Mike Ashley confirms he wants to sell NUFC - see OP for full statement

[AyeDubbleYoo]

After reading that statement I'm even more sure that we have done a disgusting thing by forcing Mike Ashley out of this club, and the way people turned on him over the Keegan affair is shameful.

 

Perhaps he didn't realise the strength of the love for KK here, but to me that is his only failing.

 

Everything he said in that statement about spending I agree with, and I believe it could have brought us consistency given time, even if it was unlikely to win us the premiership.

 

I think sometimes we get the club we deserve as fans, with our constant overreaction, moronic protesting and unthinking devotion to the wrong people when they represent the past rather than the future of this club.

 

Really sorry we didn't let Ashley get on with his plan.

[Mick]

Newcastle fans make Newcastle United a laughing stock again

 

utterly ashamed and embarrassed

 

He's not some multi billionaire, yet he comes in and splashs hundreds of millions to save the club

 

Keegan walks out because Ashley won't give him a bottomless pit of money to spend, its ridiculous

 

You were doing well until the last line.

[bobbydazzla]

I hope that statement clears up one thing - that Shepherd and Hall Jnr f***ed the club over financially during their time here. Who gives a s*** about a brief flirtation in the top four (a feat which they undid anyway within two years) when Shepherd has effectively done exactly the same thing as Peter Risdale, mortgaged the club's future on s*** signings.

 

The real criminal in our fall from grace is Shepherd. f*** him.

 

That shouldn't be overlooked but I'm sure it will by some.

 

Just to balance out that argument shouldn't Ashley have sussed out the debt situation before buying the club. So if he found more debt than he expected then it's his own fault.

 

Who spends hundreds of millions without thoroughly researching what they're buying ?

[Mr Logic]

 

Can I say I know for a fact that Wise has been the problem, yet I can't post how I know this, but believe me it is true.

 

Can you explain a bit more on that then? Not how you know but how Wise' cause the problem

 

Keegan couldn't stand the site of Wise, yet Wise ended up actually being in charge of player recruitment and sales, and was bypassing Keegan over these. Which is what cause the implosion on deadline day.

 

...which was a rationale response to his failure to identify realistic targets? Who knows.

 

Just because you know that Keegan and Wise fell out doesnt mean you know anything more than anyone else about why this happened.h

 

Exactly.

 

KK's come out of this smelling like roses. Perfectly played.

 

Not to my mind, Keegan could have played the hand he was dealt whilst attempting to improve his position/situation over the course of the season. He threw the toys out of the pram and left the team (players) crushed. Don't smell like a rose to me.

[fredbob]

The bit about not being able to take his kids to games again is desperately sad.

 

I'm surprised at how emotional that statement is. He tried his best but ultimately underestimated just how much Keegan is loved here. Putting a system in place was fine up until they prevented him having the final say. It really is as simple as that.

 

So what happens if keegan targets the wrong type of players?

 

They fail. Just like hundreds of multi-million pound players up and down the country do every year. He then lives and dies by that, as the man with the final say.

 

I don't see why Keegan is viewed by some as an irresponsible spender.

 

I dont view himas an irresponsile spender - but supposing he directly added to what had been crippling the club, high wages big transfe fees, then what was th eboar to do? It seems exactly the thing that they club wanted to avoid.

 

Noone seems able to give me a decent answer to this.

 

Its all fair and well sayng he should have the final word but he must abide by the policy inthe first plae in order to qualify that right.

 

 

[Dave]

The bit about not being able to take his kids to games again is desperately sad.

 

I'm surprised at how emotional that statement is. He tried his best but ultimately underestimated just how much Keegan is loved here. Putting a system in place was fine up until they prevented him having the final say. It really is as simple as that.

 

So what happens if keegan targets the wrong type of players?

 

They fail. Just like hundreds of multi-million pound players up and down the country do every year. He then lives and dies by that, as the man with the final say.

 

I don't see why Keegan is viewed by some as an irresponsible spender.

given the choice i wouldn't want keegan making those decisions on his own. i don't trust him blindly.

 

Never said I wanted him making decisions on his own.

 

None of the top managers work on their own, but all of them have the final say. Yes or no; buy, sell or keep. If they weren't in charge of that decision, they'd fuck off too.

[Guest geordieracer]

Newcastle fans make Newcastle United a laughing stock again

 

utterly ashamed and embarrassed

 

He's not some multi billionaire, yet he comes in and splashs hundreds of millions to save the club

 

Keegan walks out because Ashley won't give him a bottomless pit of money to spend, its ridiculous

 

I love all these one post wonders coming crawling out of the woodwork basically typing as much bullshit as they possibly can.

 

 

 

Exactly. At least us regulars have mastered typing as much bullshit as we can.

 

Keegan knew how Ashley wanted to work when he joined the club

 

When Ashley said no to spending shedloads Keegan has walked

 

how Keegan is still seen as a hero and Ashley a zero after this is incredible IMO

 

Ashley wanted to make Newcastle a stable club, and once the debts are fully cleared i'm sure he would increase the transfer budget

 

Keegan wanted to have Newcastle carry on as we have done for years, buying big names on big wages, and putting the club into further debt

 

I'm sorry if you don't agree, and I can understand how people aren't happy about Wise, but thats how I see it

[Guest Edd]

Hope you are all happy with your contributions to the circus. Clowns.

 

If Ashley had tried to speak to the fans he so enjoyed sitting amongst, he would have discovered that they arent all like the idiots in front of the SSN cameras and he might have understood what our true concerns are.

 

 

 

Well he wouldn't have taken much heart from this forum over the last week or so either, because some of the abuse aimed at him here has been even more shameful than "the idiots in front of the SSN cameras"

[Chris_R]

I'm terribly sad that the moronic element within the club (And we have more than our fair share of them unfortunately) seem to have driven him out, but I must say one thing:

 

Why the hell couldn't he have released that statement (Or at least the first half of it) last week? I'm pretty confident that if he had, then all would have been well. All the demonstrations were in favour of Keegan simply because he was the only one who was willing to communicate with the fans over the last few months. Nothing at all has come out from the club beyond a couple of terse statements regarding KK's departure, and we've all been left completely in the dark over Ashley's intentions for the club and his vision for the future.

 

It's widely acknowledged that Ashley has attempted to extend an olive branch to Keegan to get him to stay, perhaps in light of the statement released we should be adult enough to do the same to him?

 

 

He drove himself out, he's an idiot to think the fans would be happy to see KK leave over Dennis Wise.

 

 

 

How did he drive himself out exactly?

 

Keegan resigned, Wise has done nothing wrong other than help bring about Ashley's vision for the club. The signings we've brought in have been terrific so far, and Keegan is a chequebook manager who cannot operate without a chequebook.

 

I love KK as a motivator and man manager and do think he has a good eye for a player but a world-wide scouting network is undoubtedly going to unearth more players than one man.

 

Who appointed KK? If you appoint a chequebook manager (bullshit btw) then guess what? You need to give him a chequebook, or guess what? It doesn't work.

 

Wise should have been in charge of the kids, while KK was out putting together the squad he wants, and that's how we all thought it was going down until a few weeks ago.

 

No manager worth his salt will have someone as basic, low profile and ugly as Dennis Wise dictating on the players he gets to play with, and for that reason, and the backing of Wise's role and Wise himself, Ashley has done all this to himself.

 

 

 

Well we all thought that Billionaire Owner + Kevin Keegan = Lots of massive signings and attacking football. I don't think we realised just how far £1b goes these days, and how quickly you can throw it all away on a few Schevchenkos and Ballacks who you'll get nothing back for at the end of their contract.

 

Initially, I was dead against the director of football idea. But the more I thought it through the more I thought it could well work. And given the signings we've brought in I'm now more sure than ever about that.

 

I accept more players in would have been better, but we've brought in 6 players this summer (1 on loan) and the only significant leavers (If you can even call them that) were Emre, Carr, Rozenhal and Ramage. People talk about the squad getting thinner but to me that's the reverse, both in numbers and in terms of quality. It's early days but I think the DoF system has proven that it's working OK so far.

[lovejoy]

i have to say i am very sad reading that statement.

 

i also feel ashamed of the part about it not being safe for his family.

 

 

 

[NG32]

Newcastle fans make Newcastle United a laughing stock again

 

utterly ashamed and embarrassed

 

He's not some multi billionaire, yet he comes in and splashs hundreds of millions to save the club

 

Keegan walks out because Ashley won't give him a bottomless pit of money to spend, its ridiculous

 

I love all these one post wonders coming crawling out of the woodwork basically typing as much bullshit as they possibly can.

 

 

 

Exactly. At least us regulars have mastered typing as much bullshit as we can.

 

Keegan knew how Ashley wanted to work when he joined the club

 

When Ashley said no to spending shedloads Keegan has walked

 

how Keegan is still seen as a hero and Ashley a zero after this is incredible IMO

 

Ashley wanted to make Newcastle a stable club, and once the debts are fully cleared i'm sure he would increase the transfer budget

 

Keegan wanted to have Newcastle carry on as we have done for years, buying big names on big wages, and putting the club into further debt

 

I'm sorry if you don't agree, and I can understand how people aren't happy about Wise, but thats how I see it

 

 

Your talking shyte to be honest.

 

 

[Dave]

The bit about not being able to take his kids to games again is desperately sad.

 

I'm surprised at how emotional that statement is. He tried his best but ultimately underestimated just how much Keegan is loved here. Putting a system in place was fine up until they prevented him having the final say. It really is as simple as that.

 

So what happens if keegan targets the wrong type of players?

 

They fail. Just like hundreds of multi-million pound players up and down the country do every year. He then lives and dies by that, as the man with the final say.

 

I don't see why Keegan is viewed by some as an irresponsible spender.

 

I dont view himas an irresponsile spender - but supposing he directly added to what had been crippling the club, high wages big transfe fees, then what was th eboar to do? It seems exactly the thing that they club wanted to avoid.

 

Noone seems able to give me a decent answer to this.

 

Its all fair and well sayng he should have the final word but he must abide by the policy inthe first plae in order to qualify that right.

 

 

 

So you ARE calling him an irresponsible spender.

 

If the board told him he had £20m to spend plus money from sales then I think he'd cut his cloth within that accordingly. Likewise if it was £10m or £100m.

[cp40]

i cant believe how people are swung on one statement. the bloke is trying one last attempt to make himself the good guy and Keegan the wrong un.

[Parsley]

Thought that was an excellent statement by Ashley and I genuinely feel that he had the club's best intentions at heart. Real shame it had to end like this.

[Guest geordieracer]

Newcastle fans make Newcastle United a laughing stock again

 

utterly ashamed and embarrassed

 

He's not some multi billionaire, yet he comes in and splashs hundreds of millions to save the club

 

Keegan walks out because Ashley won't give him a bottomless pit of money to spend, its ridiculous

 

I love all these one post wonders coming crawling out of the woodwork basically typing as much bullshit as they possibly can.

 

 

 

Exactly. At least us regulars have mastered typing as much bullshit as we can.

 

Keegan knew how Ashley wanted to work when he joined the club

 

When Ashley said no to spending shedloads Keegan has walked

 

how Keegan is still seen as a hero and Ashley a zero after this is incredible IMO

 

Ashley wanted to make Newcastle a stable club, and once the debts are fully cleared i'm sure he would increase the transfer budget

 

Keegan wanted to have Newcastle carry on as we have done for years, buying big names on big wages, and putting the club into further debt

 

I'm sorry if you don't agree, and I can understand how people aren't happy about Wise, but thats how I see it

 

 

Your talking shyte to be honest.

 

 

 

why though?

[Taylor Swift]

 

Can I say I know for a fact that Wise has been the problem, yet I can't post how I know this, but believe me it is true.

 

Can you explain a bit more on that then? Not how you know but how Wise' cause the problem

 

Keegan couldn't stand the site of Wise, yet Wise ended up actually being in charge of player recruitment and sales, and was bypassing Keegan over these. Which is what cause the implosion on deadline day.

 

...which was a rationale response to his failure to identify realistic targets? Who knows.

 

Just because you know that Keegan and Wise fell out doesnt mean you know anything more than anyone else about why this happened.h

 

Exactly.

 

KK's come out of this smelling like roses. Perfectly played.

 

Not to my mind, Keegan could have played the hand he was dealt whilst attempting to improve his position/situation over the course of the season. He threw the toys out of the pram and left the team (players) crushed. Don't smell like a rose to me.

 

I mean to the majority of our fans, hence all the demonstrations (which I disagreed with, btw). He's come out of this smelling like roses for so many people and yet the funny thing is, like Chez said, we still don't know exactly what happened that triggered the events of the last day of the transfer window and the drama post-window.

[thorin]

I dislike the family thing, but I also find it kinda ironic that he says he wanna splash it on youngsters, and we lost out on Modric?

 

I like his vision and idea, but I believe he failed to see that King Kev has a legend status around Toon and also that Keegan needs space and not be degraded for Wise.

[NG32]

This director of football lark is fucking bollocks.

 

Man U just wont the champions league with Fergie, NO FUCKER TELLS HIM WHAT TO DO.

 

 

 

 

 

[BottledDog]

scapegoat + kneejerk wins again.

 

ive never been so ashamed of our fans. we dont deserve any more than we get at times.

 

and also a big thanks to Mr Keegan. you really do care about us, dont you?

 

This.

[cosmic]

i have to say i am very sad reading that statement.

 

i also feel ashamed of the part about it not being safe for his family.

 

 

Thats just playing the sympathy card

[Tachikoma]

The bit about not being able to take his kids to games again is desperately sad.

 

I'm surprised at how emotional that statement is. He tried his best but ultimately underestimated just how much Keegan is loved here. Putting a system in place was fine up until they prevented him having the final say. It really is as simple as that.

 

So what happens if keegan targets the wrong type of players?

 

They fail. Just like hundreds of multi-million pound players up and down the country do every year. He then lives and dies by that, as the man with the final say.

 

I don't see why Keegan is viewed by some as an irresponsible spender.

 

I dont view himas an irresponsile spender - but supposing he directly added to what had been crippling the club, high wages big transfe fees, then what was th eboar to do? It seems exactly the thing that they club wanted to avoid.

 

Noone seems able to give me a decent answer to this.

 

Its all fair and well sayng he should have the final word but he must abide by the policy inthe first plae in order to qualify that right.

 

 

 

Besides his previous tenure with us, what exactly makes you think this was the case? The LMA statements have made it quite clear that this wasn't the reason he walked.

[Kasper]

i cant believe how people are swung on one statement. the bloke is trying one last attempt to make himself the good guy and Keegan the wrong un.

 

How do you know Keegan isn't to blame for this?

 

 

 

Thought so...

[Dokko]

Newcastle fans make Newcastle United a laughing stock again

 

utterly ashamed and embarrassed

 

He's not some multi billionaire, yet he comes in and splashs hundreds of millions to save the club

 

Keegan walks out because Ashley won't give him a bottomless pit of money to spend, its ridiculous

 

I love all these one post wonders coming crawling out of the woodwork basically typing as much bullshit as they possibly can.

 

 

 

Exactly. At least us regulars have mastered typing as much bullshit as we can.

 

Keegan knew how Ashley wanted to work when he joined the club

 

When Ashley said no to spending shedloads Keegan has walked

 

how Keegan is still seen as a hero and Ashley a zero after this is incredible IMO

 

Ashley wanted to make Newcastle a stable club, and once the debts are fully cleared i'm sure he would increase the transfer budget

 

Keegan wanted to have Newcastle carry on as we have done for years, buying big names on big wages, and putting the club into further debt

 

I'm sorry if you don't agree, and I can understand how people aren't happy about Wise, but thats how I see it

 

Keegan not having final say on transfers is why he walked.

[Mick]

 

Just to balance out that argument shouldn't Ashley have sussed out the debt situation before buying the club. So if he found more debt than he expected then it's his own fault.

 

Who spends hundreds of millions without thoroughly researching what they're buying ?

 

Sir John gave him a deadline which didn't allow him to go through the books.

[Syrette]

i cant believe how people are swung on one statement. the bloke is trying one last attempt to make himself the good guy and Keegan the wrong un.

 

Maybe Keegan isn't as perfect as you think?

 

And it doesn't really matter what people think of him if he is selling the club and leaving anyway.