Tooj Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Freddy Shepherd's message to Toon owner Ashley Jan 25 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun FORMER Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd last night called for current owner Mike Ashley to take responsibility for the club’s dire predicament . . . By returning to St James’s Park and taking a hands-on role in United’s fight for Premier League survival. And Shepherd blasted Magpies manager Joe Kinnear for blaming “everyone but himself” for his side’s problems. In a wide-ranging and often damning evaluation of Ashley’s running of Newcastle, Shepherd also: :: URGED Ashley to replace managing director Derek Llambias with someone experienced in running a Premier League club. :: INSISTED Ashley deserves no sympathy amid United’s deepening crisis, maintaining he “got the club on the cheap”. :: DESCRIBED the possible repercussions of relegation as “unthinkable”. :: DEFENDED his own overall legacy at St James’s Park. With Newcastle in apparent freefall towards the relegation zone, struggling to strengthen their threadbare squad this month and at risk of losing stars like Shay Given and Michael Owen, their prospects look bleak. But although Ashley has said United are no longer for sale, he has not been seen on Tyneside for the near five months since Kevin Keegan quit St James’s in September. That has to change, according to Shepherd — as does Ashley’s choice of man to run the club in his absence. “It’s clear that many fans are fearful over what they see as the lack of leadership at the club,” Shepherd declared. “The owner has to restore confidence by showing himself in public at St. James’s Park and taking a hands-on role. “He’s had a lot of flak from disgruntled fans, but they have a right to call it as they see it. “I got plenty of stick during my time in charge, but not even my sternest critics can accuse me of hiding. I was always there in the firing line. “You’ve got to be brave enough to step up to the plate. Mike Ashley must show leadership in the tricky months that lie ahead.” And a good leader should delegate responsibility to the right people, according to Shepherd. “The single most important thing he (Ashley) must do is to immediately recruit someone to run the club who has a background in top football administration. “The club is crying out for a chairman or a chief executive who has experience of running a big football club. “That’s not a job application because I’ve had my time. But Ashley must find someone who knows how to run a football club.” Amid the crisis, United’s latest published accounts have prompted sympathy in some quarters for Ashley, who has loaned the club £100 million — and is understood to have taken out a new mortgage-style bank borrowing — to keep it afloat. Shepherd sees things differently. “No one should feel sorry for Mike Ashley,” he said. “He got the club on the cheap. “He got a fantastic deal when Sir John Hall sold out and set the price at £134 million. “The value of the property and the playing assets that he got was at least three times what he paid for the club. “He got a state-of-the-art 52,000-seater stadium — which you couldn’t build today for less than £400 million — as well as a brand new training complex, an Academy and a squad of players that was bursting with internationals.” And Shepherd is insistent that a basic lack of planning has cost Ashley dear — as have several key mistakes. “There is no use him (Ashley) bleating about the debt he inherited,” said Shepherd. “Had he bothered to check he would have known that there was a £57 million securitisation settlement required when Sir John Hall sold. “And when he sells the club, there is an agreement that the money he has loaned the club will all be paid back to him. “I have never to this day understood why he didn’t undertake due diligence. “The simple truth is that Mr Ashley didn’t do his homework before buying.” Shepherd added: “They (Newcastle) have been unlucky in some respects — it isn’t all down to bad management — but mistakes have clearly been made. “Some of the losses on the latest accounts are the result of decisions taken by the owner. “He decided to sack Sam Allardyce as manager after just 24 games, and that cost £4.6 million. “And the events that led to Kevin Keegan’s departure could also have serious financial consequences for the next accounts.” Kinnear‘s suggestion that Allardyce and Keegan are to blame for Newcastle’s on-field problems also got short shrift from Shepherd. “I thought it was extremely unfair to blame the two previous managers for the lack of depth in the present squad,” he rapped. “I know those two guys well and they, like all my other managers, would have always been fighting to squeeze as much money for signings as they could. “Kinnear has blamed Keegan, blamed Allardyce, moaned that the squad isn’t good enough and complained that the fans don’t understand. “It seems that Joe Kinnear blames everyone but himself.” On a similar theme, Shepherd admitted: “I know I made mistakes during my time, but I am still proud of my legacy. “During my time, we went from a struggling team in the Championship playing in a ramshackle ground to a club that almost won the Premier League and ended up in one of the best stadia in the country. “We signed world-class stars, attracted top managers, played 120 matches in Europe, got to two FA Cup Finals and had four Wembley appearances. “The proof that we were doing something very right was in the house-full signs that we had up for nearly 15 years. “If Mike Ashley could achieve that sort of transformation he would have done remarkably well.” And Shepherd insisted: “It saddens me like any supporter to see the plight the club is in. “Like every Newcastle fan I am praying that they can survive this season because the repercussions of relegation are unthinkable.” Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 NE5 MUST have helped write this? "squad of players that was bursting with internationals.” fuckin priceless Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Toon Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 This will not end well...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Dear Fred, How long were you prepared to go on borrowing ? and do you realise what happens when the banks wont lend you anymore ? Yours Madras Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If sacking Allardyce was a mistake is it fair to say that Shepherd thinks that the squad he assembled "bursting with internationals" was good value? Does that mean Ashley is right in not spending more money on the first team as the players here are already good enough? Viduka, Geremi and Smith are worth £3.5m a year each in wages then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If things were going so well, why was Sir John Hall so keen to sell the club (supposedly) 'on the cheap'? Answer - he knew that Freddie was screwing up, and he wanted out ASAP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SpinTheBlackCircle Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Spot on Fat Fred Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Spot on Fat Fred You agree then that the squad bursting with internationals is good enough? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danswan Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 This will not end FYP Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikri Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 It's like seeing advice on fire fighting from an arsonist. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 While I think shepherd is a fat mess who was screwing our club over. He has some valid points about ashley/kinnear saying ashley should have checked the club out so can't complain, and the club will still owe 100mil anyway(unless this is part of the 240mil he wants) Fat Sam and Keegan would have been asking all the time to get players so the squad depth is not there problem really. Yes bad players have been bought and sam getting us viduka, smith and fucking geremi have screwed us but ashley and the cunt lambas have a lot to answer for they did not back sam, keegan or kinnear now and obvously do not see what we all se, we are going down and thats the stark reality unless something is done quick because our bunch of "players" if thats what you would call them(some exceptions of course) don't have an ounce of fight in them and just want to pick up 60 - 100 grand a week for minimal effort and sub average performances. I would much prefer the andy carrols, bartons, bassongs and guthries of this world to people like owen, duff, butt and nzogbia as the first four mentioned actually seem to give a shit if we lose Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If things were going so well, why was Sir John Hall so keen to sell the club (supposedly) 'on the cheap'? Answer - he knew that Freddie was screwing up, and he wanted out ASAP. SJH got bored years ago around about the time the sporting club failed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG32 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 He makes some valid points, the squad did have some internationals or some who had played for their country so he aint making it up there. Just we singed fringe internationals and banged them up on top wages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If things were going so well, why was Sir John Hall so keen to sell the club (supposedly) 'on the cheap'? Answer - he knew that Freddie was screwing up, and he wanted out ASAP. SJH got bored years ago around about the time the sporting club failed. SJH has said that he never wanted a leadership position in the first place, and got far more involved than he ever intended. That's why he was very happy to hand over to Freddie, who was the committed fan. However, it wasn't boredom that prompted him to sell up in the end. He could see that things were going downhill under Freddie and wanted out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Shepherd obviously can't see the irony in accusing people of blaming everyone else. It's also funny to see him compare himself to Ashley, given that he was the chairman rather than the owner. How often were the Halls seen around the club? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 While I think shepherd is a fat mess who was screwing our club over. He has some valid points about ashley/kinnear saying ashley should have checked the club out so can't complain, and the club will still owe 100mil anyway(unless this is part of the 240mil he wants) Fat Sam and Keegan would have been asking all the time to get players so the squad depth is not there problem really. Yes bad players have been bought and sam getting us viduka, smith and fucking geremi have screwed us but ashley and the cunt lambas have a lot to answer for they did not back sam, keegan or kinnear now and obvously do not see what we all se, we are going down and thats the stark reality unless something is done quick because our bunch of "players" if thats what you would call them(some exceptions of course) don't have an ounce of fight in them and just want to pick up 60 - 100 grand a week for minimal effort and sub average performances. I would much prefer the andy carrols, bartons, bassongs and guthries of this world to people like owen, duff, butt and nzogbia as the first four mentioned actually seem to give a shit if we lose Obviously Allardyce was backed, that's how we brought in Geremi, Viduka and Smith. If we could unload these over-paid leeches then it would free up funds to buy genuine Premiership footballers. The only reason they are here, refusing to budge is because Shepherd appointed Fat Sam and his 40 strong staff, none of whom could point out that Smith was a pile of shit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Geremi - Free, Viduka - Free and Smith 6 mil hardly backing exactly. Fair enough their wages like and I agree all three should be up for sale I would take anything for geremi just to get him off the wage bill, viduka should be sold now and if everton or boro want smith then take their hands off Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gggg Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Fat Fred = Leeds Fat Ashley = Southampton They'll end up in the same place but at least Leeds had some good days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If things were going so well, why was Sir John Hall so keen to sell the club (supposedly) 'on the cheap'? Answer - he knew that Freddie was screwing up, and he wanted out ASAP. SJH got bored years ago around about the time the sporting club failed. SJH has said that he never wanted a leadership position in the first place, and got far more involved than he ever intended. That's why he was very happy to hand over to Freddie, who was the committed fan. However, it wasn't boredom that prompted him to sell up in the end. He could see that things were going downhill under Freddie and wanted out. He wanted out long before things started going downhill. He sort of done one once the new ground on Leazes got blocked, SJP was not going to get redeveloped into a rugby ground & Chas Chandler (x-The Animals) built the Newcastle Arena quicker than SJH could lay his 1st brick for his own concert/basketball/ice hockey place. Cameron Hall Developments has not done that well since the milked cow that was Newcastle United stopped redeveloping/expanding SJP. His company got 10's of millions out NUFC, the Shepherd boys got a warehouse on the cheap & yearly warehousing fees for holding the Adidas Newcastle United gear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhatTheFunk Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 The pontificating twat must have some sort of memory loss syndrome. He's clearly shit stirring with no real motivation for anything other than that. Keep your mouth shut. The club, ownership, management, playing staff etc... are deep in it enough already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 The pontificating t*** must have some sort of memory loss syndrome. He's clearly s*** stirring with no real motivation for anything other than that. Keep your mouth shut. The club, ownership, management, playing staff etc... are deep in it enough already. Mort/club have made remarks in the past to how it was ran before they took over & FS + family are banned from SJP at a time when we could do with some fucker buying one of the many empty corporate boxes. He still feels he was forced to sell at time he was weak health wise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Geremi - Free, Viduka - Free and Smith 6 mil hardly backing exactly. Fair enough their wages like and I agree all three should be up for sale I would take anything for geremi just to get him off the wage bill, viduka should be sold now and if everton or boro want smith then take their hands off No one else is going to pay the wages these guys are picking up. If Allaryce was so great as Freddie Shepherd seems to think, why doesn't he back his own judgement and buy these players for Blackburn? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 'Shepherd has his say'.... Well, it wouldn't be a show without Punch....!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 He.should.fuck.off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 'Shepherd has his say'.... Well, it wouldn't be a show without Punch....!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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