If he was such a money grabber he'd have taken every penny (This season you only let go Debuchy for a decent fee). He allowed the management to reinvest it, albeit poorly from the looks of things so far. The rest of the money goes on running the club (I think I read somewhere, you have one of the largest wage budgets in the league).

I personally don't see why there's any grievance towards Ashley, apart from the fact he's not let that clown go yet.

Pretty much. The club is barely making a profit. And yeah Newcastle wage budget is pretty competitive - I think it's a bit bigger than most of the midtable teams. But still miles of the big teams.

The increased Sky money is often used ie - where has the money gone?, but it will soon be absorbed into higher wages, higher agents fees etc. Same as every other increase in Sky money.

#203084 FIFA 15

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04 Oct 2014 10:16:38

People shouldn't have team like this early on.

People should be grateful to get a Jozy Altidore or Chris Brunt to build their teams around. Bloody FIFA.

#203019 This Is Anfield

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03 Oct 2014 23:17:13

I hope Newcastle are in for Sterling. Although I wouldn't pay over £2m for him.

Would be decent backup for if Barcelona buy Mehdi Abeid.

#202902 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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03 Oct 2014 14:05:40

Ignoring Lacazette, Remy and Welbeck - who didn't want to come.

What realistic striker would you have bought to be 1st choice?

That team isn't good enough for what exactly?

#202571 Champions League 2014/15

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01 Oct 2014 19:29:31

I'm guessing there's no way to watch red button games if you're watching on an Xbox?

#202570 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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01 Oct 2014 19:27:52

By Number 1 | On 01 October 2014 - 16:58 PM

The hook that's got me riled is the shitload of neutral fans on electronic media who think we should be content with 17th or higher, and that we're all deluded optimists that think we should be entitled to top 4 every year. Which is bollocks. I don't expect us to get anywhere near the top 6, which is what made 2011/12 such a surprise but fun campaign, and I'm yet to see a Newcastle fan who thinks that, although I grant you somebody somewhere will think this. Plus Pardew was the moron chatting about challenging for the Champions League in pre-season, and then accusing us of overly high expectations when we began losing.

I can tolerate Ashley wanting to run the club on a sound financial footing, even if I do think we could have bought one or two more players in the summer without breaking the bank, and that he's currently getting the football part of the club wrong. But he has been unwanted and unloved since forcing Keegan out and being found in a court to be habitually lying to fans and press. That's six years of creating a hate figure out of a wealthy recluse who has (largely, although not so much recently) been staying away from games and slimming it all down as an exercise to reverse a negative image out of, and so far, not much has been done.

Last year there was definitely uproar for most of the season despite being in the top 8 for most of the season. - Focus for a lot of fans then suddenly switched to the Cups. And journos and fans were mocking the 'race for eighth'.

And the team of; Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Colo, Santon. Tiote, Sissoko, Cabaye, Remy, Cisse, HBA was viewed as not good enough by a large section of fans, and 'certain to struggle and in a relegation battle.' After having a disaster of a summer where we added a top quality striker and kept all of the stars.

2008 was a disaster. And it is clear that the wrong people were running the club, but Jiminez, Wise, Llambias and Verere are all long gone now, and at least Ashley has put the damage right.

And Newcastle have outlined their 'vision' and strategy to try and get Newcastle up the League and challenging for the CL - Which generally includes scouring Europe for younger players with potential resale value as well as buying in more youth players and more focus on developing youth. And focusing on making the League the priority, (presumably to be a more attractive club to new signings + more revenue).

However in practice it doesn't always work, eg signing MYM on paper is a brilliant piece of business, as a long term replacement for Colo, but unfortunately (or bad scouting) he just wasn't suited to the PL. Likewise Anita and Amalifitano not being good enough. And being unable to secure a top striker.

#202523 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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01 Oct 2014 15:05:06

Ok - I'll bite. I've just read another patronising article about how Newcastle fans are amazing, and just want a modicum of ambition, hope and a hint at a cup run (despite still being in the cup), and how nasty Ashley and Pardew are nastily forcing Newcastle to finish 17th every year in a bid to make money (Despite their being performance related bonuses in everyone's contracts).

How are Newcastle different from every other club who aren't Liverpool/ManCity/Chelsea/ManUtd/Arsenal?

What is it about Ashley that means him not ploughing his personal fortune into the club makes him such an evil owner. Where as Randy Lerner or Ellis Short get a bye?

#202448 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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01 Oct 2014 09:28:42

I want more actual football. - The ball in play more. I wonder how long the ball was actually in play for the second half.

#202290 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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30 Sep 2014 15:41:25

I'm not suggesting a moral high ground. I'm suggesting rule changes. In line with other rule changes that FIFA have made to improve football, ie goalline technology, red cards for professional fouls, outlawing dangerous tackles.

This isn't about Newcastle. It's about football in general. Newcastle v Stoke was two poor quality sides - the game could have at least been entertaining.

#202278 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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30 Sep 2014 14:55:06

Because it's cheating. And timewasting along with diving, and the professional foul should be eradicated as much as possible. And right now I think referees are totally unequipped with teams who time waste in an organised manner.

And teams do to a different extent. Man City and Hull were winning against Newcastle and still played. Stoke, Palace and Villa just didn't. The ball was never in play.

#202243 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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30 Sep 2014 10:19:16

By JL94x4 | On 30 September 2014 - 02:31 AM

You could of just made that post a whole lot shorter by saying the ref should of added on time until Newcastle scored.

They'd be still playing next week.

No. I'm not complaining about the result. It was fair enough.

I'm complaining about the timewasting.

#202134 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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29 Sep 2014 21:10:34

By Crane | On 29 September 2014 - 21:59 PM

Because games would be about twice as long. The average time for the ball being in play for a match is 55 minutes iirc.

If there was no benefit to time wasting, then it would be reduced dramatically. Or reduce the game time slightly.

Stoke had several players go down with knocks, and the ball tended to take 30 seconds a time to be returned. A Stoke player either kicked or dribbled the ball away every time as well.

Football in its current state is just un-equiped to deal with such gamesmanship. A ref is never gonna send someone off for timewasting, or add on the equivalent time wasted. It's absolutely killing football.

#202126 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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29 Sep 2014 20:56:40

Why doesn't the clock stop when the ball goes out of play?

The third game out of 6 that have been absolutely mangled by teams refusing to play football this season.

#202015 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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29 Sep 2014 13:43:40

I think Lukaku has been playing mostly on the right this year, or he a few times at least. I think Martinez likes the idea of him cutting in and exploiting his size advantage. iirc he dominated last year against Arsenal with the tactic.

#201904 NFL Thread

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28 Sep 2014 21:20:39

Eh? How is that possible?

#201813 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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28 Sep 2014 14:38:46

Oliver seemed to lose it and start making strange decisions like booking Chadli and Rose. Didn't make any real bad decisions though.

#201659 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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27 Sep 2014 18:05:01

Something so cringey about the way Arsenal celebrate.

#200831 Capital One Cup 2014/15

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24 Sep 2014 10:12:23

But the League Cup is the only cup that matters.

Or was that just last year?

#200553 Transfer Rumours 2014/15

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23 Sep 2014 10:22:20

Barkley always seems a less good Rooney.

Would have thought Sterling and maybe Ramsey would be the way to go.

#200493 The Night Thread Mk. IX

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22 Sep 2014 22:11:13

Why is Emma Watson speaking to the UN?

Can Rupert Grint speak to NATO?

#200413 Newcastle Thread

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22 Sep 2014 17:56:21

@savepardew is brilliant

#200256 The Night Thread Mk. IX

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21 Sep 2014 20:55:12

Would anyone recommend an NFL newssite/blog that's quite simple for beginners?

#200071 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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21 Sep 2014 12:51:51

His face would have been as red as his shirt as Van Persie hilariously misses an over the shoulder volley. The big Dutch donkey.

#200069 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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21 Sep 2014 12:49:18

Always thought Ulloa looked like a really good player.

#200059 Newcastle Thread

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21 Sep 2014 12:37:37

It's just not clicking with Riviere - and I think he'll benefit from being taken out the firing line, and hopefully return to a better looking side.

#199886 Newcastle Thread

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20 Sep 2014 18:16:21

Yeah, protest was nothing - I got the impression most people were strongly against it,

Only time there was anything significantly negative was when Cisse was brought on for Riviere. Seemed the right sub to me,

#199873 Barclays Premier League 2014/15

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20 Sep 2014 17:59:17

Thank fuck for that. Hull were poor. A defeat would of have been unjust on balance of play. Newcastle's performance was actually quite good for the most part.

#199542 Newcastle Thread

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19 Sep 2014 15:57:20

"We hate cockneys, we do, we hate Cockneys, we do, oh Cockneys we hate you" - I can see why Tony Gale might think Newcastle fans don't like Cockneys.

Not that it's the big issue here.

#199471 Newcastle Thread

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19 Sep 2014 13:15:56

It is true in fairness. - I can see why Tony Gale thinks it. 'We' do always reference London - although I'm guessing other clubs do as well. A minor issue though.

And I really can't see anything other than a 2-0 defeat.