Toon Toon going Doon!

[dimi]

No they are still deluded, too good to go down, well if you defend like that, you get what you deserve.

[Rico78]

Who said "they are too to go down"?

I've heard a few pundits, but I haven't heard a fellow Newcastle fan say that in about 3 seasons!

[Arginald Valleywater]

Rico, I rest my case. Got tortured at driving range last night by the owner, a fanatic who took all of 15 seconds to say "when Shee-ra takes over we will crush Man Utd and win yada yada yada", Arsenal were shit and we were the better team etc etc. Must be a massive branch of Specsavers just outside St James Park that does a huge trade in rose tinted glasses.
Living in Carlisle, where we don't play good football anymore, I have to suffer shedloads of faux Geordies who have yet to discover Newcastle's new sponsor "Whitbread No Trophies Bitter". Believe me they are pure purgatory.

[Rico78]

These people aren't "real" Newcastle fans, the same as the thousands of Manu fans from Gillingham, or the Liverpool fans from Cornwall.

And the "crush man united.." speach muct have been said with his tongue firmly in his cheek!

Real Newcastle fans are facing relegation in the face, due to the most unept management of the club in it's history (and that's saying something), and these sort of comments (unless in a tongue in cheek) in a Newcastle pub coule see you end up in A&E.

You really don't like the Newcastle fans in Carlisle do you, but it's on the other coast of England, I don't count them as Newcastle fans (unless they go regularly to St James Park)

And apart from saying we have "50,000 idiots" I think its admirable that we can get that many to watch some of the dire football again this season.

[nikonman]

In the long run it could be a good thing for them to down providing they get back up the following season.
It would give them chance to rebuild and get into a winning mentality again. If so the gates would not drop off as most fans will always support a winning team.

Take Leicester City who went down from the Championship last season and now sit way clear at the top of League 1. Their gates are as high as ever, and the supporters get to see a winning team most weeks.

[Lizard]

I can understand some of the negative and positive comments here, the facts are though, St James park is a fantastic stadium, and one of the few left that hasn't moved to the middle of nowhere, it's bang in the city, also they could fill the stadium every week, Newcastle is a city that is proud of it's football club, sadly I think the fans are being exploited for thier loyalty.
The people that run NU know they have a massive fan base, but they need to invest big time in new players, and put some big money back in, at least when the Halls were running it they spent money, now it's just a richmans toy-and it's broken.
I personaly dont think they will go down, I think they have the extra resources to just about nick it, but next season, they should find a new owner, get rid of some of the journymen who just want a fat paycheck, install a good manager, and rebuild, there was a time when most people could name just about all of the first team, now who knows, apart from Owen, who seems permanantly injured. Corruption and exploitation have been rife at Newcastle, until that ends they will always be on the brink.
I should point out I am not a NU fan whatsoever, but have ties in the area, and to see the city on a home match day is pretty awe inspiring. No club is too big to go down, and it might be that relegation would be a good thing for them, but things wont improve until they address the management problem and put some of the fans hard earned back into the club.

[JamesW]

Your post is very contradictory Lizard.

You lay most of the blame at the ownership of the club and state that a new owner is needed. You also state that it would be a good thing if Newcastle went down.

The problem is that if Newcastle are relegated it will make it incredibly harder to find another owner.

[Arginald Valleywater]

The Newcastle fan I was getting earache off on Monday night was born in Jesmond and has a season ticket. He still deludes himself into thinking they are a mega club. His idea of glory days was Keegan's first reign when the team blew the league and won as much as Hartlepool or Blythe Spartans.

Newcastle have invested I believe close to ?300million on players to win precisely fuck all. That would buy the entire Man U first eleven today.
Two years ago one of the largest accountancy (I think Ernst and Young)companies produced a long term business assessment for prospective investors. Their conclusion was run like hell, they are not and never have been a genuine going concern. 50+ seasons of no domestic or genuine Euro success doesn't make good reading.
I agree S J P is a great stadium with a great atmosphere but in reality the ground itself makes money, from corporate entertainment and conferences and the team lose it by the million.
Your biggest fear is Ashley takes his money out, cuts his losses and you get someone like Ken Bates taking over.
At present the fastest moving object in the universe is a quasar; if you drop it will be Michael Owen's car blasting down the A1 towards his home in Wales....

[Lizard]

Yes! it does seem a tad that way James, I was trying to say...I do believe St james park is a great stadium.
I also believe the present owner is wrong for that particular club, I believe it needs new investment from a financial group or would benefit from joint or even corporate ownership, ie-: not just one person.
My point about them going down, and why it might be a good thing, was that, should that happen, the club would be cheaper for a team of investors to take over, and put in place a sound financial structure.
I dont believe bringing back 'wor kev' or installing Shearer as the manager would work at all, thats one of the problems with NU, they always seem to think 'It's a geordie thing' lets get some geordies to fix it, and it never works.
As I said I am not a NU fan, I just happen to love the city, it's vibrant and full of...er, Geordies! I think the club owners have always had the mentality that 50,000 will turn up week in week out, and they probably would, but I am not sure for how long anymore, there are only so many striped shirts you can sell.
I can understand why fans say things like "it's a big club" and we are too big to go down etc, because it is a big club, with an amazingly loyal fan base. A bit like Man City, and when you have that kind of fan base week in week out, like it or not, that is a big club.