I’ve never forgiven him for talking about our women in those terms, and I never will. Fatman Freddy looms over the Toon like a doom-laden blimp. He must go.

A number of contributors make the statemant that Shepherd is “only” guilty of appointing poor managers. What else does he have to be bad at before they will acknowledge how useless he is? Perhaps breaking stock exchange rules - which he does in maintaining himself as Chairman and Chief Executive? Or getting involved, perhaps, an a sex and drugs scandal whilst slagging off the club? The clubs finances are now in a very parlous state, and ulimately that lessens our appeal to anyone who may be interested. After all, they have got to come up with around £200 million just to gain control and write off the debt.

I have lived in the south since a kid, apart from the 80s when I lived back in the North East and went to most of the matches, I have always been an absent supporter. Even as a kid I was the only Newcastle fan that anyone knew for miles. KK changed that, and that legacy remains. That is the financial advantage that Shepherd threw away.

I can tell you that many people here down south, most in fact, have a respect for what NUFC COULD be, but don’t expect that in their lifetime anymore than finding the Holy Grail in the attic. The club is perceived as lacking ambition and focus. I think that NUFC could be to this country what Barcelona is to Spain: a core of diehard local fans, underwriting the financial stability and confidence to push for glory. I have heard for years that NUFC has european ambitions: as if just being there would be enough: we should believe we can win the lot: but it will only happen if the board see that too.

I was there when Hall ousted McKeag, and I remember his promises, and I still find it hard to believe how we have been let down.

“I put this to you, the editors of Newcastle-Online, and to everyone reading this….”

Mikey

A very heart felt e-mail and I couldn’t agree more. Newcastle United fans do need an official body of representation outside of the very few fansites and fanzines that exist, that much is clear and N.O has actually looked into this issue before. While we believe we have enough good people already on board and the readership to get something going of that nature, the time, funds and effort needed to set-up such a body just isn’t available at this moment in time, however, so we’d have to pass on that.

But we are all for such initiatives and would back any independent fan organisation 100% and allow such an entity to use N.O to promote the venture to our readership.

Regarding a concerted and united effort to get Freddy Shepherd out, you are right, to achieve such a feat would require all fans and fansites/fanzines joining forces, but that isn’t going to happen. There is no relationship one way or another between ourselves and fellow fansites.

For what it is worth there is a “campaign” to get Freddy Shepherd out, if one could call it that - a few lads on the forum are in the process of creating a “Freddy Out” campaign and there seems to be one or two fans willing to join in and help out so I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about that in the coming weeks and months.

N.O won’t be getting involved with anything of that nature, however, but you are more than free to express your opinions on these very pages; on any NUFC related subject whether it be a “Freddy Out” rant or in defence of the Chairman. The choice is entirely yours.

As ever thanks for writing into us, keep your views coming and carry on using N.O to have your say - that’s what the site is for.

Sherperd out.

To put it briefly, he’s a crook and no mistake. Creaming money off the fans, lining his own pockets.

He seems to appoint puppet manages for their ability to say “Yes” to his orders, and ignore their reputation and history. Roeder’s a nice guy, but my thoughts when he was appointed were of disbelief. World class managers???? Yeah….. Hes a puppet. Nothing more.

And the transfer policy really annoys me. It appears miscalculated and unorganised, but oh no, Shepherd knows exactly what hes doing.

The last few summers have seen “big name” players arrive (Kluivert, Owen, Duff, Martins) when funds could have been more sensibly invested to build the team. But that won’t sell pre-printed replica shirts.

He knew Kluivert’s hunger had gone… But imagine the replica shirt “Kluivert 11″ sales…. Owen? Injury plagued history, would have been more sensible buying 2 or three players of lesser quality to beef up an essentially poor squad, but that wouldn’t have led to massive shirt sales and a huge media circus when 10,000 people turned up for the media circus. Duff? Left-wing arguably our strongest spot, but N’Zogbia I guess doesn’t shift enough shirts.

Why didn’t we buy the “proven at Premirship level, and dependable” Andy Johnson instead of “Seria A youngster and international hotshot who’s a big gamble” Oba Martins? Shirt sales V Prem goals….

Well-fed-Fred is a complete and utter crook who is killing Newcastle United.

On another note Bruce Shepherd’s e-mail address is very easy to find. I wouldn’t get into the legal issue of including it in this, but Google “Shepherd offshore” and go to the contact page. I wrote to him to air my views, I advise all to to the same.

Very heartening to hear so many people disgusted at the shocking way Shepherd has run this club for so long.

But consider a few things - would Liverpool, Man Utd or Arsenal fans have accepted this for so long?

Had we been more vocal about the ridiculous way the chairman has acted (the “dogs” slur, rip-off comments, sacking Robson, appointing Souness, world class managers claim, Hitzfeld campaign comments, fans’ choice claim over Roeder, the list is endless) would he have got away with it for so long?

I put this to you, the editors of Newcastle-Online, and to everyone reading this….

If we really want him out, a few chants here and there, a few banners, a few angry e-mails like we’re doing now…. that won’t budge him.

Some say only £100m will. Maybe, but maybe not….

I’ve said it on other websites and I’m saying it again - you want to put pressure on the chairman, you need to start a campaign that unites ALL supporters’ clubs, fanzines, websites etc. You need to get the media’s attention. Mr Oliver may not be too receptive, but if that’s the case go national.

The media knows how we feel - look at Henry Winter’s column in the Telegraph last week. A sensible man writing a common-sense article on Newcastle United without any Chronicle spin.

Get a campaign started, and this way - as long as everyone gets together - we can have not hundreds but thousands of members. Then protests need to be organised, and other events.

I’m deadly serious.

There needs to be a coming together of everyone to form a pact with enough muscle to make an impact, otherwise we’ll be here forever. Shepherd may go, but by then it may be be too late, as his manager’s taking us into the Championship as we speak. Who’d want us then?

I’m not calling for just another protest group here, I’m calling for the biggest independent group ever created for a British club - lets face it we’ve got a hell of a lot of fans! - to protest at the mismanagement of NUFC in a way no other group has protested before. We really need to put the heat on here, come on face facts anything else won’t make a difference.

My call’s been met with yawns on other sites, but that’s the reason why we’re in this state. We have fan power, we need to use it. It may not get Shepherd out, but a fierce protest against his awful mismanagement of the club might just give him a wake-up call.

For goodness sake folks wake up to reality - this club is in serious trouble on and off the pitch. Roeder was a shocking choice as manager - a shame as he genuinely cares about the club.

Yes he’s a problem and has to go, but the real problem at this club is at the top. And we’re doing very little to rectify this decline.

For anyone who says what good will it do, well it’s far better that doing nothing at all, which is basically what we’re doing at the moment.

I’d be very interested to hear what Newcastle-Online thinks of this, and everyone else.

I cannot agree with Neil’s suggestion that Shepherd deserves credit for the financial support he has given to his managers. Appointing barely competent men like Souness (his team were bottom of the Prem you may recall when we poached him) is bad enough but to compound the felony by giving these appointees ridiculous amounts of OUR money to fritter is criminal.

The first key to success in any business is to put the right personnel in place. Shepherd has manifestly failed to do this. The second key to success is to let them get on with the job. Need I say more.

Toontastic, I agree that technically, there is nothing to prevent the appointment of someone else as Chairman. Given that the Halls and Shepherd’s own such a large proportion of the shares though, and pretty much can’t be defeated in a vote by the minor shareholders (I don’t think), it isn’t likely that they are going to appoint anyone other than someone from their circle. This can’t possibly be anything other than rumour, but a friend in the media tells me that Kenneth Shepherd is widely thought to be the natural successor.

One thing that is commonly thought to be Shepherd’s redeeming feature is that he backs the manager financially. What he actually does is spend club revenue. There’s nothing philanthropic about it. He has also taken iniquitous dividends that could have been used elsewhere.

Equally, there is a mass of anecdotal evidence that, at least in the past five or so years, Shepherd has actually been dictating transfer policies. Most of us have read Bobby Robson on the subject of Speed, Bowyer, Woodgate etc and the press reports that Souness complained bitterly about our transfer policy.

Spending money doesn’t make a good Chairman. There is so much else:

Of course, having neglected it so badly, our academy is barely productive. How many Premiership class players have come out of our academy in the past ten years? I’m not talking about England class players, just functional Premiership players. If memory serves, Hughes, Taylor, Ramage and Ameobi are the only academy graduates in the past eight or so years to ply their trade in the Premiership.

This is a scandal. It’s why Boro get the cream of the North East’s playing talent in their academy. It’s why as recently as yesterday, Chopra was bemoaning our youth policy. Bobby Robson and Glenn Roeder have both identified it as being a massively neglected part of the club. Now that the money has gone and we could do with some talent coming through to swell the ranks, we are reaping the dividend of our lack of planning.

Similarly, if we carry on losing money like we have been, we aren’t actually that far from insolvency. With the money we have had through our hands, this is nothing short of a scandal.

This sort of stuff begins and ends with the Chairman.

This isn’t about fans whining and it’s not about being fickle. It’s just hard fact.

Couldn’t agree more. For ages now, I’ve felt that Newcastle’s problems originate at the top level. The evidence continually mounts that Freddy Shepherd is not capable of acting both as Chairman & Chief Exec and I cant imagine any of his counterparts could have much respect for him. I just wish that he would admit his failings, move out of the limelight and appoint a proper Chief Exec. Who could run the club more efficently and get us back up where we belong.

Neil, Shepherd’s guilty of more than hiring the wrong man, have your read our latest financial figures? Were you oblivious to the plethora of embarrassing and frankly bad rank PR this man has spouted on behalf of Newcastle United?

“Man Utd are a rudderless ship”

Etc. etc.

As for fans being fickle, of course all fans are fickle and we are no different… but only to a point. Freddy Shepherd and co have been given carte blanche in terms of support from fans, what do you think paid for the stadium and all those players and managers much less his dividends? Our money! If that’s not support I don’t know what is.

Are we wrong to look at how our money is being spent and where it is going? Are we wrong to ask for more than what we are getting given when he took over we were regarded as second only to the club he calls a rudderless ship, a club who have more trophies in the past 15 years than we currently have points.

We turn up week in week out and get behind our team and club, 30,000 plus fans sang their hearts out at Cardiff, where is this “rise” you speak of?

Get your head out of the sand Neil and wake up to the fact that Freddy Shepherd and his fellow miscreants are NOT up to the job and WE need change if we are to succeed in any capacity.

Here’s a link for you: NUFC Mismanagement

Lynda I note your comments with regards to who would take over from FS and suggesting it would have to be one of the major shareholders. I have to ask the question why ? Why would it not be possible for the board to hire someone to take the Chairman role maybe in what could be called a Chief Executive role at the club. The club has already been told in it’s audit that it needs more members of staff on the board who are impartial so this could be one perfect way to do this.

I can’t believe what I’m reading!! This just sums up the Newcastle fans, who are said to be the most loyal etc. in the world, but in reality are the most fickle set of fans in the Premiership! Freddy Shepherd is only guilty of perhaps choosing the wrong manager, nothing else. No other chairman has backed his managers the way Freddy has, and whilst the money comes from the PLC, other chairmen would simply not do it. Managers Freddy has put in place have identified the players they want, and Freddy has supplied the money in the trust that it will pay off. Imagine we were top of the league now and in all competitions, the fans would be singing Freddy and Glenn’s names!

The soul fact is we are a club in transition after the Robson era (whom by the way after being given the sack is bound to have a bitter taste in his mouth towards Shepherd), and whilst times are hard the fans spend all their time looking for a scapegoat as oppose to getting behind the team and sticking with them through thick and thin!

The reason we are where we are is because of the managerial ineptness of Souness. Newcastle and Liverpool were managerless and in the same poisition, we got Souness, they got Benitez and look at where the two clubs are now. But even still, Robson had clearly lost the dressing room and can Shepherd be completely blamed for bringing in someone atleast known to be a total disciplinarian?

The fans shouting for Shepherd out lack any sort of basic knowledge about football, and are depicting exactly the fickle fan that you would find at St. James’ Park today, these people are probably also the same fans that disgustingly booed the team and boycotted the end of season parade when we finished 5th in the league!

For god’s sake people stop being so narrow minded and searching for a scapegoat, and channel your energy into supporting the team you love, get behind them and Newcastle United will rise again.

Neil

If you are so blind that you can’t see that FF has single handedly presided over our spectacular fall from grace for the 10 years or so that he has been in charge then I suggest you read all the evidence that is freely available to you, do your homework and realise that the ‘journalist’ Alan Oliver must be on his books.

If he has tried his best then it is patently obvious that his best just isn’t good enough. Only once since KK left under a cloud has he hired anyone that remotely knew what this football club is about - and he treat him like rubbish; remember FF saying “you dont sack people like SBR” - what a two faced lieing swine eh.

After being spoiled by the football under KK, he hired the most negative, tactically inept prat in Dalglish (yes he was brilliant at ‘pool, bought and spawned a title with Blackburn, garbage in Europe due to my reasons stated before); then Gullit - FF must have creamed himself over his catchphrase “sexy football”.

Gullit had no heart, personality - passed onto his team - and didn’t give a hoot about the club (dropping a fit Shearer for a derby game - come on) and hardly had an extensive CV or track record. He did the right thing by getting SBR in but it was like 3 or 4 years too late - that was exactly the calibre of manager he should have got after KK left.

He then sacked SBR and then brought in the worst ever manager in the history of the PL, who was on the verge of getting the sack at Blackburn - even compensing Blackburn - you couldnt make it up.

He them proceeded to give him approx £50 million to squander - I mean a manager of his track record (who brought a ‘player’ to Southampton on the back of a phone call!), who has been sacked by practically every club he has managed, appointed at NUFC then given carte blanche.

Finally sacked that useless fool - and we were back to the post KK era; has the chance to right all the previous wrongs and deliver someone the fans have craved for nigh on 10 years. He even payed us lip service by saying “you wouldn’t believe who are interested in the job; the calibre of the manager interested in managing this great club”, “the next managerial appointment will be the most important in this club’s history”.

The fans started campaigns for various world class, succesfull and AVAILABLE managers - Scolari even stated his interest, likewise Houllier. Who did he deliver - bloody Glenn Roeder, with the proclamation “this is the one the fans wanted”.

What a load of rubbish. He had no intention of anyone else, never once listened to the voice of the paying public. So tell me FF’s nark - what was his Plan B - what would he have done if GR hadn’t taken a team of decent players, who were absolutely clueless and coached them a few basics - probably the likes of you or me could have done - and spawned 7th place?

FF is a joke and has made us a laughing stock, comments like Man Utd are a rudderless ship cement this.

If even half of what Sir Bobby wrote about Fred in his autobiography is true, Freddie Shepherd MUST go.

I believe most of it was probably spot on and that Fred enjoys buying and selling players independent of the managers he appoints, ie, Sir Bobby not wanting Gary Speed to leave and only hearing about the transfer AFTER if was done when Speed himself informed him! Also, Fred trying to offload Bowyer without telling Sir Bobby, Fred telling the press Sir Bobby would be leaving before he told Sir Bobby…all of it despicable.

The total disregard for the fans during the `appoint Hitzfeld` campaign also made me sick, the way he disdained the hopes of a vast proportion of the fans by saying the campaign was invented for the purposes of betting…really, the man has nothing but contempt for the fans.

He lacks vision for the club, wich is evident in his managerial choices - to be fair, he has been partially unlucky on that front, but the appointments of Souness and even Roeder (when the fans were calling for a big name) shows me that Freddie has no clue (I think the appointment of Roeder, a smaller and less established name, is all about showing that Freddie is the big dog at NUFC).

He must go. As long as he is chairman, NUFC will be seen as a joke club.

I couldn’t agree more Mick and the financial figures released yesterday are the last straw for me. His reckless managerial appointment of Souness has set us back years both on and off the pitch, financially and now even our future is uncertain too.

He has to go, without a doubt and I’ll be lending my voice to any “Shepherd Out” chants and campaigns that’s for sure, although I don’t quite share Will Underhill’s “get Belgravia in” sentiments.

Not first without knowing who they are and what their intentions are for the club and that goes for any interested party, Geordie or otherwise.

Shepherd out indeed!

Get him out, we are clearly skint after wasting all that money to help his ridiculous choice of manager in Graeme Souness and get that Belgravia Group in so we can afford some talent for once instead of getting players that nobody else wants. SHEPHERD OUT! GET THE FAT BUGGER OUT OF ST. JAMES’ PARK!