Mike Ashley - Thank you

[EthiGeordie]

 

 

                I want to thank what he did for our football club. He bring smile, hope, and excitement for the Geordie nation. One of the best week of my life I hope the best is still coming but I feel that he didn't get enough credit here.

 

                He wants to emulate Abrhamovich and his whole attitude so far since he took over is outstanding. Please discuss what you feel about our owner and what do you expect in the next 6 month. Are you guys happy he is willing to spend 100 million for us?

[Baggio]

Apparently he had King Kev on the back of his shirt.

 

Top bloke.

[Thespence]

Nice piece from Paul Wilson who can be very cutting at times.

 

Thank heavens for devil-may-care Ashley and the St James' Park rollercoaster

 

There is something quite splendid about Newcastle's madness. The principle was established a while ago - somewhere between the arrivals of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen - that, while other clubs strive for silverware, the Magpies have a completely different way of generating excitement. Even so, it takes a particular daring to sack a manager with a reputation for grinding out results when the team are only six points above the relegation zone, then replace him with someone who has not even watched a game for three years.

 

So hats off to Mike Ashley (pictured, right), who may not be a Geordie by birth, but seems just as devil-may-care as the big lads who stand without shirts in January or the girls who totter around the Bigg Market wearing even less. Newcastle - crazy place, crazy club - received a good kicking following Sam Allardyce's departure, and it was all Ashley's fault. It may be a little early to dismiss a self-made billionaire as a bungler, but the Harry Redknapp fiasco showed all the signs of a beginner at work. He was even ridiculed for his habit of wearing replica shirts and sitting with the fans, as if somewhere within football's deeply conservative unwritten rules there is a clause that demands owners should be faceless suits who must remain aloof.

 

At a time when supporters of Liverpool and Manchester United are chafing under absentee foreign owners, this seems particularly strange. Newcastle have already cost Ashley more than he bargained for, mainly because he used his own money to wipe out an existing debt. So what's not to like? For their next protest march, Liverpool fans might consider carrying a banner bearing Ashley's image through the streets, to show the Americans what a real football club owner looks like.

 

Ashley may not be spending his money conventionally and his latest appointment suggests he may have contracted a dose of daft optimism from standing too close to Newcastle supporters, but unlike other owners frequently in the news he is spending his own money and cannot be accused of trampling the club's traditions underfoot or merely studying profit margins from the safety of a different continent. Together with Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer, Bobby Robson, Michael Owen, Joey Barton and quite possibly Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all, Ashley will ensure the Newcastle soap opera pulls in more and more viewers between now and the end of the season, completely obliterating boring storylines such as Arsenal playing great football or Chelsea winning the European Cup.

 

From whispers that he was willing to sell the club last autumn, Ashley has grown confident enough to select the front seat of the rollercoaster and strap himself in for the ride. He could have saved money by buying a real fairground attraction rather than a pretend football club, but where's the fun in that? Everyone knows rollercoasters make you feel queasy after a while. Newcastle seem capable of going on for ever.

 

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/01/19/quiet_please_welcome_to_our_ne.html

[Wullie]

The bloke's a fat fool who made £2,000,000,000 out of sheer luck. He's a laughing stock when he stands in a black and white shirt with other fans of his football club - they're not bothered though because they're as thick as he is. He's hired a manager out of some delusion that he can recreate past glories when in fact he's finished as a manager, unlike Mark Hughes, Harry Redknapp and Alan Curbishley, those footballing sages. As soon as he gets an offer on the club, he'll be away anyway, he's only in this to make money - he'll get way way more than the £250m he's already poured into the club then he'll be laughing all the way to the bank to buy a big club, Tottenham Hotspur.

 

I know it's all true cos I read it this morning in the Sunday Spunk.

[EthiGeordie]

The bloke's a fat fool who made £2,000,000,000 out of sheer luck. He's a laughing stock when he stands in a black and white shirt with other fans of his football club - they're not bothered though because they're as thick as he is. He's hired a manager out of some delusion that he can recreate past glories when in fact he's finished as a manager, unlike Mark Hughes, Harry Redknapp and Alan Curbishley, those footballing sages. As soon as he gets an offer on the club, he'll be away anyway, he's only in this to make money - he'll get way way more than the £250m he's already poured into the club then he'll be laughing all the way to the bank to buy a big club, Tottenham Hotspur.

 

I know it's all true cos I read it this morning in the Sunday Spunk.

 

 

  Shut up punk!

[fredbob]

What a difference 6 months make. Think its fair to say we have the best owners in the premiership. Legend in the making and he knows it.

[TRon]

Nice piece from Paul Wilson who can be very cutting at times.

 

Thank heavens for devil-may-care Ashley and the St James' Park rollercoaster

 

There is something quite splendid about Newcastle's madness. The principle was established a while ago - somewhere between the arrivals of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen - that, while other clubs strive for silverware, the Magpies have a completely different way of generating excitement. Even so, it takes a particular daring to sack a manager with a reputation for grinding out results when the team are only six points above the relegation zone, then replace him with someone who has not even watched a game for three years.

 

So hats off to Mike Ashley (pictured, right), who may not be a Geordie by birth, but seems just as devil-may-care as the big lads who stand without shirts in January or the girls who totter around the Bigg Market wearing even less. Newcastle - crazy place, crazy club - received a good kicking following Sam Allardyce's departure, and it was all Ashley's fault. It may be a little early to dismiss a self-made billionaire as a bungler, but the Harry Redknapp fiasco showed all the signs of a beginner at work. He was even ridiculed for his habit of wearing replica shirts and sitting with the fans, as if somewhere within football's deeply conservative unwritten rules there is a clause that demands owners should be faceless suits who must remain aloof.

 

At a time when supporters of Liverpool and Manchester United are chafing under absentee foreign owners, this seems particularly strange. Newcastle have already cost Ashley more than he bargained for, mainly because he used his own money to wipe out an existing debt. So what's not to like? For their next protest march, Liverpool fans might consider carrying a banner bearing Ashley's image through the streets, to show the Americans what a real football club owner looks like.

 

Ashley may not be spending his money conventionally and his latest appointment suggests he may have contracted a dose of daft optimism from standing too close to Newcastle supporters, but unlike other owners frequently in the news he is spending his own money and cannot be accused of trampling the club's traditions underfoot or merely studying profit margins from the safety of a different continent. Together with Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer, Bobby Robson, Michael Owen, Joey Barton and quite possibly Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all, Ashley will ensure the Newcastle soap opera pulls in more and more viewers between now and the end of the season, completely obliterating boring storylines such as Arsenal playing great football or Chelsea winning the European Cup.

 

From whispers that he was willing to sell the club last autumn, Ashley has grown confident enough to select the front seat of the rollercoaster and strap himself in for the ride. He could have saved money by buying a real fairground attraction rather than a pretend football club, but where's the fun in that? Everyone knows rollercoasters make you feel queasy after a while. Newcastle seem capable of going on for ever.

 

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/01/19/quiet_please_welcome_to_our_ne.html

 

cheers, thanks for posting that. Also worth mentioning that unlike Liverpool's and Man U's foreign owners, he's wiped out our debt not increased it by borrowing against the club.

 

Mike Ashley = LEGEND.  Fact.

 

 

[Guest toonster]

Exactly what I said to him when I shook his hand, on wednesday night, at half time.

At full time I shook KK's hand and said "Welcome back Kevin", whilst shaking his hand, which was picked up by the BBC.

(I'm the bloke in the black who leans across Mike to get to KK.)

 

[Chris_R]

Yes, Ashley turning into a bit of a legend alright.

 

Wouldn't swap him for any other chairman in the world. Never thought I'd get to say that about the guy in charge of my club!

[Tooj]

Yes, Ashley turning into a bit of a legend alright.

 

Wouldn't swap him for any other chairman in the world. Never thought I'd get to say that about the guy in charge of my club!

 

He's not the Chairman.

[2sheds]

I never thought I'd see the day that I really was 'pleasantly surprised' by the antics of a Newcastle owner.

[Mick]

Yes, Ashley turning into a bit of a legend alright.

 

Wouldn't swap him for any other chairman in the world. Never thought I'd get to say that about the guy in charge of my club!

 

He's not the Chairman.

 

He didn't say that he was chairman to be fair, he said "Wouldn't swap him for any other chairman in the world."

 

Edit, I suppose the bold bit was important, I'll take that back.

[Chris_R]

Thanks Mick

 

Jonny - You know what I mean. I know he's not the chairman, but he's the guy who makes the big decisions.

 

Mort has brains, there's no doubting that, and says all the right things to the media and does a good and worthwhile job for us but who do you REALLY think made the decision to fire Big Sam? Mort? I don't think so. Can you imagine Chris Mort ringing Ashley up and saying "Hi Mike, just thought I should tell you I've fired the manager. I'll let you know who the replacement will be."

 

Of course I should have said "Wouldn't swap him for any other owner in the world".

[Thespence]

On Saturday he traded his 'Smith 17' shirt for one that read 'King Kev 1' and superseded Mohamed Al Fayed as the most eccentric owner in English football.

 

Even for Keegan, after those spells serving under Fayed and Sir John Hall, such adoration is unusual. "He asked me to sign his shirt and I refused," said Keegan.

 

"I'm only kidding. We've got a fantastic owner here. He's not a chairman, he doesn't want that. He's given us a lot of responsibility now and we've got to make sure we encourage him to stay in this for the real long haul.

 

"If we're successful, he will and we don't want to do anything that makes him despondent.

 

"That's the challenge for us. People like him don't turn up at a football club every day of the week and twice on Sundays. He's incredible. He's got no ego. He wants to go in with the fans and that's fantastic that he trusts you to get on with it.

 

"I've never met anyone like Mike, he's definitely different, but I really like him. Even if I didn't meet him again, I would say the same thing.

 

"He's very unassuming and if we get this place going, we will have the best owner in this country. I say that: the best. That's what he'll be. But it's an “if” until we get it going."

 

 

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23433270-details/Kev's%20given%20a%20wake-up%20call%20-%20But%20owner%20puts%20shirt%20on%20Keegan%20revival%20plan/article.do

 

[Mick]

Thanks Mick

 

Jonny - You know what I mean. I know he's not the chairman, but he's the guy who makes the big decisions.

 

Mort has brains, there's no doubting that, and says all the right things to the media and does a good and worthwhile job for us but who do you REALLY think made the decision to fire Big Sam? Mort? I don't think so. Can you imagine Chris Mort ringing Ashley up and saying "Hi Mike, just thought I should tell you I've fired the manager. I'll let you know who the replacement will be."

 

Of course I should have said "Wouldn't swap him for any other owner in the world".

Mort does make the decisions and Ashley did say that it was Mort who rang him and told him that Allardyce had to go.

[Chris_R]

Thanks Mick

 

Jonny - You know what I mean. I know he's not the chairman, but he's the guy who makes the big decisions.

 

Mort has brains, there's no doubting that, and says all the right things to the media and does a good and worthwhile job for us but who do you REALLY think made the decision to fire Big Sam? Mort? I don't think so. Can you imagine Chris Mort ringing Ashley up and saying "Hi Mike, just thought I should tell you I've fired the manager. I'll let you know who the replacement will be."

 

Of course I should have said "Wouldn't swap him for any other owner in the world".

Mort does make the decisions and Ashley did say that it was Mort who rang him and told him that Allardyce had to go.

 

Well he has to say that. Otherwise it completely undermines Mort's public position and would damage the relationship he has with Ashley. I doubt it went quite like that though in real life. Sure, Mort would have had some input and gave his opinion, but I know who would have had the final say on the matter and it wasn't Chris Mort.

 

Surely we're past believing everything that's said in the papers? Even though it was a direct quote from an interview, sometimes people bend the truth when speaking in public to protect themselves and each other.

 

Ashley will have had the final say on firing Sam, even if Mort had a lot of input and was the person to tell Sam to pack up and leave.

 

[ChezGiven]

Thanks Mick

 

Jonny - You know what I mean. I know he's not the chairman, but he's the guy who makes the big decisions.

 

Mort has brains, there's no doubting that, and says all the right things to the media and does a good and worthwhile job for us but who do you REALLY think made the decision to fire Big Sam? Mort? I don't think so. Can you imagine Chris Mort ringing Ashley up and saying "Hi Mike, just thought I should tell you I've fired the manager. I'll let you know who the replacement will be."

 

Of course I should have said "Wouldn't swap him for any other owner in the world".

Mort does make the decisions and Ashley did say that it was Mort who rang him and told him that Allardyce had to go.

I read that Ashley rang Mort and said something had to change so (Mort) "knew he had to act".

 

The relationship is one of gentle guidance from Ashley iyam.

[Guest interceptor]

He is a legend already imo. We're soooo lucky to have him when all the other leading clubs are bitter about their foreign owners taking their club away from them.

 

They showed him on SSN today just before the Bolton game. He showed off his King Kev shirt to someone in front of him, and then did this little dance - you could clearly see how excited he was.

 

I get the impression, unlike some of the other PL owners, that Mike Ashley is going to run Newcastle for more than just profit. He wants to have a bit of fun and enjoy himself as well. And I think he knows he will become a hero/legend if he does get us some silverware, and at the moment at least, he's gonna spend big to get it.

 

[indi]

Has he got any kids?

 

If not, then he's got £2,000,000,000 to spend before he pops his clogs, which could be interesting.

[NufcSteven90]

Has he got any kids?

Am sure his daughter was in the away end at Wigan with him, well that's what I heard.

[indi]

Oh well, just the £1000000000 then, half for her half for us.

[Guest Knightrider]

I was quite critical of the whole Big Sam sacking and Harry Redknapp interview saga and while KK wouldn't have been my first choice, it's tremendous having him back. I concede I was knee jerk and totally wrong to even have a go which I feel quite ashamed of thinking back because Mike Ashley, assisted by Chris Mort, haven't put a foot wrong in general and deserve all of our confidence, even at times where their decision making is off centre which will happen from time to time. We've got a good 'un I think, in the pair of them. Add a 3rd - KK.

[PRL]

He is a legend already imo. We're soooo lucky to have him when all the other leading clubs are bitter about their foreign owners taking their club away from them.

 

They showed him on SSN today just before the Bolton game. He showed off his King Kev shirt to someone in front of him, and then did this little dance - you could clearly see how excited he was.

I get the impression, unlike some of the other PL owners, that Mike Ashley is going to run Newcastle for more than just profit. He wants to have a bit of fun and enjoy himself as well. And I think he knows he will become a hero/legend if he does get us some silverware, and at the moment at least, he's gonna spend big to get it.

 

 

That was ace, really made me smile when i saw that... Think he's still learning but he's doing what all of us would love to do and he's done it pretty much perfectly so far. He needs a song really...

[EthiGeordie]

          I felt that his 5 year plan is well underway right now and it seems he wants us to win the title in five years time. I think the most important period will be the next 18 months if things put in good perspective in those 18 months we will be where Chelsea are after the first 2 years of abarhamovich era.