How to make fans and influence people

Thanks to recent guest match reporter Bob Mueser for pointing us in the direction of US-based Toon blog I Wish I Was A Geordie. The site has kindly given us a plug, and we're more than happy to return the favour by encouraging you to read this piece on the club's prospects of rivalling the so-called Big Four Stateside.

If we're going to try to ensnare some of this potentially huge fanbase, then we'd almost certainly be better off capitalising on the four areas Bob identifies - the passion associated with supporting the club, the visibility of the Brown Ale brand, the aesthetic appeal of the black and white strip and the US love of an underdog - rather than attempting to sell ourselves as remotely successful on any kind of comparable level to Man Utd et al. Best to sweep our status as regular laughing stocks of the English game under the table, too. Some highly skilled PR people might be a good starting point...