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

[Syrette]

Coward.

 

Just fuck off man. Its what you wanted, you've got it, now just be happy you've got what you wanted and stop attacking the man at every fucking opportunity.

 

Who are you to deny him that right?

 

Where did I deny him that right? He can say what he wants, as can I.

[Spider Jerusalem]

Would love to see the accounts after he has gone regarding wages, transfers, debt clearance and where the hell the Sky money from last year has gone.  If the rumours about the debt are correct and it's just been moved to a loan from him then it wouldn't surprise me to see more slack-jaws at the doors of Sports World with pitch forks and flaming torches.

 

In his fourteen or so months that he's been here he has proved to be big in words but failed to deliver, making up for his failings with excuses.

 

[ChrisJbarnes]

official statement:

 

I have enjoyed sport since I was a boy. I love football. I have followed England in every tournament since Mexico '86. I was there to see Maradona and his hand of God. I know what it means to love football and to love a club. I know how important it is to other people because football is so important to me.

 

My life has been tied up with sport. It was the passion that I felt for sport that helped me to be successful with my business. That success allowed me to mix my passion and my business.

 

I bought Newcastle United in May 2007. Newcastle attracted me because everyone in England knows that it has the best fans in football. When the fans are behind the club at St James' Park it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It is magic. Newcastle's best asset has been, is and always will be the fans.

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But like any business with assets the club has debts. I paid £134 million out of my own pocket for the club. I then poured another £110 million into the club not to pay off the debt but just to reduce it. The club is still in debt. Even worse than that, the club still owes millions of pounds in transfer fees. I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived. But there was a double whammy. Commercial deals such as sponsorships and advertising had been front loaded. The money had been paid upfront and spent. I was left with a club that owed millions and part of whose future had been mortgaged. Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived. It could have shared the fate of other clubs who have borrowed too heavily against their future. Before I had spent a penny on wages or buying players Newcastle United had cost me more than a quarter of a billion pounds.

 

Don't get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle because I love football. Newcastle does not generate the income of a Manchester United or a Real Madrid. I am Mike Ashley, not Mike Ashley a multi-billionaire with unlimited resources. Newcastle United and I can't do what other clubs can. We can't afford it.

 

I knew that the club would cost me money every year after I had bought it. I have backed the club with money. You can see that from the fact that Newcastle has the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League. I was always prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of £20 million per year but no more. That was my bargain. I would make the club solvent. I would make it a going concern. I would pour up to £20 million a year into the club and not expect anything back. It has to be realised that if I put £100 million into the club year in year out then it would not be too long before I was cleaned out and a debt ridden Newcastle United would find itself in the position that faced Leeds United.

 

That is the nightmare for every fan. To love a club that overextends itself, that tries to spend what it can't afford.

 

That will never happen to Newcastle when I am in charge. The truth is that Newcastle could not sustain buying the Shevchenkos, Robinhos or the Berbatovs. These are recognised European footballers. They have played in the European leagues and everyone knows about them. They can be brilliant signings. But everybody knows that they are brilliant and so they, and players like them, cost more than £30 million to buy before you even take into account agent commissions and the multi-million pound wage deals.

 

My plan and my strategy for Newcastle is different. It has to be. Arsenal is the shining example in England of a sustainable business model. It takes time. It can't be done overnight. Newcastle has therefore set up an extensive scouting system. We look for young players, for players in foreign leagues who everyone does not know about. We try and stay ahead of the competition. We search high and low looking for value, for potential that we can bring on and for players who will allow Newcastle to compete at the very highest level but who don't cost the earth. I am prepared to back large signings for millions of pounds but for a player who is young and has their career in front of them and not for established players at the other end of their careers. There is no other workable way forward for Newcastle. It is in this regard that Dennis and his team have done a first class job in scouting for talent to secure the future of the club.

 

You only need to look at some of our signings to see that it is working, slowly working. Look at Jonas Guttierrez and Fabricio Collocini. These are world class players. The plan is showing dividends with the signing of exceptional young talent such as Sebastein Bassong, Danny Guthrie and Xisco. My investment in the club has extended to time, effort and yet again, money being poured into the Academy. I want Newcastle to be able to create its own legends of the future to rival those of the past. This is a long term plan. A long term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish.

 

One person alone can't manage a Premiership football club and scout the world looking for world class players and stars of the future. It needs a structure and it needs people who are dedicated to that task. It needs all members of the management team to share that vision for it to work.

 

Also one of the reasons that the club was so in debt when I took over was due to transfer dealings caused by managers moving in and out of the club. Every time there was a change in manager millions would be spent on new players and millions would be lost as players were sold. It can't keep on working like that. It is just madness.

 

I have put Newcastle on a sound financial footing. It is reducing its debt. It is spending within itself. It is recruiting exciting new players and bringing in players for the future.

 

The fans want this process to happen more quickly and they want huge amounts spent in the transfer market so that the club can compete at the top table of European football now. I am not stupid and have listened to the fans. I have really loved taking my kids to the games, being next to them and all the fans. But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United.

 

I am putting the club up for sale. I hope that the fans get what they want and that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want.

 

This will not be a fire sale. Newcastle is now in a much stronger position than it was in 2007. It is planning for the future and it is sustainable.

 

I am still a fan of Newcastle United. We, my kids and I, have loved standing on the terraces with the fans, we have loved travelling with the away fans and we have met so many fans whose company we have enjoyed. We have absolutely loved it but it is not safe anymore for us as a family.

 

I am very conscious of the responsibility that I bear in owning Newcastle United. Tough decisions have to be made in business and I will not shy away from doing what I consider to be in the best interests of the club. This is not fantasy football.

 

I don't want anyone to read my words and think that any of this is an attack on Kevin Keegan. It is not. Kevin and I always got on. Everyone at the club, and I mean everyone, thinks that he has few equals in getting the best out of the players. He is a legend at the club and rightly so. Clearly there are disagreements between Kevin and the Board and we have both put that in the hands of our lawyers.

 

I hope that all the fans get to read this statement so that they understand what I am about. I would not expect all of the fans to agree with me. But I have set out, clearly, my plan. If I can't sell the club to someone who will give the fans what they want then I shall continue to ensure that Newcastle is run on a business and football model that is sustainable. I care too much about the club merely to abandon it.

 

I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do but it won't happen overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in.

 

You don't need to demonstrate against me again because I have got the message. Any further action will only have an adverse effect on the team. As fans of Newcastle United you need to spend your energy getting behind, not me, but the players who need your support.

 

I am determined that Newcastle United is not only here today, but that it is also there tomorrow for your children who stand beside you at St James' Park.

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

Martin Allen has just hit nail on head

 

He questioned MA view that not one person can be responsible for running club and scouring world for talent. Martin Allen said look at fergie, wenger, rafa, they have all built up structures underneath them to work for them unlike what MA did. He said a manager must have complete control of what goes on the pitch

 

Martin allen

[Mick]

So, if he wants to sell, what was Friday's meeting about? "I'm selling, comeback to keep the fans happy before I f*** off?"

 

I think he wanted to stop the protests but wasn't willing to restore the power to Keegan which has been removed recently.  I think he did buy the club because he wanted some fun but somebody has ballsed up big time and Ashley wasn't prepared to put that right.

 

This was all so avoidable and self inflicted, if only because of the mistakes made by others.

 

[Robster]

So what happens to Wise and the rest now?... up until a new owner comes in. Their motivation is now surely down the shitter

[Guest SpinTheBlackCircle]

Fantastic News

 

:clap:   :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :colo: :colo: :colo: :colo: :colo: :celb: :celb: :celb: :celb:

[Aphrodite]

Disappointed by this, I liked Ashley's vision for the club, I think he had the club's best intentions at heart, OK so he's made a mistake, but he seems to be trying to resolve it (meeting keegan). Being a chairman is an absolutely thankless task, I'd much rather have Ashley at the helm than some of the other chairmen in the league. I think some people should have been careful what they wished for, the past few days have been ridiculous.

[Thespence]

Managerless and ownerless.

 

Our shirt sponsor is Northern Rock as well.

 

 

[Guest black n white]

Btw I think it's pretty obvious Ambani will now buy us.

 

in my dreams...........zzzzzzzz

[Colocho]

And taunts us in the process. Fuck off you fat cunt Ashley.

[1878]

Thought he'd be more willing to ride out the storm than this.

 

We are experts in helping or getting rid of boards: Seymour/McKeag, Shepherd & now Ashley.

 

To be fair, I think Shepard would have still been in charge now if the Halls hadn't pulled the rug from under him! He didn't seem to care a jot that you all hated him.

 

Your fans do know how to do a good protest though  The media flock to it and all.

[Syrette]

all innuendo and f*** all commitment. Not a bad bloke but never the right man in a million years

 

'you need a director of football' and just how the f*** would you know?

 

You don't thinl he's had advisors, you f***ing genius?

 

yeah, we know all about his advisors. It's a very daft comment to make when a DOF structure has historically achieved fuck all in this league

 

It's hardly ever been used, you can't really claim it has achieved fuck all when its hardly had a chance to. It's a strange system and not one I am totally behind but it has achieved success overseas. Whether it will or would work over here I'm not so sure of.

[Thespence]

 

ChrisJbarnes 

[Syrette]

Fantastic News

 

:clap:   :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :colo: :colo: :colo: :colo: :colo: :celb: :celb: :celb: :celb:

 

I wouldn't start celebrating yet, the next owner could be worse.

[Zero]

What a legendary club we are --- we really sack the board.

[Mick]

 

self-made billionaires can make clueless football club owners

 

His mistake was in employing the wrong people and not allowing the manager have the same option.

[Tooj]

I don't have one problem with having this so-called recruitment structure in place as a manager doesn't have time to scour the globes to find a lot of hidden talent, which is why scouts are employed. But that is all they should be, scouts. The manager at the end of the day should have the final decision on all football related matters.

[NG32]

Well, whoever is to blame, the squad is fucking wafer thin and KK did warn people.  So some daft cunt fucked up somewhere along the line.

 

 

I appreciate and liked the long term stratergy of what they had in mind but not to sacrfice the short term need of players coming in and also hanging on to those important first team players they tried to flog at the last minute.

 

 

[Guest The Libertine]

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?

[Shak]

I feel for the guy.

 

Took us over with the best of intentions, but fucked himself over when he appointed a greasy little cunt like Wise and expected him to work well alongside someone like Keegan. Basically his heart was in the right place but he's managed to make a mess of it.

 

Similar to Freddy, I'll be happy when he goes but will hold no ill will in the future. The heart was in the right place, he just wasn't good enough to take us where he wanted.

[Ronaldo]

all innuendo and f*** all commitment. Not a bad bloke but never the right man in a million years

 

'you need a director of football' and just how the f*** would you know?

 

You don't thinl he's had advisors, you f***ing genius?

 

yeah, we know all about his advisors. It's a very daft comment to make when a DOF structure has historically achieved f*** all in this league

 

It's hardly ever been used, you can't really claim it has achieved f*** all when its hardly had a chance to. It's a strange system and not one I am totally behind but it has achieved success overseas. Whether it will or would work over here I'm not so sure of.

 

it's hardly ever been used, so why on earth do you need to do it? Just seems ridiculously daft

[thomas]

I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do but it won't happen overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in.

 

You don't need to demonstrate against me again because I have got the message. Any further action will only have an adverse effect on the team. As fans of Newcastle United you need to spend your energy getting behind, not me, but the players who need your support.

 

[WhatTheFunk]

Coward.

 

there's no winning with some! you've been calling for him to sell off and ship out, and now that he is, he's a coward?

[Tachikoma]

Disappointed by this, I liked Ashley's vision for the club, I think he had the club's best intentions at heart, OK so he's made a mistake, but he seems to be trying to resolve it (meeting keegan). Being a chairman is an absolutely thankless task, I'd much rather have Ashley at the helm than some of the other chairmen in the league. I think some people should have been careful what they wished for, the past few days have been ridiculous.

 

Tbf, if he actually planned to put "only" 20 mil into the club every season, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

 

Similar to Freddy, I'll be happy when he goes but will hold no ill will in the future. The heart was in the right place, he just wasn't good enough to take us where he wanted.

 

I don't think I can say the same about Freddy, if what we've heard about the debts are true.