I think Ashley and Llambias are c***s. But, I wonder if they act this way because they view everybody in the entire business as c***s? We all know the owners, agents, journalists and the majority of players in this business are absolute pricks - so I wonder if these 2 don't feel the need to give anybody any form of respect or class but just crash around being c***s to everybody?
I'd love to be a fly on the wall and see the way some of the people involved in the game go on behind close doors.
Of course they do man. The majority of people in the business are c***s. You've nailed it mate. Include supporters in that as well though.
100% agree.
Just playing devil's advocate here, so don't shoot me down, but if I were Ashley I'd simply laugh at all of these fans whinging about lack of squad depth, not spending money, etc etc. Remember the start of the Championship season when we spent literally nowt on new players (just Lovenkrands on a free iirc) and sold off every bit of valuable talent this club had? Internet boards like these were filled with doom and gloom, and practically everyone, even the "experts" in the media (pundits, ex-players, ex-managers, etc etc) were saying we'd struggle badly in the "tough" Championship with no manager and a squad with gaping holes (complimented by the unwanted dross on high wages that no other club wanted to touch with a barge pole). Yet we coasted to promotion at the first attempt without even so much as a bump.
The exact same set of criticisms were then out in force again the following summer, albiet to a lesser extent due to the sheer thrill of being back in the Premiership. E.g. many people were concerned about our attacking options given that Carroll was as of yet unproven at that level, the need to bring proven goalscorers in, etc etc. Pretty soon things went from "zomg we're not spending adequately, we're relying on s*** on Championship players, etc etc" to "wow, we actually have a decent Premiership squad". By the end of the season after the Carroll sale (£35m for a player who many thought wouldn't be good enough at this level only 6 months ago, and then these same people moan about the sale, lololol you fucktard fans), after being told the club has no good strikers, suddenly everyone realises that Leon Best is actually decent in the Premiership. So it's just the same story all over again - "not good enough, criminal lack of spending" in the summer, followed by "wow, the team is alright, I didn't realise player X/Y/Z would be decent" a few months later.
So yeah, if I were Ashley, I'd question the judgement of the fans/experts, because twice in a row I've been told I'm doing everything wrong yet in reality things have gone pretty well. And fwiw I'd also blame the relegation season as being a one-off extraordinary event kick started by Keegan walking out on "me" and the fans acting like dicks with their death threats. Even if you want to blame the relegation on "me", on a season-by-season basis it's still 2-1 in my favour in terms of who's getting things right.
http://www.retail-week.com/pictures/586xAny/9/7/8/1245978_Mike_Ashley_2007.jpg
"Fans. All you do is whinge. You have zero experience of running or owning a club. You whinge even when you're wrong. STFU".
