Shepherd Legacy

[mrmojorisin75]

His defence is you have to be in debt to compete and all the top clubs are.

 

 

suppose, yeah, so there's never an intent to pay it back then really?

 

it just sits there forever either increasing or decreasing depending on success (or lack of) on the pitch

 

hm...not sure how i feel about that

[Parky]

His defence is you have to be in debt to compete and all the top clubs are.

 

Which is fair enough. The problem comes when you're escalating debt and nowhere near competing.

 

Take it up with him. 

[Mowen]

His defence is you have to be in debt to compete and all the top clubs are.

 

Which is fair enough. The problem comes when you're escalating debt and nowhere near competing.

 

Take it up with him. 

 

But I had so much planned for today. You're such a tease Parky.

[macbeth]

A truly great effort at "competing" for Hearts, on a annual income of £10m ....

 

http://www.football-finances.org.uk/hearts/debt2.5.gif

[toontownman]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/16/newcastleunited.premierleague1

 

Debt? What Debt?

 

Shepherd hits out at Ashley over 'ridiculous' Newcastle claims

 

Mike Ashley's claims that he inherited a financial mess at Newcastle United and possibly saved the club from going bust have been rubbished by Freddy Shepherd. Newcastle's former chairman last night defended his regime and said he had left all departments in good shape.

 

Ashley is seeking to sell the club a year after buying out the Hall family along with Shepherd, who had a smaller stake. He claimed on Sunday that without him Newcastle "might not have survived". But Shepherd said the sports retailer, who had opted against due diligence, had purchased a club equipped for prosperity.

 

"It's absolutely ridiculous; everything was covered," Shepherd said. "But what Ashley didn't realise was that he had to pay off the mortgage on the stadium. If the Halls lost control, that debt had to be paid immediately. The largest part of the debt was the stadium and I think he had to pay around £57m.

 

"To build that stadium now would cost £450m. Newcastle were in good shape when I left. There was no way the club was going anywhere but upwards."

 

Nevertheless Newcastle still owe about £27m in instalments on transfer fees negotiated under Shepherd. "Yes, they are still paying off the tail end of Owen's deal and possibly one or two others, but we're not the first to have done that," he said. "It's not unusual. We'll stand by our record, the Halls and the Shepherds. We built a great stadium, we built a great training ground. We left all the tools there and a good set of players. Everything was there. We've nothing to be ashamed of.

 

"We were always looking at ways to expand the business and increase turnover. I make no apology for the fact that we were in the Champions League twice and Europe more times than I can recall."

 

Shepherd believes Newcastle to be worth "about £230m". He said: "Ashley would get a buyer at that price. That would prove he does love the club and is doing right by it rather than himself." But Ashley is expected to put the asking price at about £300m.

 

Shepherd said he was considering offers from two consortiums to become involved again. "A lot of people can buy football clubs. It has now been proved not a lot of people can run them." And he said Ashley, while seeking a buyer, should reinstate Kevin Keegan as manager.

 

[Guest gggg]

Are you doing a site for Ashley?

[mrmojorisin75]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/2965876/Newcastle-fear-dressing-room-revolt-as-players-start-to-damn-their-own-club---Football.html

 

As concern for the club's future increases, owner Mike Ashley has made securing a buyer a priority over hiring a new manager to replace Kevin Keegan, and the growing uncertainty over the future has caused anger among the players.

Ashley was last night believed to be in Abu Dhabi seeking talks with potential investors. But with the Abu Dhabi ruling family close to completing their £210 million takeover at Manchester City, it looks unlikely the trip will provide the answer.

A text message from an unnamed Newcastle player in the aftermath of the demoralising 2-1 defeat by Hull on Saturday is understood to have summed up the pent-up anger among caretaker manager Chris Hughton's beleaguered squad.

"It's a shambles," the message said. "The players did not speak after the game, because how can we? We are not allowed to be honest and say what we want.

"It's time for the people upstairs to speak up for themselves, rather than reel us out to do it for them."

The unrest was revealed as a series of potential buyers distanced themselves from Newcastle, with Dubai International Capital, Anil Ambani and the Singapore-based Profitable Group denying interest in a club Ashley put up for sale following the backlash caused by Kevin Keegan's resignation.

Now Newcastle's players are up in arms because of the lack of communication at the club from their paymasters. Goalkeeper Shay Given was furious after the Hull defeat, but he is not responsible for the text message.

It was suggested on Tyneside that Ashley had flown to Dubai with club vice-president Tony Jimenez to try to do business with Sheikh Mohammed's DIC group.

But that brought a prompt rebuttal from DIC, who revealed in a statement that they were "not planning a fresh bid for Liverpool FC or any other football club".

Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd challenged Ashley to put supporters' interests above his own in order to sell the club he bought for £134.4 million, before ploughing in £110 million to reduce debts.

"He can't ask for any more than he has put in there," Shepherd said. "He doesn't want to capitalise on Newcastle United.

If he loves the club so much, then surely he will sell for its true worth.

"That's about £230m. He would get a buyer at the price. He should get back what he put in. That would prove he loves the club and is doing right by the club, rather than what is right for him."

Ashley has paid a heavy price for failing to follow a basic rule of business – when he took over Newcastle he did not study the club's books – but Shepherd has denied the billionaire's claims that he saved the club from financial meltdown.

"A lot of people can buy football clubs and, it has now been proved, not many people can run them," Shepherd added.

"It's absolutely ridiculous to say the club was in a mess and going to the wall. It was in good shape when I left. The only reason he had to pay a large portion of the debt was the cost of the stadium.

"If the Halls lost control, the money had to be repaid immediately. The largest part of the debt was the stadium. He had to pay around £57 million."

Newcastle-based football analyst Vinay Bedi, of stockbrokers Brewin Dolphin, predicted that Ashley would struggle to find a buyer in the prevailing economic climate.

"It could be several months before a buyer is found," Bedi said. "Everyone else is playing hardball. This is a buyer's market and buyers are firmly in the

box seat.

"If the debt is nil, he might squeeze £300 m. But with the credit crunch, I am starting to think that is highly unlikely."

Frank Gilmour, of the Newcastle United Independent Supporters' Association, said: "It is good news, but Ashley has made his position untenable," Gilmour said.

"I am surprised at a few of the things he has said, that fan power was dangerous and that he wasn't given long enough, but his biggest mistake was bringing in Dennis Wise. That's what upset the club."

_____________________

 

two things in bold from this article:

 

1. fuck off freddy cunting shepherd, the man who made an alleged 30-40m from the sale TO ashley now telling the guy he should sell up for no profit for "love of the club"!!!  astonishing given he's the guy who said little else but he loved the club and fleeced it for all he could, mind-boggling

 

2. that football analyst guy is right, i can very easily see buyers squeezing ashley the way potential buyers did to shepherd when the hedge funds were looking at the books and running away faster than their feet could carry them...the tragedy is if they squeeze ashley we're gonna end up being the ones who really get hurt

 

freddy shepherd though....what an absolute twat

[bealios]

It was just a gamble the old board took, pay the big wages, get the better players, and hope they took you into the CL places where you could recoup that. Its exactly what Liverpool did, and look what they have achieved - albeit that they now have similar financial problems as NUFC had.

 

The problem with the gamble was that they didn't forsee the arrival of Abramovich. This meant one less CL space available (Chelsea were definitely falling away before he arrived). We instead fell away due to the appointment of Souness, just at the wrong time i.e. just before the TV deal changed and the same top 4 became established. The TV deal also mean that more owners wanted a piece of the income - which lead to teams like Portsmouth, West Ham, Man City etc having spending power to match NUFC.

 

I don't think Shepherd wanted anything else other than to have made NUFC successful, it just that for partly reasons beyond his control (Ambramovich), and one shocking series of decisions (the timing of replacing Sir Bobby and the chosen successor), it didn't work out.

[mrmojorisin75]

It was just a gamble the old board took, pay the big wages, get the better players, and hope they took you into the CL places where you could recoup that. Its exactly what Liverpool did, and look what they have achieved - albeit that they now have similar financial problems as NUFC had.

 

The problem with the gamble was that they didn't forsee the arrival of Abramovich. This meant one less CL space available (Chelsea were definitely falling away before he arrived). We instead fell away due to the appointment of Souness, just at the wrong time i.e. just before the TV deal changed and the same top 4 became established. The TV deal also mean that more owners wanted a piece of the income - which lead to teams like Portsmouth, West Ham, Man City etc having spending power to match NUFC.

 

I don't think Shepherd wanted anything else other than to have made NUFC successful, it just that for partly reasons beyond his control (Ambramovich), and one shocking series of decisions (the timing of replacing Sir Bobby and the chosen successor), it didn't work out.

 

it's all been done to death really hasn't it?  i truly dislike the guy yet a couple of his comments yesterday were pretty interesting to me, namely; it was the stadium debt that needed paying back right away and it was "about 57m" which means the other debt must have been upwards of 50m assuming ashleys not blatantly lying, in fact it could be closer to 75m as ashley reckons there's 27m still to pay on players

 

the second one was "a lot of people can buy football clubs, not everyone can run them" (paraphrasing)...which if you think about liverpool, man city's human rights abuser & ashley it's true...but the glazers, lerner & abramovich would perhaps argue to the contrary

 

not really sure what point i'm trying to make with the second line there, just found it an interesting comment from shepherd as he was ultimately forced to sell up due to continual bad decisions on his (largely) part, so does that mean he was also unable to run a football club?

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

Extra quotes from the sun

 

Shepherd added: “We didn’t have any problems when I left. Everything was arranged.

 

 

“There was no way the club was going anywhere but up.

 

 

“When I left, plans were already in place to bring in new money, to expand the ground again and develop the site with a new hotel, casino and other enterprises.

 

 

"All funding was arranged. It had everything, new stadium, new shop, the land, training ground. Everything.”

 

 

The return of Kevin Keegan is seen by many fuming fans as the answer to Newcastle’s problems.

 

 

And Shepherd added: “Like everyone else, I don’t know exactly what has been said between them.

 

 

“It would certainly be in Ashley’s interests to persuade Kevin to resume normal business — even though he is looking to sell.”

 

 

[mrmojorisin75]

Extra quotes from the sun

 

Shepherd added: “We didn’t have any problems when I left. Everything was arranged.

 

 

“There was no way the club was going anywhere but up.

 

 

“When I left, plans were already in place to bring in new money, to expand the ground again and develop the site with a new hotel, casino and other enterprises.

 

 

"All funding was arranged. It had everything, new stadium, new shop, the land, training ground. Everything.”

 

 

The return of Kevin Keegan is seen by many fuming fans as the answer to Newcastle’s problems.

 

 

And Shepherd added: “Like everyone else, I don’t know exactly what has been said between them.

 

 

“It would certainly be in Ashley’s interests to persuade Kevin to resume normal business — even though he is looking to sell.”

 

 

 

didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the bit in bold

[Guest Darth Toon]

There's no doubt Shepherd is reinventing history to support himself, but given the fact he was ousted by Ashley against his will you can't really blame the bloke for coming out to stick the boot in now......doubt even he thought his chance would come around so soon.

[mrmojorisin75]

There's no doubt Shepherd is reinventing history to support himself, but given the fact he was ousted by Ashley against his will you can't really blame the bloke for coming out to stick the boot in now......doubt even he thought his chance would come around so soon.

 

aye true, he was actually ousted by ashley & hall iirc eh?  no doubt still bitter about the way it went down

[Guest SpinTheBlackCircle]

Fat Fred over Fat Mike anyday.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

Fat Fred over Fat Mike anyday.

 

Go back to August 31st. Would you have said that?

 

He has made on big mistake, no doubt about that. But the majority of people on here were more than happy with the way Ashley was taking the cllub prior to this.

[NE5]

What Shepherd left was a club that was losing over £30m a year, had debts of £70m, had no assets they could borrow more money against, and had a set of players on long, lucrative contracts.

 

Ashley could pay off  the debt but the £30m annual losses with over paid players would have taken longer to sort out.

 

http://www.football-finances.org.uk/newcastle/2007/index.htm

 

 

Under no circumstances can Shepherd be allowed anywhere near the club. The Hall and Shepherd families took out £34m out of our club in 11 years, before Ashley then bought their shares off them. Shepherd was a leech, who tried to take the club into administration while bleeding the club of cash.

 

 

 

well well well, look who's returned  mackems.gif

 

 

[Guest SpinTheBlackCircle]

Fat Fred over Fat Mike anyday.

 

Go back to August 31st. Would you have said that?

 

He has made on big mistake, no doubt about that. But the majority of people on here were more than happy with the way Ashley was taking the cllub prior to this.

 

Yes, but if we go back to the day before Milner was sold to Villa the answer is no.

[Skirge]

Shepherd defends his United record

 

FREDDIE Shepherd has moved to defend his stewardship of Newcastle United, rejecting claims made by Mike Ashley that the club was heading into meltdown on his watch.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2008/09/16/shepherd-defends-his-united-record-61634-21824165/

[Rich]

Was gonna mention the casino and all that like to those that said we were leaking money with no sign of recovery. Of course that could have been a disaster as well.

[Syrette]

Fat Fred over Fat Mike anyday.

 

Now you're just being ignorant.

 

Regardless of all of that, I would still like to see SJP extended.

[Mick]

Fat Fred over Fat Mike anyday.

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I suppose the legacy of the whole Hall/Shepherd regime is - did great things for the club, got carried away, shot for the big time and over reached to do it.

 

Thus we're left in the current situation where a lot of steady rebuilding/progress is required, non of which we have the patience for because of our memories of flirting with the elite.

[Guest optimistic nit]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/16/newcastleunited.premierleague1

 

Debt? What Debt?

 

Shepherd hits out at Ashley over 'ridiculous' Newcastle claims

 

Mike Ashley's claims that he inherited a financial mess at Newcastle United and possibly saved the club from going bust have been rubbished by Freddy Shepherd. Newcastle's former chairman last night defended his regime and said he had left all departments in good shape.

 

Ashley is seeking to sell the club a year after buying out the Hall family along with Shepherd, who had a smaller stake. He claimed on Sunday that without him Newcastle "might not have survived". But Shepherd said the sports retailer, who had opted against due diligence, had purchased a club equipped for prosperity.

 

"It's absolutely ridiculous; everything was covered," Shepherd said. "But what Ashley didn't realise was that he had to pay off the mortgage on the stadium. If the Halls lost control, that debt had to be paid immediately. The largest part of the debt was the stadium and I think he had to pay around £57m.

 

"To build that stadium now would cost £450m. Newcastle were in good shape when I left. There was no way the club was going anywhere but upwards."

 

Nevertheless Newcastle still owe about £27m in instalments on transfer fees negotiated under Shepherd. "Yes, they are still paying off the tail end of Owen's deal and possibly one or two others, but we're not the first to have done that," he said. "It's not unusual. We'll stand by our record, the Halls and the Shepherds. We built a great stadium, we built a great training ground. We left all the tools there and a good set of players. Everything was there. We've nothing to be ashamed of.

 

"We were always looking at ways to expand the business and increase turnover. I make no apology for the fact that we were in the Champions League twice and Europe more times than I can recall."

 

Shepherd believes Newcastle to be worth "about £230m". He said: "Ashley would get a buyer at that price. That would prove he does love the club and is doing right by it rather than himself." But Ashley is expected to put the asking price at about £300m.

 

Shepherd said he was considering offers from two consortiums to become involved again. "A lot of people can buy football clubs. It has now been proved not a lot of people can run them." And he said Ashley, while seeking a buyer, should reinstate Kevin Keegan as manager.

 

 

i think he's telling the truth there, but thats not to say the club were in a good position, because we wern't. its interesting how its taken a year to say it though. wait until PR is back on his side, he's trying to play the fans imo.

[Dave]

I'm rather tired of Ashley playing the 'Oh poor me, I had to pay off loads of debt I didn't know about' line when he openly admits he didn't check the books in the first place.

 

Play with fire and you're going to get burnt, Mike.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I'm rather tired of Ashley playing the 'Oh poor me, I had to pay off loads of debt I didn't know about' line when he openly admits he didn't check the books in the first place.

 

Play with fire and you're going to get burnt, Mike.

 

I still think it's mental that he didn't know the full financial picture when he bought the club. I mean, he's obviously rich but chucking around 100s of millions without doing your homework doesn't seem to make sense.