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Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution
It would be safe to say every football fan up and down has discussed the 'future of football'. In my own experience, this has generally being a moan about what the Premier League has become; fans are feeling like mugs. It's been building for a while, probably since Murdoch, through BSkyB, decided that there was huge money to be made back in the early 90s. It wasn't so bad; Sky bought us a feast of football into our homes and pubs and we have all enjoyed the improved standards that the money generated has allowed. But then came Abramovich...
Yep it started with him, and it seems the rest of the world's disgustingly rich and morally corrupt (they go hand-in-hand) have followed. Owning a EPL football team really is a must in the portfolio of these greedy individuals, but the people to fund this game by paying to enter the stadiums, paying to watch at home, paying to wear the shirt, and being exposed to as much advertising as possible, have grown increasingly bemused. I sense a change this past week; bemusement has become anger and the focal point for this right now is St James Park.
There is talk of a boycott of the home game against Hull, and though I am miles away in London, it really feels like something is happening up there. There is real anger at the money-men and it is now possible to imagine that at next week's home game St James' might have a attendence of below 20,000. I'd like to think a lot those 20,000 will walk in and realise it is almost like a picket-line and walk straight back out! It really could be an amazing sight.
I really don't think Ashley will have the stomach for it after that - he will sell up within weeks. The fans will have won... and other fans up and down the country will see what financial power they really have. I could see it happening at Liverpool next; with DIC waiting in the wings, a massive withdrawl of cash by not attending just a single home game will make Hicks and Gillett wonder if LFC really is the cash cow they thought it was, and if they sell, DIC will know who they need to appease. I have already paid for my tickets for the Stoke game (yes, yes..I live in London, but get over yourselves; this is something far more important) but I will happily drive up just to stand outside the ground until 5pm and then drive home again becasue that is the anger I feel. And it wouldn't be just a protest at Hicks and Gillett but at football as a whole.
Is a Premier League revolution about to happen? It's in the hands of the Geordies. If you are reading, please do not attend the Hull game; it might just be the start of something beautiful.
Chris, West London, and feeling particularily anarchic this Friday morn.
...I've got a soft spot for Newcastle, I studied there years ago, but I don't think anyone can doubt that their football club are a laughing stock at the moment. However, here is how the Toon fans can win back a bit of respect, at the very least my respect but I suspect that of many others too:
Stick to your guns and boycott the Hull game.
If that stadium is empty a week on Saturday you will have done yourselves proud and the only laughing stock will be Ashley (one of the lads my arse). What's more you will have instantly gained more credibility than most football fans would've done, as staying away takes balls.
However, what I suspect will happen is that a lot of you will turn up anyway, especially those with season tickets - it's a lot of money to waste, £40 isn't it? Ashley can then smile smugly to himself knowing that he can do whatever he likes and you idiots won't do anything about it.
Colin Brown
Quitter
Forgive me for getting biblical here, but as Newcastle fan, we reap what we sow. All the Toon fans calling for Ashleys head, did you want King Kev appointed manager? Yes? Well you got what you wanted. And now he has screwed us again.
I love Kev, I really do, he shows passion, pride and is inspirational to footballers (and is looney-bonkers). However, he is not an inspiration to you, the people. He saw the reaction (dimwits outside of St James with their mams bedsheets with mis-spelt slogans) and what did he do? Did he say I will stay and fight, these are my people, I will make it work, I will drive Newcastle to the upper echelon's of the premiership for the Geordies and the glory? No, he resigned making sure it looked like the board made him do it. I am sad it has come to this, but what happens if we employ a new manager and we make it into europe this year and then the Champions League next year (cue all other football fans having a rectal prolapse due to excessive laughing). I know the last bit is slighlty far fectched, but as a money paying fan, thats how I want to see the world of football, I am optimistic.
Fair enough, once upon a time, King Kev ruled us like a philospher-king, but when was the last time we reallt battered anyone? Played flowing, attacking, dare I say, entertaining football (I would under Uncle Bobby)? Those days are gone, the King is dead, long live the King. And by the way, this is football, it is a game, for fun and that. Fair enough we Geordies are a bit louder and brasher than most football fans, but they all hurt as much as we do and they all share the joy of football, as we do. We are not special.
You do not own the club, buying a replica shirt means that you paid money for a replica shirt, which is exactly what you got, you don't get share in the club as well. So wind your necks in and give your head a shake, as no doubt, your mams are telling you to do right now.
Nacho man-I am going to be a scab at the Hull game
Glad The Toon Are A Shambles
Having lived in the north-east I have seen first hand how huge this club is in terms of fanbase and popularity. In the 80's and 90's when there were numorous issues in the boardroom it was not unusual for BBC Look North to dedicate the whole half hour news bulletin to the club.
Am I the only person who thinks a lot of these issues stem back to 2004 when Sir Bobby was sacked? At the time I thought this was a huge mistake as he had lead them to three consecutive top five finishes. Ok he made a few iffy purchases (Bramble for one), but on the whole this man lived and breathed the club. In addition he is one of the most successful English managers of all time yet received no support from the board, the players or the fans towards the end of his tenure.
Personally I'm glad this club is a shambles. The fans called for Robson's head on 606 when they didn't have the best start to the 0405 season. Not once do you ever hear a rational soundbite from a Geordie fan and for the whole club to turn on Robson in the fashion they did is shameful. He must be watching all this and be heartbroken although it was probably a blessing he got out when he did.
As for Keegan he followed his heart and Jon Nic's piece was spot on. Sadly the game is following the path of directors and chairmen making all the decisions and characters like Keegan and Robson belong in a bygone age where team affairs were handled by themselves.
As for all the talk of boycotts you know there will still be forty odd thousand turning up to watch Hull, I just hope the odious double act of Ashley and Wise are there to witness the vitriol they ultimately deserve for treating a decent footballing man with the clubs best interests at heart with such disdain. Just remember this isn't the first time the club has treated a manager with such values in this way.
Peter McPhail-Brown
Sensible Geordies
I felt I had to write in regarding a letter in this morning's mailbox from Chris Bradley because, admittedly, I tend to give Newcastle fans a bit of stick, however after reading that letter this morning I felt compelled to respond.
If Chris Bradley is indeed a real Newcastle fan and not just taking the p*ss, then I have to say, he is the most sensible (not a word associated with Geordies usually) Newcastle fan I've ever encountered. And hats off to him for his truth telling abilities. If only they could all be like him, perhaps they wouldn't have this reputation as being "the joke of football" (not my words, the words of Chris Bradley). And perhaps if they were more like Mr Bradley, I wouldn't be able to hear the mob that's round the corner from my office, singing and chanting in the rain at the walls of St James Park.
David Glen
Hate Wise Too
Joey Barton must surely be the most hated person in football at the moment, and it's clear why that's the case, but what I don't understand is why Dennis Wise isn't equally hated.
He has done similarly evil things, possibly even worse. People seem to forget that he was not only convicted of assaulting a taxi-driver and given a three-month prison sentence (which was overturned on appeal because that was in the days when famous didn't go to jail), but that he also broke the jaw and nose of team-mate Callum Davidson.
Sure, Wise isn't particularly liked, but he's certainly not a figure of hatred in the way Barton is. Why is this? Is it because he's a cheeky cockerny scamp? Or just that people have forgotten about what he did? Whatever the reason, I urge everyone to be fair with their hatred and spread it equally amongst all those deserving of it.
Adonis Stevenson, London
And McKay
Is Willie Mckay (Joey Barton's agent) almost as odious as his client Joey Barton. How can the man seriously, and presumably with a straight face, suggest that Barton should be allowed to run red lights because when being followed by a car, "What is the guy meant to do? He doesn't know who is in the car, does he?". I would have thought that the fact that the car had a fella leaning out of an open window holding a Papparazzo sized SLR digital camera would give away the fact that they are gentlemen of the press.
He then goes on to say that Barton is "Rehabillitated" after his time in prison? (hold on a second while I stop laughing)...... And that the FA should presumably say, "oh well you've done your time, don't do it again.." Wtf? How stupid is that, the fact is he was jailed for an assault on a member of the public, the FA hearing is for an attack he made on a teammate (and not the first time this has happened). Can I just point out to McKay "It's a different case you twat".
And then he has the cheek to say that the press behaving badly, "hound him in his block of flats (for a newspaper story).... This would never happen in America" What? Is he talking about the same America where the paparrazi take up skirt pictures of Paris Hilton's shaven cooch every other day and the biggest selling tabloid (the National Enquirer) is an even bigger comic than the Sun or News of the World.
Mckay, please just f**k off, you're an even bigger c**t than your client.
Derick Yates
We Don't Know
Why is Gordon Taylor such a prick?
Kind regards
Paul Coleman
..."Taylor admits Barton has had his fair share of chances but believes the player should be given an incentive to improve his behaviour."
I have not attacked anyone recently (or ever in fact). Can I have some money ?.
Matthew Walker. Rochdale.
...I have just heard that professional space-waster Gordon Taylow is asking the FA to be lenient on Joey Barton...pardon my language but why the f*** should they?!
If I attack a fellow employee in my office with a stapler (something I have debated doing a few times) I will be shown the door by my employers. Why should it be any different for him?
Ok, he was sentenced by the police which is normally enough in the normal world, but it was imposed while already doing bird for another assault charge! How is this punishment?! He hasn't actually suffered as a result of the Dabo incident. He was shipped off to another club where he continues to get a hefty pay-packet and performance bonuses and drive to and from SJP in his shiney new chavwagon...if I knew I could live like this after attacking someone I'd be swinging around a baseball bat 24/7.
"Taylor admits Barton has had his fair share of chances but believes the player should be given an incentive to improve his behaviour." Surely his incentive is staying out of prison and keep living his cosy little life! "It is a difficult one when you are trying to get justice right in any sphere of life," Dabo deserves justice! Not this little scumbag who repeatidly breaks the law (not just the laws of the game) injures innocent people and keeps getting away with it! "Taylor expects the FA to throw the book at Barton" and so they should! Throw it in his face repeatidly!!
"There is no Kevin Keegan to speak for him"...that's probably a good thing
John (throw the book at Gordon Taylor too!) Essex
Despicable Carra
I almost can't believe what I have been reading in the snippets that have been published of Jamie Carragher's book but in the light of it I think a couple of things need to be clarified.
1) The reason he didn't get many caps was because his attitude clearly stinks.
2) Following the precedent of Vinnie Jones and his infamous "soccer Hard Men" video, shouldn't Carragher be charged with bringing the game into disrepute?
Just a though
Paul (can't belive he agrees with Stan Collymore) Davies
Chanting
Following on from Jeff Sims Bosingwa chant, I once heard a South American commentator come up with a song for Fat Frank to the tune of 'Missing You' by the Stones: "Do-do-do-doodle-oo, do-do-do-doodle-oo, Frankie Lampard". I would like to hear Chelsea fans singing that one.
Also, I would like to hear Everton fans chanting this one in the next derby, to the tune of Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants: "Tim Cahill, Tim Cahill, Liverpool are nothing to be scared of...(repeat ad nauseam)"
Elvis (I made up the 2nd one myself) Minogue
Theory Continued
Charlie Tuna may be onto something with his long-term breeding plans.
But why stop at English left-sided players if you really want to improve the English game in 18 years from now.
Why not have Blatter create a rule that English club teams can play as many foreingers in a team as possible (well not more that 11 at one time actually) provided that these foreign stars cop off with exclusively English birds and settle down here after retirement to coach the little kiddies into the future stars of tommorrow.
In 20 years time the Petr Cech/ Louise Redknapp offspring would kick the ball out to the midfield where it is headed on by the Mascherano/ Sheree Murphy love-child midfielder, falls to the (often rumoured but never confirmed) Ronaldo/ Cheryl Tweedy little winking winger who runs down the line and puts in a cross for the eldest striker in the Fernando Torres/ Abbey Clancy brood.
Be much better than the usual s**te people watch when England play.
Dessie, Belfast
