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"And how the poverty of these unfortunates, among whom even thieves find nothing to steal, is exploited by the property-holding class in lawful ways." Frederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England. It is no longer news that Internet loan shark "Wonga" will be the club's sponsors from next season for a [.

There has been something of a rehabiltation of the reputation of Mike Ashley at Newcastle United recently. This, of course, has been due largely to the club's generally upward trajectory in terms of it's League position in recent seasons under Chris Hughton and Alan Pardew, as well as some successes in the transfer market since [.

The end of the season is finally upon us. A season in which defied all expectations. A season where even the most optimistic of Toon fans would have struggled to predict what would be. Newcastle United gate-crashed the top six, and also knocked on the door of the Premier League's top four. As it turned [.

Newcastle United's Managing Director, Derek Llambias, has been speaking to David Conn for yesterday's Guardian. In the interview he spoke on how he has received so much abuse from Geordie ingrates that he doesn't hear it any more, how Mike Ashley told him that he would have "a horrible job" in May 2008, just before [.

Newcastle United appear to have sorted themselves out after a long period of woe but are there are certain similarities between what Liverpool are going through now and what Newcastle have been through in the past? Liverpool seemed in turmoil on Sunday. We beat them fairly comfortably, their goalkeeper was sent off and Andy Carroll [.

Christina from Newcastle University is currently writing a dissertation / thesis on the renaming of St James' Park by Sports Direct, and part of her research work takes the form of a survey to record fans' feelings on the project. It is quite painless and should only take a few minutes, and it would be [.

As Mike Ashley's current PR offensive continues apace, Newcastle United's managing director, Derek Llambias, claimed that the club have had some "nibbles" from "tyre kickers" expressing interest in the club's stadium naming rights offer. In the latest chapter of the offensive, planned on the back of an announcement of reduced losses in the club's annual [.

In a move which may or may not be coincidental with the kerfuffle over the club's recent stadium rename, Alan Pardew has told the Sunday Mirror that though Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias have put the club in a much stronger position finacially, it still needs to bring more sponsorship in. He also added that [.

The renaming of Newcastle United's ground continues to rankle people, this time in parliament where a Commons motion has been taken out to object to it. Ashley's plans to rename St James' Park after his T-shirt company have certainly caused a stir, one that stretches as far as House of Commons. 12 MPs have signed [.

"All this was inspired by the principle which is quite true within itself that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in [.

"The BBC's governing principles, closely associated with its first Director-General, Sir John Reith, are to educate, inform and entertain the whole nation, free from political interference and commercial pressure. These ideals continue to underpin an enduring vision of the BBC as the "national" broadcaster.

"Twenty years ago, we sponsored Crystal Palace and they got to the FA Cup final. Then last week, we sponsored Newcastle and they beat Manchester United 3-love." "So we're a lucky brand, and may the luck continue throughout the rest of the season." The words of Sir Richard Branson, (3-love?? clearly a tennis fan!

Virgin Money takes over where Northern Rock left off and sponsors Newcastle United's shirts for the next two and a half seasons. As you could no doubt tell by the shirts the team wore last night, Newcastle United have brokered a deal with Virgin Money until the end of the 2013/2014 season. Last night Derek [.

Is there any truth in the rumours that Virgin Money are in talks about sponsoring Newcastle United by way of the shirts and stadium naming rights? According to a site called 'Marketing', Virgin are in talks with Newcastle United about a possible shirts and stadium sponsorship deal. The rumours about such a deal have been [.

Newcastle United's Silver Supremo, Alan Pardew, has come out and defended Mike Ashley's decision to rename St James' Park the "Sports Direct Arena." Speaking in an interview in the run up to Newcastle United's away match against Manchester City, he began by reassuring "traditionalists" who may be upset that it would still be the same [.

I was planning to write a follow up to my

A few days after Newcastle United's already despised Managing Director, Derek Llambias, announced the club's corporate renaming of the club's traditional home as "The Sports Direct Arena", it would be hard to imagine his or Mike Ashley's reputation sinking any lower. However all that has changed now after one simple drunken rant in a bar [.

To say there's been some opposition to Mike Ashley's rehash of his previously botched plan to sell the St James' Park naming rights would be an understatement. However as more details have emerged it's become ever more obvious that this 2.0 version is scarcely better than the previous one, and it seems more than likely [.

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley's bright idea to change the name of St James' Park to 'The Sports Direct Arena' is still dominating the Toon news. Just as Ashley was seemingly gaining some ground with fans after a fantastic start to the season on the pitch, it seems he's now off a lot of peoples' [.

After the uproar of the announcement this morning and much discussion with the lads at work, I've come to the feeling that Ashley has completely lost any trust that he has managed to claw back over the past few months. As a previous nufcblog.org article has already pointed out, Derek Llambias has previously gone on [.

I think I am more upset that I'm not as upset as the majority of fans are about the nasty re branding of St James Park. I was surprised to see the new name as I thought it was going to be blah blah blah @ St James Park, but we all knew this was [...]

With the news that Newcastle United will be changing it's name to "Sports Direct @ St James' Park", the Managing Director of the club, Derek Llambias, has sought to reassure fans that the St James' Park name would remain so long as he and current owner, Mike Ashley "reigned" at the club. Firstly though, he [.

As the post mortem on Newcastle United's transfer window continues amongst fans, with Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias failing in their attempt to fulfill Alan Pardew's bold prophecy of a new striker at St James', comes the unwelcome news that the FA will be charging Pardew for making inappropriate comments about about referee, Howard Webb, [.

What is Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley up to and is it time for him to let us in on his plans? Mike Ashley still divides opinion at Newcastle. Some people like him and think he's good for the club and others hate him and would have him hogtied, marched to the Bigg Market and [...]

Newcastle United's stadium renaming farce has caused quite a stir, although a 'top marketing consultant' hails it a success. Meanwhile Northern Rock have pulled out of the shirt sponsorship deal early. Are the two events related? A marketing gadgie called Jonathon Gabay, who is according to his website "trusted by some of the [.

Well known Newcastle United site nufc.com have posted the image you see here of the new sign over St James' Park's East Stand, much favoured by pensioners with tartan lap rugs and flasks of tea. But I digress... The picture, posted by "KM", was supposedly taken on Wednesday, September 14th, and as you can see, [.