Ashley to sell.....OFFICIAL

[TheMoog 0]

I've got to say that MackemDale piece is spot on, with the exception of the digs against the actual club and fans of course - shame there's not a few more fans from other teams with as much sense.

[David Kelly 1117]

I'm not buying this for three reasons.

1. The whole 'Newcastle fans want success now and only want to see big names coming in' is bullshit. Of course every fan wants to see their club bring in top class big name players but the majority of Newcastle supporters were happy enough with how things were going up to a week before the window closed and there was very little sign of revolt on September 2nd until the story broke of Keegan being on his way out. What he has put about this in his statement is as patronising as the usual shite served up by the rags.

2. It seems like another calculated attempt to get the fans on side. This has been his only idea from the begining. First of all we see him wearing the strip, then he's in the Bigg Market buying drinks, then he appoints Keegan and now this. Not one of these actions have been done because he beleives they're in the best interests of the club but because he thinks they will get him in our good books.

3. £20m of his own money each season? Where the fuck is this then? With Milners sale we have ended the window in the black. Surely in addition to whatever revenue the club has raised from regular trading and player sales, this £20m of his money would equate to a transfer budget of around £60m. This to me is a fucking good transfer kitty by anyones standards but we've spent half of this. He's either lying again or this much vaunted recruitment team is not close to being as good as imagined. Or was it being kept for January?

 

Don't get me wrong I'm not, and asside from last Saturday night when that statement was released, have never been in the Ashley is the master of evil camp. I've never bought the him just being here to bleed us dry theory. I honestly believe he just wanted to run a football club (and probably show off to his mates) had never had any bad intentions towards the club or us supporters. But he clearly was either misguided or misadvised about what it takes and I just don't think he's made the right decisions. I don't wish him any harm (but I have no sympathy for a guy who has more money than we will ever see) but he chose a side and I believe it was the wrong decision and a decision that I think now means that he needs to leave the club.

 

I wish we could get someone with the resources to allow us to compete with the big boys but this probably won't be the case so I just hope we can get someone who can run us well without all of the circus that usually surrounds us.

[Fop 1]

I guess I'm very much in the minority here. Keegan threw his toys out of the pram and walked, again, and everyone's on his side? Madness.

I suppose if you weren't on the ride from 92-97 you could hold that view. I never could.

Not just then, but when he played too. Magic.

 

 

 

But the thing is, although the scale of reaction might be different if it were a different manager, the reality remains the same.

 

The structure hasn't worked (yes it's brought some decent players in, but it's not built a functional squad - Houghton even said this and he must be looking out for his job), and Keegan did nothing a lot of managers wouldn't also have done.

 

This whole situation could have been avoid in countless ways (all to the benefit of the club), yet it still was not.

Edited September 14, 2008 by Fop

[Park Life 70]

I'm not buying this for three reasons.

1. The whole 'Newcastle fans want success now and only want to see big names coming in' is bullshit. Of course every fan wants to see their club bring in top class big name players but the majority of Newcastle supporters were happy enough with how things were going up to a week before the window closed and there was very little sign of revolt on September 2nd until the story broke of Keegan being on his way out. What he has put about this in his statement is as patronising as the usual shite served up by the rags.

2. It seems like another calculated attempt to get the fans on side. This has been his only idea from the begining. First of all we see him wearing the strip, then he's in the Bigg Market buying drinks, then he appoints Keegan and now this. Not one of these actions have been done because he beleives they're in the best interests of the club but because he thinks they will get him in our good books.

3. £20m of his own money each season? Where the fuck is this then? With Milners sale we have ended the window in the black. Surely in addition to whatever revenue the club has raised from regular trading and player sales, this £20m of his money would equate to a transfer budget of around £60m. This to me is a fucking good transfer kitty by anyones standards but we've spent half of this. He's either lying again or this much vaunted recruitment team is not close to being as good as imagined. Or was it being kept for January?

 

Don't get me wrong I'm not, and asside from last Saturday night when that statement was released, have never been in the Ashley is the master of evil camp. I've never bought the him just being here to bleed us dry theory. I honestly believe he just wanted to run a football club (and probably show off to his mates) had never had any bad intentions towards the club or us supporters. But he clearly was either misguided or misadvised about what it takes and I just don't think he's made the right decisions. I don't wish him any harm (but I have no sympathy for a guy who has more money than we will ever see) but he chose a side and I believe it was the wrong decision and a decision that I think now means that he needs to leave the club.

 

I wish we could get someone with the resources to allow us to compete with the big boys but this probably won't be the case so I just hope we can get someone who can run us well without all of the circus that usually surrounds us.

 

Agree.

 

The statement is deceitful and sly and trying to push the father buttons..."All you lot and especially little Keegan are dreamers and delusional, but it's alright I'll save you". FUCK OFF.

[The Fish 9008]

really winding yourself up aren't you Park

[Park Life 70]

really winding yourself up aren't you Park

 

I do more damage when I'm relaxed tbh.

[peasepud 59]

The more I read this the angrier I get.

 

I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.

 

But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United.

 

Yet more bullshit that contradicts itself, which one is it Ash? the paying out many more millions or no longer subsidising?

 

 

What this bloke clearly believes is that hes bought something and paid a fortune to reduce debt and then every penny it pays out in the future will be coming out of his pockets. What were we again? 14th richest club in the world last year thats what we were Mike, 14th. Now thats not to be baulked at, something like £103million coming in. And he reckons that all the money going out is from his pocket? Bollocks. Even if we finished bottom of the league we'd pick up £26million from Sky, thats £6million more than he was going to put in!

 

I cant believe that we could be making a loss on that kind of income.

 

Added to that is the free advertising he was getting, how much would that fucking Sports Direct on the Gallowgate have cost if he had to pay for it? Added to that, the fact that every other advertising banner is his. Global television beaming his brands across the world. He owns 30% of Adidas for fucks sake so not only does he make money from the club shops when we buy a shirt but from them as well.

 

Forget the bullshit Mike, come out and tell it like it is, explain the proper reasons, proper figures and why it is that employing your mates to run our club from the other end of the country can be seen as good business. Stop making out we're all threatening to kill you I mean its not like anyone purchased athousandwaystomaimorslowlykillwiseashleyandthatllambrianibloke.com or anything now is it?

 

Come out and talk to the fans and maybe you'll see that the image you have in your head is wrong. Talk to us and see why we have a problem rather than trotting out the same old journalistic crap thats been said about us for years.

[Fop 1]

really winding yourself up aren't you Park

 

I do more damage when I'm relaxed tbh.

 

Carnage on the slack.

[Park Life 70]

The more I read this the angrier I get.

 

I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.

 

But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United.

 

Yet more bullshit that contradicts itself, which one is it Ash? the paying out many more millions or no longer subsidising?

 

 

What this bloke clearly believes is that hes bought something and paid a fortune to reduce debt and then every penny it pays out in the future will be coming out of his pockets. What were we again? 14th richest club in the world last year thats what we were Mike, 14th. Now thats not to be baulked at, something like £103million coming in. And he reckons that all the money going out is from his pocket? Bollocks. Even if we finished bottom of the league we'd pick up £26million from Sky, thats £6million more than he was going to put in!

 

I cant believe that we could be making a loss on that kind of income.

 

Added to that is the free advertising he was getting, how much would that fucking Sports Direct on the Gallowgate have cost if he had to pay for it? Added to that, the fact that every other advertising banner is his. Global television beaming his brands across the world. He owns 30% of Adidas for fucks sake so not only does he make money from the club shops when we buy a shirt but from them as well.

 

Forget the bullshit Mike, come out and tell it like it is, explain the proper reasons, proper figures and why it is that employing your mates to run our club from the other end of the country can be seen as good business. Stop making out we're all threatening to kill you I mean its not like anyone purchased athousandwaystomaimorslowlykillwiseashleyandthatllambrianibloke.com or anything now is it?

 

Come out and talk to the fans and maybe you'll see that the image you have in your head is wrong. Talk to us and see why we have a problem rather than trotting out the same old journalistic crap thats been said about us for years.

 

HOw the fuck did this muppet make so much money???

[The Fish 9008]

Pud? I think he's paid by the storey

[paddy 9]

The more I read this the angrier I get.

 

I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.

 

But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United.

 

Yet more bullshit that contradicts itself, which one is it Ash? the paying out many more millions or no longer subsidising?

 

 

What this bloke clearly believes is that hes bought something and paid a fortune to reduce debt and then every penny it pays out in the future will be coming out of his pockets. What were we again? 14th richest club in the world last year thats what we were Mike, 14th. Now thats not to be baulked at, something like £103million coming in. And he reckons that all the money going out is from his pocket? Bollocks. Even if we finished bottom of the league we'd pick up £26million from Sky, thats £6million more than he was going to put in!

 

I cant believe that we could be making a loss on that kind of income.

 

Added to that is the free advertising he was getting, how much would that fucking Sports Direct on the Gallowgate have cost if he had to pay for it? Added to that, the fact that every other advertising banner is his. Global television beaming his brands across the world. He owns 30% of Adidas for fucks sake so not only does he make money from the club shops when we buy a shirt but from them as well.

 

Forget the bullshit Mike, come out and tell it like it is, explain the proper reasons, proper figures and why it is that employing your mates to run our club from the other end of the country can be seen as good business. Stop making out we're all threatening to kill you I mean its not like anyone purchased athousandwaystomaimorslowlykillwiseashleyandthatllambrianibloke.com or anything now is it?

 

Come out and talk to the fans and maybe you'll see that the image you have in your head is wrong. Talk to us and see why we have a problem rather than trotting out the same old journalistic crap thats been said about us for years.

 

 

[peasepud 59]

Pud? I think he's paid by the storey

[David Kelly 1117]

The more I read this the angrier I get.

 

I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.

 

But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United.

 

Yet more bullshit that contradicts itself, which one is it Ash? the paying out many more millions or no longer subsidising?

 

 

What this bloke clearly believes is that hes bought something and paid a fortune to reduce debt and then every penny it pays out in the future will be coming out of his pockets. What were we again? 14th richest club in the world last year thats what we were Mike, 14th. Now thats not to be baulked at, something like £103million coming in. And he reckons that all the money going out is from his pocket? Bollocks. Even if we finished bottom of the league we'd pick up £26million from Sky, thats £6million more than he was going to put in!

 

I cant believe that we could be making a loss on that kind of income.

 

Added to that is the free advertising he was getting, how much would that fucking Sports Direct on the Gallowgate have cost if he had to pay for it? Added to that, the fact that every other advertising banner is his. Global television beaming his brands across the world. He owns 30% of Adidas for fucks sake so not only does he make money from the club shops when we buy a shirt but from them as well.

 

Forget the bullshit Mike, come out and tell it like it is, explain the proper reasons, proper figures and why it is that employing your mates to run our club from the other end of the country can be seen as good business. Stop making out we're all threatening to kill you I mean its not like anyone purchased athousandwaystomaimorslowlykillwiseashleyandthatllambrianibloke.com or anything now is it?

 

Come out and talk to the fans and maybe you'll see that the image you have in your head is wrong. Talk to us and see why we have a problem rather than trotting out the same old journalistic crap thats been said about us for years.

This was one of my points. If he was putting £20m of his own cash in a season for transfers I would be overjoyed because with TV money, advertising, sponsorships, prize money and ticket money, this would give us upwards of £50m a season to spend without getting into Europe. That wouldn't put us far off Manure's spending power and comfortably beat Arsenal or the bin dippers.

[Lazarus 0]

Not sure he owns 30% of adidas pud.

[OTF 6188]

Call me naive, but I more or less believe what Ashley says in his statement. I don't think he has had that much of a controlling hand in the day to day dealings and going-ons within the club and that I think is where the problems with Keegan were born.

 

Making the money available for transfers may not have been the problem, the problem was more likely that the stringent age restrictions on incoming players (particularly when large transfer sums are involved) meant that Newcastle were competeing with teams at or above thier level for these 'promising' players. Sure, it's great to have a wide spread scouting outfit, but the reality is that there is very little world-class talent waiting to be uncovered anywhere in the world. The cream rises to the top pretty quickly in modern football, so you have to be able to not only front the money but also present a welcoming location for incoming players. Each year that passes sees us slip further and further down the order in the profile stakes, to counter this you then need to increase the financial stakes, and if you don't you will flat out miss out on getting the players in. The vision of bringing in all this talent for the future is a noble one, but we've seen promising talent stagnate in the past at our club for several reasons, one of which is that there is no talented senior players to nurture and progress the youth. When Arsenal bring in young players, they're bringing them into a winning team, playing in Champions League with the ability to challenge for silverware. We're not.

 

The fans have got what they asked for. What happens from here though is anyone's guess. It's not like there is a queue of billionaires lining up to buy Premier League Clubs, and even if there was, having seen what happened when things went awry at Newcastle may have been enough to drive their interests elsewhere.

[Jimbo 133]

Not sure he owns 30% of adidas pud.

 

3% at £200m

[henda11 0]

see lads, told you me buying a pint was a good thing...he looked at the income sheets for that game and saw that only 2 pints were sold 1 to me and my mate, and he thought fuck this, theres only that cunt buying the pints so i think ill sell the fuckin club lol

[The Fish 9008]

So it's your fault he's gone then?

 

Well done you.

[Park Life 70]

Call me naive, but I more or less believe what Ashley says in his statement. I don't think he has had that much of a controlling hand in the day to day dealings and going-ons within the club and that I think is where the problems with Keegan were born.

 

Making the money available for transfers may not have been the problem, the problem was more likely that the stringent age restrictions on incoming players (particularly when large transfer sums are involved) meant that Newcastle were competeing with teams at or above thier level for these 'promising' players. Sure, it's great to have a wide spread scouting outfit, but the reality is that there is very little world-class talent waiting to be uncovered anywhere in the world. The cream rises to the top pretty quickly in modern football, so you have to be able to not only front the money but also present a welcoming location for incoming players. Each year that passes sees us slip further and further down the order in the profile stakes, to counter this you then need to increase the financial stakes, and if you don't you will flat out miss out on getting the players in. The vision of bringing in all this talent for the future is a noble one, but we've seen promising talent stagnate in the past at our club for several reasons, one of which is that there is no talented senior players to nurture and progress the youth. When Arsenal bring in young players, they're bringing them into a winning team, playing in Champions League with the ability to challenge for silverware. We're not.

 

The fans have got what they asked for. What happens from here though is anyone's guess. It's not like there is a queue of billionaires lining up to buy Premier League Clubs, and even if there was, having seen what happened when things went awry at Newcastle may have been enough to drive their interests elsewhere.

 

Well we'll just have to go through owners till we get one we like.

[henda11 0]

well ii of course he thought fuck this...hes the only cunt protesting and buying , and thought that income aint good enough and that fuck it, im gonna sell because only that squared headed cunt is buying the pints

[Sicklee Sausage Roll 0]

Ashley opens his mouth and bullshit follows.

 

He paid off our debt, but we're still in debt.

 

Keegan's in charge, but he's not really.

[Holden McGroin 4892]

On a side note...if we have £20m to spend every year. How come we are £1.2m (apparently) UP. That must be the fault of Wise/Jimenez surely then! SACK THEM !

[OTF 6188]

Surely that means that Ashley should sink that 20 million straight into debt that we still have?

[Chaser 1055]

Ive read a large part of this thread and it seems that there are 2 schools of thought on this piece - one of sympathy and the other of anger

 

I think MA has tried to appease fans by churning out a PR exercise in which he attempts to weight emotion on the fans, from the angle of supporting the club, but also trying to relate to those for who Newcastle United is a family thing, something which Dads instill into their kids from a young age, take them to the match and the club grows with them.

 

Taking this piece in context, look at the statements which have been released by MA since the farce began. Like others have pointed out, he changes his tack within the statement written today, not least the statements in which he has previously made.

 

By identifying the areas in which he believes the fans are angry, he shows he is totally out of touch with the supporters. We have never demanded big name signings, overspend and risk. We have demanded that the club be put on a secure footing, playing attractive football and showing promise. We wanted a squad with players who could compete and perform for European places, a squad big enough to handle the test of a season of football.

 

When we had players sold at the value of £12m, we expected that to go straight back into the transfer pot and to be spent before the deadline closed, replacing the personnel we had moved on.

 

Ultimately we wanted to have faith in football and in the club. It was being restored. Now that faith has been destroyed.

 

Too little too late.

[Sicklee Sausage Roll 0]

I don't see how anyone can believe this utter horseshite.

 

How would we be in so much debt over transfers? Do they go as far back as Paul Kitson or something?