Haven' seen it but there's a big thing in Sunday Mirror with headlines saying 'Get help or your out'.

Great, more publicity we don't need. Can't help thinking if the club hadn't sent the players home from spain none of this would have happened.

Anyone seen the article?

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Answers

Now the News of The World - front page. The 'gang of 4' in brothel/lap dancing club til 6am. Very lurid and unearths all the so called 'Toongate' stuff again. Basically a re-run of what Doug and Freddy got up to. (Which was basically getting drunk and watching lap dancers - how shocking!) The main tenet of the story is that it's hypocritical for the club to discipline the players for what the directors have done themselves.

This is just what we don't need. What a bloody club! The team juststarting to make progress and this happens.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Could only happen at NUFC. I really hope this makes the team batten down the hatches and get on with it.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

is it my paranoia or has that so called newspaper the NOTW really got it in for us? It's a bit of a non-story really but just the excuse to re-run the Toongate stuff. I'll wait and see what the club says.

There's a part of me that thinks 'what the hell' it's just more crap from a sleazy tabloid but I hope the lads can keep it together ON the pitch as that's all that matters.

Have NUFC got a PR person? I think I'll send them my CV - I couldn't do a worse job than whoever handles it at the moment!

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Lynda, I'm amusing myself by thinking about what Craig's missus is saying to him:

"You little tw*t, how f.....g dare you leave me at home with two wailing brats when you go off ogling other birds and getting drunk? Well, you won't be getting your maritals here for a while, let me tell you. Take me for bloody granted, you do. Well, no more. I'm going out on the Quayside next week and you can bloddy babysit".

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

I bet he never had this problem at Coventry! I don't think there are many lap dancing clubs down there! I don't suppose Mrs Cort is too thrilled either.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Boys will be boys - especially spoiled, rich ones!

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Has anyone noticed the bizarre details that appear to have been made available to the papers. For example, Alan Shearer begged them to go to the dinner and that the other team members were frantically trying to get in touch with them by mobile. Unless there's a mole, I can't see how the press can possibly know any of this. George Caulkin in the Times quoted one of our players who preferred not to be named which suggests that we do have at least one big-gobbed get but I really hope that the press didn't get this info from another player.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Stupid buggas. Don't they know that a new lap dancing club opened in Toon last week? Didn't need to go to Spain for that type of entertainment. As for the mole, at least we can assume it wasn't LoLo this time. Someone more senior, who is a tad p!$$ed off with the club perchance?

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Can't think of anyone, other than Barton who has any reason to be p****d off and it's frankly hard to imagine Wozza sneaking out in a black catsuit in the middle of the night in search of a secure telephone to call George Caulkin ;)Steve Harper has looked as miserable as sin on recent interviews but I can't see him being vindictive...

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

I still haven't seen the Sunday Mirror's story. Anyone seen it?

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Lynda, it's basically the same as the NOTW only more self-righteous: it goes into the frantic (sic) attempts of various other players to contact them and shows pictures of the establishments in question. More bollix really. Incidentally, it says that Cort has been in trouble before. I may have missed it, but what exactly has Cort done. I don't remember an incident involving him. Also, Lynda, I don't know whether you've seen today's Sun but Farrington would make you sick. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that he wants the NE clubs all dead and buried.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

No I can only get icNewcastle, what is Farrington saying? He is such a self-congratulating tw*t. Not even from the NE I think.

Is the Sunday Mirror suggesting Dyer actually has a drinking problem?

As for Cort - there was something in the tabloids a few months ago about him sleeping with (guess what?) a lap-dancer just before he got married?

God - I don't really care about their bloody sex lives it's just annoying that the club gets all the bad publicity. Interesting to see what NUFC have to say tomorrow or Tuesday. I can't wait until we can get back to football!

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

I reckon part of the trouble is that we're all too close to the problem, which then looms much larger.

I'd be surprised if most people in other parts of the country give a sh1t about the goings on at NUFC.

Not that that's any consolation, mind.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Haven't seen any of these articles, but it sounds hazy enough to be completely made up. Slow news week during the international break, gotta fill column inches. Honestly though, I'd rather hear the lads were watching lapdancers than getting involved in a punch up. As long as they don't touch them, there's no real chance of injury to keep them from playing next week. As for a mole, what about a younger player with no real chance at a first team slot who might be earning kick-backs from selling inside info? Then again, info about players 'frantically' trying to get in touch with the Toon Four could just as easily come from hotel staffers who likely saw and heard it.

I'll just keep dreaming of the day when the Lahdahn press' favorite whipping boys win the premiership and we watch them all gag at the prospect of having to write something nice about us. ;-))

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Lynda, Farrington is slagging the club off for its treatment of this issue. He isn't actually that far wrong IMHO but it's his Holier Tha n Thou tone that sticks in the craw.

Incidentally, you know this story in the People about a Premiership player and two mistresses and the High Court injunction against pub lishing details. Isn't it dead entertaining that the press are getting so self-righteous about protecting freedom of speech and the public's right to know (in fact saying that it's an insult to what those people who died to save the free world who we are remembering this Remembrance Sunday) when in fact they are only concerned that a ban on publishing stories about boobs and bl*w jobs will reduce their revenue by 100%

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

You're right Dougal. I know some people who earn their living as journalists and they would be the first to admit to selling their soul to the devil for a story.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Re Farrington - he is totally ignorant. A few years ago, after Middlesbrough had been relegated, he wrote an article full of absolute tosh about the First Division, in fact he was talking our of his @rse. I wrote to him, pointing out various incorrect FACTS in his article and never even received the courtesy of a reply. Let's face it, if he was any good at his job he wouldn't be writing for a regional rag like the Sunday Sun.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001

Total non-story, but why let that get in the way of headlines?! Non-specific sources 'close to the club / player / telephone' saying the lads had a few beers on a 'club-crawl'. Since when has going to 4 bars been a crawl? As for the salacious titbits, even the strip bar staff said they weren't particularly interested in the girls.

Sounds more like they decided to go on their own tour of the town away from Al's steadying hand, and came back late and a bit pissed. Obviously they must all be sacked / burnt / sold / walked every 4 hours...etc

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2001

even the strip bar staff said they weren't particularly interested in the girls

toon stars turn gay shocka

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2001