Not particularly surprising...

[Matt]

People seem to want him to basically give the club away, ignoring the risk that, that would make it much easier for someone to afford to buy the club who couldn't afford to run it (they are not the same thing), we don't want to end up in the same situation as Portsmouth are, do we?

 

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price.

 

£80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price.

 

When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool.

 

As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it?

 

It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC.

[jdckelly]

People seem to want him to basically give the club away, ignoring the risk that, that would make it much easier for someone to afford to buy the club who couldn't afford to run it (they are not the same thing), we don't want to end up in the same situation as Portsmouth are, do we?

 

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price.

 

£80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price.

 

When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool.

 

As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it?

 

It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC.

the thing is ashley will want as much of the money hes put into the club back as he possibly can so he isnt going to lower the asking price, imo its a case of it will be known the club is for sale at the right price but not a case of desperate searching, he wants to sell but on his terms not anyone elses.

[SteveR]

he should set a deadline....if theres no progress by july 1st, then i'm staying on and concentrating on staying up. otherwise, we could be in trouble.

 

He will set a deadline. September 1st.

 

Excellent, Sept 1st, my birthday. No doubt yet another announcement that Ashley will be taking the club off the market AGAIN!  Birthday ruined then??  :'(

[indi]

People seem to want him to basically give the club away, ignoring the risk that, that would make it much easier for someone to afford to buy the club who couldn't afford to run it (they are not the same thing), we don't want to end up in the same situation as Portsmouth are, do we?

 

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price.

 

£80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price.

 

When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool.

 

As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it?

 

It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC.

 

£80m for us, £60m for Birmingham, £80m for Man City (Thaksin), so not that overpriced if we were in the Premiership like I suggested and there was some interest last time, even with us as a newly relegated club in a total mess, hopefully there'd be more if we were a newly promoted club in significantly less of a mess.

 

I've never suggested that a new owner should spend ridiculous amounts in the transfer market - in fact I've been arguing in favour of us not doing that for years now - but the fact is we will need some investment in the squad in order to stay up, should we get up. The new owner would also need to have some readily available cash to keep things ticking over whilst they tried to sort the club out and make it profitable. Once that was achieved then my view would be that the club should be run within it's means, reckless spending is what got us into this situation in the first place and I'd be loathe to see it happen again, but in the meantime it will cost money to be the owner of this club, therefore it is essential that any new owner has access to cash, in the short-run at least.

 

That is nothing like saying that "someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it." We need an owner with the nous to be able to run this club successfully, anyone with that ability will know that they will need to be able to source the funds to buy the club and then some more to use as working capital. There are always costs associated with any large purchase and this is no different. If people ignore that things tend to go tits-up, it's and undeniable fact; as borne out by what's happening at Portsmouth and what might have happened here if Moat had taken over possibly?

[BottledDog]

People seem to want him to basically give the club away, ignoring the risk that, that would make it much easier for someone to afford to buy the club who couldn't afford to run it (they are not the same thing), we don't want to end up in the same situation as Portsmouth are, do we?

 

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price.

 

£80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price.

 

When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool.

 

As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it?

 

It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC.

the thing is ashley will want as much of the money hes put into the club back as he possibly can so he isnt going to lower the asking price, imo its a case of it will be known the club is for sale at the right price but not a case of desperate searching, he wants to sell but on his terms not anyone elses.

 

He is still more than likely subsidising us, but the club is in a fair state again for any new group to move forward with the right investment. Ashley cannot give us that investment so probably has to go, but I don't see him overcharging, it is not in his interests at all. If nobody is willing to stump up the cash then that says more about the market rather than Ashleys unwillingness to sell.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Looking at the state of football club finances (Man U and Liverpool in massive debt and the shit hitting the fan at Portsmouth, West Ham, Cardiff, etc.) I can't see Ashley being able to find a buyer for NUFC. With the state of the world economy who has the money to buy Newcastle? I wouldn't want an owner like Man U and Liverpool have but having said that, I doubt anyone would be able to get those sort of loans any more. Looks like the 'Yes we can' fan campaign is the best hope and that looks like a long shot.

[macca888]

Sorry, I will try it again.

 

The Sun are quoting Ridsdale lining up yanks to buy Cardiff City for 150 million pounds before the end of January.

 

Not that I believe a word of it, of course.

[TRon]

People seem to want him to basically give the club away, ignoring the risk that, that would make it much easier for someone to afford to buy the club who couldn't afford to run it (they are not the same thing), we don't want to end up in the same situation as Portsmouth are, do we?

 

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price.

 

£80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price.

 

When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool.

 

As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it?

 

It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC.

 

£80m for us, £60m for Birmingham, £80m for Man City (Thaksin), so not that overpriced if we were in the Premiership like I suggested and there was some interest last time, even with us as a newly relegated club in a total mess, hopefully there'd be more if we were a newly promoted club in significantly less of a mess.

 

I've never suggested that a new owner should spend ridiculous amounts in the transfer market - in fact I've been arguing in favour of us not doing that for years now - but the fact is we will need some investment in the squad in order to stay up, should we get up. The new owner would also need to have some readily available cash to keep things ticking over whilst they tried to sort the club out and make it profitable. Once that was achieved then my view would be that the club should be run within it's means, reckless spending is what got us into this situation in the first place and I'd be loathe to see it happen again, but in the meantime it will cost money to be the owner of this club, therefore it is essential that any new owner has access to cash, in the short-run at least.

 

That is nothing like saying that "someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it." We need an owner with the nous to be able to run this club successfully, anyone with that ability will know that they will need to be able to source the funds to buy the club and then some more to use as working capital. There are always costs associated with any large purchase and this is no different. If people ignore that things tend to go tits-up, it's and undeniable fact; as borne out by what's happening at Portsmouth and what might have happened here if Moat had taken over possibly?

 

Those prices are misleading, the real cost of buying Newcastle should show the debt as well. In reality it will cost more than £80m for anyone to buy the club, will there still be interest if the actual price is closer to £160-200m?

 

 

[indi]

People seem to want him to basically give the club away, ignoring the risk that, that would make it much easier for someone to afford to buy the club who couldn't afford to run it (they are not the same thing), we don't want to end up in the same situation as Portsmouth are, do we?

 

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price.

 

£80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price.

 

When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool.

 

As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it?

 

It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC.

 

£80m for us, £60m for Birmingham, £80m for Man City (Thaksin), so not that overpriced if we were in the Premiership like I suggested and there was some interest last time, even with us as a newly relegated club in a total mess, hopefully there'd be more if we were a newly promoted club in significantly less of a mess.

 

I've never suggested that a new owner should spend ridiculous amounts in the transfer market - in fact I've been arguing in favour of us not doing that for years now - but the fact is we will need some investment in the squad in order to stay up, should we get up. The new owner would also need to have some readily available cash to keep things ticking over whilst they tried to sort the club out and make it profitable. Once that was achieved then my view would be that the club should be run within it's means, reckless spending is what got us into this situation in the first place and I'd be loathe to see it happen again, but in the meantime it will cost money to be the owner of this club, therefore it is essential that any new owner has access to cash, in the short-run at least.

 

That is nothing like saying that "someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it." We need an owner with the nous to be able to run this club successfully, anyone with that ability will know that they will need to be able to source the funds to buy the club and then some more to use as working capital. There are always costs associated with any large purchase and this is no different. If people ignore that things tend to go tits-up, it's and undeniable fact; as borne out by what's happening at Portsmouth and what might have happened here if Moat had taken over possibly?

 

Those prices are misleading, the real cost of buying Newcastle should show the debt as well. In reality it will cost more than £80m for anyone to buy the club, will there still be interest if the actual price is closer to £160-200m?

 

 

 

Yeah, I know that those are only headline figures, as demonstrated by what I said in the rest of my post, the only reason I mentioned them was in response to the post I had quoted. Anyway, I dare say that none of those clubs were debt-free either, so their headline purchase prices, would be similarly low as well, anyway.

[Stu]

Dave, why on earth did you give this 'article' any credence? Disappointed.

[Guest Roger Kint]

Those prices are misleading, the real cost of buying Newcastle should show the debt as well. In reality it will cost more than £80m for anyone to buy the club, will there still be interest if the actual price is closer to £160-200m?

 

 

 

As are your figures given our ground is state of the art while Birmingham play at a tatty shed and Citeh dont even own a single seat of their rented home. What do 50000 stadiums cost to build?

[Optimistic Nut]

You also have to throw in the fact the club is raking in £7m each month, so you can expect bids of £200m+ I'd say given that could be made back in about 3 years time.

[ToonTastic]

I just hope for once when he does it he does it before the end of the season, there is no need to wait. If we know we're in a position to go up put the club on the market and hope it goes before the transfer window opens again.

[ToonTastic]

You also have to throw in the fact the club is raking in £7m each month, so you can expect bids of £200m+ I'd say given that could be made back in about 3 years time.

 

I'm hoping your joking

[Happy Face]

It's so obvious that the club's permanently for sale, which is why it amazes me how much whether they say that it's on or off the market affects things. Seemingly we were in "turmoil" before they "took the club off the market" and now we're supposedly not, despite it being obvious that nothing has really changed. The weirdest bit is that it does seem to work, there have been genuine effects from them saying that we're off the market and the club is now a much more stable place. Why anyone would feel the need to state the obvious to the press and risk a return to that turmoil is beyond me, just get it done, there's no need to tell the fucking media about everything.

 

Also, why do people think that certain clubs have found it easy to change ownership and we've found it so hard? There are obviously numerous reasons, but my guess is that the main reason is no-one fancies taking over a club that finds it so easy to slip into turmoil over almost anything. Why would you bother when you could buy some no-mark club like Birmingham for less money and have a bit of fun with very little risk? Stability is in everyone's interests because it makes a sale much more likely, so I hope this statement of the obvious doesn't fuck things up again.

 

I look at it from the complete opposite direction.  The reason is he doesn't want to sell.

 

Whenever he puts it up for sale (which is ridiculous as you say, anyone is free to make an offer at any time) there's interest, and whether he calls a £200m offer from the arabs an insult or watches a consortium withdraw their £100m offer before offering it to someone else for £80m (though not the original people that made "several £100m bids") He looks like a man who's enjoying the down and dirty bullshit of business and dragging us kicking and screaming towards financial security as a yo-yo club.

 

Putting us on the market is just an excuse for a lack of ambition in managerial appointments and in the transfer market where he will ALAWAYS spend the bare minimum.

[Matt]

Those prices are misleading, the real cost of buying Newcastle should show the debt as well. In reality it will cost more than £80m for anyone to buy the club, will there still be interest if the actual price is closer to £160-200m?

 

You can't really class the loans from St James' Holdings as debt- in reality that is equity because all of the risks and rewards fall at Ashley's door.

 

Occasionally in takeovers there are 'vendor notes' where the selling party lends to the new owners to help smooth the sale but I can't really see Ashley being keen on that- surely he'll want a clean break.

 

The only price is an all-in price- so no interest at £80m should give you an indication of how much interest there would be at £200m!

[Happy Face]

Those prices are misleading, the real cost of buying Newcastle should show the debt as well. In reality it will cost more than £80m for anyone to buy the club, will there still be interest if the actual price is closer to £160-200m?

 

You can't really class the loans from St James' Holdings as debt- in reality that is equity because all of the risks and rewards fall at Ashley's door.

 

Occasionally in takeovers there are 'vendor notes' where the selling party lends to the new owners to help smooth the sale but I can't really see Ashley being keen on that- surely he'll want a clean break.

 

The only price is an all-in price- so no interest at £80m should give you an indication of how much interest there would be at £200m!

 

That's right, As Mike said himself...

 

“Barry Moat has been driving me mad for two years. If he wants to buy the club, he’s got a one-off opportunity to come up with the cash — £80m upfront.”

 

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6879373.ece

 

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Have to say, I worry about who will buy us if Ashley sells. The bubble seems to be bursting and quite a few clubs are up Shit Creek.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8453337.stm

 

Top-flight finances stun David Sullivan

 

Former Birmingham owner David Sullivan has revealed his shock at the state of Premier League clubs' finances.

 

"The state of the finance of football is frightening, that's all I can say," Sullivan told BBC Radio 5 live.

 

"Many clubs have pre-sold their Premier League income and TV money, and have borrowed against season-ticket money."

 

Sullivan, who sold his Birmingham stake to Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung last October, says one Premier League club could go out of business soon.

 

Over the past three months Sullivan has been looking into the finances of 20 clubs, including West Ham, with a view to getting back into football.

 

He is unable to talk about his interest in West Ham after signing a confidentiality agreement.

 

But, having looked in greater detail at the way other clubs are run financially, Sullivan believes it is possible a Premier League club could go out of business.

 

"I think there's a possibility one (Premier League) club could go and I think probably odds-on one club will go," said Sullivan.

 

"There are several Championship sides absolutely on the line at the moment. It's a question of whether they can sell players for sufficient money to stay alive.

 

"But there's not a lot of money out there to buy players at the moment. Even some of the clubs who you think have got money really haven't got much money to spend on players."

[BottledDog]

Have to say, I worry about who will buy us if Ashley sells. The bubble seems to be bursting and quite a few clubs are up Shit Creek.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8453337.stm

 

Top-flight finances stun David Sullivan

 

Former Birmingham owner David Sullivan has revealed his shock at the state of Premier League clubs' finances.

 

"The state of the finance of football is frightening, that's all I can say," Sullivan told BBC Radio 5 live.

 

"Many clubs have pre-sold their Premier League income and TV money, and have borrowed against season-ticket money."

 

Sullivan, who sold his Birmingham stake to Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung last October, says one Premier League club could go out of business soon.

 

Over the past three months Sullivan has been looking into the finances of 20 clubs, including West Ham, with a view to getting back into football.

 

He is unable to talk about his interest in West Ham after signing a confidentiality agreement.

 

But, having looked in greater detail at the way other clubs are run financially, Sullivan believes it is possible a Premier League club could go out of business.

 

"I think there's a possibility one (Premier League) club could go and I think probably odds-on one club will go," said Sullivan.

 

"There are several Championship sides absolutely on the line at the moment. It's a question of whether they can sell players for sufficient money to stay alive.

 

"But there's not a lot of money out there to buy players at the moment. Even some of the clubs who you think have got money really haven't got much money to spend on players."

 

I just worried whether Ashley has cut costs enough so that he was willing to keep us going until a buyer could be found if he wanted out.

 

That's why the £7 million figure that Peasepud insists has some validity is pretty interesting. May mean that even if he pockets it and we are still run into the clarts, we would somehow still be increadibly secure.

[indi]

It's so obvious that the club's permanently for sale, which is why it amazes me how much whether they say that it's on or off the market affects things. Seemingly we were in "turmoil" before they "took the club off the market" and now we're supposedly not, despite it being obvious that nothing has really changed. The weirdest bit is that it does seem to work, there have been genuine effects from them saying that we're off the market and the club is now a much more stable place. Why anyone would feel the need to state the obvious to the press and risk a return to that turmoil is beyond me, just get it done, there's no need to tell the fucking media about everything.

 

Also, why do people think that certain clubs have found it easy to change ownership and we've found it so hard? There are obviously numerous reasons, but my guess is that the main reason is no-one fancies taking over a club that finds it so easy to slip into turmoil over almost anything. Why would you bother when you could buy some no-mark club like Birmingham for less money and have a bit of fun with very little risk? Stability is in everyone's interests because it makes a sale much more likely, so I hope this statement of the obvious doesn't fuck things up again.

 

I look at it from the complete opposite direction.  The reason is he doesn't want to sell.

 

Whenever he puts it up for sale (which is ridiculous as you say, anyone is free to make an offer at any time) there's interest, and whether he calls a £200m offer from the arabs an insult or watches a consortium withdraw their £100m offer before offering it to someone else for £80m (though not the original people that made "several £100m bids") He looks like a man who's enjoying the down and dirty bullshit of business and dragging us kicking and screaming towards financial security as a yo-yo club.

 

Putting us on the market is just an excuse for a lack of ambition in managerial appointments and in the transfer market where he will ALAWAYS spend the bare minimum.

 

I think he does want to sell, what would be the point in him in engaging in all the negotiations, hiring Keith Harris and Co, and so-on, I'm sorry, but I don't buy the whole "It's a ruse to give him an excuse not to buy any players" thing. Why would he want to buy a football club for a lot of money, then run it down and not get anything back? So the only reason they might have for not buying players would be that the club simply couldn't afford it and if that's true then we shouldn't be buying players, so what's the problem? If we are in that situation they I don't see why he'd need to come up with some elaborate scam to provide a cover for not investing in players, surely he'd just say that the club couldn't afford it, or simply say nothing at all. Some people would say that he'd do that because he's scared of the reaction of the fans, well come on; this is Mike Ashley we're talking about here, is it possible for him to become more unpopular!?! What would be the point in going to huge lengths and shelling out serious money to merchant bankers, just to maintain your position ahead of Gay asylum-seeking Muslim paedo's on goal difference, in the relegation-zone of the popularity league (4th division)?

[themanupstairs]

We would be far more attractive to buy had that fat c*** not given Hughton 3 years contract instead of just letting him stay in charge until the end of the season. (Effectively enabling the new owners to pick their own man from the start).  

 

 

Not exactly true. The contract given to Hughton may have contributed a semblance of stability to the group. Him being the boss proper for a change has put him in a stronger position of authority. And the fact is, they are behind him and are playing for him.

 

Just a thought like...