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Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction?


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Guest ObiChrisKenobi

No Trophy signings, please. Signings that fit the mould of the team and have a bit of quality are welcome though.

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I think we might see something interesting from the owner in the forthcoming window.

 

A number of his statements indicate that he conceptualises the running of the club in terms of biannual cycles between the windows (the claim about adding funds, aborted sale attempts, contact negotiations...). This may be the first window around which events are going in his favour rather than against him. 

 

Pure speculation here, but I think that the stars may align in such a way that he does something unexpected (of him at least). Not only is the team doing well in terms of results, but the popular narrative supporting this achievement will be much to his liking. The club is finally coming close to fulfilling his fantasies on one level and it might be time to kick on with part II: winning back the adoration of the Newcastle Fan.

 

A nostalgic retrospective and limited mea culpa? A trophy signing offered as a festive treat to the great people of the Tyne? A three year contract for a manager and a three year plan to go with it? If we're in the top 8, I can see him buying an attacking player for about 15 millions, with some PR emphasis on the fact that the funds were from his own pocket, not the club's. 

 

He might not be the most sensible owner out there, but it is quite possible to read his motives. Any ideas?

 

I can't see a £15m signing in Jan, more likely an ambitious loan with view to sign type deal, lots of noises about Ben Arfa returning and a new contract for Hughton.

 

The summer will be interesting though if we either get close to a European position or somehow sneak it via cup or league (dreamland here - but 7th will prob get Europa league based on one of the top 4 winning both cups). I could see the purse strings being loosened a bit then.

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The return of HBA and Gosling to the squad will have a similar impact to two good signings.

Taylor's return will also strengthen the squad and with Shola looking vastly improved and Ranger progressing nicely, another "sensible" transfer window will be best. More of the Williamson and Tiote type signings would be perfect.

Fuck trophy signings - we want to avoid going back down that road.

 

Forming a decent PR team, tying Hughton down and bringing in a good No 2 would be Ashley's smartest moves.

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Guest neesy111

This is when Ashley should be investing in the team/club, a couple of good signings to improve the squad could push us potentially to a top-half finish if we carry on this form.

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Oh my, i dunno.  Is he steering us in the right direction?

 

Financially, maybe?

 

I think him and Llambias have struck lucky with a group of players and a manager like Hughton.

 

Where we go from here and the decisions they make will decided if they are doing the right things.

 

Must admit i was canny pleased with the signings in the pre season.  And fuck me what a find Tiote was.

 

Just more sensible team and squad building please.

 

 

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I honestly think that Hughton is more the kind of manager to buy 2-3 players for £15m rather than splashing it all on one player. And that's the way it should be for us right now. It's more important to strengthen the squad at this point rather than strengthening the first 11 with one player. That's the way I see it anyways.

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Just to clarify why I dredged this thread up: I'm not talking about what Ashley should do come the transfer window, I'm talking about what he might do despite his better options.

 

In terms of Batman's enemies, I liken him to the Joker. You can make a list of all the things he wants quite easily:

 

Respect (for his 'acumen')

Adoration (unconditional respect)

Entertainment (when bored of pursuing the above 2)

Money (which he periodically decides can be converted into the above 3)

 

“Fair enough”, you might say, who doesn't? But the problem with Ashley is that his plans to get these things (like the Joker's) operate by a weird internal logic which is hard to discern. And they run in parallel, not serially. It's like trying to untangle the Gordian knot only to find it is holding a Dutch-language copy of Lethal Weapon 2 inside a sandwich press.

 

Giving Hughton a contact and leaving-a-good-thing-be is the equivalent of advising the Joker just to knock off couple of Post Offices and take a cheap off-season vacation in Cleethorpes. Okay, so it might keep him out of jail, but it just isn't what he got in the game to for. I think Ashley will move back into the spotlight and start throwing the dice if things are going well post-Christmas.

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I can't see any reason to make any major additions bar injuries. Happy to let Hughton just bed the long term wounded back into the team slowly. This a chance to stabilise, consolidate, and then move on not go ape because of a few results and mess with a tight knit group.

 

But whatever happens, I'm comfortable enough to trust in the direction Ashley and his staff seem to be setting since relegation.

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im just enjoying the wins, cos I believe he will destroy it all for a short term gain.

 

Based on what exactly? Build me a scenario here.

 

If we are talking players, despite all the gnashing of teeth every transfer period saying we'll flog our best players and bring in freebies, when has this actually occured under Ashley? When have these fears over his asset stripping tendancies ever borne fruit? Any decent player has left for their own reasons; not one player has been forced out.

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£15million. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Sorry, but that's just ludicrous on a number of levels.

 

A new contract for Hughton and a couple of faces in and out to freshen up the squad and strengthen where needs be and I'll be reasonably happy.

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Ashley has never done anything at NUFC for short-term gain.

 

He's done a load of things wrong and for the wrong reasons, but they've been because he was ignorant and naive about what it takes to run a football club and the chance that an owner could be "one of the lads"... not because he wanted to make some quick money.

 

He doesn't want to spend beyond our means, that's true. But the idea that he's some sort of asset-stripping profiteer is just not true.

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im just enjoying the wins, cos I believe he will destroy it all for a short term gain.

 

Based on what exactly? Build me a scenario here.

If we are talking players, despite all the gnashing of teeth every transfer period saying we'll flog our best players and bring in freebies, when has this actually occured under Ashley? When have these fears over his asset stripping tendancies ever borne fruit? Any decent player has left for their own reasons; not one player has been forced out.

 

 

ive never built one before but............

 

http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/centerpaddock82/buildmeascenario.jpg

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