maze

Mike Ashley will only sell Toon if 'an incredible offer comes in' says Llambias Mike-Ashley-Newcastle cropped Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias has insisted Mike Ashley has no intention of selling the club - unless he is made an offer he cannot refuse. The sportswear magnate has twice unsuccessfully tried to offload the business he bought for £134.4million back in May 2007, but has since embarked upon a blueprint to make it self-sufficient, a policy which has not gone down well with his critics. Supporters who expected the £35million the Magpies raked in when they sold Andy Carroll to Liverpool in January to be invested in marquee signings this summer have been disappointed, and the strained relationship with the hierarchy has grown ever more toxic. However, answering fans' questions submitted by the city's evening newspaper, the Evening Chronicle, Llambias revealed that Ashley, who has invested a total of around £280million in the club, has no plans to sell up. He said: "Mike Ashley has no intention of putting the club up for sale. He is still extremely passionate about strengthening the club and making it a real success. "We are balancing the books and getting the finances in order, but there's plenty more work to be done and he's committed to doing that for the long-term. "That said, it's worth going back to the analogy of the house that's not for sale. If suddenly an incredible offer comes in, he may have to consider it. "From time to time we are approached by people claiming to have an interest in buying the club. Our message to them is clear: buy a box for a commitment of five-seasons and then we will know you are serious. No-one's taken us up on that offer." However, Llambias also hinted that the anger which has been directed at the regime has done little to encourage Ashley to pour more cash into Newcastle. He said: "Criticism is part and parcel of the job, abuse is not. This makes life uncomfortable and certainly doesn't make Mike feel more inclined to put his hand once again in his pocket. "That's not stubbornness, it's human nature. I think most of us would feel exactly the same." Much of the ire from supporters surrounds the club's summer recruitment policy, which saw Kevin Nolan, Jose Enrique and Joey Barton leave after failing to agree new contracts and seven new signings arrive, but not the striker on whom both manager Alan Pardew and the Toon Army had set their hearts. Llambias said: "It was everyone's desire at the club to bring in a striker. We worked hard to make that happen, but ultimately couldn't complete a deal that we had hoped to." Asked further where the Carroll money had gone, Llambias replied: "We made it clear when we sold Andy that the fee we received would stay in the club, and it has. "The money will be spent prudently within the club and on new players as and when we are in a position to do so. We didn't promise to spend all the money in this window. "Money will be available going forward, for the right player at the right time. If the club had been able to move on other transfer targets this summer, then more money would have been spent." However, Llambias, who revealed that wages will account for around 65 per cent of turnover this season, seven per cent up on last season, confirmed that the days when the Magpies could sign players like Alan Shearer and Michael Owen are over. He said: "The days of Newcastle United acquiring 'trophy' signings who command huge salaries for past successes on the pitch are over. "Yes, they have generated excitement and anticipation in the past, but ultimately many of them have left the club poorer and with little to show for it in terms of our standing in the league." Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Newcastle-Mike-Ashley-only-sell-if-incredible-offer-Derek-Llambias-article796767.html#ixzz1XYXlDp1S

35%...£35 mill... fuck yeah, I'm good at spotting shit like this!

Nah, they'll get a striker in IF we lack goals and/or are in danger of relegation come January.

True. Which goes on to show you that no-one really knows whats going on, and that this is thread is better off named something else.

and, to further explain my view; at several EPL clubs there are some coherence between what the fans expects and predicts, and what the club are looking for. I'd say NUFC's actions are quite hard to predict in any way.

I think these threads are the most useless on the forum for the sole reason that, time and time again, what fans consider realtistic and what the board consider realistic is two totally different things.

Pre-QPR quotes: Pardew - don't blame me for striker shortage Comments from the manager to reporters on Thursday: "The criticism that's going to come from not getting a striker in has some validity to it because seven months is a long time. "But I can only say that from my point of view, we put the targets in front of the board and then it comes down to financial decisions, and that financial decision didn't take place. "We bid for three or four players to fill one position and none of them came to fruition, and that's the disappointment that we have to face. "I feel within the squad, there's a real camaraderie in there, a really good, strong spirit. Defensively, we have shown we are a tight unit and it's just about getting the goals now. "It's going to be important that people step up to the plate and come out of the pack and score goals and contribute to goals with assists, and there's certainly enough talent in that squad to do that. "Joey (Barton) is a controlled animal now on the football pitch. He's an aggressive player, but he has brought that under control. "He's a very, very good player and somebody we need to make sure doesn't influence the game as much as he did for us. "He hasn't got anything to prove to me or the staff here because the players all know how good he is. Obviously, there was a falling-out with the board that wasn't going to be rectified, so Joey has moved on. "He's got himself a contract that he has earned through not just his ability, but the way he has conducted himself in the last couple of years especially, and we wish him well." Link: .com

http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20110902/newcastle-united-statement_2281670_2439966 No, it was a lack of being willing to spend what's considered a fair, expected and, in any way you twist and turn it, a neccesary price for much needed quality striker. A new No.9 so to speak! You thick fucking asshole stingy bitch.

It's too broad a question though, who knows? I'm not aware of anyone who hasn't criticised a lot of what Ashley has done. You could equally put it the other way round - what would Ashley have to do to make you think he was doing some things right? Buy one of the most exciting attacking midfielders in Europe? Sign a French league winner and one of the best defensive midfielders in the league? Get a promising young Italian international fullback from Inter Milan? Bounce back from a relegation, finish the season well and start the following season with some good results? Put our finances on a sounder footing? But I wouldn't ask it like that because I know it's not black and white. I'm not trying to speak up on Ashley's behalf, I'm trying to highlight that the situation at the club isn't as dire as some people think, and everything we do isn't bad or part of some evil plan to punish Geordies. Get a striker in as well, that'd at least shows he cares and does have a plan. We've had a decent window but we're relying on Shola,Lovercrap, Ba & Best. I like Best, I think he's seriously underrated by some on here, who knows with Ba atm. Shola is just Shola & Lovercrap shouldn't be anywhere near the team. I agree we should have got another striker, and that's a failure. As you said though, we've had a decent window. Personally i would have been worried who we would have sold in order to sign a striker so perhaps we're better off as it is. This is just purely speculation to what will happen in the coming years based on the assumption that Ashley trying to make NUFC more attractive to potensial buyers: GKs: Steve Harper - Think he will be gone next season. Either retiring or being release. Tim Krul - Think he'll stay on for 1 or 2 season. If he continues his current performance I can see him being sold (champ league football/ incredible offfer) Ole Soderberg - Don't know enough to tell. Robert Elliot - He's gonna be our new Harper, and potensially the new No.1 if Krul is sold. DEFs: Fabrizio Coloccini - will, unfortunately be sold after this season. Mainly because he's on high wages, secondly because he's too old for the regime. Davide Santon - stays for 2 seasons Danny Simpson - possibly being sold next season. Michael Williamson - stays James Perch - amazingly enough, I think he'll stay. Ryan Taylor - will stay until the last year of his contract, then be either sold or release (barton-style) Steven Taylor - stay James Tavernier - Don't know enough to tell. Mids: Yohan Cabaye - will be here for this entire season, then will be sold during or after the next. Danny Guthrie - will stay. Mehdi Abeid - stays. Dan Gosling - stays. Jonas Gutierrez - will be sold next summer. Sylvain Marveaux - stay for atleast 2 seasons Cheik Ismael Tiote - will be sold during or after this season. Haris Vuckic - stays Shane Ferguson - stays Forwards: Hatem Ben Arfa - will stay for another two seasons. Mainly, because (or luckily) he's been injured for a long time. Peter Lovenkrands - will run down his contract. Alan Smith - will leave after the season. Demba Ba - stay for 2 seasons. Leon Best - Will be sold during or after this season. Shola Ameobi - untouchable. Gabriel Obertan - stays. Sam Ameobi - stays. Nile Ranger - will rot in the reserves till someone takes him off our hands. If ever... Ryan Donaldson - Don't know enough to tell. honorable mentions : Xisco - will be loaned out or shipped out in a mutual consent. Forster - will leave after this season. Phil Airey - Don't know enough to tell.

Just to be clear. I hate Mike Ashley. I fucking despise him. And as my signature states, I'd gladly welcome a man-city-type-of-owner to Newcastle. Opposed to some here, I'm only concern about the quality of the squad, the depth and most importantly I want us to be entertaining and compete with the 'big guns'. I don't care about the balanced book and the accounts, there's only a few clubs in the EPR who are concerned about that. Why? Because they are either stupid, or they have richer and more ambitious guys backing them up. Last night I went to bed around 09.30 PM (that would be 08.30 PM in the UK), and I'm fucking glad I did. Ashley is not concerned about the things I am expecting, as a supporter. That is why I knew we weren't getting anyone in. Ashley has proven that he can get in the players he wants to, at his 'acceptable' price, and that's that. So I'm really not bother with the wheeling and dealing, Ashley does what he wants to, I've settle with that. I'm content with those that have been brought in, but I'm far from happy. We have been lucky with our results so far this season. In fact, we play so boring that I'm able to read books at the same time as I'm watching our games (and yes I do that). We are lucky if we survive this season, because, given a couple of key-player-injuries we have no quality replacements on the bench. In our ST positions no-one is a typical 10-15-20 goals a seasons guarantor. I think, what we are witnessing here, is just a process were Ashley is trying to make NUFC more attractive to potential buyers. Heck, even the Man City owners (located in God-knows-where part of the world) show more commitment to the club and its surroundings than Ashley. Why? Well, I'd say Mooooneeeeey.

I'm logging off, have a nice meltdown.

Crow1987 Nufc87 by nufcfans @nufcfans Ruiz has declined the offer from #nufc #deadlineday 3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

MsiDouglas Mark Douglas Toon went in 'far too late' for Ruiz. Another top player; another 'so nearly' to add to the collection #nufc 50 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Fourth_Official Fourth Official by NUFCThreatLevel Patrick van Aanholt has joined Wigan on loan for the season from Chelsea #CFC #WAFC 8 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Zadeh7 Daniel Zadeh by nufcfans @nufcfans David Craig reporting #NUFC a lot closer than people expect to signing a striker. #interesting 5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

rossgregory9 Ross Gregory by cwarr07 Bryan Ruiz's agent tells Gazette the £10m Twente striker to decide between Fulham and Newcastle bit.ly/ri1rAa #nufc #ffc #jptransfers 3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11678_7140732,00.html Sky Sports sources understand Newcastle could make a late move to try and hijack Fulham's swoop for Bryan Ruiz. Fulham have agreed a fee with FC Twente for the Costa Rica international as Martin Jol looks to lure him to Craven Cottage However, Newcastle are now believed to have entered the race for the highly-rated 26-year-old and have made an enquiry to Twente about a possible move. Magpies boss Alan Pardew is keen to bring in a new striker before the close of the transfer window to bolster his attacking options and Ruiz is thought to be his top target. Fulham remain favourites to land Ruiz as they have been in talks with the player for the last 24 hours and they are pushing to get the deal done before the transfer window slams shut at 11pm.

Aye, everyone should know that they're only allowed to start new threads if the player in question is undesirable. The sarcatic oldtype................................................................... Everybody should know that we have thread for posting this stuff. Rumour thread or twitter thread, or what have you.

If we are bidding that much I'd rather prefer we went for Sturridge. thread. I beg you not to turn this forum into RTG SMB forum just because it's deadline day, and some wankers out there report that we've bid for 'God knows who'.

Player Prices Player prices change during the season dependent on the popularity of the player in the transfer market. Player prices do not change until the season starts. The price shown on your transfers page is a player's selling price. This selling price may be less than the player's current purchase price as a sell-on fee of 50% (rounded up to the nearest £0.1m) will be applied on any profits made on that player. For example, if you buy a player for £8.3m and when you transfer him his price is £9.0m, his selling price will be £8.6m. http://fantasy.premierleague.com/rules/

Hey, don't me. I'll call your facepalm and up the bid with a

http://www.nufcblog.com/2011/08/30/tamas-kadar-in-danger-of-newcastle-exit/

http://ssportnews.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/danger-danger-blackpool-here-comes-ranger/

Owen Hargreaves undergoes medical at Manchester City MANCHESTER CITY are set to offer Owen Hargreaves a shock Premier League lifeline. The former Manchester United midfielder is available on a free transfer after his contract with the champions expired at the end of last season. And City could snap up the man their bitter neighbours ditched for nothing — IF he proves he is over his fitness problems. Hargreaves was pictured leaving Bridgewater Hospital at midday today after undergoing a three-hour medical. The 30-year-old looked happy as he was greeted by City medical staff at the back of the building as he made his exit. Hargreaves has been hampered by knee and hamstring injuries over the last four years. But he insists he is now back to peak physical condition and attempted to prove as much by posting a string of videos on YouTube showing him being put through his paces. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3783440/Owen-Hargreaves-undergoes-medical-at-Manchester-City.html

nufcfans NUFCfans Inter Milan defender Davide Santon expected to sign 5-year deal at #NUFC later this afternoon. #NUFC #fb 1 minute ago Favorite Retweet Reply