magpie1892

I would imagine it's probably pretty hard, which is why some of Penfold's contemporaries earn 10-15 times what he does. The issue is that Ashley does not, nor has ever had, running NUFC to the betterment of the team as his primary aim.

And the rest. I've heard figures of between £25m and £40m a year from people who are qualified to make that valuation. Hence why I put £10m+ Yes, that's right. Ferraris cost more than a tenner; the idea was to provide a more accurate figure than that which you proposed.

And the rest. I've heard figures of between £25m and £40m a year from people who are qualified to make that valuation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line I know, hilarious, right?!

This. We'll get £5m if we're lucky. On another note, I hear that Gayle is away as Rafa doesn't trust him to toe the line.

Like I said, he might well do - of is going to. And they ARE a big name brand - they are enormous - just not in western markets. Anyway, just a rumour. Anta have a football sponsorship lined up in Europe. It might be one of the Milan clubs, who knows?

what is fun88 - gambling? Aye. Blimey - how original. The way that the ANTA thing adds up is because no-one knows them in Europe, fatty wants to change that and, as previously mentioned, all their stuff has huge margins. He sees them as the next big player (they have a few shops in Europe - I've been to the one in Varese (don't ask)) and it's beautiful. Their European and American pitch is for people that can't afford Nike or adidas, but wouldn't be seen dead in Slazenger and No Fear. If it IS us, we will have that logo on there..! This is nonsense man, why would MA want to increase the profile of a rival brand that he doesn't own? Exclusive distribution of a brand with big margins? They're on the Hang Seng so he may well own a share or - and this is typical fatty behaviour - take shares in lieu of cash for the sponsorship place. He doesn't pay for any of his own adverts, after all.

what is fun88 - gambling? Aye. Blimey - how original. The way that the ANTA thing adds up is because no-one knows them in Europe, fatty wants to change that and, as previously mentioned, all their stuff has huge margins. He sees them as the next big player (they have a few shops in Europe - I've been to the one in Varese (don't ask)) and it's beautiful. Their European and American pitch is for people that can't afford Nike or adidas, but wouldn't be seen dead in Slazenger and No Fear. If it IS us, we will have that logo on there..!

what is fun88 - gambling?

I know a number of people that work there and they have a football sponsorship lined up in Europe. Take your point about them making the shirt also but the Puma contract lasts until the Sun goes supernova.

Oh yeah, it's total sweatshop. I wrote their brand book. Some of their stuff is quite good (logo, t-shirts, sweats) and some of it is embarrassingly bad (trainers). Not expensive, but very high margins.

Don't know if it's in the thread but has anyone else heard that this could be chinese sportswear giant ANTA? (www.anta.com) They are the 4th biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world (after Nike, Adidas and Puma) but are barely known outside south east asia - and fatty wants to start stocking their stuff in Tat Direct...

We're dreaming he will sell. The club is his own personal ATM, and an outlet for his crappy merchandise, and billboard for the same. The club was the perfect purchase for him at the perfect time.

Ashley will sell it on the quiet, guaranteed.

At last. This is it. Shame about the derby though.

"Ashley is also held in disdain by many supporters due to his company's use of zero hours contracts." Yeah, whatever. Whoever Neil Moxley is, he's clearly never been to Govan. A massive ASDA store opened in Govan about 15 years ago and there were 400 applications for each job available. Jog on, you ignorant prick. People don't like Ashley because he's a thief, a liar, and a complete psychopath.

This.

I can't agree. If we don't go up this season it could be catastrophic.

Or his cheating, in pretending to be injured after that challenge.

I've had the honour of seeing PvA play for four different clubs (incl. Vitesse) and I have to say that the fee is utter insanity - I was looking for a decimal point. Sky EPL figures down 25% since 2013 - this has got to go 'pop!' some time...

I've mentioned this a few times the past couple of months but if they don't go down this season I think we're just going to have to accept that they aren't going down, ever. They ARE going down.

Lenny Henry earning that knighthood. Well it wasn't going to be for his 'comedy', was it?

Agreed. And when we get there..?

There's no doubt he gets a kick out of annoying us. The evidence is myriad.

No it's not Is to me. I like it better when he's out of sight and out of mind. Never will be, though, will it, with this pondlife still as owner. Smoke and mirrors. People have been distracted by Rafa and our decent (but not outstanding) performances in the 2nd tier. But we ALL know what he's like. If he's had some sort of epiphany, I must have missed it. The feeling that when we get back into the top flight he'll just revert to type is hard to shake.