Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Opinion

Newcastle United announcement – Suggests furlough phasing out and return to ‘normality’?

4 years ago
Share

An announcement has been made by Newcastle United on Wednesday afternoon.

The message / subject matter not dramatic in itself BUT what it signifies is potentially something much greater.

The announcement (see below) via the club’s official website and social media, has informed Newcastle fans that at 3pm on Saturday (16 May 2020), there will be a rerun of the 8-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on the club’s official YouTube channel.

Like I say, not groundbreaking in itself, but when we see how Mike Ashley’s Newcastle United do ‘communication’, it could be very significant.

Basically, Ashley doesn’t allow the club to keep the fans informed of anything important, so when he furloughed every NUFC staff member he possibly could in late March, we only found out when some of the staff affected got in touch with the media. There has been zero communication on that ever since from the club, nothing on refunds fans are due for money taken for games they won’t be able to now go to this season, nor indeed any explanation / justification for still taking advance payments by direct debit from fans for 2020/21 season tickets, a season that nobody knows when it will start, or if fans will be allowed into matches.

Despite no communication by the club we did find out that the entire recruitment and scouting department were amongst those furloughed and then we found out when the likes of Steve Nickson was taken off furlough, once again via the media.

Newcastle’s entire media department was furloughed amongst the rest and we only found that out when pretty much everything ground to a halt in late March, in terms of anything new appearing on the club website and social media.

This included the showing of retro games on the club’s YouTube channel and NUFC media staff interacting with fans, the 4-4 Arsenal game was shown on Saturday 21 March and then 5-0 Man Utd on 28 March. When 8-0 Sheff Wed is shown this Saturday, it will be the first thing in seven weeks to appear on the club’s official YouTube channel.

It might appear to be a little like trying to put a jigsaw together without having the picture on the box to guide you but…

The Premier League is provisionally set to return in June, squads are imminently set to begin training again, with other clubs reporting player flying back from overseas where they have been in lockdown. In an interview on Monday, Danny Rose let slip that he is set to be tested for the virus on Friday. It sounding definitely as though that will be as part of the NUFC squad all being tested, with every chance in my opinion, that a return to the training ground is set to happen next week.

It then makes sense as well of course that if the club is going to start functioning again in some kind of ‘normal’ way, then they will need staff returning to work, including the media department. Maybe the ticket office as well to start the refund to fans process…?

Beyond that, rumours of a Newcastle United takeover set to happen shortly…which obviously will need staff in place at NUFC as the massive turnaround job begins.

Here’s hoping.

Newcastle United announcement:

‘Newcastle United fans can relive the Magpies’ biggest ever Premier League victory in full on Saturday.

United thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 8-0 in Sir Bobby Robson’s first home game in charge of his boyhood club in September 1999, with Alan Shearer – back in the starting line-up under the new boss – hitting five goals and the late, great Gary Speed also on the scoresheet alongside Aaron Hughes and Kieron Dyer.

It was a dream start to life at St. James’ Park for Sir Bobby and set the tone for what was to follow, as the Magpies were transformed from relegation battlers (they went into this game bottom of the Premier League table) into a Champions League outfit.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Premier League is currently suspended and Newcastle haven’t played since winning 1-0 at Southampton back in early March.

But United have aimed to fill the void by showing classic matches from the archives on the club’s official YouTube channel, with the famous 5-0 win against Manchester United from 1996 and the thrilling 4-4 draw with Arsenal from 2011 being watched by hundreds of thousands of supporters from all over the world.

And, at 3pm on Saturday, fans can relive another memorable game – the day Sir Bobby’s homecoming was marked in sensational style.

Visit Newcastle United’s YouTube channel here and subscribe to make sure you’re notified when we go live.’

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks