Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction?

[fredbob]

Chris Hughton and his team are steering Newcastle United in the right direction, a direction from which Mike Ashley and co took us away from in the first place.

 

 

So it's his fault when it goes wrong and someone else is responsible when it goes right?

 

It was nowt to do with the previous Board when the team was doing well in the PL but it was their fault when things took a turn for the worse, or even when things didn't get better than 3rd. Surely you remember that? Why should it be any different for Ashley? In any case, the facts show quite clearly he's taken the club backwards since he took over and that's his fault no matter how you want to ignore it.

 

The strong position we find ourselves in currently is nothing to do with Ashley, it is in spite of Ashley. All Ashley sanctioned in the summer was the sale or release of a number of players, the only players who came in were either loan signings or free signings. I'm talking here about Danny Simpson (loan),  Peter Lovenkrands (Free), Zurab Khizanishvili (Loan) and Marlon Harewood (Loan).

 

He also failed to bring in an established manager.  Basically, Ashley didn't do anything permanent to improve the position of the team/club until January came around. 

 

He made the decision to do something in January only because :

1. The manager and the playing/coaching staff had performed very well despite being handicapped by Ashley and his undermining of the football club. This saw the club top of the Championship, so a return to the higher revenue of the PL suddenly looked to be possible.

2. Ashley had once again failed to offload the club so he was left with either speculating in an attempt to recover PL money, or flounder due to a thin squad. The small squad was thanks to Ashley and he didn't give a damn about that until he failed to sell the club, he'd have handed that crap situation over to someone else.

 

The man's a plank. Simple as that. It's about time people stopped trying to defend the indefensible because it's laughable.

 

Ok, I guess part of this is applicable to my question so I'll take this. A couple of points I'd add to this is that the he he also allowed the manager to keep players rather than peddling them like he could could of done, also the release of some players is a very good thing, its eased the pressure off the clubs wage bill alot, something which was imperative to our progess.

 

I persoannly would say that Ashley allowing Hughton to keep a strong nucleus of squad who could easily of been peddeled have directly lead us to be in the strong position we find ourselves in, we also find ourselves in a decent position financially which is also to Ashleys credit. Having said I do agree about the manager situation and also his inactivity during time of sale.

 

Overall, Id say he is leading us in the right direction, whther he meant it or not.

 

Having to peddle players to get them off the wage bill was a situation of his own making. That doesn't mean I'm not glad to see the back of some of these wasters, just that this isn't an argument in favour of Ashley given the situation was caused by him in the first place. The same comment applies to the idea of the club being in a good position financially. Ashley should have taken the correct decision(s) that would have seen the club retain PL status and then got rid of those under-performers and sick-notes (most of us know who) from a position of still being in the PL. That would have qualified as "decent work" though still a long way to go.

 

The position we are in now really is in spite of him, he doesn't know what he's doing, which I think you possibly acknowledge from your ending comment above.

 

It wasnt his own making at all. The wage bill need leaning out irrepspective of what division we were in. If you belive that Ashley could of got rid of many of those players whilst in the Prem then thats your opinion and pretty much the lynchpin to your entire argument, in my opinion we'd of found it very difficult to shift players who were picking up top wedge with mimimum effort whilst getting to play in front of 50k, no player had any incentive to leave bar Owen.

 

As I say, I'll credit him partially for cutting the wage bill without compromising our performance in the season, I'll credit him for keeping a strong nucleus of squad and I'll also credit him for addressing problems in our squad at January, I'll also credit him for spending money very sensibily.

 

I wouldnt exactly say he didnt know what he was doing but what I will say is that the cutting of the wage bill (which i think is the single most important thing for the future of this club) isnt all his doing and is rather a sympton of relegation.

 

Either way we are definitely going in the right direction.

 

You either fail to appreciate or acknowledge that every player in the squad was for sale at the end of last season.

 

We were left with the players which other clubs didn't want, either because they were deemed unproven or not good enough, and/or on far too much money that no other club was prepared to match.

 

It certainly wasn't down to Ashley choosing to keep  the nucleus of a decent squad.

 

You've pulled that out your arse. Hughton has already said he was given permission to keep the likes of Coloccini and Guttierez as well as Steven Taylor who has a decent rep and was linked with Everton. That's 2 Aregentinian internationals heading for the world cup who you are saying no club in the world wanted.Yeh I think I will chose to "ignore "that little bit.

 

It's prett strartling that quite a few people are dogmaticallly determined to ensure certain people get no credit whatsoever. I'm well aware of the shit things he's brought to the club but I'm also aware of the good he's done as well.

 

 

[Cronky]

if some think the position that was left by fred & co has no bearing on what happened subsequently then it's pointless even discussing it.

Said this a few pages back but then context is usually a casualty in these type of debates.

 

The horrendous decision making of Ashley since buying the club has absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous Board, to suggest otherwise is a nonsense imo.

 

There has been a litany of errors committed by Ashley that have nothing to do with the previous Board:

• 
  For 2 seasons causing stagnation and uncertainty within the club.
  Demotivating the players by putting them all up for sale.
  Appointing Keegan, a manager unsuited to his plan.When attempting to implement his plan, making a poor appointment in Wise.
  Bringing in Kinnear on a temporary basis, resulting in yet more stagnation and uncertainty.
  Replacing Kinnear with a coach.
  Replacing that coach with Shearer, a temporary manager of a sort.
  Replacing Shearer with a coach, Hughton.
  No significant improvement in playing staff in preparation for the current season.
  A lack of direction from the top undermining preparation.
  Failing to really appoint a proven manager at all since the departure of Keegan.
  Complaining about the wage bill yet being responsible for much of it by calling the shots when the club signed the likes of :
  Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Geremi, Smith, Cacapa, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique, Xisco, Gutierrez, Gonzalez.
  Undermining himself by sitting with fans in the stands and by going around with "Smith" on the back of a Newcastle top.
  Creating the environment in which the likes of apparently previously settled players such as Milner, N'Zogbia, Given, Martins and Bassong all wanted to leave. Some of those were probably not on a massive take home, comparatively speaking and would have probably been of some assistance in the quest to retain PL status, lost by 1 point.
  Willingness to blame the supporters for everything.
  Appointing first Mort and then Llambias to an important role.
  

 

There will be other blunders to add to this list but I've got something to do right now and this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Sorry if some of these are incorrect, I'm sure someone will point it out as a part of any debate. 

 

From the day Ashley took over the club until ~2 months ago he's been taking the club backwards and that is of concern regardless of whether he has recently decided to attempt to reverse that trend. Since the turn of 2010 Ashley appears to be steering the club in the right direction by allowing the manager to boost the numbers in the squad. Big Deal!

 

All blunders pale into insignificance beside that one. So many of the other decisions stemmed from it.

[Guest Brummiemag]

I suspect the reason we have kept Colocinni and Guttierez is because no other club would be prepared to take them on at £70k per week.

 

For me the bottom line of all this argument is that Ashley in my opinion does not have the best interests of the club at heart. 

[madras]

I suspect the reason we have kept Colocinni and Guttierez is because no other club would be prepared to take them on at £70k per week.

 

For me the bottom line of all this argument is that Ashley in my opinion does not have the best interests of the club at heart. 

i think he has as its his only way to get anything back (and by that i mean limiting his loss) but it was his own fault he never took the time to properly find out the position we were in (luckily for us some might say).

 

re colo and gutierrez.....they wouldn't have to be on those wages just enough to make them want to leave and play at a higher level...i'd be surprised if duff was on at fulham what he was on here.

[Howaythelads]

if some think the position that was left by fred & co has no bearing on what happened subsequently then it's pointless even discussing it.

Said this a few pages back but then context is usually a casualty in these type of debates.

 

The horrendous decision making of Ashley since buying the club has absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous Board, to suggest otherwise is a nonsense imo.

 

There has been a litany of errors committed by Ashley that have nothing to do with the previous Board:

• 
  For 2 seasons causing stagnation and uncertainty within the club.
  Demotivating the players by putting them all up for sale.
  Appointing Keegan, a manager unsuited to his plan.
  When attempting to implement his plan, making a poor appointment in Wise.
  Bringing in Kinnear on a temporary basis, resulting in yet more stagnation and uncertainty.
  Replacing Kinnear with a coach.
  Replacing that coach with Shearer, a temporary manager of a sort.
  Replacing Shearer with a coach, Hughton.
  No significant improvement in playing staff in preparation for the current season.
  A lack of direction from the top undermining preparation.
  Failing to really appoint a proven manager at all since the departure of Keegan.
  Complaining about the wage bill yet being responsible for much of it by calling the shots when the club signed the likes of :
  Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Geremi, Smith, Cacapa, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique, Xisco, Gutierrez, Gonzalez.
  Undermining himself by sitting with fans in the stands and by going around with "Smith" on the back of a Newcastle top.
  Creating the environment in which the likes of apparently previously settled players such as Milner, N'Zogbia, Given, Martins and Bassong all wanted to leave. Some of those were probably not on a massive take home, comparatively speaking and would have probably been of some assistance in the quest to retain PL status, lost by 1 point.
  Willingness to blame the supporters for everything.
  Appointing first Mort and then Llambias to an important role.
  

 

There will be other blunders to add to this list but I've got something to do right now and this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Sorry if some of these are incorrect, I'm sure someone will point it out as a part of any debate. 

 

From the day Ashley took over the club until ~2 months ago he's been taking the club backwards and that is of concern regardless of whether he has recently decided to attempt to reverse that trend. Since the turn of 2010 Ashley appears to be steering the club in the right direction by allowing the manager to boost the numbers in the squad. Big Deal!

and most of that had also been seen in the last years of the previous board.

 

replacing robson with souness at a ridiculous time then replacing him with roeder

running up the wage bill to well over 60%,

not strebgthening when doing well and in a position to do so (bowyer).

 

 

i'll ask you what i asked someone else on here a while a go, where was the money going to come from given that we were running at a considerable loss, and had little left to borrow against ?

 

yes the club had gone backwards in ashleys 2 years but it had been going backwards since 2004 and you'll find a few people voicing the opinion that had fred and allardyce stayed we'd have went down that season.

 

What on earth are you on about now? I've listed Ashley's mistakes because you and some others appear to think the sun shines out of his arse.  I don't believe anything in that list of cock-ups can be disputed.

 

I see you're trying to change the subject now so I'll only reply to your points in this single post, I've no intention of going over old ground with you that has already passed you by. I've commented on the timing of Robson's departure many times before and I will say the same again in reply to what is really a very poor criticism. Robson himself took up the manager's job at a similar stage of the season to when he finally departed. The timing wasn't a problem on that occasion. Why was that?

 

Also, the previous Board had a record of buying players from a position of strength and they did so whenever possible, so we will simply have to disagree on your criticism in that area.

so are you disputing those cock ups of the previous board. as for the sun shining out of his arse....take a look and you'll find most think he's kept the club going the way it had  been since 2004.

 

the difference with the timing of robsons arrival was that we were very lucky to have someone like him around and available.

 

where was the money going to come from htl as you seem to have missed my question, give we were running at a considerable loss and had little left to borrow against ?

 

One by one..

 

The previous Board made cock-ups, who says they haven't? Their underlying approach was to try to bring success on the field of play because everything else will come from that.

 

As for Ashley keeping the club going the way it has been since 2004, well the relegation of last season and subsequent huge loss of revenue seems to have passed you by for some inexplicable reason.

 

Glad you're now admitting the timing of the departure of Robson was irrelevant. Obviously you won't keep dragging that one up anymore.

 

I didn't miss your question about money, I ignored it because it's irrelevant to the discussion, which is about Ashley and whether he's taking the club forward or not. Why do you keep asking me about where money was going to come from? What would this money be for in relation to my listing the poor decisions of Ashley and the fact he's taken the club backwards? It really does look like you're trying to change the subject for some reason or other.

[Howaythelads]

if some think the position that was left by fred & co has no bearing on what happened subsequently then it's pointless even discussing it.

Said this a few pages back but then context is usually a casualty in these type of debates.

 

The horrendous decision making of Ashley since buying the club has absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous Board, to suggest otherwise is a nonsense imo.

 

There has been a litany of errors committed by Ashley that have nothing to do with the previous Board:

• 
  For 2 seasons causing stagnation and uncertainty within the club.
  Demotivating the players by putting them all up for sale.
  Appointing Keegan, a manager unsuited to his plan.When attempting to implement his plan, making a poor appointment in Wise.
  Bringing in Kinnear on a temporary basis, resulting in yet more stagnation and uncertainty.
  Replacing Kinnear with a coach.
  Replacing that coach with Shearer, a temporary manager of a sort.
  Replacing Shearer with a coach, Hughton.
  No significant improvement in playing staff in preparation for the current season.
  A lack of direction from the top undermining preparation.
  Failing to really appoint a proven manager at all since the departure of Keegan.
  Complaining about the wage bill yet being responsible for much of it by calling the shots when the club signed the likes of :
  Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Geremi, Smith, Cacapa, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique, Xisco, Gutierrez, Gonzalez.
  Undermining himself by sitting with fans in the stands and by going around with "Smith" on the back of a Newcastle top.
  Creating the environment in which the likes of apparently previously settled players such as Milner, N'Zogbia, Given, Martins and Bassong all wanted to leave. Some of those were probably not on a massive take home, comparatively speaking and would have probably been of some assistance in the quest to retain PL status, lost by 1 point.
  Willingness to blame the supporters for everything.
  Appointing first Mort and then Llambias to an important role.
  

 

There will be other blunders to add to this list but I've got something to do right now and this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Sorry if some of these are incorrect, I'm sure someone will point it out as a part of any debate. 

 

From the day Ashley took over the club until ~2 months ago he's been taking the club backwards and that is of concern regardless of whether he has recently decided to attempt to reverse that trend. Since the turn of 2010 Ashley appears to be steering the club in the right direction by allowing the manager to boost the numbers in the squad. Big Deal!

All blunders pale into insignificance beside that one. So many of the other decisions stemmed from it.

 

Aye, Ashley needed a "yes" man for his plan rather than a decent manager like Keegan, who wants to do things himself in a similar way to other managers in the English league all manage to do.

[Mowen]

if some think the position that was left by fred & co has no bearing on what happened subsequently then it's pointless even discussing it.

Said this a few pages back but then context is usually a casualty in these type of debates.

 

The horrendous decision making of Ashley since buying the club has absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous Board, to suggest otherwise is a nonsense imo.

 

There has been a litany of errors committed by Ashley that have nothing to do with the previous Board:

• 
  For 2 seasons causing stagnation and uncertainty within the club.
  Demotivating the players by putting them all up for sale.
  Appointing Keegan, a manager unsuited to his plan.When attempting to implement his plan, making a poor appointment in Wise.
  Bringing in Kinnear on a temporary basis, resulting in yet more stagnation and uncertainty.
  Replacing Kinnear with a coach.
  Replacing that coach with Shearer, a temporary manager of a sort.
  Replacing Shearer with a coach, Hughton.
  No significant improvement in playing staff in preparation for the current season.
  A lack of direction from the top undermining preparation.
  Failing to really appoint a proven manager at all since the departure of Keegan.
  Complaining about the wage bill yet being responsible for much of it by calling the shots when the club signed the likes of :
  Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Geremi, Smith, Cacapa, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique, Xisco, Gutierrez, Gonzalez.
  Undermining himself by sitting with fans in the stands and by going around with "Smith" on the back of a Newcastle top.
  Creating the environment in which the likes of apparently previously settled players such as Milner, N'Zogbia, Given, Martins and Bassong all wanted to leave. Some of those were probably not on a massive take home, comparatively speaking and would have probably been of some assistance in the quest to retain PL status, lost by 1 point.
  Willingness to blame the supporters for everything.
  Appointing first Mort and then Llambias to an important role.
  

 

There will be other blunders to add to this list but I've got something to do right now and this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Sorry if some of these are incorrect, I'm sure someone will point it out as a part of any debate. 

 

From the day Ashley took over the club until ~2 months ago he's been taking the club backwards and that is of concern regardless of whether he has recently decided to attempt to reverse that trend. Since the turn of 2010 Ashley appears to be steering the club in the right direction by allowing the manager to boost the numbers in the squad. Big Deal!

All blunders pale into insignificance beside that one. So many of the other decisions stemmed from it.

 

Aye, Ashley needed a "yes" man for his plan rather than a decent manager like Keegan, who wants to do things himself in a similar way to other managers in the English league all manage to do.

 

That's exactly it. Keegan has been a great club manager throughout his career but why would you appoint someone who is so patently unsuited to what you want to do? In terms of appointing a talented manager it was a good appointment, but madness considering the other factors.

[madras]

if some think the position that was left by fred & co has no bearing on what happened subsequently then it's pointless even discussing it.

Said this a few pages back but then context is usually a casualty in these type of debates.

 

The horrendous decision making of Ashley since buying the club has absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous Board, to suggest otherwise is a nonsense imo.

 

There has been a litany of errors committed by Ashley that have nothing to do with the previous Board:

• 
  For 2 seasons causing stagnation and uncertainty within the club.
  Demotivating the players by putting them all up for sale.
  Appointing Keegan, a manager unsuited to his plan.
  When attempting to implement his plan, making a poor appointment in Wise.
  Bringing in Kinnear on a temporary basis, resulting in yet more stagnation and uncertainty.
  Replacing Kinnear with a coach.
  Replacing that coach with Shearer, a temporary manager of a sort.
  Replacing Shearer with a coach, Hughton.
  No significant improvement in playing staff in preparation for the current season.
  A lack of direction from the top undermining preparation.
  Failing to really appoint a proven manager at all since the departure of Keegan.
  Complaining about the wage bill yet being responsible for much of it by calling the shots when the club signed the likes of :
  Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Geremi, Smith, Cacapa, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique, Xisco, Gutierrez, Gonzalez.
  Undermining himself by sitting with fans in the stands and by going around with "Smith" on the back of a Newcastle top.
  Creating the environment in which the likes of apparently previously settled players such as Milner, N'Zogbia, Given, Martins and Bassong all wanted to leave. Some of those were probably not on a massive take home, comparatively speaking and would have probably been of some assistance in the quest to retain PL status, lost by 1 point.
  Willingness to blame the supporters for everything.
  Appointing first Mort and then Llambias to an important role.
  

 

There will be other blunders to add to this list but I've got something to do right now and this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Sorry if some of these are incorrect, I'm sure someone will point it out as a part of any debate. 

 

From the day Ashley took over the club until ~2 months ago he's been taking the club backwards and that is of concern regardless of whether he has recently decided to attempt to reverse that trend. Since the turn of 2010 Ashley appears to be steering the club in the right direction by allowing the manager to boost the numbers in the squad. Big Deal!

and most of that had also been seen in the last years of the previous board.

 

replacing robson with souness at a ridiculous time then replacing him with roeder

running up the wage bill to well over 60%,

not strebgthening when doing well and in a position to do so (bowyer).

 

 

i'll ask you what i asked someone else on here a while a go, where was the money going to come from given that we were running at a considerable loss, and had little left to borrow against ?

 

yes the club had gone backwards in ashleys 2 years but it had been going backwards since 2004 and you'll find a few people voicing the opinion that had fred and allardyce stayed we'd have went down that season.

 

What on earth are you on about now? I've listed Ashley's mistakes because you and some others appear to think the sun shines out of his arse.  I don't believe anything in that list of cock-ups can be disputed.

 

I see you're trying to change the subject now so I'll only reply to your points in this single post, I've no intention of going over old ground with you that has already passed you by. I've commented on the timing of Robson's departure many times before and I will say the same again in reply to what is really a very poor criticism. Robson himself took up the manager's job at a similar stage of the season to when he finally departed. The timing wasn't a problem on that occasion. Why was that?

 

Also, the previous Board had a record of buying players from a position of strength and they did so whenever possible, so we will simply have to disagree on your criticism in that area.

so are you disputing those cock ups of the previous board. as for the sun shining out of his arse....take a look and you'll find most think he's kept the club going the way it had  been since 2004.

 

the difference with the timing of robsons arrival was that we were very lucky to have someone like him around and available.

 

where was the money going to come from htl as you seem to have missed my question, give we were running at a considerable loss and had little left to borrow against ?

 

One by one..

 

The previous Board made cock-ups, who says they haven't? Their underlying approach was to try to bring success on the field of play because everything else will come from that.

 

As for Ashley keeping the club going the way it has been since 2004, well the relegation of last season and subsequent huge loss of revenue seems to have passed you by for some inexplicable reason.

 

Glad you're now admitting the timing of the departure of Robson was irrelevant. Obviously you won't keep dragging that one up anymore.

 

I didn't miss your question about money, I ignored it because it's irrelevant to the discussion, which is about Ashley and whether he's taking the club forward or not. Why do you keep asking me about where money was going to come from? What would this money be for in relation to my listing the poor decisions of Ashley and the fact he's taken the club backwards? It really does look like you're trying to change the subject for some reason or other.

i keep asking that question because the position the club was in when he took over has to have relevence on where it is now and you and others can't see the shit hole we were in due to thinking the sun shines out of fred's arse (to steal a phrase)

 

re robson, of course it's relevant. we were fortunate in that he was available and i'll drag it up everytime someone tries make out that fred and co weren't taking the club backwards from that time.

[merlin]

Ashley has made some horrendous errors since he came to the club, some which undoubtedly resulted in relegation.

However(and in some ways because of the turn of events in the world of Finance), he has turned out to be what the club need at this time, because all top clubs are going to have to start living within their means during the next few years.

Ashley has at least stabilized the club by continuing to support it financially, even though he has no alternative if he wants to get a slice of his money back.

 

He will almost certainly sell if he gets the chance of getting a reasonable portion of his investment back(although it wouldn't surprise me to see him getting hooked on the club IF it does fairly well on its return to the Prem), but NUFC is in a far better position than it would have been had Shepherd still been in charge...look at Pompey...

 

We are currently in no position to look Ashley's 'Gift Horse' in the mouth as there is no other party with the sort of finance necessary who is interested in taking over.

[Howaythelads]

if some think the position that was left by fred & co has no bearing on what happened subsequently then it's pointless even discussing it.

Said this a few pages back but then context is usually a casualty in these type of debates.

 

The horrendous decision making of Ashley since buying the club has absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous Board, to suggest otherwise is a nonsense imo.

 

There has been a litany of errors committed by Ashley that have nothing to do with the previous Board:

• 
  For 2 seasons causing stagnation and uncertainty within the club.
  Demotivating the players by putting them all up for sale.
  Appointing Keegan, a manager unsuited to his plan.
  When attempting to implement his plan, making a poor appointment in Wise.
  Bringing in Kinnear on a temporary basis, resulting in yet more stagnation and uncertainty.
  Replacing Kinnear with a coach.
  Replacing that coach with Shearer, a temporary manager of a sort.
  Replacing Shearer with a coach, Hughton.
  No significant improvement in playing staff in preparation for the current season.
  A lack of direction from the top undermining preparation.
  Failing to really appoint a proven manager at all since the departure of Keegan.
  Complaining about the wage bill yet being responsible for much of it by calling the shots when the club signed the likes of :
  Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Geremi, Smith, Cacapa, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique, Xisco, Gutierrez, Gonzalez.
  Undermining himself by sitting with fans in the stands and by going around with "Smith" on the back of a Newcastle top.
  Creating the environment in which the likes of apparently previously settled players such as Milner, N'Zogbia, Given, Martins and Bassong all wanted to leave. Some of those were probably not on a massive take home, comparatively speaking and would have probably been of some assistance in the quest to retain PL status, lost by 1 point.
  Willingness to blame the supporters for everything.
  Appointing first Mort and then Llambias to an important role.
  

 

There will be other blunders to add to this list but I've got something to do right now and this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Sorry if some of these are incorrect, I'm sure someone will point it out as a part of any debate. 

 

From the day Ashley took over the club until ~2 months ago he's been taking the club backwards and that is of concern regardless of whether he has recently decided to attempt to reverse that trend. Since the turn of 2010 Ashley appears to be steering the club in the right direction by allowing the manager to boost the numbers in the squad. Big Deal!

and most of that had also been seen in the last years of the previous board.

 

replacing robson with souness at a ridiculous time then replacing him with roeder

running up the wage bill to well over 60%,

not strebgthening when doing well and in a position to do so (bowyer).

 

 

i'll ask you what i asked someone else on here a while a go, where was the money going to come from given that we were running at a considerable loss, and had little left to borrow against ?

 

yes the club had gone backwards in ashleys 2 years but it had been going backwards since 2004 and you'll find a few people voicing the opinion that had fred and allardyce stayed we'd have went down that season.

 

What on earth are you on about now? I've listed Ashley's mistakes because you and some others appear to think the sun shines out of his arse.  I don't believe anything in that list of cock-ups can be disputed.

 

I see you're trying to change the subject now so I'll only reply to your points in this single post, I've no intention of going over old ground with you that has already passed you by. I've commented on the timing of Robson's departure many times before and I will say the same again in reply to what is really a very poor criticism. Robson himself took up the manager's job at a similar stage of the season to when he finally departed. The timing wasn't a problem on that occasion. Why was that?

 

Also, the previous Board had a record of buying players from a position of strength and they did so whenever possible, so we will simply have to disagree on your criticism in that area.

so are you disputing those cock ups of the previous board. as for the sun shining out of his arse....take a look and you'll find most think he's kept the club going the way it had  been since 2004.

 

the difference with the timing of robsons arrival was that we were very lucky to have someone like him around and available.

 

where was the money going to come from htl as you seem to have missed my question, give we were running at a considerable loss and had little left to borrow against ?

 

One by one..

 

The previous Board made cock-ups, who says they haven't? Their underlying approach was to try to bring success on the field of play because everything else will come from that.

 

As for Ashley keeping the club going the way it has been since 2004, well the relegation of last season and subsequent huge loss of revenue seems to have passed you by for some inexplicable reason.

 

Glad you're now admitting the timing of the departure of Robson was irrelevant. Obviously you won't keep dragging that one up anymore.

 

I didn't miss your question about money, I ignored it because it's irrelevant to the discussion, which is about Ashley and whether he's taking the club forward or not. Why do you keep asking me about where money was going to come from? What would this money be for in relation to my listing the poor decisions of Ashley and the fact he's taken the club backwards? It really does look like you're trying to change the subject for some reason or other.

i keep asking that question because the position the club was in when he took over has to have relevence on where it is now and you and others can't see the shit hole we were in due to thinking the sun shines out of fred's arse (to steal a phrase)

 

re robson, of course it's relevant. we were fortunate in that he was available and i'll drag it up everytime someone tries make out that fred and co weren't taking the club backwards from that time.

 

[Guest malandro]

One thing we’ve learnt over the last fortnight is Ashley isn’t immune to the abuse he gets. All the laughing and giggling between him and dekka while ‘get out etc’ was ringing out from the stands was bravado. There’s two ways of looking at this. The first is the Kevin ‘Teacher's Pet’ Nolan view that Mike is a good lad and we should all be thankful he got us relegated. The second is that he deserves all the flak he gets and Dekka’s ‘It’s got to stop’ statement is a sign Ashley still doesn’t understand why he upset so many supporters.

 

It’ll be interesting to see how the away following responds to this week’s ‘charm’ offensive.

 

[Taylor Swift]

Old board vs new board

[Howaythelads]

Old board vs new board

 

No, it isn't. It's about Ashley and whether or not he's now taking the club forward having already taken it backward. Obviously.

[thomas]

Even if it's somehow proven, in 20 years time, that relegation was a necessary or positive move, it still will not have been down to any positive intent on Mike Ashleys part. 

 

While I (still) don't think he sets out with evil in his heart, it's what happens.  When good happens it seems to be out of dire necessity or accident.

[thewellander]

Relegation itself hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I've really enjoyed being an NUFC fan this year, even if I haven't been able to watch as many games as I would have liked.

[Ishmael]

He looked slimmer than his usually bloated self today.

 

Might just have been the camera angle.  Kudos if not.

[Heron]

In all honesty, I think it's the back to the wall mentality we have. We got relegated and got rid of those who wouldn't fight for us out of our dark corner, and now we have a squad who wants to fight for each other and the fans, and our support seems to be far more positive, thanks to results.

 

Their is one key man in all of this success and no it isn't Mike Ashley, it's Chris Hughton.

[wyn davies]

Financially wise yeah, maybe we've had a bit of luck due to the championship being sh*te, time will tell next season in the premier where he will make tough decisions be it manager,players ,costs etc if relegated again and become yo yo then NO.

[maze]

Quite simply: No.

 

When newcastle were relegated most people knew we had one of the strongest squads supported by one of the best facilities in the championship. Ashley has not changed at all. You would expect a side like Newcastle to gain immidiate promotion, and thats not down to Ashley's actions.

 

Unfortunately he's our best option at the moment. Due to the financial crisis, most buyers stay away.

 

I don't believe his "We are commited"-shit at all. My bet is that he will sell as soon as he can get some sort of return from his investmenst, even if that means he'll cut his losses.

[Guest bobthemag]

Ashley has made some horrendous errors since he came to the club, some which undoubtedly resulted in relegation.

However(and in some ways because of the turn of events in the world of Finance), he has turned out to be what the club need at this time, because all top clubs are going to have to start living within their means during the next few years.

Ashley has at least stabilized the club by continuing to support it financially, even though he has no alternative if he wants to get a slice of his money back.

 

He will almost certainly sell if he gets the chance of getting a reasonable portion of his investment back(although it wouldn't surprise me to see him getting hooked on the club IF it does fairly well on its return to the Prem), but NUFC is in a far better position than it would have been had Shepherd still been in charge...look at Pompey...

 

We are currently in no position to look Ashley's 'Gift Horse' in the mouth as there is no other party with the sort of finance necessary who is interested in taking over.

 

relegation was a huge step backwards though stabalized or not

 

 

[Guest bobthemag]

 

I see them (ashley and lamb chop) as inept wankers who have almost destroyed a football club I've supported for over 40 years due to a whole series of bad decisions.

 

It's comments like this that make me about some of our support, football is emotive, but after 12-18months you'd hope that people would start to get a sense of perspective, particularly when other events in the footballing world unfold and shed some light on the underlying situation at every business.

 

Footballing-wise, there have been some horrendous mistakes made, especially the attempt to sign Harry Redknapp (wtf?!) then the doomed appointment of KK; however, it is noticeable that their decisions are improving (even if it's just because they are making fewer of them).

 

Business-wise, we can only really go off the numbers published at the end of every year, as we all know that the club have deliberately misled the supporters in the past. To date, the financial situation is improving, so I find it hard to fault Ashley for those decisions.

 

So what's the problem with HTL's point???

 

The "whole series of bad decisions" made by the "inept wankers" led a lot of people to draw the conclusion that they were deliberately trying to destroy the club.

 

The ineptitude is beyond question. Drawing the conclusion that were deliberately trying to destroy the club is laughable.

 

1. Did ashley deliberately buy the football club without understanding exactly what he was buying?

2. Did ashley deliberately appoint Keegan?

3. Did ashley deliberately install a system that would not possibly work with a manager of that temperament?

4. Did ashley deliberately back Wise over Keegan?

5. Did ashley deliberately appoint a bloody joke as a manager?

6. Did ashley deliberately appoint a coach as a manager?

7. Did ashley deliberately appoint Shearer as manager, a man has no previous experience, thereby showing his panic at the situation?

9. Did ashley deliberately put the club up for sale then withdraw it from sale more than once, undermining the entire football club?

10. Did ashley deliberately see a surplus of money from transfer dealings during Jan 2009?

11. Was the club relegated by 1 point at the end of that season?

 

Whether the b****** deliberately set out to ruin the club is not the point because nobody said that anyway, but his actions have lead to almost total ruin of the football club and there is no excuse.

 

It wasn't just his actions though, you can't simply ignore what went on beforehand under Shepherd where we borrowed heavily and sooner or later the belt would have to be tightened. You can't just roll Souness and Allardyce's time here under a carpet when so much damage was inflicted by these appointments.

I never have. I know they were bad appointments, especially sourness. I've said so numerous times.

 

I also know that those who are somehow supporting ashley now are the same people (like mandiarse) who were telling everyone to give sourness time to build his own team. I also remember that when I posted I didn't want the Board to back Sourness with money in the January window I was slated and told that the Board HAD to stump up the cash otherwise they would be confirmed as being s****.

 

I do understand that people want to whinge on about the previous Board because we had a good team but didn't win the title, especially after only signing 3 players in 2003 when we should have apparently signed half a team, but everything Ashley has done has been far worse than anything done by the previous Board.

 

So what? The previous board sold up and f***ed off with the money because they wanted to. No one held a gun to their head otherwise they could still be here now...and in fact if they wanted to invest some cash they could buy it back same way as Ashley did. But they won't because they don't want to put their money in Newcastle and neither does anyone else. Until someone does it's pointless whingeing at the only bloke who's putting anything in no matter how reluctantly he's doing it.

 

how much are supporters putting in ?

 

How many people on here go to games

 

 

 

If you mean what the club collects annually in Matchday revenues it's not known for this season yet. When we were in the Premiership it was between £30m and £35m every year between 2005 and 2008.

 

Edit: On your second question - don't live locally any more so go to about 5 home games a season.

 

don't supporters put more money into the club than Mike Ashleys says he is doing ?

 

Supporters won't get it back like he will do when he sells too.

 

Does he not realise that dropping down a league has hit revenue ?

 

 

 

Re quantity of supporters' money vs Ashley's money, I think that season on season it's currently a close-run thing, but it's a bit of a daft argument in any case. And there's no way he'll ever get back all the money he's put it into the club. Hell, he was going to sell up last year at a £150 million loss (four or five years' Premier League matchday revenue).

 

Meanwhile, if you happen to know any billionaires who want to better the amount Ashley's currently putting in, please sit them down for a beer and try to persuade them to buy the club.

 

but hasn't Lambias said Ashley has put in more money than anybody else ?

 

He will want it back as well if he can.

 

Ashley has put in more money than anybody else though.

 

supporters have supported the club longer than Mike Ashley has 

 

Eh?

 

supporters have put more money into the club than anyone.

 

 

 

I'll be honest, I can't think of one.

 

do you not understand, nobody has put more money in than the supporters

[Guest Roger Kint]

 

I see them (ashley and lamb chop) as inept wankers who have almost destroyed a football club I've supported for over 40 years due to a whole series of bad decisions.

 

It's comments like this that make me about some of our support, football is emotive, but after 12-18months you'd hope that people would start to get a sense of perspective, particularly when other events in the footballing world unfold and shed some light on the underlying situation at every business.

 

Footballing-wise, there have been some horrendous mistakes made, especially the attempt to sign Harry Redknapp (wtf?!) then the doomed appointment of KK; however, it is noticeable that their decisions are improving (even if it's just because they are making fewer of them).

 

Business-wise, we can only really go off the numbers published at the end of every year, as we all know that the club have deliberately misled the supporters in the past. To date, the financial situation is improving, so I find it hard to fault Ashley for those decisions.

 

So what's the problem with HTL's point???

 

The "whole series of bad decisions" made by the "inept wankers" led a lot of people to draw the conclusion that they were deliberately trying to destroy the club.

 

The ineptitude is beyond question. Drawing the conclusion that were deliberately trying to destroy the club is laughable.

 

1. Did ashley deliberately buy the football club without understanding exactly what he was buying?

2. Did ashley deliberately appoint Keegan?

3. Did ashley deliberately install a system that would not possibly work with a manager of that temperament?

4. Did ashley deliberately back Wise over Keegan?

5. Did ashley deliberately appoint a bloody joke as a manager?

6. Did ashley deliberately appoint a coach as a manager?

7. Did ashley deliberately appoint Shearer as manager, a man has no previous experience, thereby showing his panic at the situation?

9. Did ashley deliberately put the club up for sale then withdraw it from sale more than once, undermining the entire football club?

10. Did ashley deliberately see a surplus of money from transfer dealings during Jan 2009?

11. Was the club relegated by 1 point at the end of that season?

 

Whether the b****** deliberately set out to ruin the club is not the point because nobody said that anyway, but his actions have lead to almost total ruin of the football club and there is no excuse.

 

It wasn't just his actions though, you can't simply ignore what went on beforehand under Shepherd where we borrowed heavily and sooner or later the belt would have to be tightened. You can't just roll Souness and Allardyce's time here under a carpet when so much damage was inflicted by these appointments.

I never have. I know they were bad appointments, especially sourness. I've said so numerous times.

 

I also know that those who are somehow supporting ashley now are the same people (like mandiarse) who were telling everyone to give sourness time to build his own team. I also remember that when I posted I didn't want the Board to back Sourness with money in the January window I was slated and told that the Board HAD to stump up the cash otherwise they would be confirmed as being s****.

 

I do understand that people want to whinge on about the previous Board because we had a good team but didn't win the title, especially after only signing 3 players in 2003 when we should have apparently signed half a team, but everything Ashley has done has been far worse than anything done by the previous Board.

 

So what? The previous board sold up and f***ed off with the money because they wanted to. No one held a gun to their head otherwise they could still be here now...and in fact if they wanted to invest some cash they could buy it back same way as Ashley did. But they won't because they don't want to put their money in Newcastle and neither does anyone else. Until someone does it's pointless whingeing at the only bloke who's putting anything in no matter how reluctantly he's doing it.

 

how much are supporters putting in ?

 

How many people on here go to games

 

 

 

If you mean what the club collects annually in Matchday revenues it's not known for this season yet. When we were in the Premiership it was between £30m and £35m every year between 2005 and 2008.

 

Edit: On your second question - don't live locally any more so go to about 5 home games a season.

 

don't supporters put more money into the club than Mike Ashleys says he is doing ?

 

Supporters won't get it back like he will do when he sells too.

 

Does he not realise that dropping down a league has hit revenue ?

 

 

 

Re quantity of supporters' money vs Ashley's money, I think that season on season it's currently a close-run thing, but it's a bit of a daft argument in any case. And there's no way he'll ever get back all the money he's put it into the club. Hell, he was going to sell up last year at a £150 million loss (four or five years' Premier League matchday revenue).

 

Meanwhile, if you happen to know any billionaires who want to better the amount Ashley's currently putting in, please sit them down for a beer and try to persuade them to buy the club.

 

but hasn't Lambias said Ashley has put in more money than anybody else ?

 

He will want it back as well if he can.

 

Ashley has put in more money than anybody else though.

 

supporters have supported the club longer than Mike Ashley has 

 

Eh?

 

supporters have put more money into the club than anyone.

 

 

 

I'll be honest, I can't think of one.

 

do you not understand, nobody has put more money in than the supporters

 

do you understand what he said?

[Guest bobthemag]

 

I see them (ashley and lamb chop) as inept wankers who have almost destroyed a football club I've supported for over 40 years due to a whole series of bad decisions.

 

It's comments like this that make me about some of our support, football is emotive, but after 12-18months you'd hope that people would start to get a sense of perspective, particularly when other events in the footballing world unfold and shed some light on the underlying situation at every business.

 

Footballing-wise, there have been some horrendous mistakes made, especially the attempt to sign Harry Redknapp (wtf?!) then the doomed appointment of KK; however, it is noticeable that their decisions are improving (even if it's just because they are making fewer of them).

 

Business-wise, we can only really go off the numbers published at the end of every year, as we all know that the club have deliberately misled the supporters in the past. To date, the financial situation is improving, so I find it hard to fault Ashley for those decisions.

 

So what's the problem with HTL's point???

 

The "whole series of bad decisions" made by the "inept wankers" led a lot of people to draw the conclusion that they were deliberately trying to destroy the club.

 

The ineptitude is beyond question. Drawing the conclusion that were deliberately trying to destroy the club is laughable.

 

1. Did ashley deliberately buy the football club without understanding exactly what he was buying?

2. Did ashley deliberately appoint Keegan?

3. Did ashley deliberately install a system that would not possibly work with a manager of that temperament?

4. Did ashley deliberately back Wise over Keegan?

5. Did ashley deliberately appoint a bloody joke as a manager?

6. Did ashley deliberately appoint a coach as a manager?

7. Did ashley deliberately appoint Shearer as manager, a man has no previous experience, thereby showing his panic at the situation?

9. Did ashley deliberately put the club up for sale then withdraw it from sale more than once, undermining the entire football club?

10. Did ashley deliberately see a surplus of money from transfer dealings during Jan 2009?

11. Was the club relegated by 1 point at the end of that season?

 

Whether the b****** deliberately set out to ruin the club is not the point because nobody said that anyway, but his actions have lead to almost total ruin of the football club and there is no excuse.

 

It wasn't just his actions though, you can't simply ignore what went on beforehand under Shepherd where we borrowed heavily and sooner or later the belt would have to be tightened. You can't just roll Souness and Allardyce's time here under a carpet when so much damage was inflicted by these appointments.

I never have. I know they were bad appointments, especially sourness. I've said so numerous times.

 

I also know that those who are somehow supporting ashley now are the same people (like mandiarse) who were telling everyone to give sourness time to build his own team. I also remember that when I posted I didn't want the Board to back Sourness with money in the January window I was slated and told that the Board HAD to stump up the cash otherwise they would be confirmed as being s****.

 

I do understand that people want to whinge on about the previous Board because we had a good team but didn't win the title, especially after only signing 3 players in 2003 when we should have apparently signed half a team, but everything Ashley has done has been far worse than anything done by the previous Board.

 

So what? The previous board sold up and f***ed off with the money because they wanted to. No one held a gun to their head otherwise they could still be here now...and in fact if they wanted to invest some cash they could buy it back same way as Ashley did. But they won't because they don't want to put their money in Newcastle and neither does anyone else. Until someone does it's pointless whingeing at the only bloke who's putting anything in no matter how reluctantly he's doing it.

 

how much are supporters putting in ?

 

How many people on here go to games

 

 

 

If you mean what the club collects annually in Matchday revenues it's not known for this season yet. When we were in the Premiership it was between £30m and £35m every year between 2005 and 2008.

 

Edit: On your second question - don't live locally any more so go to about 5 home games a season.

 

don't supporters put more money into the club than Mike Ashleys says he is doing ?

 

Supporters won't get it back like he will do when he sells too.

 

Does he not realise that dropping down a league has hit revenue ?

 

 

 

Re quantity of supporters' money vs Ashley's money, I think that season on season it's currently a close-run thing, but it's a bit of a daft argument in any case. And there's no way he'll ever get back all the money he's put it into the club. Hell, he was going to sell up last year at a £150 million loss (four or five years' Premier League matchday revenue).

 

Meanwhile, if you happen to know any billionaires who want to better the amount Ashley's currently putting in, please sit them down for a beer and try to persuade them to buy the club.

 

but hasn't Lambias said Ashley has put in more money than anybody else ?

 

He will want it back as well if he can.

 

Ashley has put in more money than anybody else though.

 

supporters have supported the club longer than Mike Ashley has 

 

Eh?

 

supporters have put more money into the club than anyone.

 

 

 

I'll be honest, I can't think of one.

 

do you not understand, nobody has put more money in than the supporters

 

do you understand what he said?

 

how much have the supporters put into the club in tickets alone ?

 

[Guest Roger Kint]

 

Read what he said man

[Guest bobthemag]

supporters put the most money into the club and they always have