Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction?

[Guest bobthemag]

If (and its a big if) we are back to challenging for Europe in 3-5 years then relegation will have been the catalyst for it imo. Its a lot easier to make drastic decisions in the CCC than the Premier League.

 

Owen would probably still be on our books if we had survivied, another 4 years before we could look to move forward then.

 

Weve been promoted  to premiership have we? weve spent on class centre forwards? weve replaced ryan taylor and nicky butt in midfield? weve survived the first season post championship?

 

f*** me you are THE over-expectand geordie fan myth played out by the media. You fuckin stupid c***.

 

WE WILL BE UP FOR SALE THE DAY WE ARE PROMOTED

 

 

Please give me a season of mediocrity before you piss me off again

 

Everyone seems to know how it should be done, for some reason no one will put their money where their mouth is and JUST DO IT.

 

Why are all the prospective buyers of Newcastle weighing their pennies and trying to buy the club at a stupidly low price and all their dithering will just allow Ashley to emerge the winner if promotion is achieved?

 

 

 

I don't imagine many are comfortable dealing with the t***.

Or the £150m of debt, which in the current market gives NUFC a net value of next to nothing.

 

The debt has been there all along. If the interested parties wanted a a massive club capable of generating huge future profits without any debt then this just proves they weren't prepared to commit any investment risk at all.

 

Could have sworn some people mentioned last week that one of Ashley's greatest achievements was that the club now has no debt.

 

we only have as much debt as the owner wants to claw back (and if last summers asking price were true he will take a fair old loss)

 

the difference isn't the debt anyway, as many have said all along, it's the way it is structured . far betteroff owe the money to the owner as he is unlikely to call it in (gibson,lerner,abramovich) than owe it to financial institutions and the taxman who will call it in (cardiff,portsmouth,leeds etc)

 

So you agree there is a debt after all.  Those know-nowt morons who said there wasn't.

 

Anyway, so we can strike clearing the club debt off the list of your hero's achievements.

 

What's left.....?

if he had sold up for 80mill it could be argued he'd wrote off the debt.

 

 

 

"your hero"....doesn't become you htl.

 

Fawning over this cretin doesn't become you either, Madras. I don't expect anything sensible from mandiarse but I really thought you had more sense, tbh.

how am i fawing over him by recognising the s*** position we were in when he took over. ashley didn't help a great deal, his handling of kinnear etc was the biggestsingle mistake he made that caused our relegation from his side but i also think had he not took over allardyce would have took us down and we'd have been in even bigger s****.

 

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

it's my opinion that we were playing that bad, the players looked demoralised under his brand of football that had he not gone we'd have gone down and he'd been able to bring his own players in to do it.

 

 

like Blackburn and Bolton ?

 

 

no like us the way we were playing for the majority of that season with him.

 

which was the same as Bolton and Blackburn ?

 

 

nope it wasn't. at those clubs he brought in players to play to that system. here he brought in smith and barton to play alongside the already here owen and martins......it wasn't going to work. our players looked like they couldn't stand the system and played like it.

 

so he has a good history of keeping teams in the premiership but you think he would have taken us down ?

 

 

yes with the team he had and the way they were playing. i dont really care what he done elsewhere. i'll use what i saw of his time here as my prime evidence.

 

he has a record of keeping teams in the premiership on a shoestring so your opinion is just that, an opinion with no basis.

 

Anyway, his successor(s) at both managerial level and ownership succeeded in taking us down regardless.

 

 

my opinion is, unfortunatly, based on what i was watching week in, week out, which to me counts for more than what he has done before or since.

 

so is mine, and his managerial record, rather than Mike Ashley's ownership record. One club. One relegation.

 

 

 

 

i posted where i saw the club going under fred and co on a previous page and also where i blamed ashley.

 

go take a look as it's not as clear cut as it seems.

 

no, it isn't clear cut. So far he has taken us down, you can't say he is steering us in the right direction when we aren't even in the position he found us in yet. In fact, the current first team players at the club are inferior to the ones who were at the club when he bought it.

 

 

and where did i say he was steering us in the right direction ?

 

what i do say is i'd rather be in this position than the one i envisaged of relegation with fred at the helm and the banks etc shitting themselves we can't service our debt.

 

isn't that what the thread is about ie heading in the right direction, when we are worse off than when he came ?

 

 

[Guest Roger Kint]

so he has a good history of keeping teams in the premiership but you think he would have taken us down ?

 

2 wins in 13 with tough games v Man Utd x 2, Arsenal, Liverpool etc coming up fast. We only stayed up with a 7 game run through KK's change of tactics. Quite frankly Allardyce had us sinking and theres no way he could have changed it like that.

 

If you know anything about football you will know Bolton and Blackburn are pretty much set up for his style of anti football with squads full of workmanlike players. We on the other hand were full of overpaid prima donnas with very little work ethic.

 

but it was Ashley who succeeded in taking us down ?

 

Am confused, are you some random quote generator or was that really your best response to what i said? Where is the relevance, after all Ashley was the owner the start of that season in case you(as per) failed to work it out

[madras]

If (and its a big if) we are back to challenging for Europe in 3-5 years then relegation will have been the catalyst for it imo. Its a lot easier to make drastic decisions in the CCC than the Premier League.

 

Owen would probably still be on our books if we had survivied, another 4 years before we could look to move forward then.

 

Weve been promoted  to premiership have we? weve spent on class centre forwards? weve replaced ryan taylor and nicky butt in midfield? weve survived the first season post championship?

 

f*** me you are THE over-expectand geordie fan myth played out by the media. You fuckin stupid c***.

 

WE WILL BE UP FOR SALE THE DAY WE ARE PROMOTED

 

 

Please give me a season of mediocrity before you piss me off again

 

Everyone seems to know how it should be done, for some reason no one will put their money where their mouth is and JUST DO IT.

 

Why are all the prospective buyers of Newcastle weighing their pennies and trying to buy the club at a stupidly low price and all their dithering will just allow Ashley to emerge the winner if promotion is achieved?

 

 

 

I don't imagine many are comfortable dealing with the t***.

Or the £150m of debt, which in the current market gives NUFC a net value of next to nothing.

 

The debt has been there all along. If the interested parties wanted a a massive club capable of generating huge future profits without any debt then this just proves they weren't prepared to commit any investment risk at all.

 

Could have sworn some people mentioned last week that one of Ashley's greatest achievements was that the club now has no debt.

 

we only have as much debt as the owner wants to claw back (and if last summers asking price were true he will take a fair old loss)

 

the difference isn't the debt anyway, as many have said all along, it's the way it is structured . far betteroff owe the money to the owner as he is unlikely to call it in (gibson,lerner,abramovich) than owe it to financial institutions and the taxman who will call it in (cardiff,portsmouth,leeds etc)

 

So you agree there is a debt after all.  Those know-nowt morons who said there wasn't.

 

Anyway, so we can strike clearing the club debt off the list of your hero's achievements.

 

What's left.....?

if he had sold up for 80mill it could be argued he'd wrote off the debt.

 

 

 

"your hero"....doesn't become you htl.

 

Fawning over this cretin doesn't become you either, Madras. I don't expect anything sensible from mandiarse but I really thought you had more sense, tbh.

how am i fawing over him by recognising the s*** position we were in when he took over. ashley didn't help a great deal, his handling of kinnear etc was the biggestsingle mistake he made that caused our relegation from his side but i also think had he not took over allardyce would have took us down and we'd have been in even bigger s****.

 

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

it's my opinion that we were playing that bad, the players looked demoralised under his brand of football that had he not gone we'd have gone down and he'd been able to bring his own players in to do it.

 

 

like Blackburn and Bolton ?

 

 

no like us the way we were playing for the majority of that season with him.

 

which was the same as Bolton and Blackburn ?

 

 

nope it wasn't. at those clubs he brought in players to play to that system. here he brought in smith and barton to play alongside the already here owen and martins......it wasn't going to work. our players looked like they couldn't stand the system and played like it.

 

so he has a good history of keeping teams in the premiership but you think he would have taken us down ?

 

 

yes with the team he had and the way they were playing. i dont really care what he done elsewhere. i'll use what i saw of his time here as my prime evidence.

 

he has a record of keeping teams in the premiership on a shoestring so your opinion is just that, an opinion with no basis.

 

Anyway, his successor(s) at both managerial level and ownership succeeded in taking us down regardless.

 

 

my opinion is, unfortunatly, based on what i was watching week in, week out, which to me counts for more than what he has done before or since.

 

so is mine, and his managerial record, rather than Mike Ashley's ownership record. One club. One relegation.

 

 

 

 

i posted where i saw the club going under fred and co on a previous page and also where i blamed ashley.

 

go take a look as it's not as clear cut as it seems.

 

no, it isn't clear cut. So far he has taken us down, you can't say he is steering us in the right direction when we aren't even in the position he found us in yet. In fact, the current first team players at the club are inferior to the ones who were at the club when he bought it.

 

 

and where did i say he was steering us in the right direction ?

 

what i do say is i'd rather be in this position than the one i envisaged of relegation with fred at the helm and the banks etc shitting themselves we can't service our debt.

 

isn't that what the thread is about ie heading in the right direction, when we are worse off than when he came ?

 

 

do you think we'd have been better off had fred stayed ? i dont.

[Guest bobthemag]

so he has a good history of keeping teams in the premiership but you think he would have taken us down ?

 

2 wins in 13 with tough games v Man Utd x 2, Arsenal, Liverpool etc coming up fast. We only stayed up with a 7 game run through KK's change of tactics. Quite frankly Allardyce had us sinking and theres no way he could have changed it like that.

 

If you know anything about football you will know Bolton and Blackburn are pretty much set up for his style of anti football with squads full of workmanlike players. We on the other hand were full of overpaid prima donnas with very little work ethic.

 

but it was Ashley who succeeded in taking us down ?

 

Am confused, are you some random quote generator or was that really your best response to what i said? Where is the relevance, after all Ashley was the owner the start of that season in case you(as per) failed to work it out

 

you're easily confused aren't you

[Howaythelads]

Genuine question

A lot seem to think that Ashley is/was willing to write off the debt to sell, how do we know that?

as anyone who was interested had to sign non disclossure agreements.

I would have thought that we would have been snapped up debt free for 80mil, even running at a loss.

It seems to me that he wanted 80mil plus the debts to him still had to be paid and thats why we had no buyers.

If thats the case (but its only my take on it) then we are a lot worse off.

Only time will tell I suppose.

 

The price for the club was £100m in the summer, and this would have been for a debt free club, apart from the Barclays overdraft facility. THere would have been no money owed to Ashley. The price dropped to £80m at the last minute, but nobody had the cash.

 

I thought everyone had accepted this? THe idea that Ashley was trying to sell the club for £100m and after the sale the new owner would still owe Ashley £100m is nonsense.

 

And your source for this is?

[Howaythelads]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

[Guest Roger Kint]

so he has a good history of keeping teams in the premiership but you think he would have taken us down ?

 

2 wins in 13 with tough games v Man Utd x 2, Arsenal, Liverpool etc coming up fast. We only stayed up with a 7 game run through KK's change of tactics. Quite frankly Allardyce had us sinking and theres no way he could have changed it like that.

 

If you know anything about football you will know Bolton and Blackburn are pretty much set up for his style of anti football with squads full of workmanlike players. We on the other hand were full of overpaid prima donnas with very little work ethic.

 

but it was Ashley who succeeded in taking us down ?

 

Am confused, are you some random quote generator or was that really your best response to what i said? Where is the relevance, after all Ashley was the owner the start of that season in case you(as per) failed to work it out

 

you're easily confused aren't you

 

I am confused that you seem to think its ok that Allardyce didnt take us down because Ashley(among others for the record) managed it the following season with many of Allardyces signings. Its a stupid logic very much in keeping with almost every contribution you have brought to this thread since the laughable failure to understand that joke over a week ago.

 

Clearly for my sanity i will no longer lower myself to conversing with you, its like me challenging my goldfish to a game of chess and expecting it to make a good fight of it tbh.

[Guest bobthemag]

so he has a good history of keeping teams in the premiership but you think he would have taken us down ?

 

2 wins in 13 with tough games v Man Utd x 2, Arsenal, Liverpool etc coming up fast. We only stayed up with a 7 game run through KK's change of tactics. Quite frankly Allardyce had us sinking and theres no way he could have changed it like that.

 

If you know anything about football you will know Bolton and Blackburn are pretty much set up for his style of anti football with squads full of workmanlike players. We on the other hand were full of overpaid prima donnas with very little work ethic.

 

but it was Ashley who succeeded in taking us down ?

 

Am confused, are you some random quote generator or was that really your best response to what i said? Where is the relevance, after all Ashley was the owner the start of that season in case you(as per) failed to work it out

 

you're easily confused aren't you

 

I am confused that you seem to think its ok that Allardyce didnt take us down because Ashley(among others for the record) managed it the following season with many of Allardyces signings. Its a stupid logic very much in keeping with almost every contribution you have brought to this thread since the laughable failure to understand that joke over a week ago.

 

Clearly for my sanity i will no longer lower myself to conversing with you, its like me challenging my goldfish to a game of chess and expecting it to make a good fight of it tbh.

 

I too would rather debate with people who know about football rather than speculate. Have a nice day.

 

 

[Guest Roger Kint]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

 

Typically juvenile of you to focus on some insignificant comment in a post while ignoring the major point or points that have been made.  

 

Dont expect another as i dont want to make you go crying to mods again. You arent worth it at all tbh

[Guest bobthemag]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

 

Typically juvenile of you to focus on some insignificant comment in a post while ignoring the major point or points that have been made.  

 

Dont expect another as i dont want to make you go crying to mods again. You arent worth it at all tbh

 

that comments wasn't aimed at you 

[Guest Roger Kint]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

 

Typically juvenile of you to focus on some insignificant comment in a post while ignoring the major point or points that have been made.  

 

Dont expect another as i dont want to make you go crying to mods again. You arent worth it at all tbh

 

that comments wasn't aimed at you 

 

Wow you really are a walking whoooooooosh arent you?

 

 

Last post from me in this thread, as it will never get back on track while i humour your 'contributions' 

[Guest bobthemag]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

 

Typically juvenile of you to focus on some insignificant comment in a post while ignoring the major point or points that have been made.  

 

Dont expect another as i dont want to make you go crying to mods again. You arent worth it at all tbh

 

that comments wasn't aimed at you 

 

Wow you really are a walking whoooooooosh arent you?

 

 

Last post from me in this thread, as it will never get back on track while i humour your 'contributions' 

 

I look forward to seeing your contributions when we sign a couple of cheap players in the summer and are fighting to stay up next season.

 

 

[madras]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

 

Typically juvenile of you to focus on some insignificant comment in a post while ignoring the major point or points that have been made.  

 

Dont expect another as i dont want to make you go crying to mods again. You arent worth it at all tbh

 

that comments wasn't aimed at you 

 

Wow you really are a walking whoooooooosh arent you?

 

 

Last post from me in this thread, as it will never get back on track while i humour your 'contributions' 

 

I look forward to seeing your contributions when we sign a couple of cheap players in the summer and are fighting to stay up next season.

 

 

roger is fingers on keypad....fingers off keypad...fingers on keypad.....fingers off keypad.

[thomas]

Mike Ashley is a pretty awesome dude.  Quote this if you agree.

[OzzieMandias]

Cogito, ergo WUM

 

[Stu]

 

I look forward to seeing your contributions when we sign a couple of cheap players in the summer and are fighting to stay up next season.

 

 

This type of comment irates me, surely as Newcastle supporters we all understand that money does not equate to success. If that was the case, then surely the 5th biggest wage bill in the Premiership would not have finished 18th last year?

 

A lot of Ashley detractors have been harping on about how he's not willing to "splash the cash", yet that automatically implies that spending a lot of money on players ("We need at least a couple of £10million players in if we hope to stay up", etc).

 

Surely spending wisely and accumulating a reasonably well stocked squad of young, hungry players is far more conducive to long-term success and stablity than spunking £20mil + £££wages on some 'established players'?

 

At least if the 'cheaper' players aren't up to the job, it's relatively easy to shift them on to someone else or give them a free? Then we're not 'stuck' with the likes of Butt (past his prime, nice lad though), Smith (maybe not worth his £60k~/week wage), Barton or Owen being paid far more than their on-pitch contributions would suggest.

 

Bassong, Williamson, Simpson, Ranger, Kadar, Lovenkrands, Pancrate, Ryan Taylor, Routledge, Nolan (if only for his goals), Jonas and Guthrie would all appear to be relatively sensible signings given their 'accepted' transfer fees and 'accepted' wage bracket. Even Leon Best would fall into this category, hasn't done anything scincilating since joining but was apparently £1-2mil and had at least shown he could cut it at this level.

 

Colocinni (debatable), Xisco and the early Allardyce signings: Smith, Viduka, Geremi, etc., would be the players who remind me more of our Shepherd era signings (high transfer fees and wages based upon their reputation and/or supposed potential).

 

As more of the former style transfers are coming through and with some level of success, why do Ashley detractors still bang on about signing 'cheap players'?

[Howaythelads]

how would Allardyce have relegated us ?

 

Presumably by being the manager of us when finishing somewhere between 18th and 20th in the Premier League would be my guess.

 

Some of your interjections really are rather pointless would be my guess.

 

Typically juvenile of you to focus on some insignificant comment in a post while ignoring the major point or points that have been made.  

 

Dont expect another as i dont want to make you go crying to mods again. You arent worth it at all tbh

 

 

[Guest bobthemag]

 

I look forward to seeing your contributions when we sign a couple of cheap players in the summer and are fighting to stay up next season.

 

 

This type of comment irates me, surely as Newcastle supporters we all understand that money does not equate to success. If that was the case, then surely the 5th biggest wage bill in the Premiership would not have finished 18th last year?

 

A lot of Ashley detractors have been harping on about how he's not willing to "splash the cash", yet that automatically implies that spending a lot of money on players ("We need at least a couple of £10million players in if we hope to stay up", etc).

 

Surely spending wisely and accumulating a reasonably well stocked squad of young, hungry players is far more conducive to long-term success and stablity than spunking £20mil + £££wages on some 'established players'?

 

At least if the 'cheaper' players aren't up to the job, it's relatively easy to shift them on to someone else or give them a free? Then we're not 'stuck' with the likes of Butt (past his prime, nice lad though), Smith (maybe not worth his £60k~/week wage), Barton or Owen being paid far more than their on-pitch contributions would suggest.

 

Bassong, Williamson, Simpson, Ranger, Kadar, Lovenkrands, Pancrate, Ryan Taylor, Routledge, Nolan (if only for his goals), Jonas and Guthrie would all appear to be relatively sensible signings given their 'accepted' transfer fees and 'accepted' wage bracket. Even Leon Best would fall into this category, hasn't done anything scincilating since joining but was apparently £1-2mil and had at least shown he could cut it at this level.

 

Colocinni (debatable), Xisco and the early Allardyce signings: Smith, Viduka, Geremi, etc., would be the players who remind me more of our Shepherd era signings (high transfer fees and wages based upon their reputation and/or supposed potential).

 

As more of the former style transfers are coming through and with some level of success, why do Ashley detractors still bang on about signing 'cheap players'?

 

lots of speculative people around here. Have you tried telling Chelsea and Manutd your formula for success ?

 

Cheap players are cheap because they are by and large crap ie not good enough other than the odd success. Who have we bought recently that isn't cheap ?

 

 

[dilligaf]

Genuine question

A lot seem to think that Ashley is/was willing to write off the debt to sell, how do we know that?

as anyone who was interested had to sign non disclossure agreements.

I would have thought that we would have been snapped up debt free for 80mil, even running at a loss.

It seems to me that he wanted 80mil plus the debts to him still had to be paid and thats why we had no buyers.

If thats the case (but its only my take on it) then we are a lot worse off.

Only time will tell I suppose.

 

The price for the club was £100m in the summer, and this would have been for a debt free club, apart from the Barclays overdraft facility. THere would have been no money owed to Ashley. The price dropped to £80m at the last minute, but nobody had the cash.

 

I thought everyone had accepted this? THe idea that Ashley was trying to sell the club for £100m and after the sale the new owner would still owe Ashley £100m is nonsense.

 

And your source for this is?

Thats what I'd like to know, people keep saying 80 or 100 mil debt free, but where has it come from? have people just assumed? is there actually any solid proof thats what it was?

I dont recall anything officially being said (obv could be wrong)

 

[Hughesy]

You only have to look at some of the buys that other Premiership clubs have made over recent years to see that it is quite easy to get great value in the transfer market.  You don't need to spend vast sums to stay up, you just need to spend sensibly.

[Hughesy]

 

I look forward to seeing your contributions when we sign a couple of cheap players in the summer and are fighting to stay up next season.

 

 

This type of comment irates me, surely as Newcastle supporters we all understand that money does not equate to success. If that was the case, then surely the 5th biggest wage bill in the Premiership would not have finished 18th last year?

 

A lot of Ashley detractors have been harping on about how he's not willing to "splash the cash", yet that automatically implies that spending a lot of money on players ("We need at least a couple of £10million players in if we hope to stay up", etc).

 

Surely spending wisely and accumulating a reasonably well stocked squad of young, hungry players is far more conducive to long-term success and stablity than spunking £20mil + £££wages on some 'established players'?

 

At least if the 'cheaper' players aren't up to the job, it's relatively easy to shift them on to someone else or give them a free? Then we're not 'stuck' with the likes of Butt (past his prime, nice lad though), Smith (maybe not worth his £60k~/week wage), Barton or Owen being paid far more than their on-pitch contributions would suggest.

 

Bassong, Williamson, Simpson, Ranger, Kadar, Lovenkrands, Pancrate, Ryan Taylor, Routledge, Nolan (if only for his goals), Jonas and Guthrie would all appear to be relatively sensible signings given their 'accepted' transfer fees and 'accepted' wage bracket. Even Leon Best would fall into this category, hasn't done anything scincilating since joining but was apparently £1-2mil and had at least shown he could cut it at this level.

 

Colocinni (debatable), Xisco and the early Allardyce signings: Smith, Viduka, Geremi, etc., would be the players who remind me more of our Shepherd era signings (high transfer fees and wages based upon their reputation and/or supposed potential).

 

As more of the former style transfers are coming through and with some level of success, why do Ashley detractors still bang on about signing 'cheap players'?

 

lots of speculative people around here. Have you tried telling Chelsea and Manutd your formula for success ?

 

Cheap players are cheap because they are by and large crap ie not good enough other than the odd success. Who have we bought recently that isn't cheap ?

 

 

 

The statement about cheap players is quite amusing.

[Guest bobthemag]

 

I look forward to seeing your contributions when we sign a couple of cheap players in the summer and are fighting to stay up next season.

 

 

This type of comment irates me, surely as Newcastle supporters we all understand that money does not equate to success. If that was the case, then surely the 5th biggest wage bill in the Premiership would not have finished 18th last year?

 

A lot of Ashley detractors have been harping on about how he's not willing to "splash the cash", yet that automatically implies that spending a lot of money on players ("We need at least a couple of £10million players in if we hope to stay up", etc).

 

Surely spending wisely and accumulating a reasonably well stocked squad of young, hungry players is far more conducive to long-term success and stablity than spunking £20mil + £££wages on some 'established players'?

 

At least if the 'cheaper' players aren't up to the job, it's relatively easy to shift them on to someone else or give them a free? Then we're not 'stuck' with the likes of Butt (past his prime, nice lad though), Smith (maybe not worth his £60k~/week wage), Barton or Owen being paid far more than their on-pitch contributions would suggest.

 

Bassong, Williamson, Simpson, Ranger, Kadar, Lovenkrands, Pancrate, Ryan Taylor, Routledge, Nolan (if only for his goals), Jonas and Guthrie would all appear to be relatively sensible signings given their 'accepted' transfer fees and 'accepted' wage bracket. Even Leon Best would fall into this category, hasn't done anything scincilating since joining but was apparently £1-2mil and had at least shown he could cut it at this level.

 

Colocinni (debatable), Xisco and the early Allardyce signings: Smith, Viduka, Geremi, etc., would be the players who remind me more of our Shepherd era signings (high transfer fees and wages based upon their reputation and/or supposed potential).

 

As more of the former style transfers are coming through and with some level of success, why do Ashley detractors still bang on about signing 'cheap players'?

 

lots of speculative people around here. Have you tried telling Chelsea and Manutd your formula for success ?

 

Cheap players are cheap because they are by and large crap ie not good enough other than the odd success. Who have we bought recently that isn't cheap ?

 

 

 

The statement about cheap players is quite amusing.

 

how many of our recent signings will be good premiership players ?

 

 

[Hughesy]

I think Routledge and Williamson will prove to be decent signings.  What I am more focussing on is the undeniable fact that Newcastle could stay up next year by buying 'cheap' players.  It would be quite easy to come up with a sizeable list of players who have been bought over the last 2-3 years for small amounts (ie max of 3 million) by Premiership clubs that would keep us up.

 

There is absolutely no footballing or economic need to make big signings for next season.

[madras]

I think Routledge and Williamson will prove to be decent signings.  What I am more focussing on is the undeniable fact that Newcastle could stay up next year by buying 'cheap' players.  It would be quite easy to come up with a sizeable list of players who have been bought over the last 2-3 years for small amounts (ie max of 3 million) by Premiership clubs that would keep us up.

 

There is absolutely no footballing or economic need to make big signings for next season.

it's not big or small signings it's the right signings if you have the choice. unfortunatly i don't think we have the choice to make big signings.

[Guest bobthemag]

I think Routledge and Williamson will prove to be decent signings.  What I am more focussing on is the undeniable fact that Newcastle could stay up next year by buying 'cheap' players.  It would be quite easy to come up with a sizeable list of players who have been bought over the last 2-3 years for small amounts (ie max of 3 million) by Premiership clubs that would keep us up.

 

There is absolutely no footballing or economic need to make big signings for next season.

 

congratulations on setting your sights as high as Wigan