Small Newcastle crowd at Goodison: effective anti-Ashley strategy, or shortage of welcome mats in Everton district of Liverpool?

A couple of goals at Goodison Park for the Magpies yesterday and the determination of Tottenham to win the Championship next season have, for the time being, allowed Newcastle to leave bed number one in the Premier League intensive care unit. But that doesn’t mean angry Newcastle fans are quite ready to take a fresh look at Mike Ashley’s management skills just yet. Indeed, some are even more inclined to make him pay for the eccentric route he’s currently taking the club in search of glory.

On the forum pages of today’s Newcastle Chronicle, the Geordies were discussing why there were only 900 travelling fans at Everton yesterday, to which one “Supamac” said:

“These are the games to boycott, any returned ticket have to be paid for by Ashley/Club. Everton will not reimburse for unsold tickets…”

With Mike Ashley currently fugitive from St James’ Park, the fans’ revenge options are somewhat limited, but The Spoiler feels that this sort of financial pain, while mild, is probably going to hurt a lot more than the waving of home-made anti-cockney banners. Remember, philospohers of the north east: many drops fill the bucket.

* Interestingly, for those in search of signs of the international economic crisis spreading into football, another post on the same subject claims:

Strangely Goodison Park is 40157 capacity. 33805 turned up, which by my maths leaves 4352 empty HOME seats for a team which finished 5th last season.Still no mention of 7000 empty seats on Wearyside this weekend?

** Another poster, however, goes with a more retro analysis: “each time i have been to Goodison, the atmosphere after the game has not been nice - even though they have won. It is not something i particularly want to experience again, and its the only ground i have come across such an angry and hostile “reception” from the home fans. I would have gone otherwise.”

Spoiler readers - Is this the best way to hurt the running dog Ashley? Or is Everton just a horrible place to go? Let us know in the comments section below.