Unbelievable

The difference between an Ashley led NUFC and this lot, mind boggling

Class this

Minteh has not fucking dominated the Eredivisie man

You reckon? He’s seen every minute the lad’s been on the pitch this season, most of them live in the stadium, so I suggest his opinion at least has some merit.

FWIW my match-going Feyenoord supporting mate thinks 40m is a ridiculously high fee for what he calls a “headless chicken”. I’d normally be loath to sell our potential future stars to rival clubs, but considering FFP is sadly a reality we have to deal with and there being no guarantee Minteh will become a world beater I think letting him go is the safer option if it allows us to invest a multitude of that through the profit it generates. On another note, I hope the club continue to keep their eye out for young promising players like this. We need to get good players before their fee becomes too high for us, and we need the transfer income through developing players. Whatever we decide to do if a bid actually comes in, we can’t really lose if a young player we brought in for relative peanuts is worth a multitude of what we paid after one year out on loan.

From that Times article: Isn't it odd the PL would ask other clubs for legal support? One thing is clear, the big six minus one are shitting themselves over this.

I'd rather we became successful through natural progression, but the fact of the matter is we have indeed first held back by horrific ownership and are now being held back by a regulator intent on not allowing us (and others) to compete on an even keel with some of the established big clubs. Just give everybody an even playing field, i.e. the same limitations in terms of allowable expenses on squad, infrastructure etc. and let the best team win I say.

FFS

Close!

Such a fucking cry baby

It couldn’t possibly be any more blatant could it..?

With no European football commitments in midweek I imagine the club’s target for next season will be to qualify for CL..?

Just seen the score. Urgh

Not confident at all, but howay City!

My point is I don’t particularly believe loyalty or morals exists amongst football professionals (notwithstanding a few notable exceptions). It’s all about getting the best available people on board and allowing them to do what they do best. In any walk of life, if someone comes along and offers you better terms and/or a more appealing role you’re going to consider it. Quite aside from everything else we’ve lost one of the best in his field of work whilst still paying him, and have been rejected by or first choice replacement. It’s not a great situation for the club to be in no matter how we spin it.

I must have missed all the signs that Ashworth was doing a bad job for us. As far as I am aware we’ve been doing pretty well overall and he was an integral part of that?

I said we'd lose millions IF Man U look elsewhere. They are under no obligation to pay us what we want, and unless I'm mistaken the arbitration is between Ashworth and NUFC and doesn't oblige Man U to pay more that they may want to. It's not certain we'll lose millions, but it's certainly not far fetched.

I'm disappointed for the club, not in the club. Since my overall feeling about this whole thing is disappointment (in Ashworth and for the club) I fail to understand the glee so many are portraying. Maybe it's just me

Good for you. Personally I'm pissed off with how this has played out. A "big six" club has come in, turned the head of one of our key people with a reputation of being one of the best in the business and we've lost their services and stand to lose a tidy sum in the millions that could have gone towards player recruitment. I understand the snake argument, but had Man U not approached Ashworth in the first place there's every chance he'd still be here working for us and advancing the club. I guess more than anything I'm pissed off with how easy it's proven for a rival to come in and destabilise us. Can see it happen more often going forward, i.e. clubs coming in for Howe, Isak, Bruno and the like. Are you all expecting them to stay loyal to us forever even if we're realistically miles off competing for titles due to financial regulation introduced on the behest of the same friggin' "big six"? If so, prepare to be disappointed on occasion I'd say. While the new owners are building the club this will happen from time to time. I'm disapponted in Ashworth, but above all I'm disappointed for NUFC.

If we make him sit out his gardening leave, as suggested is what we'd prefer to do if we don't get Man U to offer reasonable compensation and what many seem to think is a great idea, we lose out on our investment (4.5m paid to Brighton plus 1.5 years of wages for someone doing nothing while we have to shell out for a replacement), don't we? Realistically there is no way we'd get millions back from Ashworth for wanting out of his job, or even for sharing the details of his contract with a prospective new employer.

Ouch

This is getting embarrassing now

Nobody has explicitely said they think the situation is a positive development. Plenty however are revelling in how this reflects badly on Man U and Ashworth seemingly oblivious to the fact that after all is said and done we’ll be the ones who will have lost out the most if Man U get another DoF and Ashworth tends to his garden a bit more before taking on another job elsewhere at a top club.

There is, and once more, I think NUFC have handled the situation as well as they could have. Which is not to say the situation is not a nett negative overall. I don’t see why pointing out we are losing a key actor and millions in fees and wages is not a positive development overall for the club