Doolally McNally
So, according to the Mirror's Brian McNally, "there is absolutely no doubt that the 3-1 win over Liverpool killed any threat of a Magpie mutiny from the players stone dead." He continues: "And, despite isolated murmurings of discontent from veteran Sol Campbell and one or two others over Chris Hughton's sacking, Pardew has instantly established himself as the absolute ruler of the St James' Park dressing room." Either he's got a very well-placed source at the club, or he's blathering on making groundless assumptions. Which do you think it might be?
The comments appear in a piece entitled "Why positive-thinking Pardew is starting to win me over" - all Mirror hacks seemingly duty-bound to begin pieces with the word "Why". And what's McNally's prime reason for adopting this stance towards our new manager, just one game into his reign? His punctuality at press conferences...
Interesting too McNally's claims about supporter unrest: "The fans' revolt was also somewhat muted. The protests that were initially directed at Ashley rather than Pardew seem to have fizzled out. There is almost a weary acceptance among the Toon Army that they simply don't have the collective clout to overthrow the present regime." No there isn't, Brian - may I politely suggest you pay a visit to the NUST site.
The comments appear in a piece entitled "Why positive-thinking Pardew is starting to win me over" - all Mirror hacks seemingly duty-bound to begin pieces with the word "Why". And what's McNally's prime reason for adopting this stance towards our new manager, just one game into his reign? His punctuality at press conferences...
Interesting too McNally's claims about supporter unrest: "The fans' revolt was also somewhat muted. The protests that were initially directed at Ashley rather than Pardew seem to have fizzled out. There is almost a weary acceptance among the Toon Army that they simply don't have the collective clout to overthrow the present regime." No there isn't, Brian - may I politely suggest you pay a visit to the NUST site.
posted by Ben at 5:15 pm
6 Comments:
You don't seriously expect NUST to achieve anything with Ashley do you?
If so, perhaps you would tell me why Ashley would ever consider selling any shares to them? He might sell the club to them - for say £250m - but that seems a fairly remote possibility.
Agreed, it's a fairly remote possibility - but it's one that needs to be pursued for the good of the club. Ashley has by his own admission made a dog's dinner of things, and would I'm sure sell up if he got a reasonable offer. Giving up a stack of shares to supporters is more unlikely, admittedly, but the evidence from Germany shows that it can work.
NUST aren't head-in-the-clouds idealists - they know there's much to be done, and many challenges to what they're proposing. But it's important that the pressure is put on Ashley, that he knows the extent of the fans' dissatisfaction with his running of the club. The most dangerous thing would be to adopt the defeatist attitude that any opposition is futile - as McNally claims is prevalent (wrongly I think) but as you seem to be advocating.
NUST may be the ideal solution but what actions have they taken lately?
They issued a statement after the sacking of Hughton claiming a large response from both members and non-members and reasserting that the only way forward was with a new form of ownership but what steps have they taken to achieve this? There may be things going on in the background but they would be advised to update the fanbase on their progress lest everyone lose interest.
Putting things into place no doubt takes time, and it's better this than they make premature promises or rash commitments (that would just be mirroring the club...) - but I agree that the vision could be (or have been) better articulated.
Apparently Brian McNally reads you blog
Thanks for the tip-off!
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