TRon

Sounds logical but speculative, naturally. If that was the case, we don't need an owner that's haggling over £20m or whatever. I've heard plenty of people argue this, but even if they can comfortably afford the £100m, they're still business people and if they reckon the club is only worth £80m, they're not gonna pay extra just to avoid the hassle of bargaining. That's not how good business works. That's £20m extra that can be pumped into first team investment. A sale really does hinge on whether Ashley is going to be stubborn and stick to his quoted price at all costs like he foolishly did last time the club was up for sale, or whether he is prepared to negotiate a deal. I find it hard to believe that he would be prepared to stay now with the process having destroyed pre-season preparations, but with this blundering cry baby you can't rule anything out.

does anyone think personal terms are the problem ? I suspect £1.75 million is way in excess of the usual salary for a manager in the Championship, but I don't think it's the main issue. I think Shearer has made it known he's not happy to preside over a cost-cutting exercise, and that's what Ashley feels is needed. I may be wrong. Ashley may be thoroughly hacked off with an employee who has basically failed his probation period demanding a large salary and financial backing before he'll accept the job. Ashley hasn't got a leg to stand on. If he appoints somebody else and fails to back them where does he go after that? The fans will desert and the club will sink like a stone. The only way we can come back from this is with a real leader in charge who is prepared to lay down standards and aim high. If Ashley rejects Shearer does anyone seriously think we will get a quality alternative?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/08/alan-shearer-newcastle-delays-mike-ashley The point that is conveniently ignored in both those articles is that Shearer has said that he will only accept the job under certain conditions. The conditions are the cause of the delay, not any assessment of Shearer's ability. Now as none of us know what those conditions are, we don't know how realistic they are for an owner to accept. They're obviously not acceptable to Ashley, but may be okay for someone else. We'll have to see. In the real world, the owner decides the financial parameters, and the prospective manager decides whether to take the job. In Planet Newcastle, things are different. In Planet Newcastle we just want an Owner who wants to be here who will appoint a manager before it's too fucking late.

This. Martins has time to improve still, he is a world class striker when he wants to be, getting him to do it more than once every ten games is the problem. Owen isnt getting any better and his pace/ability is shrinking faster than miss pepperpot. Neither are staying though, so its a moot point. They both offered too little this season to get hung over about. World class striker sorry but He has all the ability and skills to be one, he just needs decent coaching and application, the latter being the biggest problem. Eh? He can't control the ball, has no sense of what's going on around him, and his finishing is diabolical except for once every blue moon. Being a natural athlete which he undoubtedly is, is not the same having all the ability and skills to be a world class player. World class players simply do not look as s*** as Obafemi Martins does on a football pitch, regardless of coaching or application. Well that's the gist of it. World class players aren't usually to be found playing at St James Park, unless they are a busted flush like the guy you used to champion, Michael Owen. I don't really know why you are so intent on singling out Martins when you look around at the rest of the squad. Are we a leading club challenging for Champions league football in your world? In that case the uber-criticism might make sense. It's the Oba Martins thread and someone called him world class, i wouldn't say he was singling out Oba more ridiculing that view of him ... and rightly so Oba Martins is the only issue Gemmill ever discusses here and it's been a familiar story for the last few years in case you hadn't noticed. It's like a tramp being given a new pair of shoes and complaining they are made of fake leather.

This. Martins has time to improve still, he is a world class striker when he wants to be, getting him to do it more than once every ten games is the problem. Owen isnt getting any better and his pace/ability is shrinking faster than miss pepperpot. Neither are staying though, so its a moot point. They both offered too little this season to get hung over about. World class striker sorry but He has all the ability and skills to be one, he just needs decent coaching and application, the latter being the biggest problem. Eh? He can't control the ball, has no sense of what's going on around him, and his finishing is diabolical except for once every blue moon. Being a natural athlete which he undoubtedly is, is not the same having all the ability and skills to be a world class player. World class players simply do not look as shit as Obafemi Martins does on a football pitch, regardless of coaching or application. Well that's the gist of it. World class players aren't usually to be found playing at St James Park, unless they are a busted flush like the guy you used to champion, Michael Owen. I don't really know why you are so intent on singling out Martins when you look around at the rest of the squad. Are we a leading club challenging for Champions league football in your world? In that case the uber-criticism might make sense.

Absolutely. It seems petty to look at keegan's faults when it's becoming clearer by the day that this owner is a Cockney spiv who would make the Trotters blush with shame. I am having disturbing visions of breaking into his home and harpooning the fat cunt while he floats in his bath.

He really needs to lose 200lbs a day instead, then life would probably be much happier for the hapless fattie.

Those are aexactly the players we will lose though. It's the likes of Bassong and Enrique who will attract bids, and without a manager to put his foot down, Ashley will bank the cash the first chance he gets. I think we're kinda compelled to lose the likes of them tbh. Regardless of the frame of mind they're in at the moment, as soon as a few big clubs start sniffing around they'll want to go... and even though it's wretched that we're bound to lose our genuinely quality players - i'd rather have another season without a squad littered with unhappy players with their eyes set on leaving in the near future. It's the likes of Harper, Krul, Guthrie, Taylor, Beye (maybe), Carroll, Lovenkrands that i'd be most annoyed about leaving - players who will have both the desire to get back up, aswell as having a touch of quality in that league. Another thing that makes me kinda indifferent towards such a policy is the crippling wage bill we've got on the go at the moment. The urgency of needing to get these fat cats off the bill is pretty striking. We're still paying them and as of now we can't afford them. Need them outta here asap. The only good thing about having such a shite team is that it doesn't really hurt if we lose most of them. Bit of a grim upside but these are the times we live in.

I think he loves the pay packet above anything else, maybe he realises he won't get that if he moves elsewhere? Or maybe he's doing a Barton and is going to claim he was sold against his will so will be due a loyalty fee?

I'm going to join you in waving the little star a fond farewell http://kenfrost.0catch.com/fingers.JPG

Those are aexactly the players we will lose though. It's the likes of Bassong and Enrique who will attract bids, and without a manager to put his foot down, Ashley will bank the cash the first chance he gets.

I think they are repeating the exercise just to show it wasn't a fluke first time round with Keegan. Great job Ashley, you are finding new and creative methods of re-inventing yourself as an arsehole on a daily basis

Might as well stay out there then Al. Shearer will have to wait for the club to be sold. If the sale falls through we will be fucked but I think Ashley is beyond caring. The only hope we have now is that the fat fucker agrees a price and fucks off.

It looks like Fat Fred is willing to buy at a knockdown price, and Ashley will be desperate to sell to anyone else which would explain the sales pitch in the middle east recently. Let's just hope the arabs bite because I don't think Ashley will want to sell back to Shepherd if he can help it.

He melted like a chocolate c*** on the moon in the run in, was shocking the last few games. He was dropped by Shearer because apparently he has no end product whilst the alternatives were bursting with it, as evinced by the glut of goals we saw from the replacement in his wide berth. I don't blame him for being pissed off and looking disinterested. He had his chances here and failed to take them, regardless of the shit he was played alongside. I saw him play for Argentina last night and he was the same as usual. Great stuff in his own half, performing as a secondary left back, but toothless in the opposition half. If we get our money back I won't be too disappointed.

i'll be fucking fuming if this happens. It's already happening, not a lot we can do about it while we are in limbo without a manager and an owner on the run. If he finally leaves at the end of it at least we can take some positives out of it.

I am optimistic that maybe the club will get sold and Ashley will fuck off. After that we can start to hopefully build a proper football club.

I don't really care if we lose another season due to a take over we just need Ashley out at all costs. He has to be run out of town with pitchforks jabbing at his fat arse if necessary. Just sell up and fuck off you lard-brained bastard.

Right...which is why the over-paid scumbag needs to go, he wasn't there when we needed him most.

It's this sort of thinking that has got us into this mess in the first place. What has been needed is some form of positive action to get the club moving forward on the pitch, not more balancing of the books or fiddling in the hope some used car salesman can flog the club (again).

I think he would do well at a club who could buy decent footballers, but it's a risk at a place like Wigan where the budget will be tight.

As soon as Ashley put this in the hands of the banks he was taking a sideways step from handing Shearer the job. It's a kop out of the highest order and I think we need to start looking at alternative choice managers, though for the life I me I don't know where to start. Joe Kinnear probably.

Where's Gemmill?

Enrique will be sold because he's a good player who will attract buyers plus he's foreign so it's easier to let him go. We will keep all our English cast-offs from other clubs like Nolan, Butt, Smith, Ameobi etc and end up struggling mid-table in the Championship next season with some bell-end as manager. Maybe Dowie.

You might end up with Owen yet, at least you won't have to pay a fee for him. I would imagine a club doing as well as yours wouldn't want their front line grinding to a standstill though.