Free Beer & I'm your friend for life

[UV]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

[OzzieMandias]

More straw men than a fucking scarecrow factory.

[Dave]

What's this 'building' thing all about then? I want a completely new first team right now goddamnit.

 

Seriously, I don't know why so many are so downbeat. Even with the current squad, Allardyce, the Derby results and the generally dreadful season last, we still finished just six points away from 10th. I think Keegan would have had us in the top half relatively comfortably given the entire season. We need changes - sure - but we hardly need a mass overhaul of the scale some seem to be wanting demanding.

 

We have plenty of good players here that have majorly underperformed the last few years, I hope and trust Keegan can get better from them. Add in a couple of new faces and I'm more optimistic about the upcoming season than I have been for a good while now.

[Dave]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

 

mackems.gif

[OzzieMandias]

Maybe instead of a Moaning Section we can have a Drama Queen Paddock, and they can all flap their arms and whine loudly about their victimhood whenever it gets exciting on the pitch.

[KaKa]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

 

Very cute. But exceedingly stupid.

 

No one is asking anybody to sign up to anything. Just stop making a new thread every five minutes moaning about the same shit time and time again when we are at the start of the summer and the owner has stated his plans which he is currently trying to implement.

 

The only time the "radical Ashleyites" are ever heard from is when they are trying to shut up the suicidal doom monger's bitching 24-7 about the same bollocks.

 

Also love the way Dennis Wise is claimed to be the director of football whenever anyone wants to critisize the club. Bloody hilarious that.

 

 

[Guest Sez]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

 

Very cute. But exceedingly stupid.

 

 

 

Bloody good impression of you, then. 

[KaKa]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

 

Very cute. But exceedingly stupid.

 

 

 

Bloody good impression of you, then. 

 

If you've nothing to add then shut up. Take your corny punchlines somewhere else.

 

 

[Slim]

kaka is ALLTHERAGE

[UV]

Very cute. But exceedingly stupid.

 

Well done, Ashley will be so proud. Keep the faith.

 

Also love the way Dennis Wise is claimed to be the director of football whenever anyone wants to critisize the club. Bloody hilarious that.

 

What is the Executive Director (Football) getting paid rather handsomely to do then?

[Guest Phil K]

Surely all the supporters are asking for next season is a squad that can compete with Everton, i dont think that is too much to ask for.

Even that is over-optimistic. What other team that has finished in the bottom half for 3 out of the last 4 years and flirted with relegation last year can say that its BASIC expectation is to challenge for fifth the following year?

 

Given the restructuring that is going on in all areas, I would think progress has been made if we get a top 10 finish, but do it in the manner of blooding new/young players to the premier league and building a team, so that in the years to follow that top 10 finish can become a top 6 and so on.

 

Actually, Everton did it and actually WON the league the following year under Kendall in the 80s.

But that was before the rags and the FA managed to create a "4 teams ONLY to win trophies" situation.

[Syrette]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

 

Oh dear.

[Dinho lad]

You're a daft cunt if you were expecting Ashley to be our Abramovich.

[Benwell Lad]

There are basically just a bunch of Chelsea groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They just want someone to come in and start throwing absurd amounts of money around like a madman.

 

Personally I find the Chelsea model repulsive and I more than happy with what I have seen done so far and I see no sense in getting upset when we are basically at the start of summer and the new owner has done absolutely nothing wrong.

 

People are always gushing with admiration for Everton who are consistently finishing 5th nowadays, but who has spent less money than them!!! The only big money signing they have had recently is Yakubu and this was just last summer. If we had bought a Lescott, Jagielka or Phil Neville, idiots would have been moaning about not enough ambition being shown and never getting into Europe and all that crap. Well guess what Everton have been kicking our arses now for a good while and these are the sorts they have been bringing in.

 

People need to grow up and just think about things logically for once, they really do.

 

Well said mate, but you know that logic and Newcastle supporters, and especially logic and N-O posters don't always go together.

[afar]

There are basically just a bunch of Arsenal groupies on here who think they support Newcastle. They think Dennis Wise is the new Arsene Wenger who will  come in and start signing loads of teenagers who will all become world superstars.

 

They go on about cutting the wage bill while conveniently ignoring the fact that the club they love which is run on a shoestring has almost double the average premiership wage bill.

They go on about how having a debt means you're destined for administration while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of teams in the premiership have the same or greater non-stadium related debts than we did.

They go on about patience and short termism when the same people were demanding a change in ownership while we were still regularly getting into Europe. They offer up as examples of models to follow either teams who have only recently started to act as ambitiously as we used to, or teams who are notoriously yo-yo teams (Everton: 15,7,17,4,11,6,5 under the same board and manager. This is the consistency we should be aiming for apparently).

They talk about massive changes behind the scenes as if we never had an academy or scouting network before, conveniently ignoring the fact that Taylor and N'Zogbia have been regular first teamers for years, and there was a time not so long ago when we signed the European young player of the year.  No-one even really knows what is going on behind the scenes, who is in charge of what, what the transfer policy is, or what the ambitions of the club actually are, but they simply base their unquestioning knowledge on their own hopes and on the scraps of PR occasionally thrown out to the eagerly waiting acolytes.

They go on about a brave new world where we no longer sign mercenaries, yet the first transfer this Summer is a bloke who has reneged on his 5 year contract with his previous club doing them out of a transfer fee; no more last minute panic buys, yet 2 of the best of last years signings were signed on the last day of the window; no more overpaid average players yet the owner sports a shirt with Smith on the back; no more interference with transfer policy, yet the manager now has to go through someone else to get the player he wants even onto the list of transfer possibilities.

 

Anyone who doesn't sign up unreservedly to the new blind faith agenda will be labelled stupid, impatient, or even a non-supporter by the radical Ashleyites. Praise be to Our Saviour! Burn the unbelievers!

 

 

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.

[Syrette]

"Ashleyites"?!?

 

Oh, man.

[KaKa]

Look ... yes everyone is entitled to their view but not every second of everyday where every thread is hijacked by the Ashley bashers and every ridiculous Sunday paper rumour is used as a stick to flog the owner to death. That is my point. As has been said a million times, your point has been made so wait till the end of the window then we can all look back over things and make a fairer assessment.

 

Don't come crawling out of your holes everytime the Bin Laden boys supposedly show more interest or some American tycoons or Saudia Arabia billionaires supposedly turn down Ashleys pleas to take the club off his hands. This causes you all to start wringing your hands and crying your eyes out over our useless cheapskate owner. Very boring and extremely irritating. Howmany times day after day after day ...

 

No Arshavin! The owner sucks. No Turan! The owner sucks! No Gomis! The owner sucks! No Gomez! The owner sucks! Jonas Gutierrez on a free! The owner sucks! Gutierrez only two international caps! The owner sucks! Sidwell to Villa! Why aren't we in for him! Owner sucks! Sidwell to Newcastle! Not good enough! Owner sucks!

 

Then when the more sane amongst us try to calm down this onslaught of repetitive crap they are hailed as the blindly optimistic Ashleyites. What a nerve.

 

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Word.

[Syrette]

The people moaning about people calling them impatient, are impatient! Really don't see how they can try and word their way out of that one. Why it is it so difficult for these people to appreciate it is only fair to judge Ashley at the end of the window? If things don't go as well as they need to, then I'll be among the first to be critical and complain. I'm fair enough to appreciate things don't always happen as fast as we'd like, and that there is a lot of time for us to bring in fresh faces.

[Mike]

One person even suggesting that we are not allowed to judge him after this transfer window' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

That's a very good point. My memory isn't all that great, so if I'm wrong about the dates, forgive me. This is MA's third window in charge, but is it unreasonable to suggest that this is the first window without surprises? When he first came in charge, does anyone know what his plans were in regard to the acquisition and sale of players before discovering the debt? Is it unreasonable to suggest that paying off the debt derailed his transfer policy in that first window?

 

In the middle of the second window, he fired Sam. It was absolutely horrific timing and the drawn out search for a manager didn't do him any favors either. The failure of that window is entirely his own fault. I'm not going to make excuses about that, January was a joke.

 

This window, however, seems pretty clear of any distractions. No reason to fire the manager, no unknown debt. Bids have been made and rejected for players that would fit instantly into the first team, and one player has already been signed. It's July 8th.

[Syrette]

Yeah, a lot less excuses if we mess this window up.

[afar]

One person even suggesting that we are not allowed to judge him after this transfer window' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

That's a very good point. My memory isn't all that great, so if I'm wrong about the dates, forgive me. This is MA's third window in charge, but is it unreasonable to suggest that this is the first window without surprises? When he first came in charge, does anyone know what his plans were in regard to the acquisition and sale of players before discovering the debt? Is it unreasonable to suggest that paying off the debt derailed his transfer policy in that first window?

 

In the middle of the second window, he fired Sam. It was absolutely horrific timing and the drawn out search for a manager didn't do him any favors either. The failure of that window is entirely his own fault. I'm not going to make excuses about that, January was a joke.

 

This window, however, seems pretty clear of any distractions. No reason to fire the manager, no unknown debt. Bids have been made and rejected for players that would fit instantly into the first team, and one player has already been signed. It's July 8th.

 

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.

[Dave]

Yeah, a lot less excuses if we mess this window up.

 

Has anyone said otherwise?

[afar]

Yeah, a lot less excuses if we mess this window up.

 

Has anyone said otherwise?

 

Yes the bloke that posted this:

 

I don't see any reason, apart from press bullshit, for all of this Ashley-hating that has suddenly sprung up. Of course he would sell for 450 million, anyone with half a brain would cash in a 150m profit in a year. But the reviews and changes he has put in place so far suggest nothing but a long-term view.

 

I don't think we can even judge him after this transfer window TBH. Maybe after 3 or so we will have enough to make a call.

 

 

[quayside]

One person even suggesting that we are not allowed to judge him after this transfer window' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

That's a very good point. My memory isn't all that great, so if I'm wrong about the dates, forgive me. This is MA's third window in charge, but is it unreasonable to suggest that this is the first window without surprises? When he first came in charge, does anyone know what his plans were in regard to the acquisition and sale of players before discovering the debt? Is it unreasonable to suggest that paying off the debt derailed his transfer policy in that first window?

 

In the middle of the second window, he fired Sam. It was absolutely horrific timing and the drawn out search for a manager didn't do him any favors either. The failure of that window is entirely his own fault. I'm not going to make excuses about that, January was a joke.

 

This window, however, seems pretty clear of any distractions. No reason to fire the manager, no unknown debt. Bids have been made and rejected for players that would fit instantly into the first team, and one player has already been signed. It's July 8th.

 

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 don't think the point was that Ashley didn't realise the debt was there - it was more that he didn't realise the loan document contained a "poison pill" clause. This was that if the club changed ownership then the debt became repayable immediately, so he got stuck with shelling out an unexpected £70 million within days of the takeover. But your point about due diligence is valid. He can't have done much investigation on the detail because Shepherd would have known about it. And as I understand it the first time Fred knew the Halls had sold was after the event - when he was in hospital iirc.