Alex

Actually saw him managing them when they were playing (I’m guessing West Allotment) in the FA Vase a few years back at Blue Flames. Trevor Sinclair was his assistant. Think he was a bit underrated in his time here as he played in a back four where the other 3 liked to bomb on and our defensive record was far better under KK than is reflected in the cliches of that era.

Sounds like CT levels of poverty

Serves the owner right tbh. Only signed him because he was on a free.

I don’t disagree in that it may be why he’s holding onto the club. I mean I don’t think it makes any financial sense to hold onto the club just for free advertising but that doesn’t preclude it from being a reason in the unpredictable mind of Mike Ashley. And I think he’ll view it similar to how you’ve stated it re: staying up and the club effectively costing nothing. The bizarre aspect to that is the inherent risk you refer to, I.e. his ‘just survive’ policy has been proven not once but twice to be ineffective at great personal cost to him so why the fuck he would bank on that is beyond me. Finally, he’s got approximately £300m sitting in us. Just supposing he did need that money and even ignoring we might not be in the premier league, how often do people come along with serious intention of buying a club like ours? We’ve probably had one in the 10 years or so he’s owned the club. Again, it makes no fucking sense. Risky game alreet

Kindred spirit in Trump

Other than just paying to be on the advertising hoardings in a PL ground like any other company. If it was more cost effective and less hassle than just doing that (it's pretty obvious to me it isn’t) then other companies would buy PL sides just to save on advertising budget. The free advertising is clearly a bonus he’s capitalising on but the figures just don’t add up for it to be the sole reason he owns the club.

Hope you’re not suggesting his right-wing ‘Christian’ base are a bunch of hypocrites

That doesn’t make much sense though. I wouldn’t claim expertise but I can’t see how it’s worth his while as the hassle and costs would, I assume, be way in excess of the sort of budget advertising would have for something like Sports Direct.

If that’s his attitude then why not sell?

Yeah but the football genius didn't exactly strengthen our bargaining power by making it clear the club had to sell before it could buy

It's chilling like.

He knows Rafa won't agree to sign without signings coming in so it's his get out, i.e. the manager wouldn't sign a new contract so I couldn't risk investing much money. He'll bank on Rafa being able to keep us up and he'll take it from there. It's typical of his short-termist approach, i.e. just another calculated gamble to get the club through the next 12 months or so. Genuinely hate him

He's absolutely soup-da-loop though. What's their excuse?

Fucking hell. That's unbelievable

Makes a change from blaming Labour I suppose

I argued he was when his refusal to compromise on a few things (i.e "being principled") probably ensured the Tories just about got away with it at the last General Election. I honestly think he'll have been delighted with the gallant loser tag and was shitting it when the exit polls suggested it was going to be a lot closer than expected.

I've thought for a good while now he doesn't want it. Which makes his staying in situ all the worse.

Given the absolute chaos in UK politics the EU have to make provisions for that being a likely outcome now.

Yeah, it's like Groundhog Day with Ashley.

That Football365 piece (https://www.football365.com/news/newcastle-the-club-where-tomorrow-never-comes) PaddockLad just posted in another thread reckons we didn't even meet WBA's release clause which at £16m is something like the going rate for a good Championship striker. Not to mention his not even being amongst Benitez's initial list of desired striking options.

Excellent piece. Depressing to read but nice to see some decent analysis beyond the usual cliches thrown at the club and its supporters. Here's the link to the actual article rather than just the homepage btw: https://www.football365.com/news/newcastle-the-club-where-tomorrow-never-comes