Shepherd Coming Back Again and more take-over tosh

[WhatTheFunk]

 

the crucial thing about this is that if Shepherd were to chair the board, i hope he will have learned a thing or two about the mistakes he's made in the past. i've nothing against a Shepherd return by all means, as long as he does what he does best, and corrects mistakes of the past that we're still paying for today. all we want is a professional club and a professional outfit to match that can grow year on year. i've previously been a vehement anti-shepherd protester, but the man should get a second chance if he's here to right the wrongs of his past.

[Guest michaelfoster]

No thanks, would rather not had that blithering idiot back

[NG32]

A naked Freddy Shepherd riding back into the toon on the back of a white stallion!

 

 

But sadly the white stallion will have skid marks on its back.

 

Are you questioning Shepherd's personal hygiene? I'll have you know that his personal hygiene was twice that of Mike Ashley.

 

I meant he will make himself the white knight to come and save us but underneath it will be nowt but shit.

[Dan Gleebals]

No fucking thanks!. That parasite leeched enough money out of the club as it is. He can fuck right off.

[Fenham Mag]

If he carries Michael Owen to Liverpool I'm all for it . No but seriously he makes Lambias and Ashley look like Amateurs but he still not what we need.

[Guest Chubby Jason]

Welcome back chubber-lugs.

[Guest gggg]

If there's no serious alternative then i hope he does.

[relámpago blanco]

Where is NE5, he'd be all over this like crackling on pork if he saw this.

[Guest saintscoobz]

How many of us thought, that after Freddie left, a couple of years down the line we would be taking him back with open arms. 

 

I for one would carry the fat sod back into the boardroom right now.

[madras]

How many of us thought, that after Freddie left, a couple of years down the line we would be taking him back with open arms. 

 

I for one would carry the fat sod back into the boardroom right now.

if he gets the finacial backing and  structure right then ok. however if he comes in with the idea of "everything as before" then things wont get better.

[Mowen]

How many of us thought, that after Freddie left, a couple of years down the line we would be taking him back with open arms. 

 

I for one would carry the fat sod back into the boardroom right now.

 

You'll have to get down the gym.

[quayside]

 

the crucial thing about this is that if Shepherd were to chair the board, i hope he will have learned a thing or two about the mistakes he's made in the past. i've nothing against a Shepherd return by all means, as long as he does what he does best, and corrects mistakes of the past that we're still paying for today. all we want is a professional club and a professional outfit to match that can grow year on year. i've previously been a vehement anti-shepherd protester, but the man should get a second chance if he's here to right the wrongs of his past.

 

I've never seen Shepherd as being the type to admit to making mistakes so I'm not sure about all that. To be fair to the current regime in amongst the shamblic PR I do seem to recall that there was some sort of acknowledgement that they had cocked up. Not that admissions of making mistakes amount to much really as its about getting the club moving forward again and if someone can do that I wouldn't care too much about who it was.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Being owned by Ashley and with the prospect of Shepherd returning - we're like a helpless child being fought over by two paedophiles... whichever wins it isn't going to be good for us. 

[Mr Logic]

Being owned by Ashley and with the prospect of Shepherd returning - we're like a helpless child being fought over by two paedophiles... whichever wins it isn't going to be good for us. 

 

 

Now is that a simile or a metaphor? Either way it's pretty good. 

[Optimistic Nut]

I wonder if Leeds fans even now would take Peter Ridsdale back just because under him they spent a lot of money, got into Europe, etc. and completely ignore the fact that towards the end he was crippling them financially and were well on the decline long before he actually left? Not too dissimilar at all to Shepherd here. Not a chance.

[tgarve]

good point nut

[Guest toonlass]

Please man, no.....

 

Its like going from the frying pan, into the fire and then into the pits of hell man.

[Dr Venkman]

cant the investors just miss out the middle man?

[Guest neesy111]

cant the investors just miss out the middle man?

 

aye why can't any of us act as that middle man ffs

[Kimbo]

Shepherd can get to fuck

[Dr Venkman]

cant the investors just miss out the middle man?

 

aye why can't any of us act as that middle man ffs

 

do it mate, i'll support anyone over that idiot 

[EthiGeordie]

  Ewww ew ew ew .....

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/may/19/newcastle-united-offer-mike-ashley

 

Investors line up £140m offer for Newcastle• Multimillionaires are ready to buy out Mike Ashley

• Bid is dependent on club staying in Premier League

 

The Guardian, Tuesday 19 May 2009 Article history

 

Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, may finally be able to sell the club to a rich consortium if they beat the drop this weekend.

 

 

Newcastle United could play themselves out of a £140m takeover if they are demoted from the Premier League this weekend. A consortium made up of multi-millionaires from the United States and the Middle East wants to buy out the club's unpopular owner, Mike Ashley, but only if Newcastle pull off a last-day escape from relegation.

 

The consortium has been taking advice from the football powerbroker Chris Nathaniel about a deal that would potentially make Newcastle the latest Premier League club to fall under foreign ownership. The men behind the takeover, including two NBA owners, have been putting together a potential deal for the last few months and are led to believe that Ashley is willing to sell even though he took the club off the market at the end of December.

 

The prospective buyers are waiting to see whether Newcastle can climb out of the relegation zone at Aston Villa on Sunday before deciding their best strategy. Newcastle's valuation would plummet if they were to fall into the Championship but the businessmen involved in the proposed deal see little mileage in taking on a club that is not involved in the Premier League. As such, they will automatically turn their attentions elsewhere if the results go against Alan Shearer's side and Newcastle's 16-year spell in the highest tier of English football comes to an end.

 

If Newcastle escape the drop, Ashley will be given the opportunity to end his controversial and occasionally acrimonious two-year spell in control at St James' Park, having initially put the club up for sale last September because of a series of protests and demonstrations following Kevin Keegan's departure as manager.

 

Ashley, who bought the club for £134m and has spent another £100m on the club, was blamed at the time for not allowing Keegan to have control of the club's transfer policy and claimed he was unable to continue watching the team due to fears for the safety of his family. "I'm now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game because I am advised that we would be assaulted," he said.

 

The asking price was initially set at around £400m but that has been shown up as unreasonable in the present economic climate. Ashley has returned to watching games, having been unable to find a buyer despite appointing a team of advisers to market the club's availability as well as making his own trips to the Middle East to try to drum up interest. Freddy Shepherd, the club's former owner, has reputedly been exploring the possibilities of putting together a consortium and there has also been interest from Nigeria and South Africa. However, Newcastle have found attracting new buyers almost as difficult as Shearer has found it to turn around the team's fortunes on the pitch.

 

The club is in the third relegation spot going into the final weekend of the league season and Shearer has won only once since taking over from Joe Kinnear as interim manager at the start of April. The 1-0 home defeat by Fulham on Saturday leaves them one point behind 17th-placed Hull City, who face Manchester United at the KC Stadium on Sunday, meaning Newcastle will be relegated if they lose at Villa Park. Newcastle have appealed against the red card shown to Sébastien Bassong against Fulham and will learn today from the Football Association whether the defender will be available.

 

A victory, or even draw, might be good enough to save Shearer's side but their chances of a dramatic late escape have also been undermined by Sir Alex Ferguson's insistence that he is entitled to play a weakened side against Hull, resting key players such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo for the Champions League final against Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome three days later.

 

While Ferguson is acutely aware it will open himself to allegations of favouring Hull, the United manager said last night he had to think selfishly. "I've got a fantastic squad. I could pick two teams and the team I will pick on Sunday will reflect that." Ben Amos, the club's fourth-choice goalkeeper, could be promoted to make his league debut.

 

 

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/5344856/Mike-Ashley-is-to-blame-for-Newcastles-problems-says-Freddy-Shepherd.html

 

Mike Ashley is to blame for Newcastle's problems, says Freddy Shepherd

Freddy Shepherd, the former Newcastle United chairman, says Mike Ashley is to blame for the club's plight.

 

By Rob Stewart

Published: 7:00AM BST 19 May 2009

Blame game: Freddie Shepherd says Newcastle owner Mike ashley (right) is to blame for the club's current plight in the Premier League Photo: PA

 

Shepherd was ousted by Ashley after he launched a £134 million takeover two years ago, and he has insisted that the Sports Direct founder will have no one but himself to blame if Newcastle are relegated on Sunday.

 

Newcastle need to avoid defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday to have any chance of climbing out of the relegation zone.

 

Nolan up for the fight Shepherd, who said the club were a "shambles" before Alan Shearer took over as interim manager, told Telegraph Sport: "If I was running the club they wouldn't be in this position. Lots of people can buy football clubs but not many can run them. I think he [Ashley] is a great businessman but as far as running a football club is concerned there is a lot left to be desired.

 

"The Halls and the Shepherds took the club from the foot of the old second division and built the third-largest stadium in the country, as well as developing a fantastic academy and training ground. All the tools are there and they have been misused. They have been cutting corners."

 

Ashley has always insisted he averted financial disaster at Newcastle, but Shepherd claimed he could not be held responsible for the current problems.

 

"They tend to blame everyone but themselves. They have to look at themselves and say what have we done wrong here and not start blaming other people. Just be a man stand up and say, 'I've got it wrong. How can we put it right?' "

 

Last weekend Shepherd was reportedly in talks with American and Middle East businessmen over a Newcastle takeover and he knows he could regain control at a knock-down price should the club be relegated.

 

"Relegation would be an absolute disaster in terms of corporate [income] and the crowd," Shepherd said. "It took us 12 to 15 years to get it to where it was with a big ground, a great academy and a good set of players when we left, and all of a sudden there's a disaster and there's one thing in life that's true and that's that you can't make a profit out of disaster.

 

"It would be sickening if we went down. People draw parallels with Leeds but I don't think they're valid parallels. Leeds gambled on being in the Champions League but that's something we never did.

 

"It will be like climbing a mountain to get back to where we were. If you look at Charlton and Southampton it won't be easy to get out of it. That's when you need experience to get back up there, not people who have never been in a football club in their life before.

 

"I don't know what's in Mike Ashley's mind in terms of whether or not he will keep it or sell it. He's done the next best thing by taking it off the market but everyone knows it's still on the market.

 

"They might say it's not for sale but everyone says that when they want to sell something. What will happen when someone comes knocking at their door? I am sure that if he was made the right offer I am sure he would sell. He has had it up for sale once, why not put it up for sale twice."

 

[themanupstairs]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/5344856/Mike-Ashley-is-to-blame-for-Newcastles-problems-says-Freddy-Shepherd.html

 

Mike Ashley is to blame for Newcastle's problems, says Freddy Shepherd

Freddy Shepherd, the former Newcastle United chairman, says Mike Ashley is to blame for the club's plight.

 

By Rob Stewart

Published: 7:00AM BST 19 May 2009

Blame game: Freddie Shepherd says Newcastle owner Mike ashley (right) is to blame for the club's current plight in the Premier League Photo: PA

 

Shepherd was ousted by Ashley after he launched a £134 million takeover two years ago, and he has insisted that the Sports Direct founder will have no one but himself to blame if Newcastle are relegated on Sunday.

 

Newcastle need to avoid defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday to have any chance of climbing out of the relegation zone.

 

Nolan up for the fight Shepherd, who said the club were a "shambles" before Alan Shearer took over as interim manager, told Telegraph Sport: "If I was running the club they wouldn't be in this position. Lots of people can buy football clubs but not many can run them. I think he [Ashley] is a great businessman but as far as running a football club is concerned there is a lot left to be desired.

 

"The Halls and the Shepherds took the club from the foot of the old second division and built the third-largest stadium in the country, as well as developing a fantastic academy and training ground. All the tools are there and they have been misused. They have been cutting corners."

 

Ashley has always insisted he averted financial disaster at Newcastle, but Shepherd claimed he could not be held responsible for the current problems.

 

"They tend to blame everyone but themselves. They have to look at themselves and say what have we done wrong here and not start blaming other people. Just be a man stand up and say, 'I've got it wrong. How can we put it right?' "

 

Last weekend Shepherd was reportedly in talks with American and Middle East businessmen over a Newcastle takeover and he knows he could regain control at a knock-down price should the club be relegated.

 

"Relegation would be an absolute disaster in terms of corporate [income] and the crowd," Shepherd said. "It took us 12 to 15 years to get it to where it was with a big ground, a great academy and a good set of players when we left, and all of a sudden there's a disaster and there's one thing in life that's true and that's that you can't make a profit out of disaster.

 

"It would be sickening if we went down. People draw parallels with Leeds but I don't think they're valid parallels. Leeds gambled on being in the Champions League but that's something we never did.

 

"It will be like climbing a mountain to get back to where we were. If you look at Charlton and Southampton it won't be easy to get out of it. That's when you need experience to get back up there, not people who have never been in a football club in their life before.

 

"I don't know what's in Mike Ashley's mind in terms of whether or not he will keep it or sell it. He's done the next best thing by taking it off the market but everyone knows it's still on the market.

 

"They might say it's not for sale but everyone says that when they want to sell something. What will happen when someone comes knocking at their door? I am sure that if he was made the right offer I am sure he would sell. He has had it up for sale once, why not put it up for sale twice."