Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction?

[Guest Brummiemag]

The only positives I can think of are the supporters and the fact that that despite the most appalling mismanagement of the club on a massive scale by Ashley we are still top of the League.     

[Guest elbee909]

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?

 

 

There's not really much wrong with that logic tbh.

[Offshore]

Title should have 'finally' before 'steering' tbh.

 

If he/we make positive progress anywhere near the speed he took us going the other way then i'll be happy.

[Stu]

despite the most appalling mismanagement of the club on a massive scale by Ashley we are still top of the League.     

 

Just going from footballing decisions made THIS season (July 2009 onwards?), could you highlight the appalling mismanagement of the club this season?

[Exiled in Texas]

Title should have 'finally' before 'steering' tbh.

 

Agreed - and yes, we are heading in the right direction now.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

despite the most appalling mismanagement of the club on a massive scale by Ashley we are still top of the League.     

 

Just going from footballing decisions made THIS season (July 2009 onwards?), could you highlight the appalling mismanagement of the club this season?

 

Giving Hughton the job.

[Howaythelads]

The one thing I can't get is that Shley brought in Shearer last season because he didin't think or have faith in Hughton being able to keep us up, yet he wants him as manager next season.

 

It's because he doesn't really know what the hell he's doing, man. What on earth was the point in appointing Shearer, ffs? Is he really that deluded? It was a good decision when he didn't offer him the job permanently but I'd have been happier again had he gone out and appointed an experienced manager. Nowt against Hughton, who is doing a decent job under difficult circumstances.

 

It does look like Ashley is getting better, but that's not saying much on previous performance. 

 

He needs someone like me to help him out.

 

Here's something....

 

Mike,

 

I already have a career job that I'll have to give up, but I love the club so I'll do it. I'll sign a 9 year employment contract with Newcastle United for £60k pa to help you out with your PR. Annual increases in line with inflation and a car will do it. You'll easily get that back from the increased attendance revenue just by me preventing Derek putting his foot in it every time he opens his mouth.

hang on htl, wasn't the appointment very reminiscent of appointing another of our ex faves into the managers seat without any experience when fighting a relegation battle.

Speak for yourself. I don't have any favourites, I grew out of that by about age 12, the club is all that is important.

 

If the club is all that is important to you then I'm not sure how you can come to the conclusion that immediate success on the field is anyway near as important as survival off it?!

 

 

You think I'm after IMMEDIATE success when I've been supporting this club since 1968?

 

Mate, if you're going to reply at least think past the knee-jerk dig before you do it. I haven't demanded immediate success, or even just success, that's the game of those who wanted rid of the previous Board. You know, the people who weren't happy with 3 x top 5 finishes and with signing 3 players in 2003. They are the one's who were demanding success.

 

I'm critical of Ashley and co because their decisions led directly to the club being relegated, therefore placing into jeopardy the very existence of the football club.

 

Not being relegated from the PL last season is very much tied to the survival of the club but it happened, in reality there is a direct relationship between what happens on the field of play and what happens off it. However, my position on Ashley is obviously nothing to do with calls for immediate success. I guess you must mistakenly believe my annoyance that Ashley brought about relegation is somehow a call from me for immediate success. After saying that, I believe immediate promotion is definitely tied to the future of the club. You may disagree if you like.

 

So going back to the title of the thread, why exactly do you think we are going in the wrong direction? I mean in your eyes the club is getting progessively worse and worse and has a very bleak future. Right?

Here's some advice.

 

Stick to what I did actually say.

 

I know what you said, I'm just trying to draw out your views on the club's by asking a very relevant question, care to oblige? Genuinely interested to know if you have anything positive to say about the club in its current state.

 

I addressed this earlier when I said the playing and coaching staff have been doing a great job this season despite Ashley. It's somewhere in the thread.

[fredbob]

The one thing I can't get is that Shley brought in Shearer last season because he didin't think or have faith in Hughton being able to keep us up, yet he wants him as manager next season.

 

It's because he doesn't really know what the hell he's doing, man. What on earth was the point in appointing Shearer, ffs? Is he really that deluded? It was a good decision when he didn't offer him the job permanently but I'd have been happier again had he gone out and appointed an experienced manager. Nowt against Hughton, who is doing a decent job under difficult circumstances.

 

It does look like Ashley is getting better, but that's not saying much on previous performance. 

 

He needs someone like me to help him out.

 

Here's something....

 

Mike,

 

I already have a career job that I'll have to give up, but I love the club so I'll do it. I'll sign a 9 year employment contract with Newcastle United for £60k pa to help you out with your PR. Annual increases in line with inflation and a car will do it. You'll easily get that back from the increased attendance revenue just by me preventing Derek putting his foot in it every time he opens his mouth.

hang on htl, wasn't the appointment very reminiscent of appointing another of our ex faves into the managers seat without any experience when fighting a relegation battle.

Speak for yourself. I don't have any favourites, I grew out of that by about age 12, the club is all that is important.

 

If the club is all that is important to you then I'm not sure how you can come to the conclusion that immediate success on the field is anyway near as important as survival off it?!

 

 

You think I'm after IMMEDIATE success when I've been supporting this club since 1968?

 

Mate, if you're going to reply at least think past the knee-jerk dig before you do it. I haven't demanded immediate success, or even just success, that's the game of those who wanted rid of the previous Board. You know, the people who weren't happy with 3 x top 5 finishes and with signing 3 players in 2003. They are the one's who were demanding success.

 

I'm critical of Ashley and co because their decisions led directly to the club being relegated, therefore placing into jeopardy the very existence of the football club.

 

Not being relegated from the PL last season is very much tied to the survival of the club but it happened, in reality there is a direct relationship between what happens on the field of play and what happens off it. However, my position on Ashley is obviously nothing to do with calls for immediate success. I guess you must mistakenly believe my annoyance that Ashley brought about relegation is somehow a call from me for immediate success. After saying that, I believe immediate promotion is definitely tied to the future of the club. You may disagree if you like.

 

So going back to the title of the thread, why exactly do you think we are going in the wrong direction? I mean in your eyes the club is getting progessively worse and worse and has a very bleak future. Right?

Here's some advice.

 

Stick to what I did actually say.

 

I know what you said, I'm just trying to draw out your views on the club's by asking a very relevant question, care to oblige? Genuinely interested to know if you have anything positive to say about the club in its current state.

 

I addressed this earlier when I said the playing and coaching staff have been doing a great job this season despite Ashley. It's somewhere in the thread.

 

That's not what the thread is about. Try again.

[Howaythelads]

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 in the Championship we find ourselves in currently is nothing to do with Ashley, it is in spite of Ashley. In January 2009 and summer 2009 Ashley sanctioned the sale or release of a number of players, the only players who came in during the summer were either sub-standard 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, in fact, he didn't seem at all bothered whether the club had a manager or not, such was his undermining of the football club.

 

Basically, Ashley didn't do anything permanent to improve the position of the team/club until January came around. It's open to debate whether bringing in a few Championship quality players is the best way forward given the club is in a good position for a return to the PL, however, it's obvious the squad did need more numbers due to earlier decisions by Ashley that reduced the size of the squad to an alarming level, so January 2010 did see an improvement of sorts with the influx of a few Championship players.

 

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.

[Howaythelads]

The one thing I can't get is that Shley brought in Shearer last season because he didin't think or have faith in Hughton being able to keep us up, yet he wants him as manager next season.

 

It's because he doesn't really know what the hell he's doing, man. What on earth was the point in appointing Shearer, ffs? Is he really that deluded? It was a good decision when he didn't offer him the job permanently but I'd have been happier again had he gone out and appointed an experienced manager. Nowt against Hughton, who is doing a decent job under difficult circumstances.

 

It does look like Ashley is getting better, but that's not saying much on previous performance. 

 

He needs someone like me to help him out.

 

Here's something....

 

Mike,

 

I already have a career job that I'll have to give up, but I love the club so I'll do it. I'll sign a 9 year employment contract with Newcastle United for £60k pa to help you out with your PR. Annual increases in line with inflation and a car will do it. You'll easily get that back from the increased attendance revenue just by me preventing Derek putting his foot in it every time he opens his mouth.

hang on htl, wasn't the appointment very reminiscent of appointing another of our ex faves into the managers seat without any experience when fighting a relegation battle.

Speak for yourself. I don't have any favourites, I grew out of that by about age 12, the club is all that is important.

 

If the club is all that is important to you then I'm not sure how you can come to the conclusion that immediate success on the field is anyway near as important as survival off it?!

 

 

You think I'm after IMMEDIATE success when I've been supporting this club since 1968?

 

Mate, if you're going to reply at least think past the knee-jerk dig before you do it. I haven't demanded immediate success, or even just success, that's the game of those who wanted rid of the previous Board. You know, the people who weren't happy with 3 x top 5 finishes and with signing 3 players in 2003. They are the one's who were demanding success.

 

I'm critical of Ashley and co because their decisions led directly to the club being relegated, therefore placing into jeopardy the very existence of the football club.

 

Not being relegated from the PL last season is very much tied to the survival of the club but it happened, in reality there is a direct relationship between what happens on the field of play and what happens off it. However, my position on Ashley is obviously nothing to do with calls for immediate success. I guess you must mistakenly believe my annoyance that Ashley brought about relegation is somehow a call from me for immediate success. After saying that, I believe immediate promotion is definitely tied to the future of the club. You may disagree if you like.

 

So going back to the title of the thread, why exactly do you think we are going in the wrong direction? I mean in your eyes the club is getting progessively worse and worse and has a very bleak future. Right?

Here's some advice.

 

Stick to what I did actually say.

 

I know what you said, I'm just trying to draw out your views on the club's by asking a very relevant question, care to oblige? Genuinely interested to know if you have anything positive to say about the club in its current state.

 

I addressed this earlier when I said the playing and coaching staff have been doing a great job this season despite Ashley. It's somewhere in the thread.

 

That's not what the thread is about. Try again.

 

If you don't like my answer, don't ask stupid questions. 

 

Try again.

[OzzieMandias]

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 in the Championship we find ourselves in currently is nothing to do with Ashley, it is in spite of Ashley. In January 2009 and summer 2009 Ashley sanctioned the sale or release of a number of players, the only players who came in during the summer were either sub-standard 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, in fact, he didn't seem at all bothered whether the club had a manager or not, such was his undermining of the football club.

 

Basically, Ashley didn't do anything permanent to improve the position of the team/club until January came around. It's open to debate whether bringing in a few Championship quality players is the best way forward given the club is in a good position for a return to the PL, however, it's obvious the squad did need more numbers due to earlier decisions by Ashley that reduced the size of the squad to an alarming level.

 

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.

 

Or, looked at without the shit-coloured glasses on...

 

He gave the wage bill an obviously necessary trim by allowing various highly-paid underperformers to leave but kept a decent squad for the campaign by not selling off various other players. Had faith in Hughton instead of bringing in yet another in a long line of highly-paid underperforming managers that stretches well back into the previous regime -- a faith that has proved to be a resoundingly good call.

 

He made the decision to do something in January because:

1. There having proved to be no one else willing to put money into the club, he was prepared to resume doing so himself.

2. There were certain obvious problems with the squad that needed addressing, and this was duly done.

 

He handled last season very badly, but he's done well this season. It's about time people stopped whining and acknowledged that reality.

 

 

[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.

[Howaythelads]

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 in the Championship we find ourselves in currently is nothing to do with Ashley, it is in spite of Ashley. In January 2009 and summer 2009 Ashley sanctioned the sale or release of a number of players, the only players who came in during the summer were either sub-standard 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, in fact, he didn't seem at all bothered whether the club had a manager or not, such was his undermining of the football club.

 

Basically, Ashley didn't do anything permanent to improve the position of the team/club until January came around. It's open to debate whether bringing in a few Championship quality players is the best way forward given the club is in a good position for a return to the PL, however, it's obvious the squad did need more numbers due to earlier decisions by Ashley that reduced the size of the squad to an alarming level.

 

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.

 

Or, looked at without the shit-coloured glasses on...

 

He gave the wage bill an obviously necessary trim by allowing various highly-paid underperformers to leave but kept a decent squad for the campaign by not selling off various other players. Had faith in Hughton instead of bringing in yet another in a long line of highly-paid underperforming managers that stretches well back into the previous regime -- a faith that has proved to be a resoundingly good call.

 

He made the decision to do something in January because:

1. There having proved to be no one else willing to put money into the club, he was prepared to resume doing so himself.

2. There were certain obvious problems with the squad that needed addressing, and this was duly done.

 

He handled last season very badly, but he's done well this season. It's about time people stopped whining and acknowledged that reality.

 

 

Stopped reading at the bit in bold. If you get rid of it and post properly without the added-on rubbish I'll read the rest of the post.

[Howaythelads]

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.

[Thespence]

I must have missed out on something? Did Mort lie in the tribunal? Hadn't Mort already left the club and had nothing to do with the tribunal case?

 

The only thing that comes to my mind is about the full backing of Keegan in the transfer window. But when he was't fully backed in the summer of 2008 he had already left the club no?

 

Mort had gone by the time of the tribunal that bit is true but  the points that were raised at the tribunal were about actions that were taken when Mort was in charge and in control. Everything was in place and decided by the time Llambias came in which meant and was proved by the tribunal that when everything kicked off it was down to Mort.

 

Del was at the forefront when KK got told off for what he said after the Chelsea game. Del was also the person KK grabbed during the reserve game at SJP on transfer deadline day & was the main bloke spinning against KK after King Kev left.

[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.

[Optimistic Nut]

Not judging him at all this season because I think any owner/manager combo would have taken us up with the playing squad we have.

 

Let's see where we are this time next year. If we're doing a Birmingham after spending £15-20m on a playmaker & centre-forward or whatever, superb.

[STM]

So in summary Ashley has;

 

Got us relegated

Isolated our two biggest hero's

Sold half of our best players

Lied to the fans

Appointed one of the most despised men in football as director of football

Appointed one of the worst managers in football as our manager

Invested very little in the playing staff

Tried and failed to sell the club on two occasions thus ruining two seasons of football

 

and there are STILL some people who want to defend him. 

 

[STM]

oh and renamed the stadium

[Neil]

So in summary Ashley has;

 

Got us relegated

Isolated our two biggest hero's

Sold half of our best players

Lied to the fans

Appointed one of the most despised men in football as director of football

Appointed one of the worst managers in football as our manager

Invested very little in the playing staff

Tried and failed to sell the club on two occasions thus ruining two seasons of football

 

and there are STILL some people who want to defend him. 

 

 

Yes, I'm an outsider so that 'limits' my view but...

 

1) Selling half of your best players - I got the impression it was imperative the wage bill was reduced? Regardless, why would Owen, Martins and Viduka etc stay in the Championship? Obsolete point surely.

 

2) How did he get you relegated?

 

3) The impression I get is he gets a lot of criticism and most is justified. But if we're looking at it from the other point of view, shouldn't he be open to praise for good things, i.e. the debt he's wiped.

 

 

[jimmymag]

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.

[Dave]

What debt has he wiped?

[Neil]

What debt has he wiped?

 

I thought he'd drastically reduced your long-term liabilities?

[STM]

So in summary Ashley has;

 

Got us relegated

Isolated our two biggest hero's

Sold half of our best players

Lied to the fans

Appointed one of the most despised men in football as director of football

Appointed one of the worst managers in football as our manager

Invested very little in the playing staff

Tried and failed to sell the club on two occasions thus ruining two seasons of football

 

and there are STILL some people who want to defend him. 

 

 

Yes, I'm an outsider so that 'limits' my view but...

 

1) Selling half of your best players - I got the impression it was imperative the wage bill was reduced? Regardless, why would Owen, Martins and Viduka etc stay in the Championship? Obsolete point surely.

 

2) How did he get you relegated?

 

3) The impression I get is he gets a lot of criticism and most is justified. But if we're looking at it from the other point of view, shouldn't he be open to praise for good things, i.e. the debt he's wiped.

 

 

 

He sold half our best players before we got relegated. N'Zogbia, Milner, Given etc.

 

His decision making got us relegated.

 

There's no proof he has wiped the debt

[Dave]

What debt has he wiped?

 

I thought he'd drastically reduced your long-term liabilities?

 

Source?