or does he have “evidence” on you?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, I think he has stuff on more than just Boris. 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Cummings is not to be trusted at any level. To test my eyesight is fit for driving I took my wife and child with me too. Total and absolute idiocy and just plain lying. Sure Boris, the country needs judgement like that.
georgio(Quote)
That thought had crossed my mind too , but i think it’s still with the PL and they are taking their time legally with it so nothing can come back on them.
I’m 50-50 on whether it gets passed now, depends if any clear connection to piracy can be made to the prince in this WTO new document .
It seems clear now that Beins agenda is not just piracy but fear of SA outbidding them for broadcasting rights. Forget human rights, Qatar are hardly moral guardians on that score, though i wouldn’t put it passed them to be funding Khassogi’s fiancee legal fees and cause.
kimtoon(Quote)
Georgio, what worries me is the little lies he told so easily, what whoppers has gone before them ?
I call him Demonic cummings now, there is something proper sinister behind those eyes, mark my words.
kimtoon(Quote)
What worries me is that it his wife’s company behind the track and trace app so that he has access to all NHS data as a private individual.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Yep, saw that too.
kimtoon(Quote)
This Cummings thing has nothing to do with Tory or Labour, Brexit or remain. This is solely down to the honesty and integrity of the person that is running our Country.
This is a man who sacked his chancellor because he didn’t like his advisor. As far as I’m concerned, Johnson should be held to account by the standards he himself sets.
Cummings himself has shown his colours. He’s the PMs advisor – there to do the best job for Boris. His actions has seen Johnson’s approval rates go from +19 to -1 in just 4 days!! – AND HE STILL REFUSES TO QUIT!!. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!.
Boris is blinded by his loyalty and whilst loyalty is an honourable trait – it’s misplaced loyalty. He won an election process. The majority of this Country put their faith in him – trusted him to put their interests first. Every poll I have seen, the vast majority of the nation believes that Cummings should be gone – yet Boris wants to sweep this under the carpet. This may die down – but it won’t go away. His Tory colleagues know that, and they know how much damage it’s doing – and it will be lasting damage.
I think Hancock, Raab and Rishi have been very good throughout all of this. They have restored a little bit of my faith in politicians.
But I am no fan of Boris – that has nothing to do with political views at all. He has nailed his colours to Cummings – let’s see how it plays out.
Sharpy17(Quote)
What’s that mate???
Sharpy17(Quote)
I agree we should hear about their view. But it might also help to hear about the majority of the scientist who believe this is the right time and right speed. Why is this one single scientist getting all the exposure?
Stuart79(Quote)
Voted for Brexit, Eric. As the myths perpetrated by project fear are kyboshed one by one we see the reality. Even more so after this heath and even more so economic crisis being out of the EU will be a benefit to us. We will need to nimble with regulations and inventive with tax and tariffs in order to get our economy back on track. Impossible if you’re a member of the EU. The likes of Italy, Spain and Portugal are in a doom loop which will drag the rest down. Deflation is on the horizon in the Eurozone and that really is not a good place to be.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart, mate. I think you are a Tory appeaser. They could put a sock puppet up there with a blue rosette and you would defend them. You haven’t said if you think Cummings should go? He is unelected and easy to fire if the PM wants it. A lot his of party’s own ELECTED MPs seem to want it. Only the Cabinet who are cow-towing to Boris and Gove seem to be sticking to the wrongheaded script.
They are all corrupt (both sides of the Atlantic) as far as I can see apart from maybe Obama. Blindly defending them along party lines makes me think less of you. I think you are very smart having read your views on here (though I disagree with many of them) and met you but you cannot be blind to this Trumpian trope that is going on – they are doing the ignore, change the subject, attack the press, divide and conquer – to excuse their own fck ups.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The thing that amazes me is that Boris was in intensive care with CV-19 and then Cummings admitted that at the very least he thought a member of his family may have been infected and had symptoms before going back to Downing Street and putting them in jeopardy. You would think that someone (Boris) who had been on a respirator due to CV-19 would know how stupid that was.
Cummings admitted all this and more in a press conference. How stupid can he be. He had days to write the script as well. Genius? He has been found out! EMPEROR’s NEW CLOTHES.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stu – I think it’s a fair balance really. You have the scientists stood next to the politicians on a daily basis saying were we are and how we progress with caution. This is just one (though sky news has an article with 3) saying he believes it’s a bit too quick. He’s not saying we should stay in lockdown forever and in fact he even says that people will continue to die if we just keep doing what we are doing now.
Part of the problem though, and the reason these people come out is because the government don’t really offer an explanation. ‘Why ease the rules before your test track and trace is full established?’.
Boris couldn’t even answer the question why do we observe 2mt distancing when everyone else is 1-1.5mts.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – you know absolutely nothing about the reasons for Brexit , or UK politics.
It took a long 5 days for Starmer to comment on the Cummings affair and then he got hammered on Kinnock and the other labour MPs who broke the lockdown rules. The media immediately ended their witch hunt on Cummings and there was not one mention of him in the daily coronavirus briefing yesterday when in previous days he had been included in every single question asked at those briefings.
Poor Mr Starmer will be furious with his advisors as he will now get ‘hypocrite’ thrown at him throughout his leadership of the Labour party.
Like I told Kim at the start of this it was not about Cummings flouting lockdown rules it was all about the desperate remoaners and Brexit.
sidekick(Quote)
Sidekick – it has nothing to do with Labour or Brexit. Why are you fine with Cummings breaching rules he set and why are you fine with Boris standing by his advisor.
Put politics aside. Do you think Cummings done nothing wrong and do you think Boris is right to stick by him?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
OK Mate, that’ll be why the conservative’s own MP’s are turning on Demonic then, right oh.
kimtoon(Quote)
Oh and the Labour mp’s did not draft the lockdown rules and then fail to follow them .
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, for your reference I voted for Labour before David Cameron came along so anything but a dyed in the wool Tory.
On Cummins I don’t believe he should have been sacked. Anymore than Stephen Kinnock or Ian Blackford should have been sacked for doing exactly the same but without the health of their children as the reason. In fact in Kinnocks case it was a birthday… ? Blackford might as well have done the Lands End to John O Groats trip. ?
I feel we have more important things to be doing with our time than concentrate on Cummins – especially the people who run the country. It’s also clear he didn’t break the law. Although supposed neutral BBC presenters say he did.
As for the politicians, Eric, they’ve never been any different. There is an anti media feeling going around and that’s entrenched in many politicians and indeed the general population. Trump is what he is. He’s a buffoon and a bully but he was democratically elected so he has to be respected for the office he holds and the people he represents. But it’s odd that the press have been at him every single day with so many stories and not one of them have been proven with evidence which would be chargeable. That’s a blight on the media I’m afraid and shows an agenda. I also feel there is an agenda in this country too. Most of the mainstream media, certainly tv media are left wing liberals and regularly let their mask slip. Yet it comes across more and more when they actual do their job in the media on what is suppose to be neutral presenting jobs. More and more of the presenters these days seem to think they’re employed to give opinion when actually they’re employed to ask questions and read the news.
Sad but they’re writing their own death warrants. They’ll blame everyone else when it comes crashing down. The left usually do.
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy – Boris shouldn’t have to answer about the 2m rule. Sir Patrick Vallance has said repeatedly in the press and also in Select Committee meetings why we have 2m.
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy , I suspect your hero is Piers Morgan , he likes a straight answer , so my answer to your questions are Yes and Yes.
sidekick(Quote)
Sorry, Kim but what does that matter? Should laws only apply to those who make them?
For the record as I have recently said, none of them should be sacked or be forced to resign. It’s a stupid response to rather ridiculous minor misdemeanours.
I hear the argument that people will say “well if it’s good enough for Cummins it’s good enough for me”. Well that makes that person utterly stupid. In fact irresponsible. What Cummins did has highlighted more than ever what you can and can’t do. Anybody not understanding them and using Cummins as an excuse are actually just idiots who need just one excuse.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – it was the select committee that asked Boris. Why shouldn’t he if he’s asked?. Surely he should know the reasons behind the basic instructions FFS?!. He’s the prime minister asking people to adhere to the instruction. When people ask why? do you think it’s acceptable for his answer to be ‘coz he said so’.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I don’t get why people well Kinnock did it – as if that’s some kind of justification or validation – it’s not. They should all be punished – but as the Tories and in office, they should be setting the example.
As the elected representatives of this country, they should all be setting the example.
Sharpy17(Quote)
How thick are these people that they get the answer off the governments chief scientist but then decide ask the PM (Who isn’t qualified to give the answer) the same? question?
Why do you think they did that?
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy – if we fired everybody in politics for not leading by example we’d probably only be left with Theresa May on her own.
Stuart79(Quote)
Sidekick – I can’t stand Morgan and have said that many a time on here. I think the bloke is an idiot and is bad both for journalism and balanced arguments. I appreciate your directness in your honesty though.
As you can probably get from my posts – I think you’re wrong.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – do you not think he should know???. Nobody is asking him to provide a detailed scientific answer, just an informed reasoning.
You have been one who has rightly argued the need to get back to normal ASAP to avoid lasting damage – if the distancing could be halved, that could make that process considerably easier.
If he doesn’t even know why we are double the distance of other Countries, how does he move things along in the most effective way?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu, serious question, would you do a 60 mile round car trip to test your eyesight ? and do you feel it was right for him to insult the British peoples intelligence with that fairy tale / sorry account.
Also the vast majority of press in this country is right wing, to say it’s full of lefties is nonsense .
kimtoon(Quote)
That would be preferable to these idiots, Stuart. I’d prefer a dog to Boris and Dom. 1 dog.
georgio(Quote)
I come from a different angle. They ask him because they want him to make a mistake. They know the answer yet still ask. Petty and pathetic imo.
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy , I did not want to bring politics over on to this thread so I put a footnote on the previous one .
Go back and have a read.
Then tell me it isn’t about the desperate remoaners.
sidekick(Quote)
Stu – so we let them keep getting away with it? We shouldn’t want or expect accountability from our politicians? Where does that line get drawn then?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – regardless the angle. Do you not think he should know the answer?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I will take his word on it, Kim, because there’s no evidence to the contrary. Maybe’s and “he’s a liar” don’t really count as evidence.
You think Emily Maitliss, Laura Kuensberg, Adam Bolton, Kay Burley, Andrew Marr, Tom Bradbury, Susanna Reid and Robert Peston are right wing? Jesus, you should read up on politics, Kim – you have it the wrong way round!
Stuart79(Quote)
Problem is, Sharpy – I think the moral and legal bar is so low for politicians these days that we would literally just have robots if we sacked every one for a slight indiscretion. I would prefer my politicians to be human and yes they will make mistakes but unless it’s gargantuan and seriously has a negative impact on the country sacking them is ridiculous.
A good example was Keith Vaz. Married for 30 years with two children. He decided he would call himself Jim the washing machine repair man and invite two Romanian rent boys to his flat for not very safe sex and then buy some cocaine for them and then decided to make the excuse that they were painters and decorators working at 11pm. Makes Cummins reason for Barnard Castle look positively gold plated.
There are moral and legal indiscretions in Vaz’s actions yet he kept his job. Personally I think buying cocaine for anyone is probably a sackable offence if you’re a MP.
It proves why politics is a cess pit. The same Labour MP’s calling for Cummins’ head said nothing about Vaz.
Hypocrisy really does **** me off!
Stuart79(Quote)
Laura went out of her way to discredit Corbyn pre election as did Burley and Marr.
Susanna Reid just goes along with Morgan who incidentally voted Boris.
You didn’t answer my question, would you drive a 6o mile round trip to test your eyesight with your wife and kids in the car ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Sidekick – I don’t need to mate. I myself voted Brexit and I think Cummings should be sacked or quit – so whilst there may be some who have the agenda you believe, I’m also aware that there are those that don’t. There are others, like me, that expect our politicians and their advisor conduct themselves in the right and proper way. They should not take their privileged positions for granted and they should not insult our intelligence with tales of testing their eye sight.
You may or may not have seen that I reserved my opinion on Cummings when others immediately came out calling for his sacking – I didn’t.
I didn’t have an issue with him driving to Durham for childcare if he and his wife were ill. But when I heard his rationale for his drive to Barnard Castle – you have to call BS on that mate. If he said, yeah we went but I regret if now, it was a stupid thing to do – I’d have had more respect for his honesty.
But to come out with that story and stick to it – it’s just insulting mate. How can he be trusted, and Boris takes advice off this man and sticks by him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – I accept politicians are human beings and will make mistakes. I’m not calling for them to be sacked on a slight indiscretion – but they should certainly be held accountable.
Of course Vaz should have been sacked. Buying drugs for other people isn’t just a sackable offence, it’s a criminal offence.
We need to raise this bar though by holding people to account and demanding action – because these people are above the rules they set for us to operate in and that’s wrong.
Cummings is not an elected politician and yet was given the opportunity to come out and example. If he came out, held his hands up and said he was wrong, then fair enough – the ramifications of his actions are minimal – he p!ssed some people off. No laws were broken and nobody died – anyone suggesting otherwise is just wrong.
But coming out with this eye testing tale and maintaining he was in the right. That makes him untrustworthy imo, and that is something we should be demanding of our politicians mate.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Personally I wouldn’t no. But that doesn’t make any difference. Many people will have done things over the last couple of months that I wouldn’t have done either. I’m not the moral judge here. The police haven’t taken any action and the best they could offer was more “maybes”.
But to be honest, Kim, you seem rather fixated on Cummins. That’s kind of my whole point.
Stuart79(Quote)