quayside

Yes - correct. They were submitted early last year, probably for PR reasons to justify what happened in the transfer window.

I am sure the NUST (like most clubs' supporters trusts) is run by genuine fans giving up their free time to do positive things for the club. The project to buy the club could potentially interest a lot of supporters. But it has to be perceived as being done properly and professionally. The Ashley regime has caused much anger because of its lack of professionalism and integrity and if the NUST effort is to have any credibility it has to demonstrate that it can raise the bar in both those areas. After all people are being asked to commit savings and/or pensions to the cause. I registered and was prepared to give them a chance, I liked the idea of what they were trying to do and admired their initiative. I wanted to hear what they had to say. But the communication yesterday was so totally amateurish and plainly ignorant that, as they say on the Dragon's Den, I am out. No organisation about to embark on a high value negotiation using other people's money could let something like that out and retain any credibility. It just looks like they are well out of their depth on this project, and I am not, in any way criticising any of their other activities which are no doubt extremely worthy.

Forgive my ignorance but what is/was the golf course dossier?

They fed the NUST a pile of shyte misinformation via a "leaked source" and f*cked off out of the country to watch the results. I bet they're out there pissing themselves right now........

I wouldn't waste too much time on that - it's nonsense. Some points on that occur to me at first glance: - So the idea is that the investment of £95m grows to be worth £205m when we are in the Premiership and 5% is a good return on that so profits of £84m are possible. Our turnover won't be much more than £84m in the Premiership ffs. Not that 5% of £205m is £84m btw. - Reductions on wages of £42m over 6 months - £42m is probably about our annual wage bill right now, and we are going to save it all in 6 months. Happy days.... - Quote "Obviously, these figures are on return to the Premiership" - ah so Ashley must wait until then to collect his £7m per month.... Utter bollox tbh

Maybe but we'll have made losses in plenty of the other months. If annual turnover is £60m - wages alone are probably still between £40m and £50m, never mind the other running costs, which were £50m in the latest accounts (2008) btw = losses.

Isn't SJP Holdings the company Ashley formed to buy the club? May be well off with that one, but I've definitely heard of it before. I think Matt's point is that the company in question isn't called SJP Holdings - it's called St James Holdings Limited (SJHL). They've got the name wrong and their reference to it is nonsensical. And if you are going to enter territory such as this you need to have an eye for detail.

Well yes. Whatever they did needed to be good and it needed to be professional. They are intending to relieve people of savings and pensions and negotiate a multi million pound deal with the proceeds. And I have a sneaky suspicion that Ashley isn't the easiest person to negotiate anything with so they also needed to demonstrate that they might be good at negotiating They have blasted Ashley for the way he has run the club, his communication and for his integrity and in one short email have succeeded in blowing themselves out of the water on every front - a spectacular achievement tbh.

I registered and was prepared to keep an open mind and wait until I saw what they were about. My mind is now closed.....

I'm seriously wondering if Deadly Derek has arranged for a deliberate leak of mis-information to the NUST to make them look like half wits. If so it worked a treat Del

And we'd be able to afford to buy Harewood with no difficulty....

FWIW I can't see any way that the club is making any sort of profit on a turnover of about £50m or £60m. In 2008 the club lost £20m on a turnover of £100m, how do you get from there to a profit when your income is about £40m less? Apart from that IMO it's extremely unprofessional to put unsbstantiated gossip in an email to potential investors and, for me, their credibility is shot to pieces - they have shot themselves in the foot.

"The Trust has never got into a slanging match with Mr Ashley and Mr Llambias and neither does it intend to, we're interested in our club and more importantly its future. One final thought for you to consider before you fill in the survey - sources have told us that Mr Ashley is making up to £7m profit out of our club every month and whilst that's not confirmed - do the maths - wages halved, no expenditure on transfers, crowds up, new advertising revenue before the end of the season and the assets of SJP Holdings. Make no mistake - Mr Ashley is not going to lose on his investment in Newcastle but it's now time to think about the club, city and community not himself." Sweet Jesus what sources were these? That is the biggest pile of shyte.

Separated at birth? Glenn Roeder http://i49.tinypic.com/dq1z7k.jpg David Tennant http://i45.tinypic.com/dc3jo9.jpg

These discussions kill me Spotting whether a player can adapt to a different league and a different environment is a dark art. Even the best managers get it wrong sometimes. Ferguson signed Veron for squillions. Wenger has Pascal Cygan and Franny Jeffers on his record and no one could deny that SBR bought a few turkeys. Benitez is the worst top manager at this by a mile. I know that I am a complete arse when it comes to judging a player. I thought Luque would rip the Premiership apart and be the signing of the decade. :-[ Anyway, be that as it may, I think Beckford has the talent to move up at least one division and his price and wages make him low risk if he can’t hack it in the Premiership (assuming we get there). So I’d be happy to see him in a black and white shirt.

When we bought him, I was f***ing flabbergasted (and this is after watching MON prviously buy Heskey, Harewood, Zat Knight, so it isn't like I should have been surprised). Same with Collins. 10m, though, for that pair, good deal. MON is the most infuriating manager ever. He really is. That's unfortunate. From an outsiders perspective, I love the man. Despite the months when we drift into awful football mode, despite the mental transfer policy (three of his last 45 signings have been from outside the UK, apparently), despite the bizarre substitutions, despite lots of things, I can't help but love him. I always feel a warm glow when i see him interviewed as our manager, and for all the bollocks he drops, he pulls some rabbits out of the hat. For all the Knights, Harewoods and Hekseys, for all the refusal to buy bigger names, he gets results. The f***ing weirdo. Basically you trust the guy but you also know he's got clout with the board/owner at Villa and they will back him - I've run out of words..........

Richard Dunne has been nothing short of brilliant for us this season. I don't care what he did in the past, but this year he has been superb. I've not seen all your games but from what I have seen I agree - you'd like to think that Citeh dropped a bollock when they bought Lescott for £millions and let Dunne go The trouble is that Citeh are so rich it doesn't really matter.

Agree with all of that. McCleish has moulded them together and they're tough to beat. Not much flair there but grinding out results and they're nearly safe already. A midfield axis of Bowyer and Ferguson (combined age about 65) and Stephen Carr, 33, at right back plus a host of career journeymen - it's an astonishing performance. Mind you in the Premiership every season throws up a club or two that over-achieves.

If we sign Beckford for anything at £3 million or less I will give some respect to Ashley and his current posse. Ashley is a gambler and Beckford is well worth a punt at that price and is a far better informed bet than, for example, the £5 million he shipped out on Xisco....

Although the headline of that Lee Ryder article (about Beckford) is not supported by any quotes by Hughton in the article itself.

Agree - I frequently wonder if Shola is capable of winning a high ball without commiting a foul.

Something like: "I like Jon Carew he's triffic. He holds the ball up well, he's triffic in the air and he's got a triffic eye for goal. Anyone would want him in their squad. But he's an Aston Villa player ain't he......... "

The Ashley Cole/Gallas deal is the ony fairly recent one of any significance I can think of.

Probably not far out - seeing as the players get paid the net figure after tax and national insurance has been deducted, so the gross figure would be almost double that.

I've just remembered what we paid for Xisco and am getting that Dennis Wise induced suicidal feeling all over again.....