a director of football
being brought in to
work alongside Pardew
after lasts years debacle, the
choice of Mike’s drinking buddy
‘Mad Joe’ was greeted with
disbelief and anger.
Six weeks into the job and
Joe’s signed no one, embarrassed
the whole city with a couple
of ludicrous interviews, had a
holiday (yup, a bloody holiday!!!)
and even had his old mate Mick
Harford turn down the chance to
work alongside him. Things need
to pick up for Joe and they need
to pick up drastically, because be
under no illusions, if the squad is
not sufficiently strengthened by
the time the window closes then
the shit will well are truly hit the
fan both on and off the field.
If all this JFK nonsense wasn’t
bad enough, then came the
potential loss of the clubs one
decent striker. Unbelievably
the Papiss Cisse/Wonga saga
threatened to cause the end of
the Senegalese striker’s spell
on Tyneside. With the player
refusing the wear the Wonga
emblazoned shirt on religious
grounds both parties were at a
stand-off. The funny thing about
this whole issue is that Cisse had
FROM...
44
43
“
THE SALE OF HARDWORKING, UTILITY MAN
PERCH IS A TRANSFER
THAT IS GOING TO
IRRITATE ME FOR YEARS.
no issue with Virgin Money as a
sponsor, and seemed to have no
issue spending time gambling in
Aspers! If he’s angling for a move
and wants off then it’s better for
all parties if he just came out
and said it rather than spending
the summer hiding behind
his supposed moral code and
stringing us all along.
Regardless of the player’s true
motives and desires, the dust
does now seem to have settled
with Papiss backing down,
however this is Newcastle and
anything could still happen. If
Cisse did end up leaving then
we will then need three new
forwards just to be competitive.
Jesus, at the moment Joe can’t
even sign one let alone three! For
now all is quiet, but once again
another potential shit storm
looms at St James.
So on the back of all this, will
Newcastle go into the new season
a stronger unit than they were
last? Well, it certainly doesn’t
look like it. At the moment
we’re three senior players down
thanks to the departures of
Danny Simpson, Steve Harper and
scandalously James Perch.
Whilst all three might not have
been world beaters, all were
reliable, honest, British players
who never let the club down and
worth far more to the team than
their financial value suggests.
Like Graeme Souness’ ridiculous
sale of Aaron Hughes for £1m in
2005, the sale of hard-working,
utility man Perch is a transfer
that is going to irritate me for
years.
So as the new season
approaches at an alarming rate,
there is little doubt on Tyneside
that this summer has been
nothing short of a car crash for
Newcastle. The only saving
grace is that surely it can’t get
much worse and that hopefully
the striking reinforcements will
soon be installed. Hang on, what
am I saying, this is Newcastle,
and Mike Ashley’s Newcastle at
that, of course it can get worse, it
usually does!!
Sadly, the best we as fans can
hope for is that Cisse stays and
that a couple of decent forwards
are signed to help him out before
Mike and Joe lead us all into the
next self-inflicted, embarrassing
farce of the Ashley era. And
people say Newcastle fans are
deluded…...
NUFC FANS UNITED
MINUTES FROM THE LABOUR CLUB, 31ST JULY 2013
INTRODUCTION AND
WELCOME
Steve Hastie gave a brief
introduction, outlining the agenda
which all attendees received copies
of, before introducing Newcastle
United’s Supporter Liaison Officer,
Lee Marshall. Lee began by talking
about some of the things that have
been achieved by the Club working
in partnership with Fans United.
These include the return of the Gates
to St James’ Park and Steve Harper’s
20 Years Charity Match.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
FANS’ FORUM
Lee provided information on the
Fans Forum recently announced by
the club. He stated that much of the
format and views have been shaped
following meeting and talking to
fans and fan groups. The club want
to establish a robust structure for
the forum so that it will stand up to
scrutiny. They have worked to do
this by working in consultation with
the Football Supporters Federation
who have provided feedback and
constructive criticism to the club.
They have also looked at examples
from other clubs where forums are
already operating. The forum will
contain 15 fans. Three of these will
be held permanently by established
fans groups, NUFC Fans United,
Newcastle United Supporters Trust
(NUST) and Newcastle United
Disabled Supporters Association
(NUSDA).
The 12 remaining fan seats are
open to all Newcastle United fans
to apply and they will represent
different segments of the clubs fans
base. These will include season
ticket holders in the Milburn, East,
Gallowgate and Leazes stands, an
Away Season Ticket Holder, A Long
Distance Travel \