SAS to SOS?

[Guest float one in]

Under the Halls and Sheperd we had an unprecedented level of success for this club in the modern era. However For the last few years of Freddy's tenure I wanted rid of him as much as anyone else cos I felt he had made some big mistakes and didn't think he stood any chance of correcting them. I didn't think there was any way we were getting back into the Champions League places with him at the helm.

 

However with Shearer as manager I really don't think he'd have the scope to make those mistakes again, even if he hasn't learnt from them (surely he can't be that ****ing stupid though?). Basically I think in a Shearer-Sheperd partnership nothing would happen without Shearer's goahead, on the playing side at least, and he has shown that he is a very ambitious chairman with alot of experience. I also have total confidence that Shearer has got the clubs interests at heart and knows probably better than pretty much anyone in the world exactly what needs to be done. Shearer is a stronger personality than Sheperd, with a bigger ego, and holds such incredible sway with most supporters I don't think Freddy would try to mess him about. Hopefully...

 

In an ideal world I'd rather Sheperd didn't come back, but as others have said beggars can't be choosers and we are in such a state I'd take him at the moment, definitely.

[Skirge]

Fills me with fear yet I find myslef thinking yes please as long as its done fast, we need to be bought by anyone and NOW!

[Decky]

Ashley or Shepherd?

 

Christ its like getting spit roasted off Mr T and a Cyber man from Dr Who.

 

FFS

 

Spit roasted off Ashley and Shepherd is considerably worse tbf

[Martin Lol]

As an outsider looking in, I don't believe that Fat Fred would have allowed Newcastle to get relegated, he's passionate about the club.  You, like Spurs, were in a mess.  Levy spent his way out of trouble in the January window, I believe Fat Fred would have done the same, Ashley opted to make a profit on his dealings.  If Shepherd was in Ashley's shoes right now, you could guarantee that he wouldn't be sitting on his hands wondering what to do like what is happening now.

 

I'm not saying Shepherd was/would be the perfect chairman but there's a hell of a lot worse options out there.  Better the devil you know and all that.

[Lazy]

I don't want him back.

[Parky]

Rather him (as long as his backers have reasonable cash) than the Profitable Group.

[Dave]

Rather him (as long as his backers have reasonable cash) than the Profitable Group.

 

I think I agree.

[NG32]

Rather him (as long as his backers have reasonable cash) than the Profitable Group.

 

I think I agree.

 

Better the devil you know.

[NG32]

Ashley or Shepherd?

 

Christ its like getting spit roasted off Mr T and a Cyber man from Dr Who.

 

FFS

 

Spit roasted off Ashley and Shepherd is considerably worse tbf

 

Nah both fat men, small nobs so not much damage.  I bet MR T and a CYber man are seriously well hung.

[Nobody]

Anyone is better than Cashley - even Fat Fred.

Based on that logic, you'd welcome him back? Sorry, but I just can't get my head around that. We've got an opportunity here to start anew, one that we really need to take, yet people are happy with going back to a chairman who has proven himself to be shit?

Hypothetical question: If Fat Fred came back and in a couple of years got us relegated to League 1, would people welcome Ashley back?

Also, two years from now, had someone said (NE5, anyone?) that Ashley would get us relegated and look like a joke of a club and asked us if we'd want Fred back then, we all would have said no.

[bovineblue]

 

Will never know but could always have ended up relegated AND deep in debt.

 

Well most Premiership clubs are run on borrowed money these days, very few are operating within their profits. Also, we should bear in mind it was certainly in Ashley's interests to exaggerate about the state of the club's finances when he arrived. This is the same man who believed a few months ago we could finish 6th this season, the same man who bought the club without even looking at the books, and put his mates in charge of running it. During his rant Ashley said he'd cleared our debt, yet it turns out this wasn't even true.

 

Truth is, as insanely badly as he's run this club, a 0-0 draw would still have seen us survive on the final day. So I have little doubt that under any other owner (the Premiership has never seen incompetence on the level of Ashley) we'd have done enough to stay up. Even under Roeder, when we were missing up to 15 players for some games, we still stayed up with about 5 points to spare.

 

Like I say, we'll never know what would have happened had Freddy stayed in charge and we never will.  The last few years under him did see us slipping down the premiership, poor managers, horrible football (under Big Sam) and growing debts.

 

I'd rather have fresh blood but then Ashley wasn't the breath of fresh air most people had hoped for.

 

Is it really too much to ask for a new competant owner with ambition AND a sound financial plan.

[tmonkey]

 

The man is a thief. How much did he pocket from this club, from dividends declared during times of no transfer funds to all those dodgey deals involving purchasing players from agencies who he/his son held shares in? How much did his family make from transactions like the warehouse scam where the club was paying his brother millions over the years?

 

If he's back, we'll see a return of this pilfering of the club. On top of the shit running of the club that saw the Halls being desperate to get out and whoring their shares to anyone who'd take them and no manager worth his salt wanting to take a job here. He ran the club into the ground both financially and amassed a shit squad full of big-name has beens on mammoth long term contracts, and got out before the shit truly hit the fan.

 

Ashley has shown us that there can be worse than Shepherd, but given that the majority of other Premiership clubs have been run far better than us with far less embarassing press coverage, there's miles better than Shepherd out there. The fact that no decent buyer is remotely interested in us, despite our facilities, revenues and fanbase, is a legacy of Shepherd's mismanagement of this club. I hope he never returns.

[Parky]

 

The man is a thief. How much did he pocket from this club, from dividends declared during times of no transfer funds to all those dodgey deals involving purchasing players from agencies who he/his son held shares in? How much did his family make from transactions like the warehouse scam where the club was paying his brother millions over the years?

 

If he's back, we'll see a return of this pilfering of the club. On top of the shit running of the club that saw the Halls being desperate to get out and whoring their shares to anyone who'd take them and no manager worth his salt wanting to take a job here. He ran the club into the ground both financially and amassed a shit squad full of big-name has beens on mammoth long term contracts, and got out before the shit truly hit the fan.

 

Ashley has shown us that there can be worse than Shepherd, but given that the majority of other Premiership clubs have been run far better than us with far less embarassing press coverage, there's miles better than Shepherd out there. The fact that no decent buyer is remotely interested in us, despite our facilities, revenues and fanbase, is a legacy of Shepherd's mismanagement of this club. I hope he never returns.

 

Completely wrong we MA was offered 200m for the club last summer and turned it down. Nowt to do with FS.

[Wallace]

I think it depends on the consortium Shepherd is fronting.  If they are the ones with the money, surely he is going to be accountable to them.

 

I also think that he would not mess Shearer around.  I always thought he seemed to behave more as a fan towards Shearer.

[Mr Logic]

After having slept on it - if Shepherd is part of a consortium he could turn out to be a bit of a saviour this time round. Even as chairman he would not have the power SJH handed to him by sitting back and leaving it in his hands. He'll be answerable to others and their financial input as well as his own, he'll be a front man for a group and have a vested interest in not fucking up.

 

As usual it is the optimist in me talking, but it might be a blessing in disguise.

[Parky]

After having slept on it - if Shepherd is part of a consortium he could turn out to be a bit of a saviour this time round. Even as chairman he would not have the power SJH handed to him by sitting back and leaving it in his hands. He'll be answerable to others and their financial input as well as his own, he'll be a front man for a group and have a vested interest in not fucking up.

 

As usual it is the optimist in me talking, but it might be a blessing in disguise.

 

Like the cut of your gib. 

[tmonkey]

 

The man is a thief. How much did he pocket from this club, from dividends declared during times of no transfer funds to all those dodgey deals involving purchasing players from agencies who he/his son held shares in? How much did his family make from transactions like the warehouse scam where the club was paying his brother millions over the years?

 

If he's back, we'll see a return of this pilfering of the club. On top of the s*** running of the club that saw the Halls being desperate to get out and whoring their shares to anyone who'd take them and no manager worth his salt wanting to take a job here. He ran the club into the ground both financially and amassed a s*** squad full of big-name has beens on mammoth long term contracts, and got out before the s*** truly hit the fan.

 

Ashley has shown us that there can be worse than Shepherd, but given that the majority of other Premiership clubs have been run far better than us with far less embarassing press coverage, there's miles better than Shepherd out there. The fact that no decent buyer is remotely interested in us, despite our facilities, revenues and fanbase, is a legacy of Shepherd's mismanagement of this club. I hope he never returns.

 

Completely wrong we MA was offered 200m for the club last summer and turned it down. Nowt to do with FS.

 

Who offered 200m?

 

Even so, although that does weaken my case admittedly, I'm still referring to the specific time that Shepherd/Halls sold their shares. Whilst the likes of Villa, City, West Ham and Pompey were viewed as good investments and were acknolwedged as such in the media, we only had the likes of Belgravia and Ashley interested in us, even though we were a "bigger" (or more successful) club than that lot during the Premiership era (fanbase, stadium, recent success, revenues, general pulling power). Why? Because we'd probably have been viewed as too debt laden, too overpriced, and too difficult a job to manage for what we were. The amount of money it would have taken just to get rid of some of the dross would probably have bought these investors another Premiership football club, and the same applies for the debt that we had stocked up (as well as the interest rates payable) - and to top this of, like it or not, we had amassed a reputation as a horrible, joke of a club with fans that would give noone but their Messiah's a chance at managing the club effectively (because Shepherd kept appointing s*** managers then sacking them a few months after their first full summer transfer window). I'm sure investors will have taken this into account when overlooking us for the likes of Pompey.

[Parky]

 

The man is a thief. How much did he pocket from this club, from dividends declared during times of no transfer funds to all those dodgey deals involving purchasing players from agencies who he/his son held shares in? How much did his family make from transactions like the warehouse scam where the club was paying his brother millions over the years?

 

If he's back, we'll see a return of this pilfering of the club. On top of the s*** running of the club that saw the Halls being desperate to get out and whoring their shares to anyone who'd take them and no manager worth his salt wanting to take a job here. He ran the club into the ground both financially and amassed a s*** squad full of big-name has beens on mammoth long term contracts, and got out before the s*** truly hit the fan.

 

Ashley has shown us that there can be worse than Shepherd, but given that the majority of other Premiership clubs have been run far better than us with far less embarassing press coverage, there's miles better than Shepherd out there. The fact that no decent buyer is remotely interested in us, despite our facilities, revenues and fanbase, is a legacy of Shepherd's mismanagement of this club. I hope he never returns.

 

Completely wrong we MA was offered 200m for the club last summer and turned it down. Nowt to do with FS.

 

Who offered 200m?

 

Even so, although that does weaken my case admittedly, I'm still referring to the specific time that Shepherd/Halls sold their shares. Whilst the likes of Villa, City, West Ham and Pompey were viewed as good investments and were acknolwedged as such in the media, we only had the likes of Belgravia and Ashley interested in us, even though we were a "bigger" club than that lot during the Premiership era (fanbase, stadium, recent success, revenues, general pulling power). Why? Because we'd probably have been viewed as too debt laden, too overpriced, and too difficult a job to manage for what we were. The amount of money it would have taken just to get rid of some of the dross would probably have bought these investors another Premiership football club, and the same applies for the debt that we had stocked up (as well as the interest rates payable) - and to top this of, like it or not, we had amassed a reputation as a horrible, joke of a club with fans that would give noone but their Messiah's a chance at managing the club effectively (because Shepherd kept appointing s*** managers then sacking them a few months after their first full summer transfer window). I'm sure investors will have taken this into account when overlooking us for the likes of Pompey.

 

The people currently buying Pompey. It was why MA and his goons were in Dubai last summer, there is an article where the Pompey buyers are quoted saying that they wanted to buy us but MA was asking 400m.

 

Newcastle United has massive potential, the current lag in the markets is due to financial hits many institutions and the mega rich have taken over the last year. IN any other year imo the club would have been sold in 5 min.

 

The historical inadequacies at the club have nowt to do with the future if the correct team is put in place. If AS is will to throw his lot in with FS I'm prepared to give that team a chance.

[ohmelads]

Is it really too much to ask for a new competant owner with ambition AND a sound financial plan.

 

Well it certainly seems so.  :-[

 

If anyone worth their salt was interested in the club, they'd have come forward by now. The club is going for only 100M, it has a lot of problems but also a lot of potential. Anybody who thought we were worth a punt would have made their interest known 3 weeks ago. It's the middle of June and the club are whoring their e-mail address about - these competent new owners aren't coming. They'd be here already - what are they waiting for?

 

Anyone out there waiting for the price to drop is an idiot because they won't give themselves enough time. Either that or they're totally skint and trying to get us at an even cheaper price.

 

We have to come to terms with the fact that the offers on the table now are about as good as it's going to get. What we must do now is ensure a fast takeover, get the club up and running again, get someone behind the wheel and try and make the best of a very bad situation. Waiting around hoping for a better offer will only see the club fall further behind and give the new owners even less of a chance.

[Martin Lol]

 

The man is a thief. How much did he pocket from this club, from dividends declared during times of no transfer funds to all those dodgey deals involving purchasing players from agencies who he/his son held shares in? How much did his family make from transactions like the warehouse scam where the club was paying his brother millions over the years?

 

If he's back, we'll see a return of this pilfering of the club. On top of the s*** running of the club that saw the Halls being desperate to get out and whoring their shares to anyone who'd take them and no manager worth his salt wanting to take a job here. He ran the club into the ground both financially and amassed a s*** squad full of big-name has beens on mammoth long term contracts, and got out before the s*** truly hit the fan.

 

Ashley has shown us that there can be worse than Shepherd, but given that the majority of other Premiership clubs have been run far better than us with far less embarassing press coverage, there's miles better than Shepherd out there. The fact that no decent buyer is remotely interested in us, despite our facilities, revenues and fanbase, is a legacy of Shepherd's mismanagement of this club. I hope he never returns.

 

Doesn't the vast majority of Chairmen of football clubs take out as much as they can get?  I think most fans will tolerate the Chairman taking a thick wedge if he does what is necessary to keep the club from being relegated.  It isn't Shepherd's mismanagement that has taken Newcastle to where you are today, it's Ashley's.  Shepherd has made many mistakes but wasn't found lacking in investing in the club if relegation was looming.  I can't think of another club that has ever made a profit on transfer dealings in the January transfer window while sitting in the bottom 3.

[Dave]

Is it really too much to ask for a new competant owner with ambition AND a sound financial plan.

 

Well it certainly seems so.  :-[

 

If anyone worth their salt was interested in the club, they'd have come forward by now. The club is going for only 100M, it has a lot of problems but also a lot of potential. Anybody who thought we were worth a punt would have made their interest known 3 weeks ago. It's the middle of June and the club are whoring their e-mail address about - these competent new owners aren't coming. They'd be here already - what are they waiting for?

 

Anyone out there waiting for the price to drop is an idiot because they won't give themselves enough time. Either that or they're totally skint and trying to get us at an even cheaper price.

 

We have to come to terms with the fact that the offers on the table now are about as good as it's going to get. What we must do now is ensure a fast takeover, get the club up and running again, get someone behind the wheel and try and make the best of a very bad situation. Waiting around hoping for a better offer will only see the club fall further behind and give the new owners even less of a chance.

 

[Ronaldo]

Forgive me but i'd carry Shepherd to St James' Park if it meant getting rid of Ashley and cracking on with the preparations for next season

[Decky]

Forgive me but i'd carry Shepherd to St James' Park

 

You and who's army?

[gdm]

some of you guys need to start getting your head round the fact we might not even get sold. So aye i'd take Shepherd if only to get us in a position to start building for next season.

 

 

[Mistle17]

How's that old saying go again? Those you fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it? I think that applies to us more than ever at the moment.

 

Obviously I'd rather have Shepherd over Ashley (my god its not even funny how desperate this situation has turned out to be) but he really is the last person I want to see near our club again.