[Newcastle moved for Thierry Henry]

You are mistaken. I don't think the fact that he is an extremely successful retailer equates to him being a great football owner.

 

In retail the man has made a billion, whether you like his ethics or his pricing, has no bearing on how successful he is.

 

Rather than clouding the issue by constantly going on about his retail business, you would be better just concentrating on what he's doing wrong at Nufc, where most would agree.

 

You try to be clever and over complicate things and I don't really know what your base opinions are.

 

For example. Do you approve of him trying to get the clubs finances under control or do you think we should have kept gambling with debt like Freddy did (uncucessfuy in the last few years)?

 

I'm not clouding the issue by any means. Some cab drivers [of the predominantly English speaking variety] are pretty learned chaps, perhaps i've underestimated at least one forum member's ability to adopt & interpret all angles of the argument, as per Ashley's running of the club & level of ethics used.

 

There's a particular style, or defining fingerprint as to how Ashley conducts himself/goes about his business/dealings with suppliers etc. Think of the transfer market [selling clubs, whether they be minor or 2nd tier clubs on the continent such as Mallorca, or feeder clubs in the lower divisions] as a product supply line of sorts. In his comfort zone [the sports retail sector] he can attempt to get away with holding major suppliers [ie. brands he doesn't actually own: the former entity that was Umbro for example] to ransom, or attempt to take the piss in terms of a what he pays wholesale. He is the dominant player in the retail market, and as such an operator who orders in bulk quantity, so therefore major suppliers have to play ball on his terms to an extent.

 

Apply those sort of sneaky business ethics to transfer market dealings, and it just doesn't work. Ashley/the club are just another drop in the ocean as a buyer or suitor, potential selling clubs will not be held to ransom & bend to Ashley's will. They/clubs [and player agents as well] will simply tout their in-demand assets elsewhere, as witnessed by Bates vitually telling the club/Ashley to bugger off & 'to not waste his time' when Keegan wanted the lad. At the time Arsenal & Man United were reportedly sniffing around as well, and the bid was deemed to be offensive. Eventually he was touted elsewhere, and he departed for the going rate, as demanded for that type of promising talent ..... funny that. Not only are this man's tactics/ethics having negative effect on the club's strikerate [as per landing targets] in the transfer market, but the man is muddying the club's former reputation, as that of a respectable & reputable/professional operator.

 

Perhaps you were likewise being clever by posting that Ashley has been known to assist old ladies across pedestrian crossings, or simply playing the pantomine contrarian cut-out character. Maybe you should lend to some balance to the debate by posting details/the story........... perhaps you should attempt to insinuate that there is indeed a good natured philanphopist, somewhere hidden underneath the tactics employed in his running of the club. After all you were the bloke who naively claimed that good figures/profits for Shite Direct equated to good news on the transfer front - i presume you meant outgoing expenditure.

 

As per the last question. I don't have to add much more to that the likes of LM [and others] have said on the issue of debt, and what at the time was mostly managed debt................. and certainly not by asset stripping [and delivering 'cheap as peanuts' or low-end product on the field] as a means of balancing the books.

 

BTW i'd like to know what your take is on my comparison to the club's running being eerily similar to that of the Lillywhites model/scenario, since you've largely dodged the question by asking one. There hasn't been alot of aggressive opposition to it [nor to the aforementioned suggestion the other day in my topic starter ... i don't give a flying s**t btw]. You're the only one [in your contrarian guise] who posted a line of emoticons & simpleton-like one-liner in a belated attempt to debate the point.

[Lazio loony about Toon's Gutierrez]

In addition Collocini will enter the final two years of his current contract, of what was originally a five year deal.

 

This Summer's transfer window [with a season's worth of marketedly improved performances under his belt in the top flight] is the final opportunity to seriously cash-in/or recoup Ashley's initial outlay. In a best case scenario result: reap in a minor profit.

 

A double Argentine departure is on cards this Summer, and a double bonus for the club's balance sheets.

[Newcastle moved for Thierry Henry]

I keep trying to drill into people that out owner is worth £950million ish. We aren't owned by shareholders so he can afford to keep any player he wants.

 

Do you reckon if someone offered Sheik Mansour or Abramovich 50% more than Tevez or Terry were worth they would find they deal too good to turn down? Or would they just laugh and tell the other club to jog on.

 

Difference is Ashley made his money buying low and selling higher and is trying the same approach with Newcastle United. Other mobs are still making metric fuck-tons of cash out of natural resources and the like where they can't go wrong. Their clubs are their playthings for bragging rights amongst the mega-rich. Ashley's relatively small time, but still wants to do things his own way. He'll end up stepping on too many toes and noone will be interested in dealing with him on a club level and no players will want to come here because we won't compete on wages, there's no real ambition and St James' is a 50,000 seater shop window.

 

As everyone in retail has done since the beginning of time.

 

And as others keep saying [as reiterated by Shepherd as well] his approach in his own sector [where his ethics & practices have been heavily criticised as well] or comfort zone, doesn't translate to success in the business of football. This point continues to elude you.

 

Do you not have any objections to the club's metamorphisis [under this man's ownership] into the Lillywhites of English Football? ie. Cheap & tacky, despot operator sets up a new stall in a boutique & exclusive address, with a high volume customer flow to match. Much like the aforementioned store the club is now delivering low-end & inferior product, devaluiing the ambitious values as set by the establishment's immediate predecessors/custodians. A pretty fair comparison if you ask me.

 

Agree with everything placed in bold & underlined, within OTF's post.

[Liverpool bid £35 million+ for Carroll]

Re: Bird's article.

 

Spot-on, as others have already commented. Tells it how it is [blunt without window dressing it up] just like another sometimes maligned commentator ie. Cascarino.

[Overrated, Underrated: no topic is off-limits.]

Overrated: Rib-eye steak.

 

Underrated: T-bone steak.

 

-----------------------------------

 

Overrated: Crayfish

 

Underrated: Bugs [cheaper than Crays, tastier though]

[Stable Financial Footing]

This stable financial footing Ashley claims to be putting us on.

 

1. Do you believe it? i.e. that MA is working toward making NUFC more sustainable?

 

2. Will it be a platform to challenge or is it merely to engineer profit?

 

3. If the football bubble ever does burst (I don't think it will) will we really be in a better position to exploit the post-bubble neo-prem?

 

4. Once he has this stable footing, how many years of that before we will compete again, if ever? I mean how many years of uncompetitive stability before even the MA backers realise he is never going to show ambition or win anything, or will we actually push on and how long may that take?

 

5. What price do you think he would take for the club now? You have to factor in the ££££'s free advertising his company is getting too....how much for his international billboard? Is Sports Direct expanding internationally? That would make his continued 'sponsorship' highly valuable and very cheap.

 

6. And so we can have a laugh in September, what amount of £35m will be spent on transfer fees in the summer?

 

 

No guarantees, [with this man in charge] post guidelines/rules dictating what a club can spend to a limit [fees & wages] based on club income - particularly as to whether we'll receive a lift back towards the top pack, due to the top spenders being reigned in in accordance to the above mentioned guidelines.

 

Looking at how how the salary cap works in the United States [the NFL], some owners routinely operate well below the cap & profit gauge off of what the governing body equally allocates to each club ie. television revenue. Factor in gate receipts it can be quite a profitable enterprise for some club owners. Although it's an ever running battle, but the free agency market [as to what owners spend on top players when they become available], and how owners perpetually squeeze their wage bill into the cap is a calling card re:ambition, its the true yardstick of a club's ambition over in the States.

 

The antithesis to this being The Bidwells, in Pheonix, who for many years [pre: the new stadium years] were well known for their penny-pinching ways, and for a long time were relatively low spenders in the free agency market, and during such time were known as the joke & most unambitious club in it's league. They really made a mockery of the highly marketable Pacific-Mid West region for a long time.

 

I suspect Ashley will do the same, with smaller clubs [like the Wigans & the Brums etc.... with smaller spending caps/limits] actually trying harder to retain their respective premiership status', in terms of expenditure, as opposed to hoping for mere survival whilst running in theme to a business [or retail/corporate based] plan based around maintaining a skeletal budget [re; 1st team investment] & asset stripping.

 

I dissagree witha fair amount of that, sorry !!

 

As well as the upper cap, there is a mandated minimum spend. Well there was as the current CBA which has has run out, may be different if they get a new deal done. There are also dictated minimum salaries per position for veteran players.

 

The use of the cap comes down solely to how good your General Manager is in being able to retain good marquee players at reasonable salary mixed with young cheaper drafted talent.

 

The Packers for example are almost totally built through the draft and they use the cap to retain their developed blue chip players - when they can, the cap is designed so that a team can't just do a Man City and buy all the best, it's designed to ensure parity, all teams have an equal chance.

 

Use of the cap is nothing to do with "ambition" it's all about parity.

 

As an oposite to the Packers look at Minnesota, they use several very hign cost free agents (ambitious!!) mixed with a supporting cast of cheapo's - the were last in the Division, the Packers are in the Superbowl YAY !!!!!!!!!

 

Re: the Packers, and your assertion they have built teams solely through the draft. Back in the 90's they paid big money [back then] to bring Reggie White over from Philadelphia, it was a big move back in the day. They built a defense around the bloke, a defense that dominated their division.

 

Ambition [through the use of the salary cap, and being able to stay within the upper limit] is measured by supplimenting a club's developing stars [acquired through the draft] with experienced stars purchased via the free agent market, during a club's so-called premiership window ie. as the youngsters near their peak abilities as a group, and as veterans retire. Many examples are too numerous to list, think Randy Moss to the Patriots to aid Brady in the passing game - it nearly delivered a perfect season.

 

 

Rules were a lot different in the 90's when Reggie signed and he put the D over the edge,but they already had some great players before Reggie came (Dotson, Butler etc). In truth the guy who won us the superbowl was probably Desmond Howard, a bargain basement street free agent, flashed for just that season then disappeared again. Moss wasn't a free agent as such, he was traded for (3rd or 4th round pick, can't exactly recall).

 

Teams lose BIG stars all the time because they can't afford or choose not to re-sign them because of the cap implications, Aaron Kampman last year for us for example. The top Marquee players who get to free agency rarely go to a major contender, Kampman went to Carolina !!! To use Carrol as an analogy, he was an RFA and we chose not to match what someone else was offering, so he went.

 

The Cap is a better illustration of what FCB is doing than of the opposite IMO.

 

But the Patriots [when recognising there was a key area to fill, and when the right player became available at a high price ie.wage-wise] still managed to squeeze him inside the upper limit of their cap as a means of keeping their so-called premiership window open. Astute & ambitious running of the club, both on the GM and owner's part.

 

Once again i raise the Bidwells, as a point in case, who for years ran a wage bill as close as possible to the cap's mandatory & lowest possible limit. Couple that with a degree of ineptitude [surrounding themselves with poor decision makers, at the coaching level, and they have been are prolific hirers & firers in this department] at management level. Here is all the evidence you need of an organisation who chose to flounder, and make a tidy wedge on the side, while putting out a side playing in front of a three quarters filled stadium. As i said they chose to take the piss out of what is a highly profitable Pacific-Midwest market. This sort of level of perpetual non-competitiveness is unforgiveable, in a league which weighs itself towards creating a level of parity amongst it's participants, and actually rewards sustained on-field failure & penalises success through it's draft system and weighted scheduling/fixturing.

 

It shows that a lack of ambition & astute decision making can override whatever guidelines a ruling body can put into place, as a means of creating parity or a somewhat even playing field. Ashley is a Bidwell....... no ambition, has no idea about running a football club, and surrounds himself with likeminded fools. Stop making him out to be some sort of revolutionary on the football landscape, preparing the club for a governing body enforced Event Horizon re: club spending.

 

I guarantee you that with or without a mandatory or low-end spending cap put into place [and this would be Ashley's greatest bugbear if it was indeed implemented] which is relative to club turnover, the likes of Wigan demonstrating more ambition [in their attempt to retain premiership status] will make a mockery of Ashley's model for balance sheet success. Our lack of ambition will greater magnified if lower & upper caps are ever introduced, that the likes of Wigan will invest more than us they will keep to their upper cap limit, whereas Ashley is more likely to stick to the mandatory cap at the low end of the scale.

[Overrated, Underrated: no topic is off-limits.]

...................... including forum related politics, and poster contributions/feuds etc .

 

 

 

Overrated: "Saving Private Ryan" - Technically brilliant recreation of the field of war, but equally offensive in it's portrayal of the frontline soldier. By that i mean the typecasting of the frontline German soldier as a cardboard caricature, an embodiement of pure evil. Politics doesn't enter the field of war, whether in the trenches of if one is a blonde haired-blue blued German soldier caught behind enemy lines. Spielberg may as well have inserted a Star of David [via a single frame] into the end credits. Thin Red Line is a non-politicised & fair depiction of the field of war.

 

 

Underrated: Dick Cheney - Bush Jr cops alot of criticism as his admistration's figure head. But the United States' foreign policy [which many suspect to be driven by desire for control of natural resources, namely a mooted oil pipeline stretching from the Caspian Sea through Azabaijan and Afghanistan etc] was effectively born from Cheney's one-time Energy Taskforce. And Cheney [as Secretary of Defese at the time] was a prime advocate & mover for the partial privatisation of the American Military Machine, over a decade before the eventual rise of for-profit companies like Blackwater, in the wake of the invasion of Iraq. Cheney in short was far from the token buddy or sidekick vice-president.

[Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal - Saturday 5th February K/O - 3:00pm]

A pair of second-half self-destructions [today & against Spurs at the Emirates] which has cost them 5 points, has effectively nailed the coffin lid down upon Arsenal's title hopes. It leaves little to the imagination as to Wenger's interest in Cahill - they're in need a of no-nonsense centrehalf, desperately. Their foreign 'ball-playing' legion cannot close a game down, and play to a slightly more defensive tempo when a game's momentum fall's to the other side of the pendulum.

 

Unexpected point, and will take it gladly obviously.

[Andy Carroll aftermath(press conf/interviews etc)]

we’ll be getting shit reputation in football circles.

Very very true. I believe that other chairmen have commented on Ashley's unprofesionalism too. Newcastle will become, if not already are a club that people would prefer not to do business with. Lets be honest it looks like players don't care where they play so Ashley's little price hike gambles will not be forgotten.

 

Add Bates into the equation as well [re: our belated & insulting offer for Delph], which apparently drew a colorful faxed response from Leeds. But this point is spot on.

 

It's all well & good to burn bridges in your own business sector, when as the forceful player in the market there are no serious ramifications in the business' future dealings. These day's Ashley/SD are the dictators of the sports retail market, he can piss off & attempt to shaft whomever he pleases. In football circles it's a different story, we're a drop in the ocean by comparison. Much to Contrary Tree's chagrim this is a dominant reason as to why i post some of the details about his SD dealings [and ethics used], because there's a strain of consistency about his ethics in both sectors, and it's unlikely top pay dividends in the football sector, as intimated 'clubs will be wary to do business with us, when we're/Ashley is the purchaser'.

 

The player buying market [as a product supply line] is a competive market, and forming professional relationships [based on respectul & professional dealings: as the previous regime did, with PSG being a notable example] has it's advantages. The purchases of Ginola & Robert [when both players were being courted by Barca] were due as much to a relatioship of mutual respect between two clubs, not just purely due to our ambition [having top 1st team managers in place: drawcards in their own right, & spending power] at the time.

 

But in Lendoiro he met his match & mirror image, when buying Collo. It's one time he copped a bit of his own medicine re: transfer market ethics. That saga looked more like a high-noon showdown between two club heavyweights who are similarly known for their lack of professionalism, with Ashley getting his fingers burned slightly.

 

Eh?? Like when they agreed to sell us George Weah and then reneged on the deal?

 

I don't believe any relationship is necessary in the slightest these days. It is Ashley's world all over the place i.e. money rules and nowt else. Money, money, money and integrity counts for absolutely fuck all.

 

I don't think Weah had any intention of coming here dis he? His move to Milan was a done deal - it was a no-goer from the beginning. PSG used our interest as a means of drawing more quid out of Milan, and PSG's heirachy knew that KK/Fletcher and Co knew of their deception. After that 'reneg' [as you call it] PSG have been courteous & honest in their dealings with us. Keegan intimated [in his book] that the acquistion of Ginola [when PSG could have allowed him to talk to Barca] was almost a conscience-based gesture of good will towards us.

[Andy Carroll aftermath(press conf/interviews etc)]

It's nothing to do with ambition or building a team or anything the fans are interested in. We don't really need the money - this years money plus £35m for our best player tells us this - addtional to a few transfer windows resulting in profit. It's asset stripping. Pure and sickening.

 

Exactly

 

I don't know how people cannot see this.

 

The TV money and league postion should bring in at least £50m this year. Thats without any other revinue streams

 

The sicking thing is, this would pu the club back in profit (maybe on a small one). Then there is the Loan to start reducing.

 

This could go on for a further fews years yet

 

They just keep bashing out an apologist catchphrase along the lines of 'Ashley's intentions will be more clear during & after the next window etc etc'

[Stable Financial Footing]

This stable financial footing Ashley claims to be putting us on.

 

1. Do you believe it? i.e. that MA is working toward making NUFC more sustainable?

 

2. Will it be a platform to challenge or is it merely to engineer profit?

 

3. If the football bubble ever does burst (I don't think it will) will we really be in a better position to exploit the post-bubble neo-prem?

 

4. Once he has this stable footing, how many years of that before we will compete again, if ever? I mean how many years of uncompetitive stability before even the MA backers realise he is never going to show ambition or win anything, or will we actually push on and how long may that take?

 

5. What price do you think he would take for the club now? You have to factor in the ££££'s free advertising his company is getting too....how much for his international billboard? Is Sports Direct expanding internationally? That would make his continued 'sponsorship' highly valuable and very cheap.

 

6. And so we can have a laugh in September, what amount of £35m will be spent on transfer fees in the summer?

 

 

No guarantees, [with this man in charge] post guidelines/rules dictating what a club can spend to a limit [fees & wages] based on club income - particularly as to whether we'll receive a lift back towards the top pack, due to the top spenders being reigned in in accordance to the above mentioned guidelines.

 

Looking at how how the salary cap works in the United States [the NFL], some owners routinely operate well below the cap & profit gauge off of what the governing body equally allocates to each club ie. television revenue. Factor in gate receipts it can be quite a profitable enterprise for some club owners. Although it's an ever running battle, but the free agency market [as to what owners spend on top players when they become available], and how owners perpetually squeeze their wage bill into the cap is a calling card re:ambition, its the true yardstick of a club's ambition over in the States.

 

The antithesis to this being The Bidwells, in Pheonix, who for many years [pre: the new stadium years] were well known for their penny-pinching ways, and for a long time were relatively low spenders in the free agency market, and during such time were known as the joke & most unambitious club in it's league. They really made a mockery of the highly marketable Pacific-Mid West region for a long time.

 

I suspect Ashley will do the same, with smaller clubs [like the Wigans & the Brums etc.... with smaller spending caps/limits] actually trying harder to retain their respective premiership status', in terms of expenditure, as opposed to hoping for mere survival whilst running in theme to a business [or retail/corporate based] plan based around maintaining a skeletal budget [re; 1st team investment] & asset stripping.

 

I dissagree witha fair amount of that, sorry !!

 

As well as the upper cap, there is a mandated minimum spend. Well there was as the current CBA which has has run out, may be different if they get a new deal done. There are also dictated minimum salaries per position for veteran players.

 

The use of the cap comes down solely to how good your General Manager is in being able to retain good marquee players at reasonable salary mixed with young cheaper drafted talent.

 

The Packers for example are almost totally built through the draft and they use the cap to retain their developed blue chip players - when they can, the cap is designed so that a team can't just do a Man City and buy all the best, it's designed to ensure parity, all teams have an equal chance.

 

Use of the cap is nothing to do with "ambition" it's all about parity.

 

As an oposite to the Packers look at Minnesota, they use several very hign cost free agents (ambitious!!) mixed with a supporting cast of cheapo's - the were last in the Division, the Packers are in the Superbowl YAY !!!!!!!!!

 

Re: the Packers, and your assertion they have built teams solely through the draft. Back in the 90's they paid big money [back then] to bring Reggie White over from Philadelphia, it was a big move back in the day. They built a defense around the bloke, a defense that dominated their division.

 

Ambition [through the use of the salary cap, and being able to stay within the upper limit] is measured by supplimenting a club's developing stars [acquired through the draft] with experienced stars purchased via the free agent market, during a club's so-called premiership window ie. as the youngsters near their peak abilities as a group, and as veterans retire. Many examples are too numerous to list, think Randy Moss to the Patriots to aid Brady in the passing game - it nearly delivered a perfect season.

[Stable Financial Footing]

Pardew hopes Newcastle will not sell out in future

 

Alan Pardew has warned it could take two years of rebuilding before Newcastle have the financial might to stop a repeat of Andy Carroll’s exit.

 

The United chief drew a line under Carroll’s £35 milllion exit yesterday insisting his players were “resilient” - and since the defeat to Fulham had “resolved to get over a bad defeat and a bad transfer window.”

 

Pardew has had personal assurances from owner Mike Ashley that he will get the transfer cash to spend in the summer.

 

It is his “ambition” is to get Newcastle in a position they do not have to sell their top assets, and can afford the sort of wages offered by the big five for the right players.

 

Pardew is hoping Joey Barton will sign a new contract next week, which will represent a pay cut on his existing deal. Spanish left back Jose Enrique has also indicated he will extend his contract, which has a year to run, if Newcastle stay in the top flight.

 

But the United boss is working under financial constraints that means they were blown out of the water by Liverpool offering Andy Carroll £75,000 a week - a near five fold pay-rise for the Gateshead-born striker.

 

Pardew, whose side faces Arsenal today said: “I do not want to go back to Andy. I want to move on but my view of it is that (Ashley and Derek Llambias) made me aware that they wanted to get the club on a financial footing which gives them a chance to build the club.

 

“Signing younger players and hoping they become successful in the Premier League is part of the policy of growing as a club.

 

“Now ideally you would like to keep someone like Andy Carroll, a young player who is from the area. Financially we could not keep him.

 

“But we like to think, or I like to think, certainly I have that ambition, that in two or three years time, if we can sustain our Premier League status, and keep getting the TV money invested wisely, that we can keep hold off that next bid, which might be, say, for Cheik Tiote in 18 months time.

 

“That we get ourselves in a position to do that because at the moment we’re not and we have to accept that.

 

“It has been a difficult week and I am not trying to disguise it. I thought fans’ response against Fulham was more than I could have expected. Regardless of the manager or the owners, or even the players, it is their club and I just hope they come and support their club.

 

“We all have to live with the decision, us as a coaching staff and us as a football team. We have to live with the decision we made this week. We have got to get on with it.”

 

Barton was expected to pen his new deal on Monday but Pardew added: “I have got nothing concrete to report. We are obviously aware of their contract situations and will focus on those. I am pretty confident that Joey’s will get sorted out next week. There was a little bit going on this week which distracted us!

 

“On Jose I think it is fairly straightforward. Jose has expressed that once we are safe in the division, he would like to sit down with us. We are fine with that. That’s his option of course. There are always two options I was disappointed with the goal (against Fulham) because wow, what a performance he put in on that pitch. If he can stay in that form, we have a fantastic player.”

 

Newcastle’s other top asset is Tiote, and asked about the prospect of keeping the bargain £3.5 million buy, Pardew said: “I am hoping there are no bids, otherwise we will have a problem. He is a very important player, very talented and someone we will embrace to be a big part of our future.”

 

Pardew is exploring signing a free agent, with Jeremie Aliadiere who he coached at West Ham, available. He added: “Yeah, we are exploring that. I have looked at our bench in terms of attacking options to change the game or put a different picture on the pitch. I need to explore that thoroughly and there are one or two options we can take and we are on to them. That is all I can report.”

 

Pardew has recalled Hatem Ben Arfa from his rehabilitation programme in France so he can get fit again “with the group”. He added: “We are going to need him in the March, April May period. He is not doing full running yet, just jogging. We need him embedded into the group. It is about being together, we are all in this together whether you are injured or not. I want to see a bit more of him out on that training ground.”

 

An honest if disturbing short term outlook.

 

How are they, NUFC, going to keep anyone if all the player has to do to get away is to put in a transfer request????

 

Carrollgate will just happen time and time again, once clubs wave the cheque book in front of would-be signings. The Arsenal model (buy cheap, sell mucho) will reign supreme at St James'.

 

The biggest myth going around at the minute, the comparison is offensive tbh.

 

Arsenal selling their top players [to bigger clubs on the continent ie. Overmarrs, Viera & Petit] has also coincided with a need for generational change within the squad.

 

They [and throw Man United & Fergie into the mix as well] constantly reinvent their squad by adding youngsters from the upper echelons of the talent pool, and not only that they're prepared to pay the going rate for the type of promising talent needed.

[Stable Financial Footing]

This stable financial footing Ashley claims to be putting us on.

 

1. Do you believe it? i.e. that MA is working toward making NUFC more sustainable?

 

2. Will it be a platform to challenge or is it merely to engineer profit?

 

3. If the football bubble ever does burst (I don't think it will) will we really be in a better position to exploit the post-bubble neo-prem?

 

4. Once he has this stable footing, how many years of that before we will compete again, if ever? I mean how many years of uncompetitive stability before even the MA backers realise he is never going to show ambition or win anything, or will we actually push on and how long may that take?

 

5. What price do you think he would take for the club now? You have to factor in the ££££'s free advertising his company is getting too....how much for his international billboard? Is Sports Direct expanding internationally? That would make his continued 'sponsorship' highly valuable and very cheap.

 

6. And so we can have a laugh in September, what amount of £35m will be spent on transfer fees in the summer?

 

 

No guarantees, [with this man in charge] post guidelines/rules dictating what a club can spend to a limit [fees & wages] based on club income - particularly as to whether we'll receive a lift back towards the top pack, due to the top spenders being reigned in in accordance to the above mentioned guidelines.

 

Looking at how how the salary cap works in the United States [the NFL], some owners routinely operate well below the cap & profit gauge off of what the governing body equally allocates to each club ie. television revenue. Factor in gate receipts it can be quite a profitable enterprise for some club owners. Although it's an ever running battle, but the free agency market [as to what owners spend on top players when they become available], and how owners perpetually squeeze their wage bill into the cap is a calling card re:ambition, its the true yardstick of a club's ambition over in the States.

 

The antithesis to this being The Bidwells, in Pheonix, who for many years [pre: the new stadium years] were well known for their penny-pinching ways, and for a long time were relatively low spenders in the free agency market, and during such time were known as the joke & most unambitious club in it's league. They really made a mockery of the highly marketable Pacific-Mid West region for a long time.

 

I suspect Ashley will do the same, with smaller clubs [like the Wigans & the Brums etc.... with smaller spending caps/limits] actually trying harder to retain their respective premiership status', in terms of expenditure, as opposed to hoping for mere survival whilst running in theme to a business [or retail/corporate based] plan based around maintaining a skeletal budget [re; 1st team investment] & asset stripping.

[Andy Carroll aftermath(press conf/interviews etc)]

we’ll be getting shit reputation in football circles.

Very very true. I believe that other chairmen have commented on Ashley's unprofesionalism too. Newcastle will become, if not already are a club that people would prefer not to do business with. Lets be honest it looks like players don't care where they play so Ashley's little price hike gambles will not be forgotten.

 

Add Bates into the equation as well [re: our belated & insulting offer for Delph], which apparently drew a colorful faxed response from Leeds. But this point is spot on.

 

It's all well & good to burn bridges in your own business sector, when as the forceful player in the market there are no serious ramifications in the business' future dealings. These day's Ashley/SD are the dictators of the sports retail market, he can piss off & attempt to shaft whomever he pleases. In football circles it's a different story, we're a drop in the ocean by comparison. Much to Contrary Tree's chagrim this is a dominant reason as to why i post some of the details about his SD dealings [and ethics used], because there's a strain of consistency about his ethics in both sectors, and it's unlikely top pay dividends in the football sector, as intimated 'clubs will be wary to do business with us, when we're/Ashley is the purchaser'.

 

The player buying market [as a product supply line] is a competive market, and forming professional relationships [based on respectul & professional dealings: as the previous regime did, with PSG being a notable example] has it's advantages. The purchases of Ginola & Robert [when both players were being courted by Barca] were due as much to a relatioship of mutual respect between two clubs, not just purely due to our ambition [having top 1st team managers in place: drawcards in their own right, & spending power] at the time.

 

But in Lendoiro he met his match & mirror image, when buying Collo. It's one time he copped a bit of his own medicine re: transfer market ethics. That saga looked more like a high-noon showdown between two club heavyweights who are similarly known for their lack of professionalism, with Ashley getting his fingers burned slightly.

[Good gangster documentaries/films]

The interview series with Richard Kuklinski, aka 'The Iceman', who was the most profilic hitman used by all the major crime families on the East Coast of the States.

[What's your mental image of posters on here?]

 

CT: Ashley's little online lapdog.

 

[Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal - Saturday 5th February K/O - 3:00pm]

 

Has been impressive against some big name, well drilled & seasoned midfield units. He looks like a 10m player, at the very least.

 

Forgive my skepticism but it's another shop window [or advertisement of a prized playing asset] opportunity for the club's current ownership.

[Fulham vs Newcastle United]

Jonas was the biggest example od=f spineless shite and the fact Pardew diddnt drag him off and give Ferguson a shot

Oh fuck right off.

 

Oh say something interesting or relevant.

 

Jonas was far from our worst player out there. Put in a couple of decent crosses and earnt 2 or 3 corners and a couple of free-kicks. If you can't see the value in that then you're as thick as pig shit. Turned the ball over a few times, but who in the team didn't?

 

As for toting Ferguson as some sort of creative midfield dynamo that would have come on and change things, you're fucking kidding yourself. Bringing him on in that game probably would have done more damage than good for his development. Plus he's being talked about as a left fullback more than a midfielder.

 

His lack of end product is undeniable, but your point [or intimation] is extremely valid. The combination & build-up play involving Collocini, Enrique & Jonas [when Jonas' run & carry is added into the equation] eliminates our sometimes over-reliance on the long-ball pattern of play to a large degree. This is all the more important now ie. without a physical & mobile target-man leading the line down the season's stretch, when relegation slots are in the offering.

 

But Tiote [as a first receiver through the centre corridor] has been sorely missed re: the above point.

[Andy Carroll - "I was told to leave"]

The poll on NO asks: Carroll has gone to Liverpool, where do you place the blame?

 

The club: 22.7%

The player: 44%

Split: 33.3%

 

Hook, line and sinker.

 

All raging at pictures of him smiling at the Liverpool match tonight.

 

 

 

..................... well for the most part it always has been a predominantly pro-Ashley stronghold ie. the NO/Kids-Online forum. It has become an effective reference point for NUFC-bashers, and Mackems etc. If you're looking for the type of dimwitted & gullable Toon supporter, as often portrayed on Sky Sports, than look no further. Intelligent & learned supporters/fans are now few & far between over there.

 

That sort of lopsided result [nearly a 2:1 ratio in favour of the club's brainstrust] doesn't surprise at the end of the day, and those on that forum who could have added some balance to the result [many who have subsequently left, and can't be bothered with the site anymore], who were dissident voices early in Ashley's reign were firmly put in their respective places accordingly, and scoffed at by what is a strong mungbean element on that the forum.

 

It's a shame, it was a good forum back in it's HTT days.

[Fulham vs Newcastle United]

I don't think our record since Carroll got injured shows that we have enough to be honest. It's all about form and that was some good form. Good form isn't permanent and 6 points isn't much at all. The sides below us are all capable of picking up points - there is no Portsmouth, Burnley or Derby this season who look destined for the drop. We lose a few matches and we're in serious trouble, and if it's anything like the last time this happened we'll do well to recover.

 

Relying on our forward line as it is - and goalscorers from midfield like Nolan - is potential suicide.

 

Several strikers went out on loan to clubs during the window. Any one of them would have improved us significantly and we should have been in for them regardless of whether Carroll was fit or still our player.

 

And much of Nolan's effectiveness [ghosting into the box late, and finding space] derives from us being able to create some second phase play in & around the box. That's where Carroll's presence [where he makes it difficult for opposition centrehalves to clear their lines] and his on-field maturity [his all-round outfield & link-up play around the box] under Houghton's tulelage will be sorely missed during the season's final stretch.

[Right to sell Andy Carroll?]

He's a player [with his attributes & age factored in] you can build an attacking structure around for a decade. With the right supporting cast around [everybody here knows my opinion of Suarez, and the potential ceiling of their new big-small strike partnership] him they're back on track to re-establishing themselves as forceful player in the league's top echelon, something the current ownership & brainstrust should have been attempting to mirror. The acquisition on Liverpool's part is justafied, and when looking at today's market & his potential worth to the overall benefit of their team structure [using the timeframe mentioned above] so to is the fee..

[Would you take relegation]

Relegation is never a good thing, and in our case losing the current spine of the team [notably Enrique, Collo & Nolan - on the back of a season's worth of top flight exposure] in the Summer would be disastrous for a second tilt at promotion. It wouldn't be a case of '2nd time lucky', by that i mean having a strong spine out on the pitch, a spine which is a cut above what is a mostly top-bottom balanced but ultimately poor division.

 

A choice of the lesser of two evils, obviously - that is treading water in the top flight under Ashley, & relegation. But if a second relegation meant the club becomming more accessible [more affordable] for a consortium [lets say with Shepherd on the ticket, Fletcher ideally as well] with the right intentions/ambition & with some financial clout in tow, it/relegation becomes a more palatable scenario. A backthought i've never contemplated entertaining.

[Will Carroll flop at Liverpool?]

Thats the faint glimmer of hope Tom, he does a Robbie Keane and we make a profit on him whilst he grows up.

 

We can hope for that and he does have plenty of chinks in his psychological armour, but he also has the kind of game that is ideal for the PL. There is a good chance he will do well. It will he horrible watching him in a red shirt.

 

+1......... Awaiting a rolling of the eyes from Mr Contrary Tree.

 

 

 

Just as it was growing up & watching Waddle, Beardsley & Gazza play througgh the prime of their careers at greener pastures.

[At what point [percentage breakdown] does 'spite' factor into Ashley's running of the club?]

Dramatastic

 

Unbelievable, coming from somebody who has previously bombarded/spammed the forum with pro-Ashley/Dekka threadstarters for months.

 

 

 

Return to type lad........... that's your comfort zone.

 

 

There's something about Zero.......

 

Not sure what it is but lately you have made quite a few anti ashley posts that are just not anti ashley football related, but more often going into great detail business wise.

 

The mans a self made billionaire in his early 40's

He employs thousands of people throughout the country

He generates millions in tax each year to help run the country

He helps old ladys across zebra crossings.

 

His business is pile it high, sell it cheap. Big Deal. McDonalds are McDonalds not Egon fucking Ronay. They sell a cheap unhealthy product but make billions world wide.

 

Hes a tough cookie to do business with and enjoys the rough and tumble of it. WOW.

 

Sounds like most self made retail millionaires. Do you think Alan Sugars whiter the white? What about Sir Philip green?

 

I cant make my mind up whether your doing some business course at A level or whether you've worked for Sports Direct, but theres definitely something odd about your posts of late.

 

Just call the man a CUNT like most who detest him and get it over with.

 

As to the spite part of your post, who the fuck knows or will ever know.

 

My opinion is that he has a very clear vision for how he now wants to run the club. Nothing and no-one is going to distract him from that path. He is not going to sit there and worry about bad PR.

 

I have no idea whether his goal is to syphon off money to recover his losses or build the club back up the way he thinks it should be done.

 

In hindsight, the Carroll sale hasnt particularly made that picture any clearer and it will be the summer window that tells you once and for all, everything you need to know about his intentions for the club.

 

Anything less than an excellent summer transfer window would be unacceptable.

 

As for your take on any degree of a personal vested interest behind my postings. You're way off the mark lad. What i've seen lad [in this man's running of the club, based on the continuation of retail market practices: which one would describe as being lacking in ethics] is a club, which was once run in a professional manner, now having it's guts ripped & stripped of it's class, hence my earlier comparison to Lillywhites.

 

BTW most of your postings read more like patronising 3rd party blogs, for the club's/Ashley's media department. Is that your moonlighting position - unpaid labour outside the illustrious earnings associated with driving cabs.

 

 

Aye you 45 or over?

 

Late 30's actually. I'm guessing the angle you're about to traverse based on age, my balls are bigger than your balls etc.

 

Going by your naive defence of this lot one would easily think that you weren't old enough to fully appreciate how the club was run over two decades ago, , how the club's journey [from Seymour/McKeag etc - Hall/Fletcher/Shepherd:capitalising on the club's size & it's potential scope for improvement - Ashley] has indeed come around full circle. It's quite feasible, and acceptable to throw in a couple of 'lads' into the equation, when conversing with you lad.

 

You're just as patronising, as well as being as thick as the proverbial brown stuff.

[At what point [percentage breakdown] does 'spite' factor into Ashley's running of the club?]

Dramatastic

 

Unbelievable, coming from somebody who has previously bombarded/spammed the forum with pro-Ashley/Dekka threadstarters for months.

 

 

 

Return to type lad........... that's your comfort zone.

 

 

There's something about Zero.......

 

Not sure what it is but lately you have made quite a few anti ashley posts that are just not anti ashley football related, but more often going into great detail business wise.

 

The mans a self made billionaire in his early 40's

He employs thousands of people throughout the country

He generates millions in tax each year to help run the country

He helps old ladys across zebra crossings.

 

His business is pile it high, sell it cheap. Big Deal. McDonalds are McDonalds not Egon fucking Ronay. They sell a cheap unhealthy product but make billions world wide.

 

Hes a tough cookie to do business with and enjoys the rough and tumble of it. WOW.

 

Sounds like most self made retail millionaires. Do you think Alan Sugars whiter the white? What about Sir Philip green?

 

I cant make my mind up whether your doing some business course at A level or whether you've worked for Sports Direct, but theres definitely something odd about your posts of late.

 

Just call the man a CUNT like most who detest him and get it over with.

 

As to the spite part of your post, who the fuck knows or will ever know.

 

My opinion is that he has a very clear vision for how he now wants to run the club. Nothing and no-one is going to distract him from that path. He is not going to sit there and worry about bad PR.

 

I have no idea whether his goal is to syphon off money to recover his losses or build the club back up the way he thinks it should be done.

 

In hindsight, the Carroll sale hasnt particularly made that picture any clearer and it will be the summer window that tells you once and for all, everything you need to know about his intentions for the club.

 

Anything less than an excellent summer transfer window would be unacceptable.

 

As for your take on any degree of a personal vested interest behind my postings. You're way off the mark lad. What i've seen lad [in this man's running of the club, based on the continuation of retail market practices: which one would describe as being lacking in ethics] is a club, which was once run in a professional manner, now having it's guts ripped & stripped of it's class, hence my earlier comparison to Lillywhites.

 

BTW most of your postings read more like patronising 3rd party blogs, for the club's/Ashley's media department. Is that your moonlighting position - unpaid labour outside the illustrious earnings associated with driving cabs.