afar

Has anyone said otherwise? Yes the bloke that posted this: So if we mess it up you think he will not be bothered? I don't see where he says that tbh. You don't see where ? really ?? perhaps the last paragraph maybe where here says we shouldn't judge after this window but give him 3 more ? Easy to miss that I know.

Exactly, if I'm going to spend 100 million or whatever it was on something, I'd want to throughly check what I'm getting before signing the cheque. If this is how he does business in general then I'm amazed at how succesful he cleary is.

Has anyone said otherwise? Yes the bloke that posted this:

Good point well put. However playing devils advocate here, I have to say for him to not discover the size of the debt until he had already bought the club lock stock and barrell, smacks of poor reaserch. He obvously skimped on his due diligence before making the purchase. Those debts must have been apparent to the other suitors that came, saw and didn't bid. TBH, the debt shouldn't have been a surprise to him if he had gone through the books carefully enough. I was underwhelmed by the qaultiy not necessarily the quantity at the end of his first window, but I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, because I so want him to succeed. Having said that the Thai bloke at city took over them much later than Ashley and did a pretty damn impressive job in that window. Not that he's a role model for ownership of course. The January window, yes it was disrupted with the sacking, the timing was completely ridiculous. But it was Ashley that chose that time to sack, he could have acted sooner or he could have given Sam the window to prove himself (he wisely decided against that but still the timing was not ideal). I was reading NUFC.com site the other day, I'm no fan of it, i've made that clear in the past but there is one feature there that is top notch, that's the "on this day" thing. Yesterday they featured the signing on Ginola, that signing was very much the last piece of the puzzle that summer, the following season was the most successful in my lifetime of supporting NUFC. It's seems a long way to Aug 31, but you find that soon goes, and we have so much to do, it won't be long before the situation gets a little strained if more purchases are not made. Assuming that Emre and Ameobi do go, I think we need around 8 new signings to fill the vacancies left and pad out the squad. That might sound a lot but it's only a upgrade in heads of 2 on last year, which we all acknowledge including the managers that we had a small squad. There are around 4 weeks to the start of the season and 8 to the end of the window. That's an average of 2 a week to be ready for our first game or 1 a week to be write off August and be ready for September. I've very much got one cheek on each side of the fence as far as Ashley is concerned. I so want him to succeed as every supporter even NE5 and UV does but after the first window where I gave him the benefit of the doubt, the 2nd window pissed me off as we gambled (a gamble that in the end paid off) by not bringing anyone in. This 3rd window has so far left me significantly underwhelmed and begun to raise doubts in my mind. I think there are a lot of people here who are in the camp of 'anything but Shepherd' to be honest I was there too, that's why I think there is so much good will towards him and why a lot are prepared to give him so much time. But for me there comes a time when we need to see some action and that time for me is right now.

I'm embarasssed to admit I really have no opinion on Sidwell, is he good enough for us, would he fit in, would he offer us something more than we currently have. I have no bloody clue.

Well I'm no fan of the latter days of the old board and was happy as anyone when Shep was ousted but that's one hell of a powerful post, even if you don't agree with what UV says, he's argued his case very well. And we've seen the typical reponses from the 'Ashleyites', I kind of like that term. The amount of blind faith is incredibile, perhaps it's blind optimism but one thing is for sure it's based on very little evidence. One person even suggesting that we are not allowed to judge him after this transfer window, we have to wait for 3 more. Well this will already have been his third when it closes on Aug 31. That's testing the patience of a saint. It's great that we have a new owner, we needed a change, it had become obviously to all (except NE5 of course) that FS's time was over and the club needed a shake up. Ashley's done some good work behind the scenes sorting out the mess and restructuring the business. But the thing is it's his business, his debt, it's up to him to sort that side of it out we are in no debt to him for making the business run more efficently and therefore become more profitable or a saleable assest for him. I along with the majority of others support the team not the business. Focussing on the team at the deteriment to the business can have disasterous results ala Leeds, but concerntrating on the business while neglecting the team can also lead to bad things. We are already seeing people drifting away if the reports on renewal rates are to be believed, more will follow if they don't percieve that they are getting value for money. Without a successful team the revenue will fall, which will lead to even more cost cutting. What we need is a balance between looking after the business and producing a team on the pitch that will produce the goods. Personally I am a speculator to accumulator, especially as far as NUFC is concerned so I would lean more on the team strengthening side of things. The trouble is, in his 3rd transfer window for us we've seen little evidence of that focus on the playing side. His biggest splurge to date has been bringing in Alan Smith !! I also find it laughable that people suggest Everton are out of our reach, OMG what a good job the club has done on lowering your expectations. As UV pointed out their record is hardly staggeringly impressive. Finishing 10th is progress some say, well yes that's true, that a whole 2 places jump up the table, we weren't a million miles away from West Ham or whoever finished in that spot last season. So until we see a little more urgency and ambition from the ownership, I'll remain cautious about their motives.

I don't know if this has been a;ready mentioned , can't be arsed to read through all pages on this but the beeb have updated their story to say that the US company has confirm it was approached. Well that really doesn't marry with what the club said yesterday, so someone is clearly lying here, but who ? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/7489444.stm

I'm not sure if it's already been posted, just woke up and had a quick scan at this thread. But the beeb are running with this story too now, saying US sources confirm it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/7489444.stm

Any evidence to back this up? just want to understand your reasoning sir. No evidence whatsover, hence the use of the word "Liklihood". Edit: Sorry I sounded a bit flippant. My point is that it's a bit like the January sales, you go on the first day of the sales and you stand a better chance to get those 70's flares you've been after than hoping there is still a pair left come the last day. There may be some bargains to be had on the last day of the sales but generally speaking the good stuff has already gone.

Buying your first choice doesn't always work out, I was over the moon when we failed to sign John Salako. True but you've got to back your own judgement haven't you. I must admit I was a fan of Salako's and was happy we were going for him. I can't recall time lines, was it before or after Ginola, because if it was before then we caught a break with him failing the medical. Come to think of it, it must have been cos KK was still the manager, tbh it was great to see him try to protect the player by not telling the press the real reason he didn't sign.

Totally agree, if you have to hold out for the right player then so be. However if your buying early the liklihood is that you be getting your top choices. Don't get me wrong , I am not promoting buying for buying sake.

Exactly. So why are you quoting the the July 1st crap then, I'm honestly confused ?? If the only thing that's important about the window is when it closes, then why the hell have you been complaining all this time? Just wait until the transfer window actually closes, and then you can properly evaluate the board and KK on the players that they've signed and whether they've addressed our wants and needs. Complaining now is not only futile, but it's f***ing painful to read because a little patience, much like many people suggested earlier, will be rewarded. The board and KK aren't stupid, so they know players must be signed and the team must be improved. This signing is a start, and I'm sure there'll be more to come. Just be patient and wait until it closes before claiming the end of the world is near. I wasn't aware that I was complaining ? Unless of course you assume like others on here that being concerned is the same thing. We've made mistakes in transfer windows before, actually many times before. I along with a few others hoped the new ownership heralded a move away from the previous mistakes, it may still, but we have had no evidence to this point that the much needed squad building had begun hence the concern when no activity came from the club. Please stop playing this 'impatient' card. It's not about that at all, it's about changing recruitment policy. Signing players early makes sense from almost every aspect, and gives you the luxury of not being sucked into bidding wars late in the window. As for your point about waiting to the end of the window to comment, well frankly isn't the whole point of this forum to discuss NUFC, share our hopes and fears with each other ? What a dull place this would be, if we could only comment on things after they happen and we weren't free to speculate ?

The season is 6 weeks away, what happens in 5 days makes no difference to a lot of players. Some players have been playing internationals up until the last few days and will not be back in training. The importanace of a full pre-season is often ignore by a lot of people in the game. If you have the bulk of you squad there from day one, you have the ability to ensure that you can control their conditioning, no matter how fit they are to fit in with the style you want to play a good coach will know how to best prepare his players for the new season. The early days in pre-season are also the times when you start building that team spirit, for new signings not to be around during this period is a huge missed opportunity. With international commitments it's becoming harder and harder to get everyone starting back on the same day. So this ideal is perhaps a little difficult to aspire to but if I was the boss I would want my squad together in full ASAP.

Although I loath Villa, I have to say I agree with O'neill here, Barry has been bang out of order and should be disciplined. I too hope how falls flat on his face.

The July 1st crap is more significant to those that panic far too early, were you a one of them? I'm sorry but I'm still at a loss to get your meaning. But to answer your question, I was and remain concerned, that concern will not be removed until we have a squad that can cope with a full season of PL football and perform to a level we should expect. We are a long way off being there and since you are keen on dates pre-season starts in 5 days !

Exactly. So why are you quoting the the July 1st crap then, I'm honestly confused ?? I think all this arguing over nothing points with NE5 has finally fried his melon. Now NE5 would say that, he's just like FS, even when he's not posting he's being blamed for everything

Exactly. So why are you quoting the the July 1st crap then, I'm honestly confused ??

Fair enough. At least it'll shut people up for a day or two though. Trust me there are more people posting don't panic, than there are actually panicing. The ones panicking tend to be more hysterical like. Because they're panicking. Yeah none of the "don't panic" posts were in any shape or form hysterical. Honestly people would post a fairly reasoned message of concern, with their points well made, only for a bunch of sheep to post back in txt speak, link "amusing" jpegs and post comical smilies. If this puts an end to that debate, which it clearly doesn't as TT eloquently put, then I'm in agreement with your original point. But your side, lets call them "the no panic bigrade" has been as guilty as those they call panickers for the quality of posts you are complaining about.

Fair enough. At least it'll shut people up for a day or two though. Trust me there are more people posting don't panic, than there are actually panicing.

Sadly for him, he's probably more famous as the player that Joey Barton beat up than for his ability as a footballer.

TBH I think the more mature dicussion has been coming from those on the 'impatient' side of things. It's the others that have been posting crap like this in response. They even resort to administrators of this very forum starting gloating "i told you so" threads, after 1 signing that no one know much about ! There have been a few very good posts from people such as TT and and mrmajorism (sp?) about the need to break the cycle of panic buying by being proactive in the transfer market and making early moves, if you chose to interperate that as OMG panic panic panic, then so be it. Don't take anything ShiteaM says literally, we all know he's either a WUM or completely insane. I don't believe that all negative comments about the lack of early signings is always "OMG panic panic panic", just that some have come across that way. Hence why I've stated that this signing may shut up "some" of the negativity that was a bit unjustified at times. As there have been plenty of other posts for those of the opposing view who have only been too happy call anyone worrying about the transfer policy of the club, a "OMG panicer <insert comically smiley here>".

We didn't sign anybody until the 2nd day of the transfer window so the panickers are right to moan, OK. Dear me are we going to start this whole, "well technically the transfer window only opens on July 1st", crap yet again ??

TBH both you guys seem to post a lot of sense, often find I'm in agreement or swayed by stuff you've written.

so maybe by his mid-thirties he may have grown out of being a thug ? OK we'd best keep him till then . LoL, hopefully he'll mature a little earlier than I, a spell behind bars may push forward that maturing process.

Thaat's very true Rich. Both side have talked crap and both sides have talked sense sometimes.