have been no player interviews with the Ronny or Journal since the Charlton debacle. I wonder whether this is a fatwa by NUFC players? Also, in Saturday's Ronnie, there was a pic of the lads training and not one of them was looking at the camera, looking almost studiously away. Just wondered, like. SuperMac says that the players are gutted at the stuff the papers spouted.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Answers

And we all know who's to blame for fuelling the Ronnie gill, don't we Dougal?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Er, whoever suggested that the club was sending them on holiday and it was costing the club 100, 000K. Your website? Ken's website? Neither of which were all that flattering as I recall. Who knows?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Sorry, Rik, but your commentary wasn't very flattering and has a very wide target audience.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Sorry Dougal, I don't want to fall out over this but while my match report from the Charlton match was somewhat scathing....in which I suggested that they might think better of going to Spain, that was my one criticism of the jolly to La Manga.

All other reference to the trip were written from the understanding point of view that it was all pre-arranged long before that match that it couldn't be cancelled and that to cancel it would destroy moral even more than it was already. In fact to the best of my knowledge I was the FIRST to report the plans FOUR WEEKS before they went!

If you took the trouble to go back through almost all of the stuff I have written on the site, you will see that up until the CAFC match, and since then the City game, both reports of which are scathing, EVERYTHING else has in the main been PRO the club.

I support the lads 100% of the way, but I do reserve the right to criticise them if I think it is required, and on those two matches it was JUSTIFIED!

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Calm down, calm down: be as critical as you like about them, I don;t mind. I was talking about the Ronnie - which may use sources such as your website and Rik's for guaging general reaction. You can't just blame the people who wrote to the Ronnie, any more than you can blame Niall and Biffa or the people phoning the Three Legends, the 20,000 who left the ground by 4.40 on Saturday or those who remained to boo - all of this fuels the Ronnie. What I was asking is whether the Ronnie has offended the lads.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

ps. Did I say that you were the one criticising the holiday? No. If you had troubled to read my posting properly...

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Dunno about the ronnie gill offending offending the players but you've offended me. I never write anything bad against Newcastle United, Always 100% behind them.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Ciara and Dougal ganging up on you.....

Clean yer cookies or people won't know what you're slavering on about woman....

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

What did you say about the performance, Rik? It was hardly "well done lads", was it? Neither was my letter.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

I said, "Man City outplayed Newcastle on this occasion, the poor lads did their best but it just wasn't good enough, Still there's always next week, keep the faith"

Or words to that effect

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

I was talking about the Charlton game, Rik. Anyway, as I keep saying, all sorts of sources passed negative comment about the game, including this very BBS and the Ronnie will have used them all to establish the Toon Zeitgeist but you seem to be blaming the people who wrote letters to the Ronnie rather than the Ronnie for faxing these letters to the players, publishing them twice in one week as well as putting out stuff about the holiday in La Manga etc.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Actually I was just joking Dougal, you get upset very easily

mind you , if you write the letters, then you're to blame. As for me, I can wriggle out of it by deleting something a few days later on. If you send negative comments to the press, sure they are gonna publish them, ans you can't retract that letter can you?

Question .... Will you or others continue to fuel the Ronnie Gill or other publishers, after we get beaten 4 - 0 on Saturday?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Doog, I think Rik made a flippant comment which i saw as humour (believe me you have to try hard with rikbury where humpur is concerned! :-) You're a splendid person dougal and i value everything you say - very entertaining. Todays paper is tommorrows chip wrapper. Anyway it won't do anyone any harm to hear a few home truths. Do not worry!

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Maybe the players are learning what most celebs already know....if you're offended easily, don't read press about yourself. And don't believe everything you read. The press are always going to write whatever they think will sell the most papers/mags/etc. If people seem ready to have a big moan about the club, they're all too ready to cater to it.

There's no way the players can entirely avoid any negative commentary, it's a part of life in the public eye. Lack of press interviews may not even be anything to do with the players themselves. Bobby may have banned them for the time being until the hysteria calms down.

I would think(hope?) that anything faxed to La Manga was given to a member of the team staff(Coach or Team Admin) for vetting before distribution to the players. I really doubt the players read everything, or anything for that matter, that may have been sent.

Are the players really avoiding looking at cameras, or did the Ronnie just choose to print a photo that looked that way? I'm sure most of my training photos show not a single player looking at my camera. Which is fine. If they're concentrating on their training, they shouldn't be posing for pictures.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

I think everyone's just giving up their season tickets...

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

If the players are angered by what they read in the papers then I for one am delighted. I'm still f^$Ģing angry about their performance poncing about at Charlton. I haven't seen the Man C game so I'm only angry at that result.

They aren't kids and they should be bollocked for not doing their jobs. If I perfomed like they do I'd be out on my ear.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Well if 'everyone' gives up their ST's, then it's a good opportunity for those of us planning to keep ours to try to all get seated together. If the club won't give us a singing section, we'll start our own! I'm happy enough to move to the Gallowgate end if I can get an equivalent or better seat. Much closer to the Strawbeery! :-)

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Spot on Geordie - I criticised them after Charlton game because after all they were utterly pathetic and deserved it. I said they shouldn't go to La Manga, because if I'd been BR I would have cancelled it, no question.
I wasn't quite so critical after the Man City because I've concluded they did their best. The stark reality is the squad isn't good enough to be representing NUFC.
If they don't like reading such criticism, then tough titties. Perhaps they should grow up and behave like men.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Geordie

I saw the Man City game IMO it was on a par with Charton. Not as bad as the Arse away. Now that was bad.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Nice one Heeds....

IMHO....Man City was bad, Charlton was worse and Arse was fucking disgraceful.....I should probably stop going since I seem to have this effect on the team....

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001