Newcastle ‘harsh reality’ is that they’re not a big club like Man Utd
Newcastle United fans moan about conspiracies and cartels but the truth is that their club is just not big or innovative.
Football is just business Being constantly bombarded with MAGA obsessed media, I have learned to tune out those who open their mouths before they engage their brain, but this incessant whining by NUFC supporters about how unfair it is that they can’t spend all those bloodstained petro dollars has forced me to comment.
It is widely accepted that the EPL business model is the envy of other domestic leagues around the World and the various FFP rules have contributed to that success. The emphasis on revenue growth prevents people like Elon Musk buying a club and spending billions to buy the top players in the World and paying them ridiculous sums of money (i.e. the Saudi model).
There is no conspiracy. It’s not a cartel, it is just that the “barriers to entry” are difficult. No more challenging however than any new entrant trying to break into any new market. A generation ago, IBM dominated the computer industry and there was no Apple or Microsoft. It requires creativity and innovation.
Many may not like how MUFC achieved their financial success but they were the first to explore things like European competition, going public, expanding support worldwide and seeking commercial sponsorship. And in spite of all this, those same FFP rules are preventing us from splurging cash like drunken sailors because of the debt we have to service. So FFP actually works.
Perhaps the real question lies within. NUFC get over 50,000 fans every home game and thousands more buy the merchandise. In the last two seasons they have sold 2-300 million pounds worth of talent. What major commercial deals have they signed? What players are their academy producing? How have the likes of Charlton, Robson, Carrick, etc. always slipped through the net? How exactly is NUFC spending their money?
Towns like London, Liverpool, Munich, Manchester, Madrid, etc. have dominated World Football for decades. Even with money, earning that cachet is difficult. At the first sign of trouble, Tonali, Gordon, etc. all bailed. Conversely, the “B” teams (Brighton, Brentford, etc.) have developed a fiscally sound model that has achieved mid-table stability whilst playing attractive football. The harsh reality is that NUFC is not, and has never been, as big of a club as they think they are. Adidasmufc
(Anyone remember when MUFC was pilloried for having American owners?)
Man Utd > Arsenal? That’s a nonsense Lovely stuff from Johnny Nicholson about Man Utd and Michael Carrick and their destiny for glory this season.
First things first, disclaimer: I am Gooner. But I do happen to like Carrick, as much as that is possible in the context.
Now, on to Johnny’s argument: Carrick is the best manager and ManUtd are the best team because they amassed the most points under Carrick’s leadership fo all PL teams, even 3 more points than Arsenal. So, there can be no arguments they are the best. Simple as that, they had 3 more points than the Champions in the same period.
Small fly in the ointment, which Johnny quickly labels irrelevant: ManUtd played fewer games.
Well, a lot fewer, to be honest.
Man Utd played exactly 40 in the entire 2025-2026 season, due to early elimination from every competition where it was possible to be eliminated early.
Arsenal played 63. More than 50% more! And yet, collected only 3 points less than Utd in the PL, in the second half of the season, where fatique is most prominent. Even if we only look at the period when Carrick was boss (and pretend that all the games before did not count towards end-of-season fatigue for some mysterious reason): ManUtd played 17 games. Arsenal played 31. That is 14 games more, i.e. almost twice as many games in the most demanding period of the season.
Or, let me put it differently. Carrick won an impressive 12 games during that period. All in the PL, obviously.
Arsenal won 19 games in the same period, including Champions League games, with long-distance travel and fixture congestion contributing to the aforementioned fatigue.
To sum it up in a single line: Arsenal won more games during Carrick’s tenure than ManUtd even played.
So yeah, 3 points more in the last 17 games of the PL proves ManUtd are definitely going to walk it this season. András, Sweden
Not reading much into pre-season Some fantastic pre-season conclusion drawing in the Monday mailbox.
Firstly, we had Gaptoothfreak drawing a lot of positives from Arsenal and some negatives for Man City from the Community Shield (why was this in Cardiff BTW?) despite opening his mail with ‘we should probably resist drawing sweeping conclusions from what was, essentially, a glorified curtain raiser’, and later we have Justin Rimmering predicting ‘Liverpool, Premier League champions by April; following an equally meaningless friendly against Como.
Calm down people, I know we are desperate for the season to get going, but these games don’t really mean a thing, and are should never be used to draw conclusions or make predictions!
As an aside Badger, Montreal asks whether ‘With the news of LFC and Bezos just wondering if we get free shipping on transfers?’. Of course we do, but only if we subscribe to Prime and pay a monthly fee for a service we use only twice a year! I’m hoping Bezos et al are going to putting money in, not taking it out! A, LFC, Montreal
READ: Man City’s midfield, Man Utd’s defence, Tottenham’s attack: 10 gaping holes and concerns in PL squads
Why let AI write your mails? While I agree with Justin Rimmering’s sentiment, I do find it increasingly sad how often you see obvious AI-written emails in the mailbox. It shows a lack of confidence in expressing your own opinions, which are usually more fun when explained by an angry fan avoiding their day job.
I don’t think it’s a thing to police, and I’m not even going to approach it from an anti-AI stance (I’ll leave that to others), I just wonder how much value there is in sharing an AI’s opinion under your own name. Getting published in the mailbag isn’t that prestigious. Your dad won’t be any more proud of you than they already were (doing great, champ) and the world won’t change because you managed it. On the other hand, you might come up with something truly insightful or funny in the process of putting the email together, and wouldn’t that be great?
The internet photocopying machine won’t. Andrew M, London
Why let a manager choose his successor? Call me a cynic, but surely there’s a conflict of interest letting managers choose their successors?
Why would Pep want whoever replaces him to be as good or better? If Maresca succeeds – and the knee-jerk reaction is he won’t last the season – then people will point to Pep’s success being more to do with funds, club setup, etc rather than his own abilities. If Marasca fails with the same funds/setup, then it makes Pep look all the better.
Same with Sir Alex recommending Moyes – did he really think Moyes was a worthy replacement? What if Utd had gone for Mourinho back then?
The only example I can think of right now of a manager replacing a successful manager who’s stepped down of their own accord is Slot – and Slot just ran with the (very successful) Klopp blueprint in his first season and won it when Man City and Arsenal had an off-year.
Ancelotti / Alonso…
Any examples where ‘Good/Successful manager steps down (is not fired) and their replacement is as good or better’? Andy, Wales
Mad at RHT/TS x City undercooked what a joke.
Donnarumma O’Reilly Gvardiol Dias Khusanov Kovacic Anderson Doku Foden Semenyo Haaland
Out of that squad only Kovacic wouldn’t be the first option although I don’t currently know who who would replace him Gonzalez maybe? If you want stretch it maybe Khusanov.
You look to denigrate the Gunners with every email you send in. I am guessing you couldn’t find fault with our performance so pretended that City weren’t fully prepared or fully fit and state we now have no excuse not to play nicer football from here on.
Sorry to say we will play however our coach wants and a gimp like you doesn’t get to dictate the way we do it.
As you can probably tell, I have a major disdain for you and you’re worst than Stewie. The day you disappear from the mailbox can’t come some soon enough. Brendan, Melbourne, Gunner
