So, that’s visits to St James’ Park over until August with only a trip to Anfield next 
weekend for the sado-masochists amongst our number. We can’t say where our final PL position will be for certain but 11th is the lowest we’ll finish. Be still my beating heart.
The game with Cardiff was just plain dull. On another day against players who could finish, we’d have lost that match given the sitters they missed. But that wasn’t the main talking point of the match.
The game against Cardiff marked the largest show of dissent against those running our club since the Hull City game back in 2009. I’ve not seen as many anti-Ashley/Pardew flags at games since then and I’ve not heard as unified and heartfelt chanting against those supposedly running our club as we did in the Cardiff match. I’ve not known a Newcastle United manager unable to leave his place in the dug-out because of the cacophony of booing that greeted the sight of him. Let’s get it right, that is why John Carver was on the touchline. Pardew was unable to do his job because supporters have lost whatever confidence or patience they once had in him. His position looks untenable.
The protests themselves need to be put into context. This season there was a protest march held before the Liverpool game which attracted around 5-600 and finished with speeches in Leazes Park. Then there was the attempt to demonstrate by holding up covers of The Chronicle before the Chelsea game. That was the dampest of damp squibs and flopped completely. A few weeks ago an open top bus parade was arranged as an ironic jibe at the club’s mediocre ambition. None of those protests can be claimed to have mobilised a substantial section of our support, the majority of which, in my opinion now has deep misgivings at how our club is being led.
In that context the staged walk-outs were an outstanding success and I’d estimate around 7000 deliberately left the match early and a game we were winning 1-0. There is visual evidence all over the internet of the numbers that walked out and the protests preceding them. This was a definite and significant ramping up of protest against the Ashley regime at Newcastle United. It might have lacked the drama and mass-support that many wanted but this was a substantial step forward for those who want to highlight the damage being done to our club.
Those that did not take part in the protests or who remained after the 69th minute are not the enemies of Newcastle United. They are supporters like you and I. There should be no division between us. In my experience of organised protest no-one has ever changed their mind or been won over to an argument by being harangued, abused, shouted at or insulted. That is not what any of us committed to organised protest at Ashley’s trashing of our club should be about. We all have a responsibility to persuade by force of reason, with evidence and respect for fellow supporters about what this man is doing to our club. Persuading our fellow supporters about the need for sustained protest and what it can achieve is our responsibility and we should do it in the correct manner. The word is respect.
I’m disappointed some friends of mine who are as Black & White as any chose not to leave yesterday. I didn’t persuade them it was the right thing to do. I failed on this occasion whereas with others I succeeded. I’m not going to insult them or attempt to question their credentials as supporters because that is plainly ludicrous. Nor they, mine. At the moment they aren’t persuaded. I won’t give up, I’ll continue to present the arguments as best I can and I’ll also listen and I’ll reflect upon what they say and respect that. Then I’ll attempt to refine my argument to account for their views and try again.
Supporting Newcastle United under Mike Ashley is an exercise in joyless defeatism – it is corporate football of the worst possible type. I don’t want to be writing these laments every week for an unending time into the future. I’d like to be discussing big games, fantastic moments, dreams, ambitions, debating the merits of players, formations, tactics and everything else we should be doing as fans. Neither do I want to be defending myself and others from wild accusations following an intervention NUST made supported by both this fanzine and The Mag made last week in what was judged to be a calculated effort to raise the profile of the planned walk-outs on Saturday. Fair play to whoever had the original idea of a walk-out. I’m unclear whose idea it was and where it appeared but it existed somewhere either on a message-board or elsewhere on social media and had received a cursory bit of attention in the national and local media.
By Thursday there had been little in the way of mainstream coverage of what was planned. I’m aware it was rattling around in social media but whilst Twitter, Facebook etc. are useful tools to get messages out for vast sections of our support and the mainstream media, they are just not all that.
To get a story in the media takes nous and what journalists like is a bit of an angle, a story if you like. I’m aware there was a call for a 60-minute walk-out but why 60 minutes? What meaning did that have? So, for better for worse, to catch the eye of news-desks a decision was made to push the 69 minute angle, in reference to the year we last won a trophy and thus highlight the club’s suffocating lack of ambition and even desire to win another. For that, we faced something of a reaction with various persons known and unknown over-reacting to what they perceived as a hijacking of a campaign that was already underway.
The problem with that allegation is it was difficult for those who aren’t engaged with social media (and many don’t even know what it is) there was no campaign. It wasn’t until Friday that the media picked up on NUST’s press release (69th minute walk-out) and as a result of that every major news desk in the UK and beyond picked up on it giving it the publicity that it desperately needed. Any half decently organised supporters group could have come together and got behind it and co-ordinated it but they hadn’t.
Following NUST’s press release, supported by true faith and The Mag, the following news agencies picked up on it – BBC, ITV, SKY, BT News, The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, The Mirror, The Mail and it was also going across agencies in the Middle East, Australia etc.. I’ve just watched Gary Lineker on MOTD reference the 69th minute walk-out and Alan Shearer respond with a wholly honest and accurate assessment about where our collective heads are at as a group of supporters. He just needs to stop calling Man U “United” and he’ll be back in our good books.
So, without that intervention from NUST, the walk-out might have been a complete wash-out. Again, social media is great, occasionally enjoyable but it doesn’t reach the parts that some others can reach. I’ll stop before I go all Carlsberg adverts on you.
I’ve described following United in recent years as one big ball-ache and it certainly is when allegations are made of “ego”, “hidden agendas” and seeking the glory. In terms of ego, if I can let on about how things work with those of us who knock out fanzines etc. I can honestly say, seldom a week goes by without getting a request from the press or TV to appear or speak on some programme or another. I knock virtually all of them back and happily some now don’t even bother asking. Mark Jensen (The Mag) is the same and Biffa at nufc.com would hide in the hills of Tora Bora rather than go on the telly. In terms of the NUST, none of the board so far as I can see fancies themselves as a TV star. Ego? I don’t really think so.
Hidden agenda? Well, it’s pretty well hidden because I don’t know where it is or what it is.
To quote the great Stephen Patrick Morrissey, these are “heavy words, lightly thrown”. I think if anyone is going to make an accusation of that type then it helps if there is actually some real hard evidence to back it up rather than an enigmatic, knowing wink over a metaphorical pint as if the person passing the comment is in possession of some devastating cachet of information. Hidden agenda? Really? Please enlighten us?
As for stealing the glory (what glory?) or hijacking a campaign, all I’d say to that is it hadn’t reached the campaign stage and that is no disrespect to whoever had the original idea and the motivation. It really was a good idea and in the final reckoning, it did work. In these circumstances the likes of us at true faith and others are damned if we do and damned if we don’t. We will get involved and promote campaigns if we judge them to be the right things to do. This fanzine doesn’t fulfil a role of supporters representatives and nor do we claim to be. There are some campaigns or stunts we judge to be a bit crap so we have nowt to do with them and others we think are right and do. They are editorial decisions. Sometimes we’ll get criticism for not getting involved in one thing but for backing others. That comes with the territory. You might judge us right or wrong and that’s your call.
But back to the here and now! Back to that word, respect! I can say hand on heart I do not believe any Newcastle United supporter is an enemy of the football club we all support. I can happily accept I am not everyone’s cup of tea and that they may disagree with what I do or don’t do with true faith. I am perfectly fine with that. I have a little more difficulty with lies, character assassination, smears and innuendo from those who cannot, through force of reason, persuade me and others that what they want support for is the right thing. As if I am such the big deal to be convinced by the way. Just get on with it is my advice. To return to a point made above (you are still awake by the way?) and that is people are seldom likely to change their mind, be persuade through abuse, vilification and smears.
There are some who get off on that kind of shite but it all it does harden opinions.
Where do we go from here? Our club needs a massive injection in the summer if the sorry form of the last 18 games isn’t going to carry into next season. As we stand now, I’d suggest we need a Left-back, a central defender, two quality creative midfielders and a winger as well as at least two strikers. That’s just for the first team without addressing the absence of strength in depth we have. Personally, I don’t get a hard-on about how much money a player costs – after all we got Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye for peanuts between them and they were excellent for us. If the club can pull those rabbits out of the hat then great. But United does need to spend money and it does need to hold on to the likes of Krul, Debuchy and Tiote. I don’t think United will even attempt to retain Remy and I’d prefer not to have my intelligence insulted by Alan Pardew they are even bothering to try.
I believe our pay-bill for wages needs to increase if we are to recruit the calibre of players and the number we need. I also believe we need to recruit some players from the UK and Ireland who will understand what this league is about and the football culture they play in. Sometimes there is a premium on that.
Will that happen? I have my doubts and the evidence for that is what has gone down in every transfer window under Ashley bar one (and only then because our PL status was in question).
I fear Ashley’s intentions towards the club are nowhere near what they should be and further what we will see this summer will be tantamount to a simple re-arranging of the deck-chairs on the Titanic.
I do not doubt there will be some player-trading but this is in marked contrast to the squad and team-building it should be. I suspect Ashley will be looking at the margins on those deals and gaining from them. At best, we’ll start next season in the same clip we started this – perhaps upholstered by some loan signings as we attempt to manipulate that market. I fear Pardew will promise things that won’t happen in the summer and he’ll be left fronting it out, grimacing a smile at media whilst our support becomes ever more hateful. It’s all entirely unsatisfactory.
The club requires investment but it all requires respect and straightforward love from those who run it. It needs to be recognised and nurtured for what it is i.e. a sporting institution which forms a big part of our Geordie identity and is an expression of our civic pride. It is a lot more than a revenue stream, numbers on a spreadsheet or an advertising opportunity for Mike Ashley. The club needs its soul saving.
What can be done? That is the really difficult part but Saturday was an indication that whatever happens, we should not allow our club to be trashed by Mike Ashley. Saturday gone wasn’t the storming of the Winter Palace but it was a first and a real indication that our support might just be getting up off its knees at last.
Have a great week.
Keep On, Keepin’ On … 
I moved to Australia in 2008(a huge mistake for me personally) watching from a far, a lot of whats written in social media circles comes across as pet-lipped foot stamping. However I agreed with the walk out and whilst I was a little disappointed with the numbers, the tv coverage of both walkouts was very good, giving the protest a truly global reach. The most telling thing for me was the booing of the manager, It was an incredible show of dissatisfaction and he looked visibly shaken. I think the fans may finally be taken seriously rather than being considered as bunch of stroppy Geordies.
If there were say 48,000 NUFC fans at the game and 4,000 walked out and ‘8000 stayed for the lap of ‘honour’, it’s the 36,000 that did neither that are the reason Ashley can do whatever the fuck he wants.
the walkout happened in the 70th minute not the 69th. the 69th minute goes from 68-69 minutes.
” I stayed ? Because I’ve sat and watched worse than this, what a fine excuse! If your neighbours dog kept shitting on your doorstep every week you’d be quite happy? Ok
Aye well done to all those who walked out.
People who think we’re gonna get 100% of the fan base on board for every action are not in reality. It never works like that. It is always a minority prepared to take action and on saturday it was a fucking big minority. It was thousands of people.
Keep on keeping on we’ll get the bastard lot
It seems the rabble from Sports Direct are not the only ones to have a monopoly on half-truths, 7,000 walked out? You sure? I stayed to applaud the players and I can confirm that there were 3 or 4 times as many stayed than walked out. And before the crap starts, I stayed because that’s what I do, I support the Toon, for over 40 years I’ve been doing that home and away and I know it may be really hard for some of you lot to comprehend but, believe it or not, I have seen the club in much much worse condition that it is now, both on the pitch and off it. Flame away.
With all respect Stevie, I’m not sure you have seen the club in worse condition. Yes, the club has seen worse teams and managers(?), and certainly lower league standings. Indeed, the custodianship of Newcastle United has very often, as stated in the piece, been just as shoddily run. However, never has anyone seen such apathy from everyone concerned with the club. The soul is dripping out of the club and city, and this time there is also the horrific inkling that this is intentional.
In dark days during the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, Newcastle were, more or less, were and aimed for, where they ought to be. The same cannot be said for Newcastle United version 2014.
Shearer “just needs to stop calling Man U “United” and he’ll be back in our good books.” Well said! I can’t stand it when otherwise sensible (if somewhat boring) pundits show such base sycophancy to one football club, especially Shearer who has little love for the Red Drivels! He should know that we were “United” long before the team from Salford were.
But, our disunited front showed on Saturday when so few walked, whether on 60 or 69 minutes. The Wonga wearing hordes stayed put, content to line Ashley’s pockets even as they claim to despise the man. So long as the club is profitable he’ll stay and take the piss out of the 50,000 week in, week out.
I now live across in the North West, so rarely get to see a United home game nowadays. (Given that a pretty dire game against West Brom in November was my last match at SJP, I’m not too keen to repeat the experience! We won, but I was sorely tempted to leave at half time as we looked shorn of ideas back then.)
But, after 50 years of supporting the team nothing the board can do will surprise me. John Hall had a decent spell for a time, but I can’t think of any other board member that didn’t just take the Toon fans for mugs. And the majority happily play along with them.
A good article and some fair points made. I was also one who was critical, particularly of NUST, in the ‘hijack’ of the walkout. It would have been very easy for them, TF and The Mag to back the 60 mins and it definitely came across as a very petty decision at the time. With hindsight I do get the reasons but feel it caused confusion and highlighted the split among our support.
What is clear though, is that there is a very large portion of our fanbase who are now at the same point. They have had enough and are ready to make a stand. If the fanzines and NUST can work with other fan groups such as United for Newcastle and the forums, all pulling together to publish more high profile events we may actually be able to get something tangible organised. I know the guys at newcastle-online would be delighted to get involved, we are currently working on a number of possible options to continue the protests against Pardew and, if he gets the bullet he so richly deserves, his puppet-master.
We need the more well known and media savvy groups like TF and NUST to lead the supporters forward, to generate the interest. There are plenty of fans out there around the world willing to get involved. Somebody just needs to bring it all together.
Well written and well said. I think you’re right about the 69th minute walk-out getting more coverage in the press nationally as the people in my row were only aware of that walk-out and we duly left on 69mins. It was great that those who didn’t leave still stood and applauded those that did. Good lads and good attitude. Now to find a way to increase that unity.
I think the fact P45due couldn’t stand in his technical area was the biggest victory of the day. It’s the little fat slugs underbelly so we have to get to him through at his weakest point. No way will he get as big a lying coward as manager as he has now.
I am the side of all the protesters and accept all the arguments-but ideally an agreement on the time would have been better to re-inforce the unity.I also agree we need to show everyone respect, although it appeared that the people leaving were booed by some that remained. I am hoping that was because those that booed did not understand why people were protesting.
Having boycotted years ago -I was hoping for a mass walkout-but as said it may be the seed of hope! There is the worry though that Ashley is clever enough to limit the damage,so we can expect a few more of his tricks coming up.
Well done to all those that made a stand-hope the number grows quickly!
I had my say on the facebook page before the end of the game yesterday, you may have seen it!
I stand by what I said to those who stayed and would say it again if the situation arises again.
What I would like to know however, now that my anger has subsided, to those who stayed, what are your reasons for NOT walking out, was it really too much to ask for you to give up 20 minutes of the season?
The worst thing about the 69th minute thing was that it would inevitably cause confusion regarding the reasons behind the walkout. I’ve read plenty already suggesting that it was a protest about not winning anything, and we all know the press are quick enough to jump on the ‘deluded Newcastle fans ‘ bandwagon at the best of times.
Whether Pardew genuinely thought it was about trophies is another matter, but I think promoting the original 60th minute walkout would’ve been a much better idea. I also don’t believe it was the 69th minute that got the media’s attention, but the increase in publicity for the walkout as the weekend approached. I reckon a similar amount of coverage would’ve occurred had TF/NUST thrown their weight behind the 60th minute rather than the 69th.
Surely the important aspect to come out of yesterday’s game is that we made an effective demonstration against Ashley’s regime. It was on TV, radio and in all the papers. Ok it wasn’t totally unified but so what?
I actually believe two walk outs brought more attention to the situation along with the fans who remained to sing anti Ashley/Pardew chants.
Well done to ALL involved in getting this moving. Ashley will try to further piss us of in response but this should just be the start of making things extremely difficult and uncomfortable for the most odious man ever associated with our club.
Whilst if the total number of people who left had walked out together it would have looked more effective, I am not so sure as many would have left.
I was undecided but after the first walk out, I thought about it a bit more and then decided I would go. If there had been just the one walk out, I would have ended up staying.
I agree with 95% of what you’re saying. I agree with your explanation about 69 mins over 60. It does make more sense. However as you supported the idea and as 60 mins was already out there, if you felt there hadn’t been enough coverage, could you not have supported the original idea, simply because it was there first.
I think what happened caused a bit of confusion. Had we all left en masse on 60 mins it would’ve looked eve more effective.
I’m one of those who accused the 69 mins as hijacking the original idea and of being arrogant and egotistical. I realise that this was harsh, and that you wanted to expand the publicity for the walkout, so I apologise for that.
I agree with you that the combined walkouts were effective. The fact that national and international media are talking about it is proof of that. Personally, I don’t leave early and it felt strange, but right.
Going forward, I think its important for the various fans groups, fanzines, forums, blogs etc to work with and support one another. Most of our aims are the same. If we show a united front its the best way of combatting Ashley.
The idea originated on Newcastle online on Monday and grew across social media through the week.The involvement of TF and the mag clearly upped the ante and I don’t think anyone could criticise the attention they brought.
The one thing I heard (and thought myself) was that the nust statement repeatedly referenced how the fans need to be united… But then splintered off into a separate 69 minute plan.
Regardless of the angle being pursued it caused more harm than good to create that split. 60 minutes was chosen originally and had the angle of being the number of years since our last domestic trophy, so the change wasn’t even needed for the reason given.
I don’t think it was malicious or conniving, but it was a mistake that underestimated the reach the idea already had.
I think most people who read TF really appreciate the voice you give to supporters undoubted frustrations. Anyone accusing the fanzine of hidden agendas or making personal attacks need to look at their own motivations and issues for doing so. I’d back up your claims of being ego free in all of this when I say that despite following TF, The Mag and NUFC.com for a long time, I’d recognise none of the editors if I passed them in the street.