Would a protest really work?

I've read a lot over these last few days about protests and campaigns about the ownership of Newcastle United which have largely been brought about from the Joey Barton fiasco.

My own personal opinion is that the bad feeling has always been there simmering away - it just needed another reason to rear it's head.

Now this great democracy (hahahaha) we live in allows us, the normal folk, to hold a good old protest providing it's peaceful, organised and, above all else, legal. There is nothing wrong with people wanting to make a stand of course, but to me it's all folly and is kind of a pointless exercise. Why? Well here goes...

I've read various fanciful suggestions ranging from borrowing another clubs "Poznan" celebration (who in turn borrowed that from another club anyway) and doing it inside the ground to marching before and after matches. Great, wonderful. Whatever floats your boat.

Hardly original though is it? I thought the best fans in the lad were better than that? It also kind of defeats the object of the protest if you ask as ultimately you'll still be giving your hard earned cash to the club. All you'd be doing is making noise and looking like an idiot with no actual difference to the club whatsoever. You might get your face on camera but going by some of the exhibits that Sky drag up I would guess that's perhaps not the greatest thing, unless you're like me and have a face that the camera loves of course!

The idea of a protest is to make a difference is it not? To make the person you are directing said protest to realise that you are making a stand against them. Marches, banners, chants have all been done and guess what? None of them have made a difference.

If people are so determined to make a stand then they need to make a sacrifice. If you love somebody, set them free, and that means parting with NUFC for a period of time.

A lot of people are convinced that Mike Ashley is only in it for the money. The accounts say that the club still owe him cash after all he has put in like, but still people are convinced that he is lining his pockets. Whatever, it's an irrelevant point.

Why not have the courage of your conviction to turn off that tap and stay away from the ground? Don't buy merchandise? Don't buy pies or drinks or anything at the ground. Hit him in the pocket and make him realise that without us suddenly his latest plaything will start costing him more and more money.

I've not bought a Newcastle shirt since before we were relegated, which is odd as I used to buy them all. I don't go to St James' Park anymore as a general rule but if I do I buy a ticket and that's it. In fact 99% of games I go to now are away from home. I put as little as is possible into the club. It's my own little stand which probably saves me around £1,000 a year when totalled up.

Imagine 100 people doing that? Imagine 1,000 people doing that? Will it ever happen? Probably not. Loyalty being the reason that many will state, although I must admit that I'm actually still a Newcastle fan and I'm actually still as loyal as they come.

I just despair when I see these half-baked "Poznan" ideas and thoughts of marches. It's not original and has been proven not to work in the past. Why waste energy doing it all over again?

Something else I don't think will work is all these new groups being dicks in general and getting all abusive. Steve Wraith's latest group done just that. It was a great idea until that happened and you realise that it will end up just the same as the rest of them. If you want to talk to people then don't slag them off. Is it that hard to understand?

So what do you reckon to my idea? It's crazy, but it just might work. At the end of the day if people feel so strongly about it then they need to take strong action to back it up. Short term pain, long term gain.

Or are people just going to keep paying their money blindly anyway?