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As Sky have dramatically named it.....i'm actually looking forwards to it, with all the "as it happens" going on. And it will be great to see Newcastle go down today.

Although I do feel a bit sad staying in all day to watch this and the playoffs on TV when its boiling hot outside.

I'm going into Newcastle city centre for this one - it's going to be mayhem either way.

Guessing, I think Sunderland might go down today.

Newcastle will get a point against Villa who cant win to save their life right now.

Hull City (did you know 10 years ago they were bottom of the football league?) wont get a point at Manchester United and will go down.

Just having a look at what I put down in our work predictions game on Friday:

Aston Villa v Newcastle, 16:00 - 2-1
Hull v Man Utd, 16:00 - 0-2
Sunderland v Chelsea, 16:00 - 0-2

Newcastle down.....

Oh dear newcastle!

"CHEER UP ALAN SHEARER"

I have no reason for thinking this but can see boro being interested in cox .

Well they need a striker who can score goals, but maybe a bit too far north?

Newcastle deserve to go down, hull are losing so its in their hands.

Bit closer than Celtic!

Cue the tears!

aaaaaaaaaaaahahahahhaha.

Sky aren't showing anywhere near enough of the Newcastle fans crying.

Bastards.

If i was a geordie, I'd be absolutely furious. Michael Owen, looking at the bbc end highlights, showing no passion, no emotion. I think he's past it.

liking the sunderland banners!

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Phil Brown singing should get Hull docked a few points!

Newcastle are a bit of a joke,they have spent obscene amounts of money in transfer fees and players wages for nothing.The chairman is a knob,as was the one before him.I'll like to feel sorry for the fans but i just can't,they are so self- obsessed and thick.

Still they will win the championship at a canter and all will be right in geordie world.

Rich Pullen is going to have a good night  :D

Hahahahah. Fat crying Geordies and a gutted Shearer. Marvellous. Only saw the second half, Newcastle were worse than abysmal. Very funny indeed.

Will they be wanting a new massiah for the new season, or will they stick with she-ra

Sbragia's walked.

Speculation made it sound like he was going one way or the other anyway to me.

[url width=200 height=100]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/jamiethon/newcastle.jpg[/url]

Great to see Newcastle go down.

Villa fans had a banner "Who's your next messiah then - Ant or Dec?" :)

http://www.danablankenhorn.com/images/sam_allardyce.jpg

Apparently this was Big Sam after hearing the result from Villa Park.

What an amusing afternoon that was.

:D

you have to elaborate more than that!

Went to the Crows Nest, which is near the ground - jam packed obviously.

Usual optimism throughout, songs et al.

Darron Gibson scores, singing, dancing - Duff o.g = complete reversal.

The more the 2nd half went on the more hostile it got and then the final whistle - lots of tears lots of shouting at the screen (the usual but it was very, very funny) and then conversations about weekends in Bristol which ignited more tears.

When Shearer's interview came on there was complete silence amongst a still packed pub. Then more sinking in.

Walking around town there was just a flat atmosphere, a couple of brawls here and there.

Amusing - but that 2nd half was awful.

Tee hee. My bro-in-law is a Newcastle fan, and he's ignoring my baiting. Cunt.

I thought the clearly forced Ricky Sbragia resignation on live television was a bit off - Niall Quinn lacked class in my opinion.

in a way i'm a bit disapointed newcastle have gone down.that is purely because phil brown is an utter prick.
shearer didnt have long, but failed miserably to lift that squad.
now we will find out how massive a club they are in regard of their fan base

Yup, and what a prick Brown was after the game today - SMUG :)

Shearer was on a hiding to nothing. Newcastle were operated in a disgusting manner ever since Bobby Robson had to go. This is not a sudden thing.

Every time I've gone they've filled that stadium whether that happens next season remains to be seen - fans from Scunthorpe, Blackpool, Plymouth are in for a good weekend up here.

Im delighted to see the smug self proclaimed best fans is the world get relegated.I hate them and hate Shearer with every ounce of my being.

brown might be smug,but he is very lucky.their form of late has been diobolical,i think alot of that is down to him.
i'd sack him if i was hulls chairman.he wont and they'll go down next year.

after seeing footage today of toon fans i have to say,i dont get the crying thing over football at all.are peoples lives that sad that football is worth crying over?
get a grip and a life for fucks sake

It was after that man city game, i think, where he rollocked the players on the pitch. He's lost the dressing room.

also he always looks 'tangoed'

That's such a tabloid argument.

That shit run of form didn't start at half time in that game it had already started, that's why he was giving them a bollocking in the first place. And in the second half of that game they were much better.

All that's happened to Hull is that the teams that played them in the first half of the season and thought they'd roll over them whilst they had a cigar on were up for it a bit more in the return games. Combine that with their small squad size starting to show and their big transfer window signing having a dodgy knee and only playing about 20 minutes for them and you have a shit few months.

And they weren't fucking lucky! Over the course of the season they got more points than 3 clubs. That's what you have to do to stay up. Just because they got most of their points early in the seaon doesn't mean they didn't earn them.

If you score in the first ten minutes of a game and win one nil is the win more lucky than a one nil after scoring in the 89th minute?

In fairness they're hardly the first to shed tears over football! I agree with what you're saying though.

Lots of crying about today along with groups of middle aged men planning their weekend trips.

Never quite understood crying either....surely you would prepare yourself for worst case scenario before the match.

Completely agree. Sbraglia was clearly distraught, but Niall Quinn insisted on having him on TV so he could patronise him, all that 'he's got a job for life at Sunderland' stuff made me cringe.

To be fair to Newcastle there werent a lot of them crying in the ground. They should have got a point, which makes it funnier. Their fans seemed to clap them off at the end, which is pretty loyal. I wouldnt have. I would have sang 'what a load of rubbish' at the players. Those players have been crap for them on massive wages.

Hull to go down next season. They have played some good stuff at times this season. But the dressing room spirit looks to have gone. Could be a record low points tally?

the signing of bullard was a risky and stupid one.fulham couldn't wait to get shot of him as it was well known he had lost it after injury.
while stilll at fulham, i heard on national radio that he wasn't right,and looked a shadow of the player he was before.

Dead cert, I reckon. They'll start badly, Brown'll be sacked by Christmas and someone like Aidy Boothroyd will come in and oversee their inevitable relegation.

Thats of course unless they get rid of Brown over the summer, which I can't see.

I don't quite understand the degree of vitriol towards Newcastle and Shearer on here. Not too long ago, most on here were chanting Shearer's name as he led the line for England in Euro '96. Most were quietly hoping that they would beat Man Utd to the title that season when the 'Love it" quote came out from Keegan.

If you gave me the option to natter about football to a passionate geordie as opposed to a Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal fan, I know which option I'd choose.

I'm not arguing that they didn't deserve (or were too big) to go down because they clearly did deserve to over the course of the season. Just don't understand the hatred towards them and their fans, that's all.

Not sure that anyone hates Newcastle, do they?

They think they have some divine right to be successful, have too many "messiahs" who in reality are past it players and managers, take the game far too seriously and cry too much. I don't hate them due to all of that but it was the reason I laughed my bollocks off when they got relegated.

As Boro are now also down, I wonder if Southgate will do anymore pizza hut ads with a brown paper bag over his head? They were genius!

I think hull will improve next season. They lost ashbee who was crucial at the begining of the season then lost 3 strikers making them play with 2 wingers up front. To be fair in any league that would cause you to struggle let alone the prem.

Jonny most supporters are the same,they wanted Shearer,they got him,now they are relegated.When Malpas went some on here were calling for Luke Nigholt,Sean Taylor,what would we have said if we had one of them come in and were relegated,still i agree with most of your post.

There is a difference.

If we got someone that was a CG favourite then the general reaction from supporters would be "oh that's good" and at maximum "oh that's really good", a few might even get excited but the rest of the town wouldn't give a fuck.

Meanwhile, over in Newcastle they get Keegan back and the whole city starts hailing the return of the messiah. When he quits the Samaritans had to take on 5,000 extra staff to handle all the suicide calls. Then they get Shearer and the whole city starts hailing the return of the messiah again and the Samaritans let the 5,000 go. When they get relegated the Samaritans had to hire the 5,000 again.

And it is for that difference that I laughed my bollocks off when the ref blew the final whistle.

Totally agree,but it just goes to show that it really dont matter whos in charge,its all about getting results and if its an ex player,legend all the better.

Well they should know, they've followed a few.

I think it will be interesting, as a dedicated 606 listener who hears all the time about the "best fans in the world", to see if they actually merit this self declared title when Scunthorpe and Doncaster are the visitors to St James' Park - even more so when they play away at the smaller teams.

I myself have no animosity towards Newcastle other than how clearly badly run the club have been.

As for Shearer - good English Centre Forward, dull on the Telly.  I think hate in this context is far too strong a word.

As an aside - Michael Owen will get another premier league club - if he wants one.  I just have a sneaking feeling he may turn up at Everton - less pressure in a way than Newcastle - and score a few goals.

The whole 'best fans' fandom thing isn't really talked about up here - certainly not in an obvious way.

Like all top clubs you get fans who feel this. The local news always interview, for want of a better word, weirdos.

Like the bristolians yesterday whos words were it was either bristol city or rovers so we chose a premier league team.

Freddie Sheppard reckoned the Football League was shite and the Premier League was the place to be.

Not so fucking clever now you cunt!

I'm sure they'll turn up still. Last time they were in The Championship they averaged just over 29k and their capacity was a lot lower back then (no more than 36k, possibly lower). I'd imagine they'll get well over 30k on average and will be the best supported team in the division by some distance.

They did win the league that season, the previous season they averaged 21,000 in a modest season in the second tier...not bad, twice as many as us, but less than both Sheffield clubs, Forest and West Ham. 

In other words Newcastle fans are no different to the fans of all clubs.

A valid point, though they were fighting a relegation battle the season before when they got 21,000 and were in a total mess. It will be interesting to see how many turn up next season, I imagine Shearer staying (if he does) will add a fair few to their attendances.

I wish them well......but i was about time a 'big' club went down instead of one of the yo-yo clubs.

I don't doubt that they'll have decent attendances throughout the season. The bigger test will be to see the way they react to a poor result against a small club like Plymouth or Blackpool. That's where Leeds' fans went wrong, with all the "we should be beating teams like this, I can't believe we're playing at such crap grounds" nonsense.

One for Pullen here...is Newcastle v Plymouth, the longest journey in the league structure?

Carlisle v Pikeys will be up there!

1) Plymouth - Newcastle

2) Brighton - Carlisle

3) Torquay - Darlo

I'll be doing Newcastle Resident to Exeter City (Swindon fan) this coming season. That's far enough!

Plymouth to Newcastle = 409 miles

Brighton to Carlisle = 362 miles

Torquay to Darlington = 352 miles

Gillingham to Carlisle = 348 miles

Exeter to Carlisle = 346 miles

What's Plymouth to Carlisle...must be the other possibility, my instinct tells me that they're both on the west side of the country, so it must be Plymuff/Newcastle.

390 miles.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/05/26/robbo-out-of-the-bagg-115875-21389263/

this made me laugh

Cheers, so it'll be interesting to see how many of the self styled "best fans in the world" make the journey on a Wednesday night in Feb.

[url width=586 height=390]http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6892/newcastlesrelegationasth.jpg[/url]

Interesting.

As an aside, how many were Man United averaging before Cantona turned up?

 TBF ManUre have been consistently the best supported side in terms of numbers, for many years.  Take as an example 89/90, pre Cantona, but with Ferguson in charge, Liverpool won the league with ManUre well down the table. Liverpool averaged 36000 ManUre 39000..next best Arsenal 33000.

Didn't they also have the biggest average home attendance in the season they spent in Div 2 in the 70's?

I dont know. He could probably buy them back for a fraction of what he sold it for.

One thing to bear in mind when comparing attendances is the ground capacities for the big clubs over the years. Old Trafford holds a lot more than it did in the early 90's, same for Arsenal (new ground), Newcastle and quite a few others. So a lot of clubs would have had higher attendances if their grounds were bigger.

That only really applies in the early-mid 90's though. Post Taylor report.

Those 89-90 attendances were well under their respective grounds capacities.

Partly because the 80's was one of the worst in English football for crowds (or best if you prescribe to the wisdom that it is a halcion period for atmosphere).  Thousands of people stopped going and were not replaced for over a decade.  Grounds were rotting, fences made some people feel like they were at the zoo, fans were beyond jovial taunting and in full out war with each other.  Our crowds, which did coincide with a bit of a bad period at the start of the 80's were extremely low and once back out of the bottom flight we seem to be one of the clubs not quite able to bring them back in significant numbers.

Oddly, this was the time I began watching and I loved being there, but I can see why it was such a low point for crowds on the whole.

Correct the season ManUre had 39,000 the capacity was 52,000

Going back to Newcastle, I do think Shearer will take them back up. Its been consistantly proven that British football legends (former great players) do very well as managers in the Championship, then go on to struggle in the top flight.

But then again, 1 win in 8 was an poor effort. Certainly expected better. Could be Shearer falls flat on his face. He's always been a bit boring in public, doesnt seem to have charisma. If he does fail then he can expect everyone to ram that quote about Middlesborough being the 'biggest match of his career'. A match they won. Bet it doesnt feel more important than England vs Germany semi final now, eh Alan?

If Newcastle fail to go up within a couple of seasons then the club will go into meltdown and they will get 20,000 average, just like Leeds did. The only reason their attendances have held up this season is because of all the season ticket holders. Fans wont be so bothered about renewing if a Premier League return looks unlikely. Its the Geordie fan's mental scar of their best ever team having to play in front of the smallest capacity ground (92-93, best team in living memory). 

 TBF I thought Shearer came over very well in his post match comments on Sunday...on MOTD he seems largely clueless, but in his analysis of Newcastle's position thought he showed a bit of promise as a manager.

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/SeniorSquad/0,,10278,00.html

Just looked at the senior squad....its amazing how much they must be paying on wages.

What did he analyse? Was it that they were being relegated?

Ol' Bob Moncur reckons Newcastle might be there for a couple of years which will hurt their fans because he's a respected chap up here.

It's hard to say how they'll cope in the Championship until we know who they've managed to offload what they've got and who they'll have in charge next year.

Regardless to whether it's right or not, I think it has to be Shearer now. I personally think they need a been there/done that to sort them out.

Manchester City caught on when they were down here - combine the young players that stayed after relegations (Michael Brown, Jeff Whitely, Lee Crooks) with experienced lower league players like Shaun Goater, Ian Bishop, Andy Morrison, Robert Taylor and even Kevin Horlock to ensure the job got done.

Newcastle need to bring in players that'll get the job done... not superstars or random Dutch (and alike) players.

I don't get the clamour over getting Shearer. Is it fan lead or media hype Rich?

I don't get why they'd employ someone with no experience in when they are in crisis and need a rebuild. Massive risk, he might do well, or he might be the next Bryan Robson. i'd have massive reservations if we'd given Fjortoft our managers job.

At this stage it's a bit of both leaning more towards the fans.

Mike Ashley has come out and said Shearer was the best decision he's made (!?!?!?!).

From my observations, I would say they are desperate for Shearer to stay. There's no significant conversations about who should come in from anyone.

As I've said, I don't think Shearer is the answer for them but they're all in such a weird state of  shock up here that they probably need Shearer to manage them - and if it goes wrong, it goes wrong.

Apparently the wage bill totals £71m, and only a couple of the players are on the relegation clause.

Luckily enough Michael Owen's contract runs out in a month so that's £105k they save weekly !!

Rich, I know you're up there and probably have some affection for them because of this, but they really do get on my tits!

My problem is the contention that no else can possibly understand what its like to support a team like newcastle.  As if there support is somehow special and more intense than the hardcore of support of Swindon.  This is constantly perpetuated by the media and the fans on phone ins and its plainly not true.  I can recall them coming to the county ground back in the late 80's early 90's and they bought a decent crowd, but no more than some other teams and there was nothing 'special' about them.

It does seem to be largely media and particularly sky sport led.  As a result I was more than happy for them to go down.  Im up in newcastle on saturday and Im sure that life will be going on up there, in fact I very much doubt anyone will even mention football to me just as every other time I'm up there no one talks about football.

Glad I've got that off my chest!

If/when they offload the expected casualties of relegation: Steven Taylor, Ignacio Gonzalez, Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Mark Viduka, Sebastien Bassong, Claudio Cacapa, Geremi, Xisco, Michael Owen and Habib Beye the amount of wages freed will be phenomenal.

I imagine players like Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Alan Smith and Nicky Butt to stay but if a bid came in for any of them, they'd probably accept.

It's the best thing to happen for their youngsters - Andrew Carroll, Nile Ranger, Kazenga LuaLua, Frank Wiafe Danquah and even Ben Tozer could benefit.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1781&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=26

This made me laugh :)

Said in the paper yesterday that they need to shave £30m off their salary bill and that getting rid of Owen and Viduka alone will save them £9m. If they can find someone stupid enough to take Barton off their hands he'll be gone, amazingly it looks like Allardyce & Blackburn actually are likely to be that stupid. Beggars belief.

All barton did this time was get sent off. The same as bassong(sp) and the other bloke did.

And then have a disagreement with Shearer.

They guy could start an argument in an empty room.

Do you read the sun batch? Shearer slated him straight after the game.

Surely purchasers of the Sun don't actually read it...more look at the pictures.

And that nullifies Barton having a go back how exactly. Blame may lie in both parties, but with Barton's history he should have shut up. The guy is a class A twat.

Agree he is a twat just think as usual because its him everyone goes ott.

interesting that some american chap bought sunderland today - i'm sure ashley would love to sell, but their nut case fans have put paid to that, and now they've gone down the asking price must have halved

Ellis Short has had a stake in the Mackems since September.

He's the chap who came in and asked Roy Keane to justify the money he's spent - one of the many reasons Keane got in a sulk and lost interest.