How was it for you?

About 5 days after the end of the season the moaning began and quickly rose to a crescendo on here. When will we sign someone? Why don't they do something? Why doesn't the board give YBR any money? The Mag (I never buy it these days because of it's anti-management prejudice) had a front cover of YBR screaming "Give me the money you jerks". Pathetic.

I remember writing on here and recommending patience. Wait and see what happens before season start. I mentioned that the board MIGHT wish transfers to go into the new financial year which began on August 1st. I notice that the day of Robert's signing was - August 1st. I wonder if, just possibly, the whole thing was a done deal with PSG to engineer that date but maybe that is coincidental.

The point is that The Good Shepherd and his evil :-) cronies have spent £16m this close season - our highest ever close season spend according to yesterday's Chronic. And that on top of everyone having cancelled their season ticket!!! Not to mention the club's impending bankruptcy. Oh - and we have continued to hold our prize asset Dyer despite underhand tactics from bigger(!!!???) clubs.

In addition to the signings, the board has been completely vindicated in it's decision to enter the Inter2bob. We have set all time record gates in the 2 fixtures, and notched up FOUR straight wins despite having more than £30m of talent still in the treatment room, against half-decent opposition (although we didn't risk ourselves against the might of Mansfield). This has made the club a little chunk of cash and there is still the potential to turn that into a much larger pile IF we can get beat Troyes and IF we can make decent progress in the UEFA. The four wins have boosted confidence amongst players and fans so from both a playing and money viewpoint we are doing very canny.

Now for the pessimists there is always something to worry about. Sure this great start MIGHT not translate into a great season. Injuries might go against us. The new players MIGHT not deliver. But what the hell - surely we start the season in canny fettle, much better I suspect than several were thinking at the end of last season. The squad looks half-decent with just those 3 additions (It looks as though YBR has done one of those tricks like a matchstick puzzle where you move just 3 matches and change the picture into something completely different.) I think the board cannot be faulted for backing Bobby to the hilt. That's why I'm reasonably content to have a "fan" rather than a "suit" as club chairman. Now it's up to YBR to once gain demonstrate his aquatic perambulations and for the lads to give us something to shout for.

So in the light of these carefully reasoned paragraphs above I think we can be quietly confident of a canny season and could even say THIS IS WOR YEAR!

(Right that's it - I warned you not to let him out - nurse! - hand me that syringe - and the straightjacket please - I've got the keys to the padded cell right here. -Ed)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Answers

Nice one Jonno. Worthy Cup would do for starters.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

There are definitely grounds for cautious optimism. I think position 4 in league win the cup and good run in Europe. One more signing either the lad from Foret or Parhas (whatever happend to him??)

Derek

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Yer a miserable owd git, Jonno ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Jonno, read your posting with interest and have had a few minutes to think it through. I have also mentioned that the 2bob seemed like a worthwhile effort, better than playing Wrexham or a Hong Kong select XI as prep for the so called 'toughest league in the world', even if we don't win it. I am pleased to read your considered thoughts. I, like others, was facing the coming season with increasing despondency, but Robert has gone some way to lifting the clouds, along with a few half impressive performances. I still think it'll be October before they gel, but then that's when Big Al is due back, which will disrupt the pattern of the team for another period.

What I would like to see is a solid nucleus of a team, like dare-I- say-it MUTD, who can change some players around but all fit into the same solid system seamlessly (nifty piece of alliteration there...). What we are used to - through managerial changes and more specifically injuries - is wholesale changes of systems as well as personnel. And we wonder why they don't look like a team.

But I share your view - if not your TIWY prediction!- that it will be a better season than any of us dared hope two months ago. Whatever, we'll still be here, celebrating and complaining hopefully in equal measure.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Nice writing Jonno. As you say I feel much more optimistic now then 2 months back. 4 straight wins with a lot of players injured is very good. It will be very exciting to see who we will sign to the central midfield.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Still too much back and square ball, and the tendency to panic under pressure for my liking, but I'm prepared to take a 'glass half full' outlook on the coming season, for the first few games anyway, rather than my usual 'glass half empty' view.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

PB you remind me of a Peanuts cartoon I read many years ago. Charlie Brown goes up to the girl in the comic strip - dunno her name - and says he's feeling down. She says :- "On a cruise CB some people face their deckchairs facing the front of the ship to see where they're going. Others face their deckchairs to the back of the ship to see where they've been. On the cruise ship of Life Charlie Brown, which way is your deckchair facing?"

Charlie Brown replies mournfully "I don't know, I can never manage to get one open". :-)

BTW PB, as you might imagine, the reason I committed that to memory was that it seemed very apt for me. :-)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Great post Jonno. You could also add that there seems to be a good spirit throughout the whole club. The reserves, in contrast to last season, seem to be not just winning, but winning in style. There's exciting young players coming through the age group teams. It all seems to be coming together and there are grounds for optimis

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Bah Humbug! false optimism will only keep you happy til the season starts....when we're in the bottom 3 after the first 6 games you'll change your tunes!

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Gav, i bet Jonno doesn't change his tune, he backs the club he loves come what may, even if it means backing Shepherd/Hall/Dalglish etc, being bottom of the league would only be a passing phase as we move on to winning the league/cup/uefa treble

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

OK - I'll get off the fence (it's mekkin' me bum sore). IMHO, the decision to enter the InterTotty has been vindicated. I'm not sure the extra "effort" the team has made due to competitive games will take anything more out of them than a useless series of matches against lower division teams. OK, so they would hardly have bust a gut, but in the past, has any pre-season stuff done much good? Not that I can remember. Far too often, Joe Clogger or Harry Hittem has just wanted to make his mark (litterally in many cases). Here, we have a competitive situation with a significant reward at the end of it.

Sure, not everything's rosy, but I believe the decision to enter the Totty was a good one. Full marks to the board for deciding to do it. I wonder what the board down the road are thinking (behind closed doors, irrespective of what they might say in public). We will have increased our revenue from attendances, merchandise, and hopefully more in the UEFA. On top of that, the name Newcastle United has been entered into the record books twice for attendance figures. I guess it might just be a bit difficult to beat the final record unless we can find a few more seats before the 21st.

PS. Aah still think yer a miserable owd git ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

I don't see things being any stronger than they were a year ago. We have more youth, less French, less expreience, same injuries, the only difference is that we've actually spent some money.

All Jonno really needed was some retail therapy to make him feel better

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Jonno - The Mag don't have an anti-management stance: they praised Shepherd on various occasions last season (eg. For telling England where to get off re Bobby etc). If you read it, you'd know that ;) If the Board cock up, they moan: that's the privilege of being a paying supporter. They are a fans' forum, just like this and publish fans' articles - surely you would prefer that to it being some sort of Pravda, NUFC can do no wrong organ? Agree with the rest of what you say,though.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

It's more than retail therapy Macbeth. There seems to be a difference about the club, a better atmosphere. The players in all the teams seem to be enjoying themselves and have faith in themselves. We've won a few, important, games. Winning instills confidence. The Intertoto Cup has been important not just because it's given us a chance to qualify for the UEFA cup but also because the team have learnt how to win.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

The atmosphere this time last year was amazing - we expected a repetition of the previous season's heroics (let's face it, we went on a great run with Bobby when he first joined) plus the new stadium.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Point taken Dougal, but it's the attitude of the players I'm talking about, not the fans. There seems to be much more confidence about them when they are giving interview

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

I agree, Manic, and I think it partly comes from the fact that the lesser players are showing that they aren't completely useless without the "stars". A lot of players are getting a lot of praise from the manager and the fans alike.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

That is somethnig I worry about. The 'lesser' players, Shola being the best example, have proved to be at least as good as the star players they have replaced. (I would argue with any one who sees Cort as better than Shola). Come the return from injury of the stars will their replacements be cast aside with very bruised egos ?

I was so disappointed to see Robert Lee get nearly a whole game on Wednesday. I understand the need to get him fit but even he has admitted he was struggling after about 60 minutes.

A big challenge coming up is the return of Shearer, our ultimate star name. Is he an absolute first name on the team sheet player these days ? I don't think so. If I had to hold up a few targets for the season one would be for Shola to have started 20 games be the end of it. And what of our born again Lua2 ? The freshness that Ameobi and Lua2 have has to be kept in the side. I will be so disappointed if we start any game this season with all of Barton, Dabizas, Speed, Lee and Shearer on the pitch.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

It's interesting to note the "better atmosphere" in the dressing room sans shearer. I am sayin' nowt, just observin'.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

As we are venting our feelings or spleen, can I join in.

Our situation is better than I expected, but still not what I wanted. I wanted to see Barton, Speed and Lee away. A new C/B, Left sided M/F and another central M/F. Well we got the Left M/F. The 3 owd gadys others are still there and we may be looking for other players.

Our wins are meaningless as other pre season games. They are hardly up to the standard we will face in the EPL. What we should be looking at is not 4 wins, but 4 games when we are playing well. Players combining and hitting passes into the area for the player to run onto etc without having to look or wait for them to start their runs.

We are still short of quality and I do not think that TIWY. Manure have spent a fortune to stay top and win more trophys and cash from the spin offs. We have spent less than they have on either of 2 of their new players. Dose of realism here folks.

If we want to challenge for the next couple of years we need the fabled 100million to be spent in 2 seasons.

I have not critisized the board, management or players in the above posting, however tell me where the stocks are and I will go stick my head and arms in them.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Do you think that Shearer will make it back, and if he does how long before he gets another injury? Also, MUFC, Liverpool and Arsenal and others, all have more, and better established, strikers than we do. The managers job is to try and keep them happy. This will certainly be made easier if we qualify for Europe and can put together a decent domestic cup run. If we fail in both of these then I think there will be tr

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Ok Jonno have it your way, a deck chair half full. :-)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Looking at the premiership, during the close season, Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea have strengthened their squad and thus their position much better than Newcastle. Apart from these 3 I think that every other team has either stayed the same or improved slightly. Therefore I think we can progress up the league and make headway on the likes of Liverpool and Leeds. I see a top 6 finish if we are fortunate with injuries etc!!! Which lets face it, has to be coming our way at some point. The premiership is only 2 weeks away on Sunday, cant wait!!! AM

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

It'll all end in tears, bonny lads

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Mag don't have an anti-management stance

I've seen 2 recent front covers - 1 Pictures of Hall and The Good Shepherd with the feebly unfunny - "You are the weakest link - goodbye" and 2 - Robson screaming "Give me the money you jerks". (In the same close season that we've spent the most money ever.)

Now if that's not an anti-management stance I don't know what is. I will not be buying any magazine with rubbish like that on the front cover. The front cover is surely the opinion of the people in charge of producing the thing. Good to hear they've published stuff supporting Shepherd but those front covers surely do not lie about the opinion of the editor.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Mag don't have an anti-management stance

I can only go by what I see and I've seen 2 recent front covers - 1 Pictures of Hall and The Good Shepherd with the feebly unfunny - "You are the weakest link - goodbye" and 2 - Robson screaming "Give me the money you jerks". (In the same close season that we've spent the most money ever.)

"Jerks"? "Weakest Link"? Now if that's not an anti-management stance I don't know what is. I will not be buying any magazine with rubbish like that on the front cover. The front cover is surely the opinion of the people in charge of producing the thing. Good to hear they've published stuff supporting Shepherd but those front covers surely do not lie about the opinion of the editor.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Mag don't have an anti-management stance

I can only go by what I see and I've seen 2 recent front covers - 1 Pictures of Hall and The Good Shepherd with the feebly unfunny - "You are the weakest link - goodbye" and 2 - Robson screaming "Give me the money you jerks". (In the same close season that we've spent the most money ever.)

"Jerks"? "Weakest Link"? Now if that's not an anti-management stance I don't know what is. I will not be buying any magazine with rubbish like that on the front cover. The front cover is surely the opinion of the people in charge of producing the thing. Good to hear they've published stuff supporting Shepherd but those front covers surely do not lie about the opinion of the editor and whilst they are entitled to their opinion I'm entitled to exercise my consumer sovereignty and I won't buy it.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

NOW - DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF.

Sorry about that - dunno what happened. Only pressed the button once!

:-)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Premature articulation again Jonno. Tut tut.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Jonno - both were said in jest and Shepherd evidently knows as much as he routinely does interviews with them each season. Besides which, the Board aren't beyond criticism.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Err...em...errr...Marcellino!?!?!?!? -phoenix

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

I agree there's more reason to be optimistic than we had at the end of the season. We haven't really made any spectacular signings(though hopefully Robert will be as special as has been suggested), but I honestly wasn't expecting any. Nor do I expect we're going to win everything (anything??) in sight this season. But I do think we have the potential to do better than the last few. At least a top 10 finish, and better still qualify for the UEFA Cup properly. We're finally doing what we need to do....building a team.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

quaffing an ale with the lads downunder on Friday lunchtime the concensus was that we need to win something, anything to my mind. So the interTOTTY is worthwhile and like jonno hope TIWY

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Ah Phoenix - good to hear from you. Well I'm pleased you've fingered the Marcellino issue - there's good news there too. The latest medical bulletin on this subject informs us that his split ends have now been repaired (although, worryingly, any recurrence would be career threatening) and the ingrown toenail trimmed. All that remains to be cleared up is a niggling chest hair sprain and a midgee bite which should clear up in a matter of just a few months....

I knew SOMEBODY would find a fly in the ointment. :-)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

I'm very heartened by the attitude and the four wins. These teams may not have been top EPL standard but they are the same sort of teams we routinely screwed up against last season. We raised our game for some of the top sides but looked clueless and uncompetetive aginst the middle and lower order.

The feeling coming across is that the rest of the squad have woken up and realised that they can play a bit. I'm really looking forward to seeing O'Brien come back as he was classy last season and Carl Cort's incomprehensible scoring record wouldn't go amiss. Nice to see those pens turned into goals as well: need to work on gravity defiance in a few cases.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

I agree with Jonno, the anti-board attitude of fans, most ill informed, is annoying and wrong. The board has been very fair with Bobby, explained the financial situation and as soon as was possible, gave him a sizable transer kitty. The rest now is down to Bobby. I would say to Jonno that if you do read the inside of the Mag you will see the odd article from me that backs the board & critisises INUSA, SOS and the leach that was Kevin Miles. The only time the Mag didn't run an article was (convieniently) in the middle of the SOS court thingy when I laid into the moaning minnies (apparantly I missed the deadline).

If you want to even things up, pen an article to Mark, he'll print it and send you a free copy til eternity.

As for TIWY, I'll be happy with a serious effort at staying in the top 6. We need another bit of quality in centre midfield, Lee Clark for me. We also need a quality striker - it's time to think of life sans Shearer.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

the Board aren't beyond criticism.

That kind of comment irritates me as it it no way addresses what I said, but in addition, implies something I have never said. It implies that I think otherwise and nothing could be further from the truth. I challenge anyone to point out where I have said the board is beyond criticism. I was critical of them myself over the handling of the SOS issue.

The 2 things I drew your attention to are NOT criticism they are abuse.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Jonno - It's probably the fact that you admit to not buying the Mag to check out its contents but call its alleged anti-management stance "pathetic" on the basis of two covers you saw that leads me to think that you won't brook any criticism of the board. Maybe had you read their views and those of their contributors you'd have agreed that the criticism is valid - maybe they think that the board needs to give Bobby more money (in the light of two very wealthy clubs like Fulham and Blackburn getting promoted, maybe they are right). Is their opinion on this matter any less valid than anyone else's? Remember they are ST holders, too, and in the case of the editor, haven't missed a game for about twenty years.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

DlF, that's exactly the point I'm making - if Jonno wants to write an article about all the positives, I am almost certain that Mark would publish it.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Ps, Jonno: regarding the covers being abusive, I think they were irreverent more than anything else. Remember YBR called the fan who criticised Shearer, Barton, Lee and Speed a "jerk".

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Agree with you on everything else, though..

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

At the time those Mags were produced the board had been saying they wouldn't be spending money as they were waiting for the Uefa decision on transfers. Against this the likes of Leeds were investing in players, not taking the same approach.

It may have been prudent of the board to do this. It may be that Leeds board was less prudent. Leeds though played in the CL semi final and finished 4th in the Premiership. We didn't. The feeling at the time (not with the clarity of hindsight) was that Leeds were investing whereas our board was not. Bobby Robson up to this last week or so was in profit on transfer dealings. He understood the financial situation and worked within those limitations.

If he we have invested our season ticket money for two years and seen Robson having to sell off players then there has to be a sense of frustration at where the money is going. The pleas on the front of The Mag echo these feelings.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

My bet is that Hall and TGS will ALWAYS give the manager as much backing as is financialy prudent, and probably usually want to go beyond that. A club with a huge mortgage debt, and very low share price could ill afford to have gambled that the transfer system might be changed.

YBR calling a fan a "jerk" does NOT justify the Mag! (Where does this logic come from?) It means that YBR was out of order as well.

I criticised The Mag for it's covers thus I don't NEED to read it's content because I wasn't criticising it's content. The cover of a magazine is all important in tempting you to buy. The cover shows the editorial opinion.

If I saw a copy of The Guardian with a front page headline "Big Brother winner shags East Enders star" I can be critical without buying the paper or examining it's content. I would never buy any newspaper with that type of headline.

The attack (for such it unquestionably was) was misplaced and they were PROVEN wrong by the biggest close season spend in our history. Will there be a front cover apology or thanks to the board? I don't think so. (Unless you and Mac and others try now to engineer this!) The number of games the editor goes to is irrelevant.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Jonno, you should know about judging books by their covers. For all you know, the Mag may have been taking the p*ss out of the NOTW. They weren't as it happens but you aren't in a position to know that since you didn't read the Mags in question. All I'm glad about is that we have an open, democratic fanazine that expresses the views of all of its fans. I rthings.epeat: Shepherd grants interviews with the Mag every year so he evidentally sees the humour in these Regarding money, Jonno, this may be a record spend for close season but we're also way off the sort of money that Man Utd have spent. Regardless of what DH may say, we aren't in the same ballpark; people wouldn't be baying for big spends if there was any honesty coming out of the club: on one hand, we are wealthy enough to buy Rivaldo (if so, why have we made two only buys in the summer?), on the other, we are being told we have to wait for the transfer thing to be settled (in which case, why have we pulled out 16 million now?). I think you're right - to the extent that they can, the board supports the managers. However, they make a rod for their backs by making contradictory pronouncements on the subject of money. Finally, pet, you may not agree with what The Mag says, but I imagine you'd defend to the death their right to say it.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Jonno, I think the fact that Mark is an ST-holder and has attended every match for such a long period of time makes him uniquely well- placed to comment on such things - he'll remember the previous regime, and in fact still maintains that we are still better off than we were but could do better in the board stakes.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Back in the days of Jim Smith as manager I wished to post an article in The Mag saying I thought the team, the manager, the board were as bad as they'd ever been. Up until Dalglish I never disliked a manager more than Jim Smith and his miserable excuses.

Mark wouldn't have it, and for the only time ever, as far as I know, he published a riposte to an article on the opposite page. He defended the manager and the players, (not sure about the board as they were pretty indefensible, although I'd guess not to Jonno !!!). Mark Jensen loves Newcastle just as much as any of us and all the articles in The Mag come from supporters. Mark has no particular agenda, he has an editorial comment but essentially the articles are from fans. Just as on this bbs there will be people who have opinions at the opposite end of the spectrum from others ("Keegan was a disaster" for example) then so does The Mag.

A thread on here is entitled "Sunderland bid £25m for Dyer". Does the person who wrote that have an agenda to push Dyer away from the club ? Another is "Queen Mum Gawd bless her" is this another pro- monarchy rag ? You really need to look at what's inside to find the content. Bobby wrote the second one and expressed a severe dislike, not obvious form the 'headline'.

Maybe The Mag reflects the views of questioning fans and Jonno you're closer to the board being a major shareholder yourself and you therefore sympathise more with the board than the average fan. (joke)

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Ian you're right to say the Mag reflects the views of the fan but I think it should be more balanced as it is more informed. When the letters page is full of moans about a new kit, cost of tickets, no action on the transfer front, The Mag should add some intelligent comment i.e offer some possible reasons as to why the club try to raise cash etc rather than joining in with the business bad, old days of 2/1d to stand on a piss soaked terrace good argument. Some readers are gullible remember, just read the Sunday Sun.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

not sure about the board as they were pretty indefensible, although I'd guess not to Jonno

Don't guess. For the record I ALWAYS attacked the board pre Sir John Hall from a letter I wrote to The Pink in 1965 through to the day SJH took over when I rejoiced. They were a bunch of blind idiots unable to see the potential of a club with such vast and fervent support. "We will never pay £1m for a footballer - we cannot compete with Liverpool and Man Utd" (Stan Seymour). It is little wonder that we underperformed for 30+ years.

I'm sure the board is not perfect and there may well be people who could run this club better than the present incumbents. I don't know who they are and they aren't making any visible effort to come forward, so I give my qualified support to what we have, as they are, substantially, the people put in place by SJH and worked with him to produce the best era I've seen in my 39 years as a fan.

It is also not true that I always support every employee of the club. I wanted Dalglish out from midway through his full season and expressed as much with some vehemence. I can forgive losing, I cannot forgive not playing (we saw the most dire football) and then not saying sorry.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2001

Which Big Brother contestant and which East Ender jonno?

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001