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We’ll Meet Them On The Beaches!

22/6/2018

In 10 days time Newcastle United’s first team squad report back to Darsley Park for pre season training; the start of what could prove to be a defining season for the club; supporters and manager Rafa Benitez. On the back of a remarkable 10th place finish last season Rafa will be looking to move the club forward; build on last seasons successes, freshen up the squad and add those pieces of magic dust that move teams from mid table to challenging on more than just the premier league survival front.

However; news has reached us that the club are nowhere near to adding to the squad before the new training kit is laid out. Indeed, if the word is correct, there has been no activity whatsoever on the incoming transfer front and nor is there likely to be before the playing squad’s holidays are over and they’ve swapped the swimming pools of Vegas with the joys of an inevitable rainy Benton.

In normal times this would not seem an outward concern; after all, we are currently one week into the World Cup Russia2018 and the eyes of the football world are focused on Moscow, St Petersburg and all points east of river Volga. However, utterances of zero transfer activity and no likelihood of that situation changing any time soon tells us that these are not normal times and, lets face it, Newcastle United is not a normal club!

Why do we say that? Because it is our understanding that Rafa has yet to even meet with the club to discuss transfer activity or any budget that the club will make available to allow deals to happen.

The lack of any cohesive coming together regarding transfer policy with pre season training only days away does leave us believing that the club is engaging in a serious dereliction of its duty towards Rafa Benitez, his hard working backroom team, and the supporters.

Last season Rafa, his staff, the players, and the supporters all stepped up to the plate, galvanizing the club and producing memorable moments both on and off the pitch during what was the clubs 125th year as the North East’s premier and number one football club. Now is the time for the club hierarchy to do the same; starting by treating Rafa with the respect he deserves and supporters demand.

The question is, does the club and its owner hold the same torch of ambition to see the project develop?

On Safe Standing

16/4/2018

All seater stadiums were introduced following the Taylor report, conducted immediately after the tragedy of Hillsborough some 29 years ago and had more to do with the government’s distain of football fans than the dilapidated stadiums that supporters frequented throughout Britain or any desire to make the experience of watching sporting events safer. If the latter really were the case, then all seater stadiums would be a universal requirement for all major sports in the UK; be it Football, Rugby (league and union), NFL, hockey, or a myriad of other outdoor venue sports. But No; football and only football was targeted.

The introduction of safe standing areas at football grounds in England and Wales is something that football supporters across the country have been advocating for a number of years and this desire has gained universal support. The development of rail seating as a safe and measured response to supporters desire to choose to stand and watch a game of football is seen as a measured, safe and sensible method of meeting this response while keeping safety as the paramount most important facet of the match day experience. The comments by the sports Minister Tracey Crouch when she stated that the calls for its introduction were coming from a “vocal minority” therefore come somewhat as a surprise. Not only is Crouch wrong, but her assessment that persistent standing at football grounds should be punished, shows how detached this politician is from the real world; the world of football in general and the concept of safe standing in particular.

The majority of football supporters understand the concept of rail seating as a viable and safe method that introduces safe standing to our grounds and the pilot programme at Celtic FC has witnessed nothing to the detriment of its introduction.

That is why football supporters need to stand together and let Tracey Crouch know how vocal the “vocal minority” really is. Please take the time to sign the petition here.

Click here or more information on Rail Seating and safe standing.

Newcastle United Auxiliaries

27/2/2018

CALLING ALL SENIOR TOON FANS

Senior Newcastle United fans who can't make the match these days but who want to hear front-line reports about their favourite team are invited to attend a new informal gathering when Toon Army journalist legend John Gibson will speak.

The event, provisionally called Newcastle United Auxiliaries, will be held at Tyneside Irish Cultural Centre in Stowell Street (China Town) on Monday, March 12, from 12.30pm until 2pm.

Organiser Les Robson from Cramlington, explained: "Newcastle United both on and off the field is always a passionate topic of conversation. Many older people want to talk about what's going on but, unfortunately, are isolated at home.

"I know former season ticket holders who can't make games now for a number of reasons such as their physical frailties, the cost, the weather and even their dislike of the current regime, although they still love their club.

"The initial event follows the crucial Southampton home match with only eight weeks and eight games left until the end of a torrid season, so there will be plenty to talk about."

Les, 60, who has followed Newcastle United since 1965 but gave up his season ticket after last year's Championship winning season, continued: "The Auxiliaries is a means to bring people together for an informal discussion once a week.

"It will be an ad hoc meeting aimed at senior fans of both sexes where they can have a chat and a cuppa."

Les added: " Obviously we'd love people of all ages to attend. If younger fans could bring along their parents or anyone interested that would be brilliant.

"The only thing we'd stipulate is people have respect for everyone's opinions and we'll not tolerate racism”.

"Gibbo has agreed to do the first meeting. He'll talk for ten minutes and then there will be questions and, hopefully, a lively discussion."

John Gibson, a multi-award winning journalist who has covered Newcastle for the past 52 years, said: "It's a fantastic idea. I can't wait to hear the crack. Many of these supporters will have started attending matches in the 1930s and 40s and will have a wealth of folk knowledge about our club."

Les hopes the inaugural event at the Irish Centre will attract people from Tyneside and beyond so that season ticket holders will host a weekly meeting in their local area next season.

For further details contact Les on 07805496518

Speculate To Accumulate

18/1/2018

Putting aside talk of takeovers, Newcastle United is at a crossroads. At a time when the rewards for simply being a member of the Premier League are moving beyond the current financial stratosphere in which it operates, Mike Ashley needs to act and act quickly to protect his investment.

Having parked all talks of a sale Ashley needs to honour the commitment he made back in October 2017; show his faith in Rafa Benitez and invest in the squad in what remains of the January transfer window. And when we say invest, we don’t simply mean handing over a minimal amount of money to support loan signings that leave the club simply treading water. We mean release the necessary funds that bring quality signings and show a desire for success that Rafa wants to fulfill.

In doing so he also needs to re-evaluate the existing transfer policy that rolls together fees and salaries into the amount made available and adopt a more flexible policy that doesn’t leave the club at a disadvantage. After all, with long term planning no longer part of his thinking, he doesn’t need to concern himself too much with where the club will be in 5 years time!

Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way

16/1/2018

It’s the middle of January 2018. The transfer window shuts in fifteen days time, Newcastle United have signed precisely zero players and Mike Ashley still owns the Club - despite there being at least one genuine bidder with the means to buy it, and Mr Ashley’s apparent willingness to sell.

So what’s going on?

Here’s what we do know, in mid August Mike Ashley gave an exclusive to his besties at Sky Sports where he admitted he couldn’t (or was unwilling to) back Rafa Benitez in the transfer window and as a result the club was up for sale.

His exact words were,

“I must make it crystal clear that I am not wealthy enough in football now to compete with the likes of Man City etcetera, not just Man City. It's basically a wealthy individual taking on the equivalent of a country. I cannot, and will not. That's why, if someone would like to come along, take this seat and fund Newcastle with a nought on the end with more wealth than me, I will not stand in Newcastle's way.”

In the subsequent months a bidder that fits his own criteria has come to the fore, but he is doing exactly what he said he wouldn’t do - he is standing in Newcastle’s way.

On 1st October 2017, Amanda Staveley appeared at St James’ Park and after a couple of weeks it became apparent that she was interested in leading a bid to buy Newcastle United Football Club. Then (probably in response to rumours) Mike Ashley got his thoughts out in front of us all - again using his favourite media outlet Sky Sports - this is what Keith Downie reported on 16th October:

And yet here we are on 16th January 2018 - a full three months later - and Mike Ashley still hasn’t sold the Club and still hasn’t backed Rafa in the transfer window. If I was a reporter for Sky Sports, I’d be on the phone to Mike Ashley’s people asking for further comment.

His words are there for all to see, and his words do not match his actions. So is he a liar? He’s certainly not acting in good faith or in the best interests of Newcastle United; yet those words - his “PROMISE” - are yet to be acted on. However the people who brought you these “exclusives” seem to be completely disinterested in following up on the story.

Why is that?

I appreciate that Mike Ashley’s Newcastle United can be a little like Donald Trump’s White House and gobby journalists can be banned for doing their jobs properly - but there is no way on God’s Green Earth that a football club would ban a Sky Sports reporter from their premises. Sky Sports pay all of their wages, it’s the bank that runs football. They are perhaps the only outlet to have the power to push this story - and yet they choose not to. Well shame on them. I know we aren’t talking about the Washington Post here - this isn’t All the President’s Men, but surely your own sense of professionalism would be pleading with you to dig deeper? Instead it seems like it’s all just a laugh, and as long as the joke is on us deluded Geordies then it doesn’t really matter.

I spent many years working in sales - and as my old boss used to say “something is only worth what someone is willing to pay” - considering there are no other bids and there haven’t been any other bids since 2009 then perhaps Newcastle United is only worth what PCP Capital Partners are willing to pay. That the value has not doubled or tripled during Mr Ashley’s decade of ownership is nobody’s fault but his own.

At the end of the day all we know is that if Mr Ashley does not sell and/ or back Rafa in the next fortnight the chances that Newcastle United will get relegated for a third time under his ownership will be frighteningly high. And if the worst does come to pass in May, then the price someone is willing to pay for the club will be significantly lower than it is now. All he needs to do is look at Them Down The Road to see how disastrous that could be.

PCP Capital Partners are still here; they haven't gone away. Their interest is real and their offer of £250m remains on the table. Rafa Benitez is working miracles trying to keep the show on the road despite Mr Ashley's unwillingness to back him financially, while he risks his asset in a gamble that all of Tyneside considers to be an act of unforgivable vindictiveness. It makes no sense to risk diminishing your asset when a well reasoned offer sits waiting to be accepted.

Yet Ashley seems hell bent on doing just that.

Perhaps Sky Sports could ask Mike, Why?

A Work In Progress

21/12/2017

Rome wasn’t built in a day and nor are takeover bids. They take months of planning, hundreds of hours of analysis to establish the facts and millions of pounds to reach conclusion. They need a willing buyer as well as a willing seller and despite the recent run of poor results that have engaged the mind of supporters over recent weeks, one constant has been the presence of PCP Capital Partners as the only show in town when it comes to offers to purchase the football club.

It was back in October that Mike Ashley announced his intention to put the club up for sale when he informed supporters that,

"As one of the Premier League's oldest and best supported football clubs - and for the benefit of its many fans and supporters in the UK and across the world - Newcastle United requires a clear direction and a path to a bright and successful future.”

“To give the club the best possible opportunity of securing the positioning and investment necessary to take it to the next level, at what is an important time in its history, its present ownership has determined that it is in the best interests of Newcastle United and its fans for the club to be put up for sale.”

“To give an incoming owner the maximum possible flexibility to make meaningful investment in the club, including in its playing squad, the sale process will give interested parties the opportunity of deferring substantial payments.”

Amanda Staveley and her team showed their hand quite early; and not long after Ashley’s statement was released. It was heavily reported at the time that he wanted the club sold before Christmas, such was his eagerness to end his tenure on Tyneside; therefore they studiously conducted their due diligence and posted their offer after a full and forensic assessment of the club. And key to that valuation was the presence of Rafa Benitez.

Newcastle United supporters aren’t stupid. They know a good a manager when they see one and so do PCP Capital Partners. Indeed, in Rafa Benitez both see a world-class manager; one that they want to remain in place to realise the investment that is on the table. Wild speculation questioning Rafa’s commitment, ability or desire from whatever quarter is unhelpful at best and serves no purpose other than to destabilise proceedings at a time when everyone needs to be staying calm and pulling together.

Supporters also know with certainty that PCP Capital Partners are the only show in town when it comes to a desire to purchase the football club. They should also know therefore that it was the presence of Rafa Benitez, his passion, his desire for success and his standing in the game that attracts them to consider investing in Newcastle United.

Our understanding is that PCP have serious plans for Newcastle United; a Newcastle United with Rafa Benitez at the helm. They want to realise those plans; have funds available that would bring continuous improvement to the playing squad over the next three transfer windows and beyond. They do not see relegation as a threat to those plans and indeed, those plans show that they and their investors are in this for the long haul.

How do we know? Because we asked them!

Put simply, they are Ashley’s only hope if he seriously wants that clean break; selling to someone who wants to take the club forward and provide the investment needed to take the club to that next level that he himself says he cannot provide.

A modern day Christmas Carol….! Accept the offer Mike; you know it makes sense.

27/11/2017

An old and bitter miser is given the chance for redemption when haunted by three ghosts on Christmas eve…

As a child, Charles Dickens’ a Christmas Carol was a once a year read leading up to the festive season. First given the book as a young and timid eight year old by my father, who himself had been introduced to Dickens by his grandfather the story set the tone in the build up to Christmas. The family coming together, the anticipation as Christmas got closer and you really did wonder if your wishes for a bike, a meccano set and the most up to date Guinness Book of Records had been heard or was the threat of a Satsuma in the bottom of a sock really going to materialise. It hadn’t in any previous Christmas so why should this year be any different. I loved the book; there was something about it that had me hooked and most years since I have read it with the same childlike enthusiasm as I did back as an eight year old in the late 60’s.

I’m sure most people are familiar with the story of a Christmas Carol but for the odd one or two who aren’t, I will fill you in.

Stingy businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is known as the meanest miser in Victorian London. He overworks and underpays his humble clerk, Bob Cratchit, whose little son, Tiny Tim, is crippled and may soon die. He also has nothing to do with his nephew, Fred, because his birth cost the life of his beloved sister. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge has a haunting nightmare from being visited by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley. He is visited by three ghosts and is given one last chance to change his ways and save himself from the grim fate that befell Marley.

Roll on 50 years and as I head towards my 58th birthday in a couple of weeks and building up towards the Christmas festivities wondering whether I should dig out my copy of said book or simply refer to the on-going saga that is playing out in the press regarding the sale of our beloved club by our very own scrooge, Mike Ashley. Indeed, the nearer we get to the football equivalent of Christmas that is the January transfer window, the more I feel that perhaps A Christmas Carol was also Mike Ashley’s favourite book as a child. However I suspect he got bored with it before Marley’s ghost led Ebenezer into the world of Christmas yet to come!

As the sale of the club is played out in the press, the lack of any firm response on the supposed offers placed at his door by PCP Capital Partners leaves me, like many other supporters wondering just what is going on; or in reading terms, which chapter of A Christmas Carol is our own Ebenezer Ashley up to.

Is he in the past; looking back at what he bought back in 2007; realising that its worth has been undermined by his own inadequacies and those of the people he has put in positions of power to run the club by the frugal measures that he himself imposed.

Is he looking at the present; where a fair and reasonable offer has been made for the football club that he himself states he no longer wants. Perhaps he is doing his own due diligence on PCP Capital Partners and their intentions for the club; hoping like most supporters that PCP will be able to take the club forward in a way that he failed to do. Perhaps he just needs that reassurance before sanctioning the sale. If that synopsis is correct, them I’m sure a quick call to Ms Staveley will put his mind at rest.

Or Is he looking at his own vision of the future yet to come. Unimpressed by the offer he received from PCP Capital Partners he will be seeing himself crying over the grave of a once proud club, back languishing in the reaches of the Championship for the third time under his tenure simply because he held out in the hope of more money. He will be seeing how he used PCP Capital Partners bid as some kind of stalking horse to drive out the mythical “other interested parties” that his advisors are whispering into his ear about; hoping they can start some kind of bidding war; only to find that they were the only show in town and without them he and his club were doomed; its supporters deserting the club in droves; his manager and coaching staff betrayed and off to pastures new. Dreams shattered and the rest of the football world rejoicing in twinning of Newcastle Utd and Sunderland as the basket cases of English football.

If it is the latter, then he is treating Newcastle supporters as his own Bob Cratchit; treating them with utter distain, showing his cold-heartedness toward others by refusing to make a monetary donation for the good of the poor, declaring in Scrooge-like fashion that their club is better off dead, and in his own way reducing the club to be the “surplus population” of, in this case, the Premier League.

It’s not too late for him to repent; give Newcastle fans their turkey with all the trimmings for Christmas and walk away with cash in his pockets to a chorus of, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” from the whole of Tyneside.

Accept the offer Mike. You know it makes sense!

Stick or Twist

22/11/2017

They say patience is a virtue and if that’s the case then Newcastle United supporters will need it in spades in the next few weeks (and possibly months) now that the PCP Capital Partners bid for the club has broken cover in such a public manner.

Sky News broke the story on Monday evening; announcing a formal offer in the region of £300m, had been made by PCP Capital Partners for Newcastle United. What followed was a mad scramble by sports media outlets, all stratching their heads at why the story had broken on a news channel and not through a dedicated sports source. Facebook and Twitter erupted with sports reporters and fans alike filling their own personal pages and column inches with thoughts and opinion on what is going on; what will happen next and what the final outcome will be. And quite frankly, it’s no surprise.

PCP Capital Partners are the only show in town; offering the full and undivided attention of anyone who has any interest in the future of the black and white stripes. The club is crying out for a change of ownership; the current owner has told us so, therefore it is natural that we all want news that signals that this change will happen. Fans want a new beginning; an end of the Mike Ashley era. They want Rafa Benitez at the helm of that new beginning; driving the club forward supported by owners with similar ambition.

How the story broke is intriguing. A News Channel breaking a sports story via a business correspondent tells you that this has more likely come from a source in the city rather than a sports media hack. Those with the most to say on this matter seem to be business correspondents normally heard providing opinion on the impact of Brexit, our future trade arrangements and whether we will soon be returning to bendy bananas and calling French Toast Eggy Bread.

By Tuesday afternoon Sky News were wheeling out David Buik, a financial pundit and former City of London bigwig at BGC Partners to pass opinion on PCP Capital Partners, their clients and the fact that, with their deep pockets they should simply see Mike Ashley’s asking price as a price worth paying. That would be an asking price that Mike Ashley has never disclosed btw. Buik supports Fulham FC. In his opinion Newcastle United is worth in excess of £380m.

Neither side benefits from any perceived breach of confidentiality therefore one would hope that neither Mike Ashley Holdings nor PCP Capital Partners sees this leak as problematic. Indeed, the fact that no statements have been forthcoming from either party tells you that they are still at the table; probably a little bit more wary of each other but nonetheless still sitting and talking. If common ground on a price can be reached then PCP capital Partners and Mike Ashley Holdings will enter into a period of exclusivity and until the white smoke that signals that exclusivity can be seen drifting over SJP speculation will emanate while Facebook and twitter will continue to spout degrees of panic and hope in equal measure.

But through all this, fans need to be patient. Good things come to those who wait!

FOR SALE; VIEWING ESSENTIAL – No Appointment Needed!

3/10/2017

Most house buyers have an idea of what they’re looking for long before they make their first viewing and I’m sure that in the case of someone who wants to go that little bit further and is looking more in the luxurious executive market; something more palatial, more outlandish and with all the mod cons as standard (something I’ve not experienced btw!). However those type of properties aren’t situated on every street corner so buyers not only need to keep your own eyes peeled but also rely on those who know the area, the market and exactly what it is that they feel would suit the buyer and meets their brief.

However, not many buyers have the time or inclination to do the legwork; they simply inform an agent of what they are looking for and in what price range and let the agent do the rest; identifying likely properties that might fit the brief, arrange the viewing; get a list of the fixtures and fittings that are included in the price. Most agents will also check out for any issues there might be with regard to the neighbours that the buyer might need to be made aware of. The agent will also advise on what the potential is to make modifications to the property; build an extension, add a garage, landscape the gardens or pave the drive.

Yes, there are people out there that are nosey and want to see beyond the keyhole simply to satisfy their own voyeuristic curiosity or get ideas on decoration that stretches beyond a Sunday afternoon stroll around Ikea. But for every dozen nosey “door kickers” who scan the Journal Homemaker when planning their weekend the agent will be experienced enough to filter them out them from the genuine interested party and act accordingly. That will be a buyer who is genuinely looking for just such a property; who sniffs beyond the freshly ground coffee and the slightly unusual décor and sees and smells for themselves what the property offers them in terms of putting their own stamp on it and making it their home.

The Agent for their part may drive the client around the area; viewing the property from the outside both in daylight and at night; take them to see the local facilities; the shops, schools, restaurants, cafés, churches, mosques, temples, cinemas or pubs. They might doorstep the neighbours and ask about the area in general or ask friends who live close by for their opinion. Only then might they actually meet the sellers and make their viewing more formal; call in the surveyors and /or make an offer. Nobody said House buying is an easy matter.

And by the way, “Door Kickers” rarely come back for a second viewing!

Next home fixture is against Crystal Palace on October 21st,, 3pm kick off.
Most bars in town open at 11am; although some opening times may vary.
Not on Sky. Viewing essential.

An Evening with Peter Beardsley and Steve Howey

21/9/2017

Tyneside Northern League Division 1 side Dunston UTS FC are holding their Annual Dinner on Friday 6th October 2017 at the Federation Suite. The evening features a Three Course meal and an opportunity to meet Special guests, former NUFC stars Peter Beardsley and Steve Howey.

Entertainment for the evening will be in the capable hands of comedian John Stiles.

It promises to be great night and tickets are now available priced a respectable £30 are now available from Malcolm James on 07724392049.