We Are Newcastle United (Amazon Prime Video)

[Cal]

Episode 1 went live at midnight, with another episode following for the next 3 Fridays.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0CBJC45DB/

First episode was good, had a bit more access than I was expecting. Interesting to see some of the negotiation strategy, and how early the ambition was turned on internally.

Shearer says "Athletico Madrid" twice though...

[UlversToon]

I plan to watch it later as part of my pre-match build up.

[Don Sholeone]

I watched the first episode before work yesterday, I dunno if it's just because it's obviously filmed in a linear way but I did feel like the staff were too aware of the cameras. So some of the scenes didn't have a natural feel to them. Hopefully this is because of the early days of filming and it feels a little more natural as they got used to the crew being around filming them.

Also it's annoying knowing what happens for example the Gordon signing, it loses the intensity when you know the end result

[TJR]

It was a good watch and an interesting insight into the boardroom dynamic and ambition of the club.

Though if you're not a Newcastle fan I don't think you'd keep watching it as everyone is too conscious of the cameras being there and it comes across a bit staged at times. Also you can tell Howe wasn't happy with the cameras being there.

Other similar shows like Sunderland Til I Die or All or Nothing Manchester City, were much better as they were proper fly on the wall documentaries and told the story of the season as a whole. Whereas this one seems very heavily focused on owners / boardroom side of things.

[Chappy]

Other similar shows like Sunderland Til I Die or All or Nothing Manchester City, were much better as they were proper fly on the wall documentaries and told the story of the season as a whole. Whereas this one seems very heavily focused on owners / boardroom side of things.

I thought this too.... only the first episode though and most of it was centred around the takeover. I'm hoping the following episodes will be more football focused.

Was hoping they'd drop all four episodes so I could binge-watch 'em. Don't like waiting

[Cal]

Wasn't this always known to be more about the business side of things? IIRC Howe didn't want a camera crew in and around the team all the time for an All Or Nothing type series

[bodacious benny]

First episode did have me almost shedding a tear at times!

[Colly]

I found it a bit dull to be honest, I don't feel like I came away knowing anything new, other than Eales first slide of "higher wages = good football men" which basically summed the whole thing up. The whole episode really hinged on convincing us that they'd done a great deal for Gordon (and I'm unconvinced by how real some of those conversations were) so I'm not sure how they'll get my attention for the post transfer window episodes. How we got Sela as a sponsor isn't exactly rocket science.

[seaside nipper]

Wasn't this always known to be more about the business side of things? IIRC Howe ]didn't want a camera crew in and around the team all the time for an All Or Nothing type series

I Agree with this, maybe because you feel precious about the team vibe and want to keep it away from others and prying eyes.
Just feel it’s not really a great or essential bit of business to do this. I watched the Spurs and the Arsenal issues and felt mocking towards those clubs.
Don’t want my precious to be ridiculed.
I like the siege mentality about Newcastle and the seethe our success brings out in the haters

[overseasTOON]

Watched the first episode and came away with great satisfaction that Trippiers wife had an Ian Rush experience in Spain.

[Chappy]

Just finished watching it all - was alright - can't say I was blown away by it like...

[overseasTOON]

Watched them all now and came away with the impression that the board is certainly here for the long term and work diligently to constantly improve the club throughout the season; be it in numerous small changes which is smart.

They've managed in nearly two years to lay down a solid foundation to build on and certainly seem to have an overall plan which is flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances - such as qualifying for Champions League earlier than anticipated.

FFP is always considered in every decision, public opinion and knowing additional scrutiny is taken into account for any announcement over a deal.

All in all, we're in a safe pair of hands.

[lassassinblanc]

Watched them all now and came away with the impression that the board is certainly here for the long term and work diligently to constantly improve the club throughout the season; be it in numerous small changes which is smart.

They've managed in nearly two years to lay down a solid foundation to build on and certainly seem to have an overall plan which is flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances - such as qualifying for Champions League earlier than anticipated.

FFP is always considered in every decision, public opinion and knowing additional scrutiny is taken into account for any announcement over a deal.

All in all, we're in a safe pair of hands.

Agreed, you can definitely see every decision is made with 3 things in mind

1) Will it improve the team
2) Will it improve the club as a whole
3) Will people question the decision and will it bring the club into trouble.

The sela decision highlighted this 100%

[Don Sholeone]

So the Adidas deal is allegedly around 40m per season compared to the 7m for Castore. If true that is both ridiculous business and hilarious. After all the efforts the PL have gone through to restrict our potential sponsorship deals, we go and sign a huge deal with a none related party company that will significantly increase our spending power. Not that I see us doing it but that's potentially 2 100m players per season when taking amortisation into account.

[bodacious benny]

It's not really that ridiculous tbf, Castore was bloody low. £40m a season still only puts us 6th in the league in terms of income from shirt manufacturer deals, if we'd scored a deal that was more than Man C, Man U etc. then it would have been an issue I suspect.

On the documentary, I enjoyed the first episode a lot, but the rest was a bit meh a lot of the time. Interesting in parts, but meh.

[Colly]

Reputationally we were poison to sponsors under Ashley, it was one of the stupidest things considering he was supposedly a shrewd businessman. If anything 6th highest in the league pretty much puts us back thereabouts where we were when he took over.

I found the first episode meh, so Benny's post doesn't make me rush to watch the rest...

[Don Sholeone]

I think the series was one we needed in terms of marketing/commercial reasons. But obviously an unwanted distraction, it kinda feels like there was a compromise made between the business and football sides, the stakes last season probably didn't help, I think if we were comfortably 10th just rolling through the season we would have seen more in-depth coverage of the day to day lives of the staff/team.

[Remember Colo]

We'll probably never know what the original goals for the series was, but given how much screen time is given to the front office folks, it did feel like a bit of a glamour project for them to stroke their egos a bit - which whatever, if it keeps them engaged and motivated, I know everyone involved in that end of the business anymore (or ever) was doing it for their ego and personal gratification.

[bodacious benny]

We'll probably never know what the original goals for the series was, but given how much screen time is given to the front office folks, it did feel like a bit of a glamour project for them to stroke their egos a bit - which whatever, if it keeps them engaged and motivated, I know everyone involved in that end of the business anymore (or ever) was doing it for their ego and personal gratification.

I did think that most came across as quite natural which was good to see.

[Remember Colo]

We'll probably never know what the original goals for the series was, but given how much screen time is given to the front office folks, it did feel like a bit of a glamour project for them to stroke their egos a bit - which whatever, if it keeps them engaged and motivated, I know everyone involved in that end of the business anymore (or ever) was doing it for their ego and personal gratification.

I did think that most came across as quite natural which was good to see.

Don't disagree, they do come off professional and passionate. Just that it does seem like a project intended to present how good (and well-intended) of a job they're doing running the club. Which to be fair, is to date accurate.