[Football] Newcastle fans and YouTuber support Saudi, confront protesters

[Horses Arse]

Hardly any of that is true.

He didn't sack Keegan, Keegan resigned and successfully sued for constructive dismissal.
Ashley put nothing into the training ground, academy, stadium for 14 years. Allowing them all to fall into disrepair. He arbitrarily changed the name of the stadium to promote his sportswear shop, he plastered the stadium in tacky adverts for the same. He paid Newcastle United nothing for the until the final season where he paid the princely sum of £1m.

He consistently cut costs throughout the club failing to employ a professional backroom team, relying instead on one man (Lee Charnley) to do the job of dozens. He was successfully sued by Jonas Gutierrez for disability discrimination. He falsely accused fans of making threats on his life. He consistently lied to fans, managers, players, and press. He treated ex-managers, ex-players appallingly, was petty and vindictive (refusing to allow a statue of Shearer to be placed on club grounds and changing the name of the bar from Shearer's to Nine). He gave jobs to mates who had no proven ability for the roles like Wise and Llambias, hadn't done anything in top flight football for years like Keegan, Kinnear, Pardew, and ousted managers who did well and were well liked by the fans; Hughton, Benitez. As I've said he turned a team who for the 14yrs prior had regularly been playing Europe, into one regularly flirting with relegation. A club existing solely to exist, no interest in chasing cups, or striving to be the best it could be, just an entity existing to exist.

I remember the game against Wolves in October 2021, just before the takeover, it was probably the least I've cared about a Newcastle game in my life. A soulless, joyless, emptiness. It wasn't just the defeat or the manner of it, I just didn't care. If we went down we might win some more games but who cares, if we stay up we'll end up in another relegation fight so who cares? What's the point? Nobody at the club wants us to do more, Bruce admitted his remit was to keep us "ticking over". That's not what football is about. It's about striving to be the very best you can be, and Newcastle United could be better than relegation fodder. Even under Ashley we could have been better, employ the right people, trust them to do the job of meeting long term goals. Bloom does it, Benham is doing it, and starting with a much smaller budget than we had. It was Ashley's ego, Ashley parsimony, Ashley's arrogance and incompetence that turned a club from a joyful roller coaster ride, into traffic jammed Mondeo with a knackered stereo. 10,000 people felt the same, and got off the ride.

Our fans wanted change and were keen on takeovers from a group lead by Peter Kenyon, the Orleggi group from Mexico, Henry Mauriss from America, a Saudi individual Sheikh Khaled, and so on. The Athletic ran a poorly worded poll, which detractors have taken liberties with. They asked "Are you in favour of the Saudi takeover", and of course all but a minority voted yes. Now, had the survey asked "Are you in favour of a takeover?" You would have had the same results. Had they asked "Would you rather be owned by the Saudi state, the Orleggi Group, a Group lead by Peter Kenyon or Mike Ashley?" you would have seen far fewer Saudi votes and a more accurate reflection of reality. But you didn't, because clickbait.

How difficult that must have been for you. Awful. I really don't know how you got through it. Thoughts and prayers etc

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

I refer you to what the late great Sir Bobby Robson once said;
What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.

It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up the stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him, and without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.

.

"It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging" - But ignoring the feeling of belonging for huge parts of society caused by the people you are paying money to.
"the pride in your city". - Pride? Ironic.
"It’s a small boy clambering up the stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand" - I suppose you only need one hand for that.
"and without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love." - As long as you fall in love with the right people




So with all that in mind, why didn't you guys just go along when Ashley was in charge and just enjoy being NUFC fans and not complain about the owners at all, seeing as that isn't what matters?......hang on.......it can't be because you weren't doing so well would it?

This is brilliant. Your best line yet.

So effectively you are telling us that the Newcastle fans actually ARE against the ownership, but that (for now) the excitement of your shiny new Brazilian / Italian baubles (after those dismal Ashley years of only signing ONE £40m superstar each season) compel you to put your disgust to one side.

But that once you've all settled down and reached a level of entitlement / complacency about your new standing higher up the food chain, THEN you'll all start protesting against these hideous scum?

Great work

"Howay Dave. How are you?"
"*sigh*. Yeah I'm alright Dazza"
"Haddaway man. You seem right down like"
"Aye. You know how we've just won our 7th Champions league in a row right"
"Howay man! How can I forget like!?"
"Well......I am starting to now wonder whether the saudi's are the right people to run this club. Like, killing gay people and people who criticise the government and the continuous suppressing women feels.....i don't know.....wrong somehow"
"Wow. Good point. I'd never thought of that before but you're right. The moment Jude Bellingham slotted in our 9th against Al-Ettifaq in the Eurosaudi Champions League Final, I did start to think something wasn't right"

 

[The Fish]

So to summarise Newcastle fans are ok with Saudi ownership because it isn’t Mike Ashley? Is that what it boils down to?

Close, Newcastle fans are delighted to see the back of Mike Ashley. Fans are conflicted about the new owners.

 

[The Fish]

This is brilliant. Your best line yet.

So effectively you are telling us that the Newcastle fans actually ARE against the ownership, but that (for now) the excitement of your shiny new Brazilian / Italian baubles (after those dismal Ashley years of only signing ONE £40m superstar each season) compel you to put your disgust to one side.

But that once you've all settled down and reached a level of entitlement / complacency about your new standing higher up the food chain, THEN you'll all start protesting against these hideous scum?

Great work

Fancy listing all those £40m supserstar signings a season? Shouldn't be hard, that's only 14 seasons. I'll even get you started with Joelinton, so only 13 players to list now.

 

[jackalbion]

I imagine the person he quoted on this tweet is really cool, good looking as well.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Fancy listing all those £40m supserstar signings a season? Shouldn't be hard, that's only 14 seasons. I'll even get you started with Joelinton, so only 13 players to list now.

So no attempt to actually refute the important bit - just the actual figures.

But yes, you're right. In the latter years of the Ashley era, other than the one £40 million Brazilian striker, you actually did have to put up with penny-pinching signings like Willock and Almiron. Point taken.

 

[The Fish]

How difficult that must have been for you. Awful. I really don't know how you got through it. Thoughts and prayers etc

Dunno how many times it needs to be said, but I'm not looking for sympathy, or pity. I'm just explaining that things aren't as black and white as some may think.

 

[The Fish]

So with all that in mind, why didn't you guys just go along when Ashley was in charge and just enjoy being NUFC fans and not complain about the owners at all, seeing as that isn't what matters?......hang on.......it can't be because you weren't doing so well would it?

I mean, this has been covered before, if you care to read back?

 

[The Fish]

So no attempt to actually refute the important bit - just the actual figures.

But yes, you're right. In the latter years of the Ashley era, other than the one £40 million Brazilian striker, you actually did have to put up with penny-pinching signings like Willock and Almiron. Point taken.

How about the rest of tenure? What about the rest of what a club is? Do you measure your happiness or connection to Brighton solely by the players bought? I bet you don't, I bet there's more to it than that.

 

[keaton]

Fancy listing all those £40m supserstar signings a season? Shouldn't be hard, that's only 14 seasons. I'll even get you started with Joelinton, so only 13 players to list now.

It's not exactly refusing to fund the club is it. I'm sure Rafa Benitiz was cheap. Or that year you got promoted with almost three times our budget

 

[hans kraay fan club]

How about the rest of tenure? What about the rest of what a club is? Do you measure your happiness or connection to Brighton solely by the players bought? I bet you don't, I bet there's more to it than that.

Yes, there is. That is kind of the point that the Toon Army seem to be missing when they abandon any concerns over the ownership, in return for yes - players (and league position) bought.

 

[Questions]

I like these threads… I get a lovely warm feeling when I think of the running of my club…
And no I’m not incontinent

 

[The Fish]

It's not exactly refusing to fund the club is it. I'm sure Rafa Benitiz was cheap. Or that year you got promoted with almost three times our budget

Again, the damage Ashley did to our club was over 14 years, not simply the last few seasons before the sale. It's easy to score internet points with though, I guess. "How can Ashley possibly be considered a bad owner when he bought that player for £40m?" How can he be a bad owner when he appointed Benitez?!"

We got promoted with a larger budget, because we sold more than we brought in. We did get promoted, but why were we relegated in the first place?

The minute you start actually looking into his tenure, beyond the surface layer, the more the reality of the situation becomes clear.

And before anyone repeates the same thing, I'm not looking for sympathy, other fanbases have had far, far worse. But everybody's battles are their own.

 

[The Fish]

Yes, there is. That is kind of the point that the Toon Army seem to be missing when they abandon any concerns over the ownership, in return for yes - players (and league position) bought.

Why do you only deal in absolutes? Have you no idea about nuance?

 

[A1X]

Close, Newcastle fans are delighted to see the back of Mike Ashley. Fans are conflicted about the new owners.

Mike Ashley who kept the team in the PL basically every year? Wow what a terrible owner.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

In the end, it's the ownership model that is wrong. Nobody asked the Newcastle fans if they wanted Ashley or not, and nobody asked them if they wanted the Saudis. many did because they wanted Ashley out at any cost, but even if they had it would have made no difference whatever. And, as a matter of fact, nobody asked us whether we wanted Tony Bloom to take over from Dick Knight, although we're probably glad he did.

We can, I suppose, claim some moral high ground for the way we fought to get rid of Archer and Bellotti, and the Knight/Perry regime included us in the battle for Falmer. But although we now have a fan advisory board, we have very little say in what happens at the club.

Not that other models work too well. Socios in Spain get to elect the club president, and often vote for whoever makes the most outlandish promises about signings. German club members have majority voting rights and yet the Bundesliga is dominated by one club. There doesn't seem to be an easy answer out there.

 

[The Fish]

Mike Ashley who kept the team in the PL basically every year? Wow what a terrible owner.

11/14 seasons in Europe before Ashley bought us, 7/14 seasons in the top 7, legitimate title challenges, FA Cup finals. Thousands on the season ticket waiting list.
1/14 seasons in Europe under Ashley, 1 season in the top 7, 2 relegations. No stadium, academy, training investment during his term, constructive dismissal, disability discrimination, 10k season ticket holders walk away. and so on and so on.

Better than some, worse than others. But terrible for us.

 

[A1X]

11/14 seasons in Europe before Ashley bought us, 7/14 seasons in the top 7, legitimate title challenges, FA Cup finals. Thousands on the season ticket waiting list.
1/14 seasons in Europe under Ashley, 1 season in the top 7, 2 relegations. No stadium, academy, training investment during his term, constructive dismissal, disability discrimination, 10k season ticket holders walk away. and so on and so on.

Better than some, worse than others. But terrible for us.

Oh no how terrible for you, having to slum it with us mere mortals. Jeez, the entitlement literally drips off you, doesn’t it?

 

[Tarpon]

That isn't the bottom line, the only way that would be the bottom line is if you deal solely in absolutes. I do not condone, support, encourage or defend the owners from criticism at all. I've repeatedly and loudly stated they shouldn't own any football club. But the players are not the owners, the manager isn't the owners, the club isn't the owners and the fanbase certainly isn't the owners. Their politics do not trickle down, just as our politics will be highly unlikely to trickle up.

You willingly give your money to a Saudi state owned business and want it to be successful. Before buying the club they assessed that you and most others would. I'd have more time for you if you simply owned that fact and stopped trying to somehow justify it through weak appeals to nuance. Sorry but it's just not that complicated, despite any internal conflict you and others may feel.

 

[The Fish]

Oh no how terrible for you, having to slum it with us mere mortals. Jeez, the entitlement literally drips off you, doesn’t it?

It's not entitlement beyond one thing all fans are entitled to. That the custodians of their club do all they can to make that club the best version of itself that it can be during their time in position. Ashley didn't do that. He hobbled my club, left it to rot.