Mr Ashley and Ambition

[Wallace]

Well to be fair our system has brought in some good 'unknown' players so far too.

 

The key difference (as Robster pointed out) was that when Curbishley walked, your club backed its system and immediately set about finding a replacement. They told the fans what they were up to, and that they felt it would work. You quickly appointed Zola and though he's hardly pulling up trees so far you're all seemingly moving in the same direction.

 

Our lot sat about saying nothing until the fans' anger reached fever pitch and the subsequent fallout led to Ashley trying to sell up. Thus the mess we're in right now.

 

Agreed.  I think the state we are in now has a lot to do with the way the club behaved at the time of KK leaving.  If they had shown some leadership and said they believed in their system and were sorry that KK did not share their vision and then went and apppointed a permanent manager, I think we would be in a better position now.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Cracking article from Neil Farrington in the Sun there..

 

Thought so as well. Although there will be some here that will strongly object to the phrasing Ashley's Apologists.

 

These same people would most likely be able to tell us what Mr Ashley consumed for dinner last night, such is the depth of the brown-nosing which has gone on for over a year now ie. he's put his own money into the club, priorities are balancing the books etc etc.

[themanupstairs]

Cracking article from Neil Farrington in the Sun there..

 

Thought so as well. Although there will be some here that will strongly object to the phrasing Ashley's Apologists.

 

These same people would most likely be able to tell us what Mr Ashley consumed for dinner last night, such is the depth of the brown-nosing which has gone on for over a year now ie. he's put his own money into the club, priorities are balancing the books etc etc.

 

Let me ask you something. What motivation do you think the Ashley Apologists have for "brown-nosing" the man? Other than a strong belief that the man should be given the time and chance to do his thing, learn from his mistakes, and try to move this club forward. Whether or not he will achieve his objectives, and the degree to which they fall in line with our hopes and dreams as fans is another story. But why crucify a man who's been here a relatively short time, and who is by all accounts a shrewd and unconventional business person with a deep hatred for the London press (something most NUFC fans have developed over the years).

 

There isn't a Newcastle fan out there who wants to see the club do badly, and that ranges from the NE5's of this world, to the DOF supporters, and everyone else in between.

[Parky]

This buying youth and building slowly don't work in the cut and thrust of the PL. The first team has to be the priority, especially for us now. The purchase of young talent is well and good, but it will take 3-5 years for some of them to come through (although Bassong has been thrown in and done well), the dual track policy seems to be ignoring the first team alarmingly.

[Skirge]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2009/01/19/kinnear-wants-to-know-ashley-s-toon-plans-72703-22725486/

Kinnear wants to know Ashley's Toon plans

 

Jan 19 2009 by Lee Ryder, Evening Chronicle

Mike Ashley

 

JOE KINNEAR has indicated to owner Mike Ashley that his future at Newcastle United may not extend beyond the end of the season.

 

The Toon boss has echoed the concerns of Newcastle supporters who are anxious over which direction the club are heading in and has warned: “We’re NOT too good to go down.”

 

Kinnear was the only voice from St James’s Park heard over the weekend as Toon players were gagged after Saturday’s depressing 3-0 defeat at Ewood Park.

 

And, despite several attempts by the Chronicle since Mike Ashley announced he was staying on December 28 last year, requests for interviews to speak to the owner, Derek Llambias or transfer chief Dennis Wise have been deferred until after the transfer window shuts.

 

Kinnear, like Kevin Keegan before him, has been uneasy at the lack of transfer funds available during the January transfer window.

 

And with bids for targeted players like midfielder Stephane Mbia and forward Bafetimbi Gomis unlikely to bring the Ligue 1 pair to Tyneside, Kinnear is becoming increasingly worried they may be empty-handed when the window shuts on February 2.

 

United will welcome a host of trial players, including Peter Lovenkrands, to take part in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Carlisle United on Tuesday.

 

But with the travelling support at Blackburn venting their frustrations at Kinnear, Ashley and Wise on Saturday, a lack of transfer activity in the right direction is in danger of seeing fans’ anger bubbling over once again this season.

 

Kinnear – who suggested he would only stay at United if there was money to spend – told the Chronicle: “I have to be aware of which direction the club wants to go in.

 

“People say we’re too good to go down, but from the day I walked in here nothing’s changed.

 

“We’re fighting a relegation battle.

 

“I knew that from day one, but I didn’t expect to be in this position with so many horrendous long-term injuries.

 

“I sit down and talk to them (Ashley and Llambias) about my ideas. I want to bring my own players in.

 

“There’s a fair amount of players we need at the moment, and I want to make sure I’m in a position to do that.

 

“We need to look at the situation and say ‘where do we go from here?’

 

“That’s the only thing I need to sort out.

 

“Can I bring in the players I want – and can I get rid of the players that I don’t want?

 

“It’s a fantastic club, there’s no question about that, but we need to give the fans what they want.”

 

“I’ve got (an offer of) two- and-a-half years and I’m just mulling it over.

 

“I’ll make that decision later on. I’ve got it in writing, and am quite happy with everything else, but there’s one or two things I want to sort out.”

 

Kinnear ran the rule over Rennes star Mbia in their away fixture at Lille, with home centre-back Adil Rami also under close inspection.

 

Mbia played 79 minutes of Rennes’ 1-0 away loss to Lilles with the Cameroon midfielder not enjoying a happy evening in northern France.

 

The Toon target was subbed after an ineffective performance for Rennes, making it difficult for Kinnear to justify blowing his entire transfer kitty on one player.

 

Mbia’s club have insisted that no players will be leaving the club, while the African played a straight bat over a possible switch to Tyneside.

 

The Cameroon star said: “I don’t have anything to say about any bid.

 

“What I know most is that Premier League clubs are interested in me. I am at Rennes at the moment, so it is between the teams.”

 

And Kinnear’s take on the situation today was: “We have made bids, but they’re nowhere near the valuation they want.

 

“We’ve offered over £5m for one player, but they’ve come back and said they want £8-10m.

 

“That’s out of my hands. I’ve identified the players we want, but whether we buy them is another thing.”

 

United had a bid accepted for Espanyol defender Steve Finnan, but the Magpies pulled out after discovering he has a long-term thigh problem.

 

:: KINNEAR will this week look at Hungarian Under-19 international striker Andras Gosztonyi of MTK Budapest, and Norwegian youngsters Per Egil Flo and Even Hovland.

 

Both Scandinavians are from Sogndal IL, with Flo a relative of Wise’s old Chelsea pal Tore Andre Flo. Hovland is a centre-back, while Flo is a left-back.

[johnnypd]

cant believe kinnear is having to say stuff like that two-thirds of the way through the transfer window. what a shambles.

[Dave]

So nobody has actually explained to Joe about the plans for the club?

 

And nobody has actually told Joe yet whether he can bring his own players in or not?

 

And we've offered Joe a two-year contract extension?

 

Shambles is exactly right.

[themanupstairs]

So nobody has actually explained to Joe about the plans for the club?

 

And nobody has actually told Joe yet whether he can bring his own players in or not?

 

And we've offered Joe a two-year contract extension?

 

Shambles is exactly right.

 

Yup. I give in. There. I've admitted defeat. Can no longer justify any kind of support for Mike Ashley, or his system. Still think Keegan is to blame a fair bit for the way he left, but since then Ashley has made a massive array of mistakes, from which we may find it hard to recover.

[Dave]

It's fucking incredible. 19th of January.

[Skirge]

It's f***ing incredible. 19th of January.

Its been a long time since I was excited about a transfer window, we all knew nothing would happen again, Ashley is one of the worst things that has happened to this club.

[Guest The Libertine]

“We’ve offered over £5m for one player, but they’ve come back and said they want £8-10m"

 

not 15 then? keep talking shit, joe, we love you for it.

[Taylor Swift]

Silver lining is we don't have a match for another week so things can still change. If games were coming thick and fast then there'd be a full-scale riot.

 

Ashley's also lucky in that the Sunderland game will actually come before the window closes, so if we win that game, the feelings wouldn't be so strong if we ended up with only one or two players coming in.

[Unbelievable]

Silver lining is we don't have a match for another week so things can still change. If games were coming thick and fast then there'd be a full-scale riot.

 

Ashley's also lucky in that the Sunderland game will actually come before the window closes, so if we win that game, the feelings wouldn't be so strong if we ended up with only one or two players coming in.

 

On the other hand, if we lost that game and there were no new signings or none that are seen as a significant improvement with it being the last day of the transfer window there could be full scale riots..

[Guest black n white]

a few questions for you people in the know

 

can anybody tell me what would have happened if we did go under

would freddy have remained in charge?

Highly, highly unlikely.  Official administrators would have been placed in charge of the club and they would be in charge of the day-to-day running of the club

would the club be owned by the taxpayer?

No, it would be owned by those the club owed money to, the banks basically

how would the club be run?

The clubs creditors would do what they could to recoup any money owed to them, players would be sold off & debts restructured

 

 

how much money would the club lose if we went down?

are the parachute payments still 20 mill?

A lot, not sure how much the parachute payments are nowadays but they're a fraction of what you'd earn in the Premiership

how is the club valued?( how much is it actually worth)

How long is a piece of string.  Whilst the club was a PLC the value was effectively determined by the share price, with a single owner the price is determined by how much he wants for it.  It's unlikely that Ashley would value the club at anything less than what he paid for it + how much money he's put into it since then, roughly £240 million at a guess

 

imo ashley dropped his arse once man city was taken over by the arabs, we like other teams should have been challenging for fifth spot...but these people are losing trillions in cash yet its not a problem to buy kaka

At the time the club was looking in decent shape & a trillionaire buyer didn't appear necessary

 

and sorry if this sounds idiotic but for ashley to choose wise over kk basically says to me that wise was on a bigger contract

Ashley didn't, Derek Llambias did.  Ashley appointed one of his mates to run the club (his biggest f***-up IMO) & it was Llambias who sided with Wise.  Ashley did, by all accounts, try to get KK to return to the club just before the Hull game.

 

I don't want to paint Mike Ashley as some sort of saint, but he's not the devil either

 

thanks

 

 

thanks for the reply

[NE5]

I really don’t know where to start with this thread, it’s so one sided and lacking in reality that it’s laughable.

 

18 months or so and we’re rapidly going downhill, don’t make me laugh, today we’re 1 place lower in the league than when he bought the club.  Honestly, some people need to take a few minutes to think before typing. 

 

People would want Shepherd back would they?  Brilliant because 18 months after he became chairman and Keegan first walked we were 11 places lower in the league than when Keegan or Sir John left us but we gave Shepherd a chance to put it right.  I know the 18 months for both cover different periods but the end of that time is brings the same result.

 

We didn’t make banners calling for his head, we didn’t force anybody to put the club up for sale, and we allowed them a chance to get it right.

 

Kinnear is here because we forced the owner to put the club up for sale and made the managers job one that nobody worth his salt would take on knowing that he’s probably be looking for another club if a sale went through.

 

Don’t tell me we could spend our way out of trouble because we tried that with Souness and all we did was spend our way into it.  We’re roughly 5,000 down on gates but season ticket sales were complete before Keegan left so the chances are that the 5,000 would have been gone no matter who was here.  We had 47,000 when Keegan had his only home game of this season and we've had that sort of figure 6 times since that game.

 

And as for appointing a manager to get us out of trouble, Allardyce would have been the same as he was anyway, he was given money to spend and he still failed because he bought some shite and even and couldn’t get the players to play for him.  Do we have to change history and forget that Allardyce brought us Viduka who had a history of sick notes, Smith who couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a barn door?  Rozenhal was so light weight that he was forced out within months.  Geremi, a player who Sir Bobby informed the club that at Chelsea he was said to have the legs of a 40 year old.  Oh, and he also brought us Cacapa who seems to have older legs than Geremi’s.

 

The last 18 months have been anything but good, nobody could argue otherwise.  If anybody thinks that we could have been better off if things had stayed the same then based on what?

 

All I’ve seen in this thread is an attempt to change history.

 

haha, you still insist that one person with less than 30% of shares makes all these appointments then tells everybody about it later. You still defend the worst owner we have had in decades - because he hasn't "embarrassed" you yet - never mind, the way soopa mike is going it won't be too long before you will be wanting someone to come along and save the club just like the Halls and Shepherd did in 1992.

 

I've long suspected you didn't really support the club back then and with every post you make expressing sentiments like this post you have just made, only re-inforces that impression.

 

There is nothing that can change history, look at the league positions, the state of the ground, the esteem the club was held in inside the game, the crowds, anything you can think of pre-1992. Its people like you who change history ie the absurd notion you tried to peddle once that the Halls and Shepherd were "just the same" as their predecessors and the equally absurd picture you tried to paint that the club wasn't any better than when making excuses for Waddle, Gazza and Beardsley all wanting to leave the club to further their careers, like Shay Given may do now.

 

Fact is, people like you wanted rid of fat fred for anyone because he "embarrassed" you, but you are now looking at a team on its way back to where the Halls and shepherd found it, and unless someone picks it up are going to be embarrassed a lot more than you were watching a team that qualified for europe regularly and was an established top division club.

 

Take my word for it, if its alll going to be a new experience for you.

 

 

 

personally i wanted rid of him because he proved himself to be utterly inept and was very very bad for the club, maybe micks motivation was different though? after all you would know, wouldnt you?

 

 

 

so you think qualifying for europe more than everybody bar 4 clubs, filling the stadium, reaching a couple of Cup Finals, playing in the Champions League, attracting top players to the club including Englands main goalscorer, "is inept" do you ?

 

The whole problem with people like you is that you just don't see or understand the reality of football and ambition in football, and even worse is we now have an owner who is showing you exactly how crucial it is, and you STILL don't get it.

 

 

 

the whole problem with YOU is that you think because i didnt approve of shepherd that i automatically think ashley is great, i dont, and neither do others. so stop telling us what we think. i think shepherd's a muppet and so far ashley's been a disaster, do you get that?

 

well, lets hope we get someone running the club asap who backs their managers and gets us back into europe rather than relegation.

 

If you call that being a muppet, its your opinion, but I wonder what you would think of a muppet if we really had one. Oh, wait a moment ..........

 

 

 

backing managers and getting us into europe doesnt count as muppetry in my book mate

 

well, why do you think he's a muppet then ?

 

 

[Guest black n white]

So nobody has actually explained to Joe about the plans for the club?

 

And nobody has actually told Joe yet whether he can bring his own players in or not?

 

And we've offered Joe a two-year contract extension?

 

Shambles is exactly right.

 

Do you think its possible that ashley wont spend a penny, If he spends anymoney at all that still doesnt guarantee premiership safety and thats why i think he has offerred joe a "lucrative contract" if he wants the money he will have to take the responsibility of the club going down if  indeed it happens.

 

 

[NE5]

So nobody has actually explained to Joe about the plans for the club?

 

And nobody has actually told Joe yet whether he can bring his own players in or not?

 

And we've offered Joe a two-year contract extension?

 

Shambles is exactly right.

 

it is.

 

One thing I can say, in favour of Kinnear though Dave, is having seen Newcastle be relegated twice, and both times were as a direct result of boardroom trouble which caused deep unhappiness and negative reaction within the club, is that if it happens again, it will be the first time that they haven't gone down without at least a half decent fight, and for that I would give Kinnear some credit.

 

There are 10 days left of this window, and we can say other clubs haven't bought either, but I'm not bothered about other clubs, during this month we have took one point from 2 games against teams around us, with one more to come, and gone out of the FA Cup to another team who come the end of the season won;t be much above the danger zone themselves.

 

If we go down by 1 point or two, then early signings and positive response could have averted it. Personally, he's not the best manager in the world by a long stretch but when Kinnear moves on I'll wish him the best for doing his best for Newcastle.

 

But I think relegation is inevitable, eventually, unless something changes.

 

 

 

 

[Guest black n white]

So nobody has actually explained to Joe about the plans for the club?

 

And nobody has actually told Joe yet whether he can bring his own players in or not?

 

And we've offered Joe a two-year contract extension?

 

Shambles is exactly right.

 

it is.

 

One thing I can say, in favour of Kinnear though Dave, is having seen Newcastle be relegated twice, and both times were as a direct result of boardroom trouble which caused deep unhappiness and negative reaction within the club, is that if it happens again, it will be the first time that they haven't gone down without at least a half decent fight, and for that I would give Kinnear some credit.

 

There are 10 days left of this window, and we can say other clubs haven't bought either, but I'm not bothered about other clubs, during this month we have took one point from 2 games against teams around us, with one more to come, and gone out of the FA Cup to another team who come the end of the season won;t be much above the danger zone themselves.

 

If we go down by 1 point or two, then early signings and positive response could have averted it. Personally, he's not the best manager in the world by a long stretch but when Kinnear moves on I'll wish him the best for doing his best for Newcastle.

 

But I think relegation is inevitable, eventually, unless something changes.

 

Imo the only way things will change if ashley is willing to accept a loss on the club, if relegation does happen then it will only lower the price again, I suppose its down to how much money ashley is losing each day, We could end up being the only thing that ashley owns hence the reason he's not prepared to sell.

 

 

 

 

[Dave]

So nobody has actually explained to Joe about the plans for the club?

 

And nobody has actually told Joe yet whether he can bring his own players in or not?

 

And we've offered Joe a two-year contract extension?

 

Shambles is exactly right.

 

it is.

 

One thing I can say, in favour of Kinnear though Dave, is having seen Newcastle be relegated twice, and both times were as a direct result of boardroom trouble which caused deep unhappiness and negative reaction within the club, is that if it happens again, it will be the first time that they haven't gone down without at least a half decent fight, and for that I would give Kinnear some credit.

 

There are 10 days left of this window, and we can say other clubs haven't bought either, but I'm not bothered about other clubs, during this month we have took one point from 2 games against teams around us, with one more to come, and gone out of the FA Cup to another team who come the end of the season won;t be much above the danger zone themselves.

 

If we go down by 1 point or two, then early signings and positive response could have averted it. Personally, he's not the best manager in the world by a long stretch but when Kinnear moves on I'll wish him the best for doing his best for Newcastle.

 

But I think relegation is inevitable, eventually, unless something changes.

 

 

 

 

 

As I've said elsewhere, though I think Kinnear is a crappy manager and I don't like the way he's spouted off rubbish almost every time he's opened his mouth, I believe him to be a symptom of our problems rather than the cause.

 

I'll not stop criticising him as I see fit, but it's not really his fault.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Cracking article from Neil Farrington in the Sun there..

 

Thought so as well. Although there will be some here that will strongly object to the phrasing Ashley's Apologists.

 

These same people would most likely be able to tell us what Mr Ashley consumed for dinner last night, such is the depth of the brown-nosing which has gone on for over a year now ie. he's put his own money into the club, priorities are balancing the books etc etc.

 

Let me ask you something. What motivation do you think the Ashley Apologists have for "brown-nosing" the man? Other than a strong belief that the man should be given the time and chance to do his thing, learn from his mistakes, and try to move this club forward. Whether or not he will achieve his objectives, and the degree to which they fall in line with our hopes and dreams as fans is another story. But why crucify a man who's been here a relatively short time, and who is by all accounts a shrewd and unconventional business person with a deep hatred for the London press (something most NUFC fans have developed over the years).

 

There isn't a Newcastle fan out there who wants to see the club do badly, and that ranges from the NE5's of this world, to the DOF supporters, and everyone else in between.

 

Many pro-Ashley supporters are imo backing the man - or hoping that he'll change/learn from his mistakes - out of hope that he'll surpass the top 6 & CL eligible place finishes achieved under Shepherd. That has much to do with it, his surname. The strongheld belief that anything is better than Shepherd.

 

Despite the achievements under SBR - when Shepherd backed his manager financially....... and i'll admit the Partizan Summer ,when there was little movement in the transfer market on our part, was a mistake but outside circumstances hindered Shepherd's ability to maneuver & spend accordingly, namely the financial crunch which hit the Cameron Hall/The Halls - supporters never let up on the bloke.

 

Frankly i never gave a s*** as to what Shepherd said in a brothel, it carried little weight with me. What Shepherd said in that brothel was largely true. Clubs take the piss out of paying supporters every year, they'll prey off a parent's gullibility to appease their whinging kids' insistence that they must have the 'the new thing' - the annually updated home & away strips. It's the securement of a yearly income stream for the club. The directors of the Man Utd's etc, and the lower profile clubs as well, bank on our instincts as consumers as well. What Shepherd said is a popular marketing drive adopted by clubs on a largescale basis, directors of fottbal clubs will privately admit what Shepherd said was indeed correct but they won't admit it publicly. Shepherd was unknowingly caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and he payed for it ever since.

 

On the otherhand - re: Ashley - we have someone has played a very calculating PR game from the outset. Sat with the suporters, sang with them, reintroduced a singing section inside SJP which some have identified as a crux point of the club moving forward. A polar opposite of Shepherd, the words 'breath of fresh air' have been mentioned many a time.

 

Being a Mr Popular has it's advantages, despite Mr Ashley a chewing up a fraction of the time McKeag and Co needed in the 80's in terms of driving the club towards the freshhold of lower division football. And you expect me/ and others to give this bloke a chance, the opportunity to learn from his ways. Don't take this the wrong way mate, but you must be having a laugh.

 

I've never sought to enter the long-time soopa fan thing, but having supported the club when it was relegated & systemically run into the ground in the 80's prior to club paying the ultimate price re:relegation, i agree with HTL. This is the most unambitious board i've seen.

 

At least with McKeag and Co the lack of ambition and the contempt shown - while the likes of McFaul and Smith were forced to wheel & deal in the transfer market - was obvious. McKeag and Co never made a effort to earn the Mr Popular tag, while overseeing a club policy of simply treading water in the 1st divison ie. maintaining our top flight status on the barest of budgets, which was clearly at odds with our our/the supporters' collective ambition.

 

I toasted a pint, with a couple of mates, when McKeag *passed on. But at least his colors were there for all to see, i'll give him that much begrudgingly. There were no PR stunts ala Mr Ashley, adopted as a means of balancing out the lack of ambition shown ie. backing his managers. McKeag never made a concerted effort at being a Mr Popular or a 'supporters man'/'one for the people', he was the proverbial unambitious & contemptious arsehole.

 

On the otherhand Ashley imo will be remembered as being a "wolf dressed in sheep's clothing" when his time expires at this club. And another point of remembrance will be the houses blown down, in the wake of many piglets/supporters being seduced by that so-called breath of fresh air..... that welcome fresh of fresh air, a stark contrast to the politically incorrect ways - by the way of media, and the figure he threw out into the public domain - of his predecessor & 29% percent shareholder Shepherd.

 

*passed away.

[Syrette]

Ah, great. More presenting opinion as fact. He may well have messed up severely when it's come to making the major decisions, but I don't know you or anyone can be so totally sure that he wasn't being genuine and that sitting with the fans etc was definitely a PR stunt.

[Neil]

“We’ve offered over £5m for one player, but they’ve come back and said they want £8-10m"

 

not 15 then? keep talking s***, joe, we love you for it.

 

Does Kinnear enjoying p***ing in public or something?

 

Why, why, why, oh why is he talking about specific sums and the details of the transfer as it goes along, in public? Am I the only one to find this ridiculously unprofessional?

[Syrette]

Am I the only one to find this ridiculously unprofessional?

 

Do you see anyone from the press, the fans, people on the street, this forum suggesting otherwise? No, you're not the only one at all.

[NE5]

Cracking article from Neil Farrington in the Sun there..

 

Thought so as well. Although there will be some here that will strongly object to the phrasing Ashley's Apologists.

 

These same people would most likely be able to tell us what Mr Ashley consumed for dinner last night, such is the depth of the brown-nosing which has gone on for over a year now ie. he's put his own money into the club, priorities are balancing the books etc etc.

 

Let me ask you something. What motivation do you think the Ashley Apologists have for "brown-nosing" the man? Other than a strong belief that the man should be given the time and chance to do his thing, learn from his mistakes, and try to move this club forward. Whether or not he will achieve his objectives, and the degree to which they fall in line with our hopes and dreams as fans is another story. But why crucify a man who's been here a relatively short time, and who is by all accounts a shrewd and unconventional business person with a deep hatred for the London press (something most NUFC fans have developed over the years).

 

There isn't a Newcastle fan out there who wants to see the club do badly, and that ranges from the NE5's of this world , to the DOF supporters, and everyone else in between.

 

hhmmmmmmm..........the "NE5's of this world" recognised pretty early on that Ashley was getting it all wrong.......not that I'm pleased to be right as you quite rightly say, and you can include this reply in that.

 

The motivation that most people have re Ashley "brown nosing" is down to the desire to see that their irrational hatred of Shepherd and their own gross misjudgement be shown to be correct, so much so that they totally ignored that set in stone is the nailed on fact that the Halls and Shepherd have been the ONLY board in over 50 years who have shown ambition for the club and achieved results remotedly in keeping with those that a club like us ought to be achieving.

 

Shame that more people didn't actually read what the "NE5's of this world" had to say instead of immediately writing it off as being "supportive of the fat bastard/muppet/shite chairman etc etc, who anybody would be better than".

 

Most embarrassing thing in recent years - before the demise under Ashley - was the pathetic booing of Shepherd in front of a huge TV audience at the testimonial of one of the greatest players that has ever played for the club. Whatever must people think of Newcastle supporters after such a display of stupidity.

 

 

[NE5]

Cracking article from Neil Farrington in the Sun there..

 

Thought so as well. Although there will be some here that will strongly object to the phrasing Ashley's Apologists.

 

These same people would most likely be able to tell us what Mr Ashley consumed for dinner last night, such is the depth of the brown-nosing which has gone on for over a year now ie. he's put his own money into the club, priorities are balancing the books etc etc.

 

Let me ask you something. What motivation do you think the Ashley Apologists have for "brown-nosing" the man? Other than a strong belief that the man should be given the time and chance to do his thing, learn from his mistakes, and try to move this club forward. Whether or not he will achieve his objectives, and the degree to which they fall in line with our hopes and dreams as fans is another story. But why crucify a man who's been here a relatively short time, and who is by all accounts a shrewd and unconventional business person with a deep hatred for the London press (something most NUFC fans have developed over the years).

 

There isn't a Newcastle fan out there who wants to see the club do badly, and that ranges from the NE5's of this world, to the DOF supporters, and everyone else in between.

 

Many pro-Ashley supporters are imo backing the man - or hoping that he'll change/learn from his mistakes - out of hope that he'll surpass the top 6 & CL eligible place finishes achieved under Shepherd. That has much to do with it, his surname. The strongheld belief that anything is better than Shepherd.

 

Despite the achievements under SBR - when Shepherd backed his manager financially....... and i'll admit the Partizan Summer ,when there was little movement in the transfer market on our part, was a mistake but outside circumstances hindered Shepherd's ability to maneuver & spend accordingly, namely the financial crunch which hit the Cameron Hall/The Halls - supporters never let up on the bloke.

 

Frankly i never gave a s*** as to what Shepherd said in a brothel, it carried little weight with me. What Shepherd said in that brothel was largely true. Clubs take the piss out of paying supporters every year, they'll prey off a parent's gullibility to appease their whinging kids' insistence that they must have the 'the new thing' - the annually updated home & away strips. It's the securement of a yearly income stream for the club. The directors of the Man Utd's etc, and the lower profile clubs as well, bank on our instincts as consumers as well. What Shepherd said is a popular marketing drive adopted by clubs on a largescale basis, directors of fottbal clubs will privately admit what Shepherd said was indeed correct but they won't admit it publicly. Shepherd was unknowingly caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and he payed for it ever since.

 

On the otherhand - re: Ashley - we have someone has played a very calculating PR game from the outset. Sat with the suporters, sang with them, reintroduced a singing section inside SJP which some have identified as a crux point of the club moving forward. A polar opposite of Shepherd, the words 'breath of fresh air' have been mentioned many a time.

 

Being a Mr Popular has it's advantages, despite Mr Ashley a chewing up a fraction of the time McKeag and Co needed in the 80's in terms of driving the club towards the freshhold of lower division football. And you expect me/ and others to give this bloke a chance, the opportunity to learn from his ways. Don't take this the wrong way mate, but you must be having a laugh.

 

I've never sought to enter the long-time soopa fan thing, but having supported the club when it was relegated & systemically run into the ground in the 80's prior to club paying the ultimate price re:relegation, i agree with HTL. This is the most unambitious board i've seen.

 

At least with McKeag and Co the lack of ambition and the contempt shown - while the likes of McFaul and Smith were forced to wheel & deal in the transfer market - was obvious. McKeag and Co never made a effort to earn the Mr Popular tag, while overseeing a club policy of simply treading water in the 1st divison ie. maintaining our top flight status on the barest of budgets, which was clearly at odds with our our/the supporters' collective ambition.

 

I toasted a pint, with a couple of mates, when McKeag passed on. But at least his colors were there for all to see, i'll give him that much begrudgingly. There were no PR stunts ala Mr Ashley, adopted as a means of balancing out the lack of ambition shown ie. backing his managers. McKeag never made a concerted effort at being a Mr Popular or a 'supporters man'/'one for the people', he was the proverbial unambitious & contemptious arsehole.

 

On the otherhand Ashley imo will be remembered as being a "wolf dressed in sheep's clothing" when his time expires at this club. And another point of remembrance will be the houses blown down, in the wake of many piglets/supporters being seduced by that so-called breath of fresh air..... that welcome fresh of fresh air, a stark contrast to the politically incorrect ways - by the way of media, and the figure he threw out into the public domain - of his predecessor & 29% percent shareholder Shepherd.