steve_69

We've all thought/known that whenever Ashley finally leaves there will be a final 'fuck you' as a parting shot. Let's just hope to God this is it. I'd take Rafa leaving if it meant we could have our club back.

For those of you saying 'i'm done' could you please follow through with it this time.

Firstly that's not the way Mike Ashley works. And secondly, IF the seller would be in a worse position without Rafa here it's probably a strong indicator that he's not selling.

Double chocolate club was an absolute winner back in the day! Then they ruined all clubs by adding more biscuit and reducing the chocolate depth, cunts!

Top 5 in no particular order: Chocolate caramel digestives Tunnocks Caramel Wafer Wagon Wheels Chocolate Hobnobs Chocolate fingers Snack of Champions - Cadburys Pots of Joy

It's irrelevant really. All we should be focused on is what could we have brought in if we had sold that advertising space to other companies, and the answer is probably £200m over the ten years? Brand-awareness advertising of that kind is very difficult to quantify and is usually measured in number of pairs of eyes that see the branding, rather than direct return on investment. In this case that's hundreds of millions of pairs of eyes over 10 years i would think. Look at Formula 1 - companies pay £millions to have a tiny little logo on the car, that might only get 10 seconds of air time. They're not looking for a quantifiable return, they just want their brand associated with the most high profile sport in the world. It's not irrelevant, if we're talking about how much Ashley has earned from the club. You are right it's difficult to quantify, but say the advertising over his tenure has been worth £200 million, it's safe to assume that a company with a marketing budget of £200 million, over ten years, would have expectations of substantial growth. Yes they would, but usually you attribute the large portion of your advertising budget to direct response activity that you can quantify and you make assumptions about brand awareness activity. It's widely accepted that it's something that should be done and that generates a return but you don't necessarily put a figure to it. The best we could do is look at Sports Direct's revenue over the past 10-12 years and attribute a percentage of that to the brand's association with the club. If that's 1% then it's 1% of what the company was worth then compared to what it's worth now. For example, in 2010 the company was worth £1.48bn compared to £3.35bn in 2018. I couldn't be arsed to look any further back than that, i feel dirty enough already. It's very finger in the air but that's brand marketing for you.

It's irrelevant really. All we should be focused on is what could we have brought in if we had sold that advertising space to other companies, and the answer is probably £200m over the ten years? Brand-awareness advertising of that kind is very difficult to quantify and is usually measured in number of pairs of eyes that see the branding, rather than direct return on investment. In this case that's hundreds of millions of pairs of eyes over 10 years i would think. Look at Formula 1 - companies pay £millions to have a tiny little logo on the car, that might only get 10 seconds of air time. They're not looking for a quantifiable return, they just want their brand associated with the most high profile sport in the world.

You're a WUM. How has he not made money owning us? Go on tell us all. If he loans us money, we owe it him back. He's been getting advertising (around £8 million a year) free, taking profit from sales of merchandise. If he ever wants to sell us, he'll make a hefty profit. But no he's not made a penny. Poor Mike eh. Well show me where you get these factual figures from I have asked several times. The accounts, which are the official record of NUFC show that over the 12 year period he has been owner of the club he has lost a substantial amount. As for making a hefty profit if he sells that's the one point I do agree on and it's the only way he will make a hefty profit also, which was the original point I was making. There's definitely a bit of over-simplification in there. Sports Direct has undoubtedly benefitted from its association with the club and therefore, Ashley has as well. What would be the cost of advertising at the stadium to the level he has? £25m per season? Any loss that might show on the balance sheet has been recouped, probably many times over, whether directly or indirectly. Presumably the club shop revenue would have to be specified on the balance sheet, but would how much of that is siphoned off to SD have to be declared?

Is this a Giggs? http://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2019/06/20/takeover-insider-reveals-why-350m-bin-zayed-group-deal-will-take-time-very-interesting/ Makes a lot of sense but also worries me slightly, as due diligence seems to be the time when prospective buyers realise Ashley has run the club into the ground and it's not worth what he's asking for it.

The fact that Sky have wheeled out Ashley's gimp again has sewn a massive seed of doubt in my mind about the takeover. He's basically lining up the statement from the fat prick that although BZG met his valuation for the club, he didn't think they had the right motives for buying the club

Imagine taking a football club earning a fraction of its potential commercial revenue, at the most lucrative time in history to own a football club, and actually reducing the commercial revenue. It beggars belief! Business genius my hoop! It's not about the commercial revenue of the club he gives a shit about though is it. It's the global exposure Sports Direct gets off the back of us, that's the kicker. Why you wouldn't want to do both is baffling, but I guess the club doesn't generate the same money as the exposure for his tat empire does, maybe ? I think the point people are making is that he would get his shit company even better exposure if we did normal football club things like try to enhance the commercial revenue and build an exciting, successful team. To be honest you wouldn't even need to build an exciting team. He could significantly increase our commercial revenue within the existing model of just staying in the Premier League - corporate hospitality, overseas promotion, advertising deals, sponsorship of the training ground and kit, pre-season tours, feeder clubs etc. It wouldn't even have to reduce the level of advertising he current does for his tat emporiums. It's hardly ground breaking stuff. It would just take someone a bit more sophisticated than Market Mike to make it happen. Looking at the company he keeps though, i doubt he knows anyone like that and we know he doesn't like to hire outside his circle of goons.

Imagine taking a football club earning a fraction of its potential commercial revenue, at the most lucrative time in history to own a football club, and actually reducing the commercial revenue. It beggars belief! Business genius my hoop!

I know it's Puma rather than the club, but creating a kit based on one of the club's biggest successes just seems like a bit of a piss take. Our cunt of an owner has no interest in success for the club, no interest in our history and definitely no interest in paying homage to our past triumphs. Feels more like an insult than a celebration.

Name a manager with as little experience as Frank Lampard that has succeeded in the PL, let alone at one of the top clubs. That's probably why! Keegan only had about 5 months more. Managed in the second tier then his second full season was in the Premier League. Touche. Keegan was a bit special though and football has changed a lot since then. I genuinely can't think of any in the more modern era of the Premier League. It would be a crazy appointment IMO and done purely to appease the fans. I think there's a genuine risk of him ruining his legacy and reputation at Chelsea. However, they've basically been through the majority of top class managers so maybe they're left with no choice.

Name a manager with as little experience as Frank Lampard that has succeeded in the PL, let alone at one of the top clubs. That's probably why!

These words should be engraved on the walls of the club, the city and in our hearts. And on Ashleys grave? Wor Flags ?? This needs to be immortalised. It’s a bit of a long read for a flag. Perfectly put though

Downgrade on our current CBs. Can't see it

You certain you want to see that? It could very well turn you...

If we get Mata it'll be some sort of loan deal surely? Longstaff goes there and we get Mata on loan for a season as part of the deal

Just seems more due to the outstanding season of Filip Kostic They’ve tried getting him in the team in the middle of midfield some games. Over 40+ career assists though as a full back is very impressive. Still only 25. Yeah, seems he was just beat out by Kostic really emerging. Like you say, he is still a good age, and it would be an incredibly shrewd signing I think. Shouldn't be an overly expensive signing either, and one that we should hopefully be able to do quite quickly. Interesting that he was versatile enough to do a job in midfield. Always useful to have players can feature in different spots in the team.

Born in the wrong generation unfortunately. He came to the fore just at the time that the game was becoming far more professional than it had been in previous decades. If he'd have been at his peak in the 90s his personality traits would've been accepted, worked around and he'd have thrived. Half the players in that era were pissed, off their tits, going through court, addicted to gambling etc. Look at how adored Cantona was, and that guy was a total cunt!

Fairly certain Hughton would tell him to stick his offer up his arse after the way he was treated

The last few we have signed from Ajax have been shite....no thanks Signed by shite managers, managed by shite managers. One of those shite managers binned off Ben Arfa FFS! If Rafa stays i'd be confident that whoever he signs (even from the Dutch league) would have a good chance of succeeding.

Neymar is one of the most detestable little cunts to ever play the game. His singular presence at PSG elevates them beyond most other clubs. My 9 year old nephews kick off with each other when one calls the other Neymar - among their group of friends it's the ultimate insult when playing football. Exactly how it should be!

Just when you thought he couldn't be any more of a prick.