I'm not bothered about 'megabucks'

[nobby_solano]

had the milner money been used to bring in a younger replacement and a back up left back for enrique i think it would have been a more successful transfer window.

i don't think it's too much to ask for a manager to have final say on signings for the first team...

[Robster]

gazillionaires will be the death of football... whilst i dont deny it woul dprobably be exciting to be one of those clubs, in my heart of hearts, i would know it wouldnt be the right way to go

[dcmk]

I've decided I want to be the new Chelsea/Man City and just have an unlimited budget and buy success as best we can.

 

So I'm hoping some such mega billionaire like Ambani buys us.

 

That said, I agree with Dave. I don't demand we spend heavily. Had we used the Milner money to bring in someone of quality I'd have been thrilled with our summer.

 

How does anyone on this board know whether or not we *tried* to replace Milner?  For all we know, we could have been placing bids all over the shop, especially as our eventual purchases were below the radar of the media, and were kicked back by either the player or the club.

 

Ultimately, at the end of last season we were (and remain) a decidedly mid-tier team, outside of London, that cannot offer European football.  It is a hard sell, no matter what we, as rose-tinted spec wearing fans, may think.

 

We are not one of the fashionable clubs of the moment.  Hopefully, we will be in the next few years, but let us not kid ourselves - unless we offer stupid money at mercenary players, I cannot see the future cream of the Premiership schlepping to the North East.

 

All this speculation is infuriating.  Because Ashley employed Dennis Wise, he is accused of offering "jobs for the boys."  Christ, since Ashley introduced his (admittedly short-sited) system, we have signed a number of very promising players.  The issue at hand has always been the shadow that the Director of Football etc. cast over Keegan, if the press is to be believed, but again - none of us know whether that is/was the case.

 

For all we know, Keegan could have walked out because he asked for an extension to his contract and was refused.  Until I hear Keegan and/or Ashley discuss their differences via press statements, I am reserving judgment on the matter and just hope, for the love of god, that our league position will not suffer because of the panto (I will settle for keeping our place in the Premiership!).

 

 

There was an official statement released by Keegan via LMA and he left because he had a player forced upon him.

[Guest guinness_fiend]

gazillionaires will be the death of football... whilst i dont deny it woul dprobably be exciting to be one of those clubs, in my heart of hearts, i would know it wouldnt be the right way to go

 

I would be happy with an owner who strives to sustain a realistic business model, whilst balancing the requirement to invest heavily in the club in the long term (whether it be via a dedicated yearly transfer budget, improvements to the academy or otherwise).  Eventually, the time of the gazillionaire owner will end, especially seeing as FIFA are becoming increasingly bureaucratic, and I would like to think that we would be better placed to whether the storm if we worked as a 'business' first and 'football club' second.

[Guest guinness_fiend]

I've decided I want to be the new Chelsea/Man City and just have an unlimited budget and buy success as best we can.

 

So I'm hoping some such mega billionaire like Ambani buys us.

 

That said, I agree with Dave. I don't demand we spend heavily. Had we used the Milner money to bring in someone of quality I'd have been thrilled with our summer.

 

How does anyone on this board know whether or not we *tried* to replace Milner?  For all we know, we could have been placing bids all over the shop, especially as our eventual purchases were below the radar of the media, and were kicked back by either the player or the club.

 

Ultimately, at the end of last season we were (and remain) a decidedly mid-tier team, outside of London, that cannot offer European football.  It is a hard sell, no matter what we, as rose-tinted spec wearing fans, may think.

 

We are not one of the fashionable clubs of the moment.  Hopefully, we will be in the next few years, but let us not kid ourselves - unless we offer stupid money at mercenary players, I cannot see the future cream of the Premiership schlepping to the North East.

 

All this speculation is infuriating.  Because Ashley employed Dennis Wise, he is accused of offering "jobs for the boys."  Christ, since Ashley introduced his (admittedly short-sited) system, we have signed a number of very promising players.  The issue at hand has always been the shadow that the Director of Football etc. cast over Keegan, if the press is to be believed, but again - none of us know whether that is/was the case.

 

For all we know, Keegan could have walked out because he asked for an extension to his contract and was refused.  Until I hear Keegan and/or Ashley discuss their differences via press statements, I am reserving judgment on the matter and just hope, for the love of god, that our league position will not suffer because of the panto (I will settle for keeping our place in the Premiership!).

 

 

There was an official statement released by Keegan via LMA and he left because he had a player forced upon him.

 

Was the statement not heavily reliant on "we do not approve of" and "we believe that this should not happen" language?  I cannot find it online, but I do not remember it saying "Keegan had a player forced on him" rather something along the lines of "we do not believe that a manager should have to field a player that he has not picked himself," which is entirely different - hence the careful wording.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

He didn't leave then though, so is it not fairly safe to assume he wasn't unhappy with the budget? Ashley makes out in his statement (the latest one, anyway ) that he had a fixed plan all along regarding the money he was prepared to spend. So was Keegan not told this?

 

Are we to believe that Keegan thought he could convince them to spend big right up until the window closed, at which point he realised not and fucked off?

 

I would imagine that with the lack of any evidence to the contrary Keegan knew about this when he did that interview.  In fact I'd say the way he came across there (looking back at it now) nigh on confirms it.

 

 

[Ronaldo]

I'd be content with Ashley and Keegan working together again if a net spend £20M was to be provided each season. But it wont happen because Ashley wont even spent that and Keegan knows it

[AyeDubbleYoo]

gazillionaires will be the death of football... whilst i dont deny it woul dprobably be exciting to be one of those clubs, in my heart of hearts, i would know it wouldnt be the right way to go

 

I agree, the thing is, there's only so many Champions League places so any other mega-rich owners will have to be content with a constant drain on their finances and not much in return.

 

Even if you pump money in like Man City are planning to do, there are only so many Robinhos and Ronaldos you can buy - and even then you'll probably finish 5th.

[BottledDog]

I was very happy with the Ashley model. Very excited by building the club up in the right fashion, developing and buying in the best young talents while bringing in some great international players to top things off.

 

Now that that has gone up in smoke after a molehill turned into fucking Everest, the prospect of a sleazy shit like Shepherd, or some foreign megabucks tycoon bringing in his own players, or some faceless consortium coming in just depresses the hell out of me.

[garth]

Now that that has gone up in smoke after a molehill turned into f***ing Everest, the prospect of a sleazy s*** like Shepherd, or some foreign megabucks tycoon bringing in his own players, or some faceless consortium coming in just depresses the hell out of me.

 

Same here!, especially if it's Shepherd.

[Cronky]

Problem is Keegan isn't happy with that, which is a part of the problem.

 

Based on? I'm assuming transfer budgets were discussed before he accepted the position.

 

The much publicised interview at the back end of last season.

 

I'd assume his specific role was discussed then as well, but he continually appears to suggest not.

 

If he wasn't happy then with the transfer budget then he should have left at the end of the season.

 

...In which case, if reports are to believed, he'd have had to pay the club compensation. If he's sacked, they pay him. That is presumably what the lawyers need to sort out, as alluded to in Ashley's statement.

 

He pronounced himself disillusioned with the game three years ago. He seemed very fed up in the post-Chelsea interview, and it stands to reason that his enthusiasm for the hard slog isn't that great. A big row, someone threatens to sack him, yes thanks, I'm off.

[NE5]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm fucking pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. Fuck off.

 

that pissed me off as well. Nobody has asked him to buy 30m quid players, not me, you or anybody. Nobody I know has asked him or suggested he buys 30m quid players.

 

Only that he allowed his manager complete authority over his staff and scouting teams, and that he backs him as much as possible, and by that I mean if Keegan wanted a player [whatever the price and despite any claims to the contrary, Keegan understands the need to get value for money] then he would do his best to get him and pay a bit over the top to trust his manager if need be.

 

Thats how big clubs should act.

 

 

[NewJerseyMag]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm f***ing pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. f*** off.

 

that pissed me off as well. Nobody has asked him to buy 30m quid players, not me, you or anybody. Nobody I know has asked him or suggested he buys 30m quid players.

 

Only that he allowed his manager complete authority over his staff and scouting teams, and that he backs him as much as possible, and by that I mean if Keegan wanted a player [whatever the price and despite any claims to the contrary, Keegan understands the need to get value for money] then he would do his best to get him and pay a bit over the top to trust his manager if need be.

 

Thats how big clubs should act.

 

 

 

Totally agree.

 

The manager obviously thought that this was the case (backed up by the club's early statements).

 

Then, all of a sudden, the club announce that this was NEVER the case!

 

Then they expect a man known to stand up for for his beliefs to just do nothing?

 

Give me a break. Bye Bye Ashley..... NEXT!

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

As I read the first half of Ashley's statement I thought to myself "I'm quite happy with that approach" buying cheaper, young players. It then turned into "I'm selling because I can't bank role the fans demands". If he'd said his vision from the start it would have managed expectations. Why was Keegan 'told off' for saying we are miles behind the likes of Chelsea? It's obvious we are and always will be with a transfer budget of £20m. 6th is the new top of the table for every club apart from Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and now Man City.

 

I am happy with the players brought in. All the people saying Keegan left because he couldn't get mega money buys, Warnock doesn't come into that category and Keegan was supposed to want him. As for Modric, we bid £16m of our transfer budget on one player?

 

It's also funny how all these other clubs fans are slagging us off believing every word of Ashley's statement. I thought people were angry with the NUFC board for forcing Keegan out by not letting him have a say in which players came and went. What's that got to do with fan demands for megabucks signings?

[Guest FlapjackJoe]

The big problem was the selling of Milner (a player Keegan obviously rated).

 

Keegan then promised us some more good signings (when he said something like "don't judge us now, judge us at the end of the transfer window").

 

At that point he must've believed that we were on the verge of signing someone better than Milner (Schweinsteiger is rumours are to be believed).

 

Kevin Keegan was made to look a fool for the last week of the transfer window.

 

And ALL this is due to one thing and one thing only - communication.

 

The club never sufficiently communicated with the fans, Keegan was obviously kept in the dark re certain things and if today's rumours are to be believed, the players have no idea what's going on.

 

If Ashley/Llambias spoke to right-minded fans - fans that sound as if they can appreciate a sensible way forward for the club, not the rent-a-quotes SSN seems to get - sufficiently shared their vision, and got buy-in of said vision from the fans (and the manager, and the director of football, and the academy director, and the chairman, and tha damn tea-lady), this would never have happened.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

If Ashley/Llambias spoke to right-minded fans - fans that sound as if they can appreciate a sensible way forward for the club, not the rent-a-quotes SSN seems to get - sufficiently shared their vision, and got buy-in of said vision from the fans (and the manager, and the director of football, and the academy director, and the chairman, and tha damn tea-lady), this would never have happened.

What happened to those supporter/club meetings Chris Mort organised? Did they stop when Mort left?

[Shearergol]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm fucking pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. Fuck off.

 

that pissed me off as well. Nobody has asked him to buy 30m quid players, not me, you or anybody. Nobody I know has asked him or suggested he buys 30m quid players.

 

Only that he allowed his manager complete authority over his staff and scouting teams, and that he backs him as much as possible, and by that I mean if Keegan wanted a player [whatever the price and despite any claims to the contrary, Keegan understands the need to get value for money] then he would do his best to get him and pay a bit over the top to trust his manager if need be.

 

Thats how big clubs should act.

 

 

 

Shit, I know I'm going to regret this, but....

 

Pretty certain you said that the new board should be judged on a number of things, including breaking the world record for a transfer. I can find the quotes if you want?

[M4]

Couldn't agree more Dave. Ashley statement made for pretty tragic reading but that part about big money signings and trophy players was rather annoying. Personally I'm very pleased overall how our transfer window went which is why still don't understand why Keegan couldnt have left earlier or bitten the bullet which would have been fucking easy to do and by no means a chore.

[NewJerseyMag]

Couldn't agree more Dave. Ashley statement made for pretty tragic reading but that part about big money signings and trophy players was rather annoying. Personally I'm very pleased overall how our transfer window went which is why still don't understand why Keegan couldnt have left earlier or bitten the bullet which would have been f***ing easy to do and by no means a chore.

 

You are?

 

Did you take a look at the bench on Saturday? Where was the left back on the 2nd goal ( I use the term left back lightly)??

[Guest defo]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm f***ing pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. f*** off.

 

Isn't that exactly what happened?

[Andy]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm f***ing pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. f*** off.

 

Isn't that exactly what happened?

 

Possibly, but I don't think it's defo.

 

See what I did?

[NE5]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm fucking pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. Fuck off.

 

that pissed me off as well. Nobody has asked him to buy 30m quid players, not me, you or anybody. Nobody I know has asked him or suggested he buys 30m quid players.

 

Only that he allowed his manager complete authority over his staff and scouting teams, and that he backs him as much as possible, and by that I mean if Keegan wanted a player [whatever the price and despite any claims to the contrary, Keegan understands the need to get value for money] then he would do his best to get him and pay a bit over the top to trust his manager if need be.

 

Thats how big clubs should act.

 

 

 

Shit, I know I'm going to regret this, but....

 

Pretty certain you said that the new board should be judged on a number of things, including breaking the world record for a transfer. I can find the quotes if you want?

 

you will find a quote or two somewhere saying that they shouldn't be afraid of breaking the world record transfer [ as they did with Shearer] but fundamentally, it all comes under backing the manager. I don't suppose you have any major misgivings about how buying Shearer turned out ?

 

The other side of the coin of course is the absurd posts by people who think you can compete with the other top clubs by buying a team of cheap signings from out of the 3rd division ? And by saying you can match these clubs without going into debts [like they have themselves]. If you disagree, you should write to ManU and tell them how Alex Ferguson has been getting it all wrong in winning all these league titles when he could have done it for peanuts.

 

You will find the odd occasion I have commented about "world record transfer" has probably been in response to this sort of stupid post.

 

Not that I'm particularly arsed. I know that I'm right when I say the club has to behave like a big club if they truly want to be one.

 

 

[thenige]

I'll be honest, I don't really WANT 'megabucks', I'd rather we rely on ourselves for a bit, get some good players in young and have enough finance to keep them at the club and keep us ticking over. What I do want is entertaining performances on the pitch and players who play for the club.

[NE5]

I'll be honest, I don't really WANT 'megabucks', I'd rather we rely on ourselves for a bit, get some good players in young and have enough finance to keep them at the club and keep us ticking over. What I do want is entertaining performances on the pitch and players who play for the club.

 

I'd prefer success to be honest

 

 

[Shearergol]

If Ashley brought Keegan (or indeed any manager) in with the promise of a £20m budget plus sales and he agreed to that then it's fine with me. If a new owner came in and brought Keegan back (or anyone new in) with the promise of less than that and Keegan/they agreed to it then that's fine with me too.

 

Transfer budgets are perfectly fine, and are perfectly understandable. All I care about is that the manager has the final say.

 

I'm fucking pig-sick of everyone - including Mike Ashley - assuming that as a Newcastle United fan I demand £30m players every transfer window and that I don't care about anything else. Fuck off.

 

that pissed me off as well. Nobody has asked him to buy 30m quid players, not me, you or anybody. Nobody I know has asked him or suggested he buys 30m quid players.

 

Only that he allowed his manager complete authority over his staff and scouting teams, and that he backs him as much as possible, and by that I mean if Keegan wanted a player [whatever the price and despite any claims to the contrary, Keegan understands the need to get value for money] then he would do his best to get him and pay a bit over the top to trust his manager if need be.

 

Thats how big clubs should act.

 

 

 

Shit, I know I'm going to regret this, but....

 

Pretty certain you said that the new board should be judged on a number of things, including breaking the world record for a transfer. I can find the quotes if you want?

 

you will find a quote or two somewhere saying that they shouldn't be afraid of breaking the world record transfer [ as they did with Shearer] but fundamentally, it all comes under backing the manager. I don't suppose you have any major misgivings about how buying Shearer turned out ?

 

The other side of the coin of course is the absurd posts by people who think you can compete with the other top clubs by buying a team of cheap signings from out of the 3rd division ? And by saying you can match these clubs without going into debts [like they have themselves]. If you disagree, you should write to ManU and tell them how Alex Ferguson has been getting it all wrong in winning all these league titles when he could have done it for peanuts.

 

You will find the odd occasion I have commented about "world record transfer" has probably been in response to this sort of stupid post.

 

Not that I'm particularly arsed. I know that I'm right when I say the club has to behave like a big club if they truly want to be one.

 

 

 

See, that's why I'm gonna regret it. I don't disagree with you - like you, I said from day one that bringing in the youngsters rather than looking at established players wasn't the way to run the club. The two should be done hand in hand.

 

I personally thought that we'd have to spend big to even compete with the top 7 teams, let alone the top 4.

 

My only reason for questioning you was I thought you thought exactly the same.