Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction?

[Guest malandro]

Now that there are 2 or 3 rabid anti Ashley posters in this thread, I'd like to pose something to them.

It's really easy to abuse and criticise but it takes knowledge and intelligence to criticise constructively. I'm sure you have both of those things so what do you really want for a post-Ashley Newcastle United ?

Do you see Mark Jensen and the NUST bunch running the club ?

Do you think there may be an Abramovic or rich Arab prince willing to take us on in the present economic climate?  

Is there a willing local businessman out there - preferably not like the previous whore mongers who paid themselves small fortunes and abused those who ploughed the money in.

Bear in mind the "club" ethos of Newcastle United was sold down the river years ago, probably long before Mike Ashley even knew where Newcastle was, so we'll be looking for a businessman or group who will want a return on his/their investment or some mega rich philanthropist with the interests of Newcastle and it's fans at heart.(Very unlikely)

So, serious question, if you want rid of Ashley what or who do you want instead ?

Please no loose abstract answers like "anyone who'll have the club's interests at heart" or "will spend loads of money" or "anyone but the FCB" -just serious practical and constructive answers.

 

 

So said posters can't be rabidly anti-Ashley because there's no realistic alternative?

That’s right. We all have to pretend Ashley is the Fonz because there’s nobody stupid enough to pay him £100m for a championship club with about £150m of debt.

[Dave]

ffs

 

The club is in a far, far worse position now than it was when Ashley took over, which means he's been taking the club in the wrong direction.

 

End of.

 

I hope not.  I hope he can turn it around.

 

Same here. He's a cunt for what he's done but I can't see anyone else wanting to buy the club.

[Guest michaelfoster]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

[Howaythelads]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

[Guest michaelfoster]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

 

Twas a joke hence the

[Guest Pie]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

Whoosh

[Howaythelads]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

 

Twas a joke hence the

 

Mate, I know. I didn't miss the  " /Tin hat on " either. It's a stupid joke.

[Howaythelads]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

Whoosh

 

OMG, the forum moron stalking me again...

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

Whoosh

 

OMG, the forum moron stalking me again...

 

Er, that's not James

[Cajun]

Allardyce spent far more than £50.000.

[Howaythelads]

Allardyce spent far more than £50.000.

 

Did he? Wow!

[Cajun]

[Guest Pie]

Newcastle will never achieve anything under Ashley.

 

Were gonna win the league man, the same league we won under Sir John Hall. Hughton is going to win the same league Keegan won back in 92/93.

 

 

 

/Tin hat on

 

 

What a stupid comparison.

Whoosh

 

OMG, the forum moron stalking me again...

[Guest bobthemag]

To summarise so far, Ashley has probably taken about 5 steps backwards and has now stalled

[macca888]

Look, those people on here who cannot see the woods for the trees (and I dont have to name them) need to understand several points here.

 

Ashley has admitted to the mistakes and is trying to rectify them

The previous regime took this club to the brink of oblivion. They have to share the blame.

Ashley is trying to put the club on a sound financial footing and I, for one, will be glad to see the back of these so called superstars who have been holding the club for ransom for years.

Rome wasnt built in a day, or in our case, rebuilt. Ashley seems to have decided to keep the club. Love him or hate him, he has backed his current manager and we have had an unexpectedly excellent season. Maybe he has turned the corner and promotion being achieved against everyones expectations. Crucial period will be next season to see whether we can build on it.

I am no Ashley supporter but I find the one eyed opinions of some on this thread to be childish, lacking in knowledge and simply downright unsupportive of the club.

 

Simple answer to this, if you dont like it, go and support someone else, maybe like Leeds or Middlesbrough, perhaps even Portsmouth, Palace, Chester City, Luton, Hull City or the plethera of other clubs facing financial meltdown in the years to come. We were so close under Shepherd and like it or not, Ashley saved our bacon...............fact.

[UV]

Ashley has admitted to the mistakes and is trying to rectify them

 

List the mistakes he's admitted to & show evidence of him trying to rectify them.

[STM]

Look, those people on here who cannot see the woods for the trees (and I dont have to name them) need to understand several points here.

 

Ashley has admitted to the mistakes and is trying to rectify them

The previous regime took this club to the brink of oblivion. They have to share the blame.

Ashley is trying to put the club on a sound financial footing and I, for one, will be glad to see the back of these so called superstars who have been holding the club for ransom for years.

Rome wasnt built in a day, or in our case, rebuilt. Ashley seems to have decided to keep the club. Love him or hate him, he has backed his current manager and we have had an unexpectedly excellent season. Maybe he has turned the corner and promotion being achieved against everyones expectations. Crucial period will be next season to see whether we can build on it.

I am no Ashley supporter but I find the one eyed opinions of some on this thread to be childish, lacking in knowledge and simply downright unsupportive of the club.

 

Simple answer to this, if you dont like it, go and support someone else, maybe like Leeds or Middlesbrough, perhaps even Portsmouth, Palace, Chester City, Luton, Hull City or the plethera of other clubs facing financial meltdown in the years to come. We were so close under Shepherd and like it or not, Ashley saved our bacon...............fact.

 

I love the fact that the biggest defence of Ashley, is that we have not gone into administration. Setting the bar very high aren't we.

 

"OMG we haven't gone out of business so Ashley must be doing a good job".

 

Not only is he an average (some would say lucky) businessman but he also knows nothing about football and is a cretin aswell.

[macca888]

It is obvious for all to see.

 

Whilst he was largely responsible last season with some bad decisionmaking, the fact that the following has occured leads most people to believe he has learned from his mistakes.

 

He could have reduced the salary commitments further by selling more players.............he didnt.

He could have called in the administrators when all was against him....................he didnt

He could have refused to back his manager with signings in January..............he didnt

He could have refused to pour more money into the club to pay salaries in January.....................he didnt

This season has largely been reasonably quiet off the park, wouldnt you say? Less interference and allowing the manager and the players to get on with their jobs,

 

Like I said in my previous post, he has learned a few things and the fruits are there for all to see. Top of the CCC. Allegedly, Middlesbrough were a better run club than us and look where they are in comparison. They will probably not make the play offs. I think a great deal of the clubs problems stemmed from the Shepherd era, especially on the financial side of things and Ashley, for some time now, has been covering those loses. Time will tell whether the improvement continues but I would call ytou a liar if you said to me that you would have expected us to be in the position we are now, if asked for an opinion back in August.

 

Credit where credit is due and the next 12 months will be crucial for this cluib. The start has been made and maybe, just maybe, sensible financial control allied with shrewd signings could see us continue to improve over the next few years.

[Guest bobthemag]

Look, those people on here who cannot see the woods for the trees (and I dont have to name them) need to understand several points here.

 

Ashley has admitted to the mistakes and is trying to rectify them

The previous regime took this club to the brink of oblivion. They have to share the blame.

Ashley is trying to put the club on a sound financial footing and I, for one, will be glad to see the back of these so called superstars who have been holding the club for ransom for years.

Rome wasnt built in a day, or in our case, rebuilt. Ashley seems to have decided to keep the club. Love him or hate him, he has backed his current manager and we have had an unexpectedly excellent season. Maybe he has turned the corner and promotion being achieved against everyones expectations. Crucial period will be next season to see whether we can build on it.

I am no Ashley supporter but I find the one eyed opinions of some on this thread to be childish, lacking in knowledge and simply downright unsupportive of the club.

 

Simple answer to this, if you dont like it, go and support someone else, maybe like Leeds or Middlesbrough, perhaps even Portsmouth, Palace, Chester City, Luton, Hull City or the plethera of other clubs facing financial meltdown in the years to come. We were so close under Shepherd and like it or not, Ashley saved our bacon...............fact.

 

he had a chance to rectify his mistakes when he appointed KK again but didn't support him.

 

I imagine quite a lot of people have supported Newcastle for many years, watch them every game home and away, and aren't about to stop 

[macca888]

Any walk of life, luck plays a big part, not just business. We all know that Ashley bought the club as a toy but has since realised that the football world is a different sort of business altogether and something which he appears to be learning very quickly.

 

As for him being a cretin, you have actually spent time in his company, have you?

 

I would prefer to make my assumptions of a person on what I see in front of me and not just from second, third and fourth hand heresay passed down by people who have an axe to grind because the Ashley had the nerve to upset "God".

 

However, this forum is a theatre for opinion.

[STM]

 

He could have reduced the salary commitments further by selling more players.............he didnt.

He could have called in the administrators when all was against him....................he didnt

He could have refused to back his manager with signings in January..............he didnt

He could have refused to pour more money into the club to pay salaries in January.....................he didnt

 

Salary : He sold Bassong, Duff, Martins etc in the summer? Or is the summer too long ago?

Administration: He would have got far less on the eventual sale of the club had he done this.

Backing the manager by buying and paying salaries: He did the minimum that he needed to and you forget the money we gained off letting Geremi go, hardly major "investment".

 

OUT: Geremi 60k

IN: Routledge 20k, Best 20k, Williamson 20k 

 

It's good weeling and dealing but it's not heavy investment, which is what we need in the summer.

[Guest bobthemag]

It is obvious for all to see.

 

Whilst he was largely responsible last season with some bad decisionmaking, the fact that the following has occured leads most people to believe he has learned from his mistakes.

 

He could have reduced the salary commitments further by selling more players.............he didnt.

He could have called in the administrators when all was against him....................he didnt

He could have refused to back his manager with signings in January..............he didnt

He could have refused to pour more money into the club to pay salaries in January.....................he didnt

This season has largely been reasonably quiet off the park, wouldnt you say? Less interference and allowing the manager and the players to get on with their jobs,

 

Like I said in my previous post, he has learned a few things and the fruits are there for all to see. Top of the CCC. Allegedly, Middlesbrough were a better run club than us and look where they are in comparison. They will probably not make the play offs. I think a great deal of the clubs problems stemmed from the Shepherd era, especially on the financial side of things and Ashley, for some time now, has been covering those loses. Time will tell whether the improvement continues but I would call ytou a liar if you said to me that you would have expected us to be in the position we are now, if asked for an opinion back in August.

 

Credit where credit is due and the next 12 months will be crucial for this cluib. The start has been made and maybe, just maybe, sensible financial control allied with shrewd signings could see us continue to improve over the next few years.

 

they will have to be shrewd if the reported wage levels are anything to go by, do you think the recent signings are good enough for the premiership, do you know the length of their contracts ?

 

 

[STM]

Any walk of life, luck plays a big part, not just business. We all know that Ashley bought the club as a toy but has since realised that the football world is a different sort of business altogether and something which he appears to be learning very quickly.

 

As for him being a cretin, you have actually spent time in his company, have you?

 

I would prefer to make my assumptions of a person on what I see in front of me and not just from second, third and fourth hand heresay passed down by people who have an axe to grind because the Ashley had the nerve to upset "God".

 

However, this forum is a theatre for opinion.

 

I could construct a long character assassination of Ashley but quite frankly i haven't the time.

[macca888]

You fail to mention the fact that Bassong, Duff, Martins, Beye etc wanted to leave, as did Given, Insomnia and Milner before them. We made a substantial profit on some of those transfers and as you well know, we no longer had any financial clout so they had to go.

 

He could have sold more too, but he didnt.

 

Are you disatisfied with the backing he gave the manager in January? You would find the vast majority of supporters would say they were highly satisfied, considering not many expected anyoine to come in, especially after the Beckford/Kilgallon farce.

 

The summer is a long way off. In January, there was still a chance we could fail to gain promotion. In the summer, I would expect him to invest further, but far more sensibly the the previous administration who virtually sealed our fate into oblivion.

[macca888]

Any walk of life, luck plays a big part, not just business. We all know that Ashley bought the club as a toy but has since realised that the football world is a different sort of business altogether and something which he appears to be learning very quickly.

 

As for him being a cretin, you have actually spent time in his company, have you?

 

I would prefer to make my assumptions of a person on what I see in front of me and not just from second, third and fourth hand heresay passed down by people who have an axe to grind because the Ashley had the nerve to upset "God".

 

However, this forum is a theatre for opinion.

 

I could construct a long character assassination of Ashley but quite frankly i haven't the time.

I am sure you could. The question would be how accurate it would be and what fact it was based on.