Ashley's recruitment men Wise, Jimenez, Vetere to blame for lack of signings?

[UV]

I love how everyone keeps bringing up the extra money from Sky.

 

Er, everyone's got it. So it's even more telling that hardly any other club has done major business, and it doesn't help Liverpool buy Barry one jot anyway.

 

I'm not sure you are getting the point here Dave. The guys saying this are suggesting that the extra money is not being invested in the playing squad and we should really at minimum expect this. TBH the facts back them up 100%, our net spend on trasnfers has been pretty has been paultry. I really don't see the relevance in you pointing out that Wigan Athletic got the same amount of money as us ??

 

And yes there has been plenty of business so far, from teams who need a hell of a lot more work than us.

 

the problem is, the club has been losing 10 million + for the last few seasons all down to the wage bill which spiralled out of control

 

I know Deloitte are probably not as reliable a source as macbeth's impartial website, but FWIW:

 

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/tm_headline=newcastle-united-one-of-eight-clubs-to-make-profit%26method=full%26objectid=20989122%26siteid=61634-name_page.html

 

Newcastle United one of eight clubs to make profit

 

NEWCASTLE United is still near the top of the money league in English football despite failing to deliver success on the field.

 

Research by top football finance analysts Deloitte has revealed the club was one of only eight Premier League clubs to make a profit in the 2006/07 season – down from 16 the previous year.

[Guest elbee909]

I love how everyone keeps bringing up the extra money from Sky.

 

Er, everyone's got it. So it's even more telling that hardly any other club has done major business, and it doesn't help Liverpool buy Barry one jot anyway.

 

I'm not sure you are getting the point here Dave. The guys saying this are suggesting that the extra money is not being invested in the playing squad and we should really at minimum expect this. TBH the facts back them up 100%, our net spend on trasnfers has been pretty has been paultry. I really don't see the relevance in you pointing out that Wigan Athletic got the same amount of money as us ??

 

And yes there has been plenty of business so far, from teams who need a hell of a lot more work than us.

 

Inflation of player prices.  That's the relevance.  Increase the supply of money and the prices go up.  Unfortunately the quality of the footballers isn't intrinsically linked to their transfer value.

 

That still does not explain the relevance that Fulham have been given 50m and we have been given 50m, so that excuses Ashley from spending the money this money accrued by the club through TV deals ??

 

That argument leapfrogs over a lot of stuff, doesn't it?

 

Have all the clubs been given 50m for TV rights up front?  How much do you want to bet that it's conditional on them staying in the Premier League?

 

While there'll be a general trend in prices increasing due to the injection of money from TV rights I don't expect any single club to blow it all on a player or two that wasn't going to be funded elsewhere anyway.

 

[afar]

What does excuse Ashley spending the £50m we and Fulham apparantly have is we have a wage bill which is probably four times the size of theirs. Likewise as people have said, we were heavily in debt which Ashley paid off, so it's only fair if he chooses so to take some of that money to replace the money he 'lost' paying off our debts.

 

He's under no obligation to splash money aimlessly, already we have a squad which is competitive to the upper etchelons of the league, yes we need the odd player but how else are our youth players ever going to get the chance to come through if we go out and sign 3-4 average squad players to stand in their way?

 

I'd rather have one or two years of relative averageness whilst the team is rebuilt rather than spending loads, having one have decent season then going into a relative freefall when we realise we're pretty much broke and all our players have got the 30+ stage. Just so a little bit of bloody patience - if you don't like it, don't go to matches and stop supporting the club - but if you've been through the Shepherd and Souness era then you'd be mental to quit now just when we have the opportunity to turn this club around. 

 

I'm only going to respond to one point of this typical Ashleyite garbage as I really can't be arsed repeating what I and a number of people who have managed to remove theitr heads from the sand have said thousands of times before.

 

But this one is just not sinking in is it ?

 

FFS he didn't "Loose" any money paying off "our" debts. It's his debts, debts he should have been aware of when he purchased the club if he'd done his due dilligence. If he hasn't budgeted enough money to pay for a club who were in debt, that's his stupid fault but I don't think he's that stupid.

 

All the evidence points to trying to make a quick profit on the club, a little investment in the first team would change that perception, with only 20 days to go till the start of the season, we are still waiting.

[OzzieMandias]

nothing, i repeat nothing, would give me greater pleasure than to see us sign collocini, then follow that up with another three quality players so i could shut the fuck up

 

Aye, boring every fucker to death with relentless moaning will definitely help us to get the players we need.

[afar]

I love how everyone keeps bringing up the extra money from Sky.

 

Er, everyone's got it. So it's even more telling that hardly any other club has done major business, and it doesn't help Liverpool buy Barry one jot anyway.

 

I'm not sure you are getting the point here Dave. The guys saying this are suggesting that the extra money is not being invested in the playing squad and we should really at minimum expect this. TBH the facts back them up 100%, our net spend on trasnfers has been pretty has been paultry. I really don't see the relevance in you pointing out that Wigan Athletic got the same amount of money as us ??

 

And yes there has been plenty of business so far, from teams who need a hell of a lot more work than us.

 

Inflation of player prices.  That's the relevance.  Increase the supply of money and the prices go up.  Unfortunately the quality of the footballers isn't intrinsically linked to their transfer value.

 

That still does not explain the relevance that Fulham have been given 50m and we have been given 50m, so that excuses Ashley from spending the money this money accrued by the club through TV deals ??

 

That argument leapfrogs over a lot of stuff, doesn't it?

 

Have all the clubs been given 50m for TV rights up front?  How much do you want to bet that it's conditional on them staying in the Premier League?

 

While there'll be a general trend in prices increasing due to the injection of money from TV rights I don't expect any single club to blow it all on a player or two that wasn't going to be funded elsewhere anyway.

 

 

I have no idea if it's 50m tbh, I just used that figure as an example, but I can bet you all you want that we have indead been given a bundle of cash up front and it's not conditional on whether we get relegated at the end of the season.

 

Still people will not answer the question of, why the TV money is not being invested. It appears to be going towards paying of Ashleys costs in purchasing the club rather than spending on the playing staff. Call me selfish but I would rather we had success on the pitch than an owner who is in line to make a huge profit on ihis investment, if he can find a buyer. And that's the thing, if this is Ashley's intention, then he's got to move fast because his asset will soon deminish in value if we continue to neglect the first team.

 

[afar]

nothing, i repeat nothing, would give me greater pleasure than to see us sign collocini, then follow that up with another three quality players so i could shut the f*** up

 

Aye, boring every fucker to death with relentless moaning will definitely help us to get the players we need.

 

Yep, like your continual petty girl fight with NE5, is soooo edge of your seat stuff.

 

MrM's posts are always well written and he makes sound arguments, even if you don't agree with everything he says, you've got to respect that. I don't find his posts boring at all.

[thenige]

What does excuse Ashley spending the £50m we and Fulham apparantly have is we have a wage bill which is probably four times the size of theirs. Likewise as people have said, we were heavily in debt which Ashley paid off, so it's only fair if he chooses so to take some of that money to replace the money he 'lost' paying off our debts.

 

He's under no obligation to splash money aimlessly, already we have a squad which is competitive to the upper etchelons of the league, yes we need the odd player but how else are our youth players ever going to get the chance to come through if we go out and sign 3-4 average squad players to stand in their way?

 

I'd rather have one or two years of relative averageness whilst the team is rebuilt rather than spending loads, having one have decent season then going into a relative freefall when we realise we're pretty much broke and all our players have got the 30+ stage. Just so a little bit of bloody patience - if you don't like it, don't go to matches and stop supporting the club - but if you've been through the Shepherd and Souness era then you'd be mental to quit now just when we have the opportunity to turn this club around. 

 

I'm only going to respond to one point of this typical Ashleyite garbage as I really can't be arsed repeating what I and a number of people who have managed to remove theitr heads from the sand have said thousands of times before.

 

But this one is just not sinking in is it ?

 

FFS he didn't "Loose" any money paying off "our" debts. It's his debts, debts he should have been aware of when he purchased the club if he'd done his due dilligence. If he hasn't budgeted enough money to pay for a club who were in debt, that's his stupid fault but I don't think he's that stupid.

 

All the evidence points to trying to make a quick profit on the club, a little investment in the first team would change that perception, with only 20 days to go till the start of the season, we are still waiting.

 

Debts yes he was aware of, and aware enough to know that he'd get money down the line (in this case TV money) to replace the money he spent paying off the debt. Why the hell should he be expected to come into a club, throw loads of money at a debt he's aware of and just write it off?

 

He bought the club because he managed to get it at a lesser value - because of certain debts. We're only speculating but I'd say a clever man would only buy a club if he had the opportunity to make that money back somewhere down the line. If he doesn't go on a mass spending spree and keeps the TV money or whatever, then he's done that.

 

I couldn't care less if I'm called an 'Ashleyite', I just want someone at the club who is spending within the realms of what it can financially afford - and that was something that wasn't happening under the previous regime. We all know nobody should invest in football if they're looking to make a profit, unless it's a quick sell. To be honest, if Ashley does want to make a quick sale, I really wouldn't be that bothered. He's invested in our youth team, changed a vast majority of the infrastucture at the club and generally made us a much more sound business and football propersition.

 

Some people seem to have both very limited patience, and very very short memories. We have a squad already which is capable of performing to a decent level, it's just under Big Sam we never used our players to their potential. Yes I'm aware the squad is small, and that certain positions are lacking back-up, but that's why we're investing in youth, so we don't have to spend millions on backups and stars when we have them coming through and learning from the players around them.

 

I know it's probably pointless for me to even post this, you'll disagree and you'll be bitching and whining until we go out and sign some superstar on crazy wages - but we have to back Keegan and his players, we have to back the way the club is run at the moment because it has been so much worse in the past and we really don't know what direction we're heading in. There just isn't any point having a go at the board when they're taking their time and trying to do things right in terms of getting stability.

 

And I don't often do this, but ffs if you're going to make a massive point about a word by highlighting it, please at least spell it right 'Loose' is not the same as 'lose'.  

[Dave]

'Ashleyite'

 

[afar]

What does excuse Ashley spending the £50m we and Fulham apparantly have is we have a wage bill which is probably four times the size of theirs. Likewise as people have said, we were heavily in debt which Ashley paid off, so it's only fair if he chooses so to take some of that money to replace the money he 'lost' paying off our debts.

 

He's under no obligation to splash money aimlessly, already we have a squad which is competitive to the upper etchelons of the league, yes we need the odd player but how else are our youth players ever going to get the chance to come through if we go out and sign 3-4 average squad players to stand in their way?

 

I'd rather have one or two years of relative averageness whilst the team is rebuilt rather than spending loads, having one have decent season then going into a relative freefall when we realise we're pretty much broke and all our players have got the 30+ stage. Just so a little bit of bloody patience - if you don't like it, don't go to matches and stop supporting the club - but if you've been through the Shepherd and Souness era then you'd be mental to quit now just when we have the opportunity to turn this club around. 

 

I'm only going to respond to one point of this typical Ashleyite garbage as I really can't be arsed repeating what I and a number of people who have managed to remove theitr heads from the sand have said thousands of times before.

 

But this one is just not sinking in is it ?

 

FFS he didn't "Loose" any money paying off "our" debts. It's his debts, debts he should have been aware of when he purchased the club if he'd done his due dilligence. If he hasn't budgeted enough money to pay for a club who were in debt, that's his stupid fault but I don't think he's that stupid.

 

All the evidence points to trying to make a quick profit on the club, a little investment in the first team would change that perception, with only 20 days to go till the start of the season, we are still waiting.

 

Debts yes he was aware of, and aware enough to know that he'd get money down the line (in this case TV money) to replace the money he spent paying off the debt. Why the hell should he be expected to come into a club, throw loads of money at a debt he's aware of and just write it off?

 

He bought the club because he managed to get it at a lesser value - because of certain debts. We're only speculating but I'd say a clever man would only buy a club if he had the opportunity to make that money back somewhere down the line. If he doesn't go on a mass spending spree and keeps the TV money or whatever, then he's done that.

 

I couldn't care less if I'm called an 'Ashleyite', I just want someone at the club who is spending within the realms of what it can financially afford - and that was something that wasn't happening under the previous regime. We all know nobody should invest in football if they're looking to make a profit, unless it's a quick sell. To be honest, if Ashley does want to make a quick sale, I really wouldn't be that bothered. He's invested in our youth team, changed a vast majority of the infrastucture at the club and generally made us a much more sound business and football propersition.

 

Some people seem to have both very limited patience, and very very short memories. We have a squad already which is capable of performing to a decent level, it's just under Big Sam we never used our players to their potential. Yes I'm aware the squad is small, and that certain positions are lacking back-up, but that's why we're investing in youth, so we don't have to spend millions on backups and stars when we have them coming through and learning from the players around them.

 

I know it's probably pointless for me to even post this, you'll disagree and you'll be bitching and whining until we go out and sign some superstar on crazy wages - but we have to back Keegan and his players, we have to back the way the club is run at the moment because it has been so much worse in the past and we really don't know what direction we're heading in. There just isn't any point having a go at the board when they're taking their time and trying to do things right in terms of getting stability.

 

And I don't often do this, but ffs if you're going to make a massive point about a word by highlighting it, please at least spell it right 'Loose' is not the same as 'lose'.  

 

I'll agree , I don't know what's up with my spelling and typing this morning, I'm even worse than I usually am this morning.

 

Anyway how many times do I have to repeat the same thing before you take it in ? HIS debt, not ours, HIS debt. When he agreed a price for the club factoring in the debt should have been in his equation. I don't give a flying fuck if he has had to write off debt. Yes there is a balancing act between paying off the debt and investing in the team. The problem is we are seeing no attempt at balancing this out, investment has been pathetic so far when revenue generated by sales is taken into account. TBH I would rather he invested some of the cash he's apparently used to pay off the debt on a few more signings. A club going places with a manageable amount of debt is far more preferable to a club who is debt free but sinking into nothingness. 

 

 

At the end of the day what we should expect is for him to invest wisely in the club, if by his investing he makes a nice profit then as long as there is success on the pitch, few could complain.

 

Not too many of us are asking for him to spend bucket loads here, we accept that the club needed a restructure. All we are asking is for him to start spending enough for us not to have to accept yet another season of mediocrity. We have a paper thin squad and the time for action is now, if you can't see that he needs to get a move on then I'm sorry but you've got your head so far up Ashley's arse you can see Dave's feet.

 

[afar]

'Ashleyite'

 

 

You know you love it.

[Dave]

 

Sad as fuck man.

[Guest elbee909]

 

I have no idea if it's 50m tbh, I just used that figure as an example, but I can bet you all you want that we have indead been given a bundle of cash up front and it's not conditional on whether we get relegated at the end of the season.

 

 

So it's not 50 million.  Sorry, I thought we were trying to pin down what actually might be happening in the real world.

 

How often is TV rights money awarded?  Is it before each season starts?  I don't think it is, I want an answer here if anyone happens to know.

 

Anyway.  If we were relegated, how much do you think our TV rights would be worth?  Less than they would be if we were in the Premier League, perhaps?  So saying that, do you seriously not think that money is conditional on staying in the Premier League?

 

All I'm getting at is that no club will splurge that cash all at once, unless you're 100% guaranteed safety from relegation.

 

 

[afar]

 

I have no idea if it's 50m tbh, I just used that figure as an example, but I can bet you all you want that we have indead been given a bundle of cash up front and it's not conditional on whether we get relegated at the end of the season.

 

 

So it's not 50 million.  Sorry, I thought we were trying to pin down what actually might be happening in the real world.

 

How often is TV rights money awarded?  Is it before each season starts?  I don't think it is, I want an answer here if anyone happens to know.

 

Anyway.  If we were relegated, how much do you think our TV rights would be worth?  Less than they would be if we were in the Premier League, perhaps?  So saying that, do you seriously not think that money is conditional on staying in the Premier League?

 

All I'm getting at is that no club will splurge that cash all at once, unless you're 100% guaranteed safety from relegation.

 

 

 

 

Well I wasn't trying to pin down exact numbers, just that we had a significant amount of extra revenue from TV deals.

 

Yes from what I am led to believe and there is a small posibility I may be wrong, TV money is dished out at the satrt of the season. But even if it's not and it's dished out at the end then the club can still use it a collatoral as guarenteed income.

 

Our TV rights for 2008/09 would not change if we were relegated. I think you are getting a little confused with prize money here. It's the 2008/09 money that people want to see Ashley spend, not future years as you rightly point out we have no idea what our income will be.

 

So with your logic then no team will ever spend it's TV money, as no team is ever 100% sure of staying up, even Man Utd.

[Guest elbee909]

I think they'll spend it alright, just not all at once.

[Shearergol]

 

I have no idea if it's 50m tbh, I just used that figure as an example, but I can bet you all you want that we have indead been given a bundle of cash up front and it's not conditional on whether we get relegated at the end of the season.

 

 

So it's not 50 million.  Sorry, I thought we were trying to pin down what actually might be happening in the real world.

 

How often is TV rights money awarded?  Is it before each season starts?  I don't think it is, I want an answer here if anyone happens to know.

 

Anyway.  If we were relegated, how much do you think our TV rights would be worth?  Less than they would be if we were in the Premier League, perhaps?  So saying that, do you seriously not think that money is conditional on staying in the Premier League?

 

All I'm getting at is that no club will splurge that cash all at once, unless you're 100% guaranteed safety from relegation.

 

 

 

 

Well I wasn't trying to pin down exact numbers, just that we had a significant amount of extra revenue from TV deals.

 

Yes from what I am led to believe and there is a small posibility I may be wrong, TV money is dished out at the satrt of the season. But even if it's not and it's dished out at the end then the club can still use it a collatoral as guarenteed income.

 

Our TV rights for 2008/09 would not change if we were relegated. I think you are getting a little confused with prize money here. It's the 2008/09 money that people want to see Ashley spend, not future years as you rightly point out we have no idea what our income will be.

 

So with your logic then no team will ever spend it's TV money, as no team is ever 100% sure of staying up, even Man Utd.

 

I can only base my knowledge on the Championship, but clubs are paid up front for things like TV rights, before the season starts.

[afar]

I think they'll spend it alright, just not all at once.

 

Well we only really have one opportunity to spend it and that's right now. Holding out for January's window doesn't make much sense to me.

[Shearergol]

I think they'll spend it alright, just not all at once.

 

Well we only really have one opportunity to spend it and that's right now. Holding out for January's window doesn't make much sense to me.

 

Considering the "clubs don't sell players in January" comments from last time around, I'd hope we spend the whole lot now!

[Guest elbee909]

I think it's all getting a bit pointless discussing this when we'll only know where we are at the end of the transfer window.

[thenige]

What does excuse Ashley spending the £50m we and Fulham apparantly have is we have a wage bill which is probably four times the size of theirs. Likewise as people have said, we were heavily in debt which Ashley paid off, so it's only fair if he chooses so to take some of that money to replace the money he 'lost' paying off our debts.

 

He's under no obligation to splash money aimlessly, already we have a squad which is competitive to the upper etchelons of the league, yes we need the odd player but how else are our youth players ever going to get the chance to come through if we go out and sign 3-4 average squad players to stand in their way?

 

I'd rather have one or two years of relative averageness whilst the team is rebuilt rather than spending loads, having one have decent season then going into a relative freefall when we realise we're pretty much broke and all our players have got the 30+ stage. Just so a little bit of bloody patience - if you don't like it, don't go to matches and stop supporting the club - but if you've been through the Shepherd and Souness era then you'd be mental to quit now just when we have the opportunity to turn this club around. 

 

I'm only going to respond to one point of this typical Ashleyite garbage as I really can't be arsed repeating what I and a number of people who have managed to remove theitr heads from the sand have said thousands of times before.

 

But this one is just not sinking in is it ?

 

FFS he didn't "Loose" any money paying off "our" debts. It's his debts, debts he should have been aware of when he purchased the club if he'd done his due dilligence. If he hasn't budgeted enough money to pay for a club who were in debt, that's his stupid fault but I don't think he's that stupid.

 

All the evidence points to trying to make a quick profit on the club, a little investment in the first team would change that perception, with only 20 days to go till the start of the season, we are still waiting.

 

Debts yes he was aware of, and aware enough to know that he'd get money down the line (in this case TV money) to replace the money he spent paying off the debt. Why the hell should he be expected to come into a club, throw loads of money at a debt he's aware of and just write it off?

 

He bought the club because he managed to get it at a lesser value - because of certain debts. We're only speculating but I'd say a clever man would only buy a club if he had the opportunity to make that money back somewhere down the line. If he doesn't go on a mass spending spree and keeps the TV money or whatever, then he's done that.

 

I couldn't care less if I'm called an 'Ashleyite', I just want someone at the club who is spending within the realms of what it can financially afford - and that was something that wasn't happening under the previous regime. We all know nobody should invest in football if they're looking to make a profit, unless it's a quick sell. To be honest, if Ashley does want to make a quick sale, I really wouldn't be that bothered. He's invested in our youth team, changed a vast majority of the infrastucture at the club and generally made us a much more sound business and football propersition.

 

Some people seem to have both very limited patience, and very very short memories. We have a squad already which is capable of performing to a decent level, it's just under Big Sam we never used our players to their potential. Yes I'm aware the squad is small, and that certain positions are lacking back-up, but that's why we're investing in youth, so we don't have to spend millions on backups and stars when we have them coming through and learning from the players around them.

 

I know it's probably pointless for me to even post this, you'll disagree and you'll be bitching and whining until we go out and sign some superstar on crazy wages - but we have to back Keegan and his players, we have to back the way the club is run at the moment because it has been so much worse in the past and we really don't know what direction we're heading in. There just isn't any point having a go at the board when they're taking their time and trying to do things right in terms of getting stability.

 

And I don't often do this, but ffs if you're going to make a massive point about a word by highlighting it, please at least spell it right 'Loose' is not the same as 'lose'.  

 

I'll agree , I don't know what's up with my spelling and typing this morning, I'm even worse than I usually am this morning.

 

Anyway how many times do I have to repeat the same thing before you take it in ? HIS debt, not ours, HIS debt. When he agreed a price for the club factoring in the debt should have been in his equation. I don't give a flying f*** if he has had to write off debt. Yes there is a balancing act between paying off the debt and investing in the team. The problem is we are seeing no attempt at balancing this out, investment has been pathetic so far when revenue generated by sales is taken into account. TBH I would rather he invested some of the cash he's apparently used to pay off the debt on a few more signings. A club going places with a manageable amount of debt is far more preferable to a club who is debt free but sinking into nothingness. 

 

 

At the end of the day what we should expect is for him to invest wisely in the club, if by his investing he makes a nice profit then as long as there is success on the pitch, few could complain.

 

Not too many of us are asking for him to spend bucket loads here, we accept that the club needed a restructure. All we are asking is for him to start spending enough for us not to have to accept yet another season of mediocrity. We have a paper thin squad and the time for action is now, if you can't see that he needs to get a move on then I'm sorry but you've got your head so far up Ashley's arse you can see Dave's feet.

 

 

What is mediocrity though? For me playing entertaining football and finishing 8th would be better than playing shocking football and finishing 6th. I'm part of the 'entertainers' breed, I just want us to play football on the deck and score some goals. Also I think the lack of faith people have in the current squad is somewhat depressing. I really think we have a much better squad than people give us credit for. Fair enough there is some total pap (Shola and Smith you know who you are), but there is quality elsewhere. We could do with a quality CB, back-up full backs and IMO we're crying out for a creative midfielder, but if we don't get these players I still think we have enough to push on and do something this year - when we played Chelsea last year we showed we could compete until we went down to 10 men (Smith again).

 

I think Jonas could shock a few people and Guthrie could be a player who can step up and be a real ball player. Maybe I'm frustrating you in particular because I'm being perhaps overly optimistic, but I love this club and I believe in the direction we're heading in. Maybe I'll end up with a massive egg on my face, but I'm willing to stick my neck out and say I believe in some of the players we have at this club.

[thenige]

And one other thing, I'm fairly certain the TV revenue payments are paid out throughout the year these days, not in one lump sum as they were in the past.

[Shearergol]

And one other thing, I'm fairly certain the TV revenue payments are paid out throughout the year these days, not in one lump sum as they were in the past.

 

Championship clubs got money up front. It's probably different in the Premiership though.

[Guest neesy111]

And one other thing, I'm fairly certain the TV revenue payments are paid out throughout the year these days, not in one lump sum as they were in the past.

 

it's at the end of the season actually

[Guest shaun11177]

Ashley buys the club for 133m with 80m debt-he knew about the debt. He pays of the debt so now he has a club worth 133+80m-that is what he will sell it for, he doesnt lose any money at all.

 

2) I will be extremely pissed off if we get outspent by Sunderland, but i dont expect superstars because we cant attract them even if we had 100m to spend, what we need is a modest investment of 20m net, i dont think that is too much too ask for from an owner worth 700m in cash.

 

Ashley stated that he just wanted to turn up and watch the football-well why not just buy a season ticket?, he clearly bought the club to make some money when he sells it-no problem with that but why pretend otherwise.

 

I think his move to cut the wages was long overdue and the focus on the youth set-up is also long overdue but we all knew that.

 

What is the point of an owner without any money or an owner with money who wont spend any of it.

 

Didnt Keegan say after the Chelsea game, we cant challenge the top 4, the owner thinks we can but we cant.

[Guest goal!]

At the end of the day, even if Ashley is looking to sell the club on to make a tidy profit, or if he's in for the long haul, he knows the team needs strengthened to make the club progress and get back into contention for europe and trophies, where the real money and exposure throughout Europe is. If that happens this season, he'll be able to sell the club for more or the club will be running much more profitable & healthy position when we'll be able to aim to progress further.

 

Whatever his agenda, short and long term plans are, you don't need to be a succesful and rich businessman to see that going into the season without making anymore signings (and possibly having to use Ameobi/Smith partnership for our 1st game at Man U!) and expecting to aim for Top 6 is very stupid.

 

And without throwing cash around like the last board and wasting money on players that couldn't give a shit about the club (more often than not), I for one am glad even if we need to gradually improve over a few seasons, that they are looking at the bigger picture for once.

 

While I'd love to seen us sign some decent players already, and really disappointed we missed out on certain targets there's still a whole month left of the transfer window.

 

No need for panic stations already 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I know I'm late entering this thread, and can't be bothered to read it all through now, but there isn't a lack of signings at all really. We've made two decent ones already, which is more than a lot of clubs, and the market is only taking off in the last couple of days.