For Gods sake Mike!

[Dave]

I think you need to give the fans something to believe in but I think the club is slowly but surely disconnecting itself from the supporters.  If they continue to do that, the club will take a very long time to recover.  As supporters, we have always been able to cling on to the dream of what if and have some hope - if that does not exist then what is the point?  And Ashley will suffer because he will only damage his investment further.  If he thinks fans will turn up regardless on the basis of last season then he is very much mistaken.

 

We are fortunate in that as a newly promoted team, we have a far better base than most previously promoted teams.  A modest investment would guarantee survival.

 

Spot on.

[oldtype]

I think you need to give the fans something to believe in but I think the club is slowly but surely disconnecting itself from the supporters.  If they continue to do that, the club will take a very long time to recover.  As supporters, we have always been able to cling on to the dream of what if and have some hope - if that does not exist then what is the point?  And Ashley will suffer because he will only damage his investment further.  If he thinks fans will turn up regardless on the basis of last season then he is very much mistaken.

 

We are fortunate in that as a newly promoted team, we have a far better base than most previously promoted teams.  A modest investment would guarantee survival.

 

Spot on.

 

I don't disagree with this either. The business of Football is ultimately about selling dreams. The dream NUFC is currently selling is "we'll spend absolutely f*** all money on transfers for the next five years and if we haven't imploded in the mean time maybe then we'll have established ourselves as a lower mid-table Premiership club who might be able to spunk up 5m a window."

[AyeDubbleYoo]

But oldtype, that's basically what football is like for 99% of clubs. We support them because we pretty much have to.

 

I want us to progress, but we have to face that it will have to happen slowly.

 

We've gone from Champions League to bottom half relatively quickly, it can be turned around as well.

[TRon]

Something else to consider: if Ashley gets his signings in early it gives us time to offload players who would then become surplus. If we signed Ben Arfa clubs would probably be encouraged to bid for Nolan, Barton or Guthrie. By dragging this out Ashley is probably getting exactly what he wants - keep the players we've got and the wage bill down.

[oldtype]

But oldtype, that's basically what football is like for 99% of clubs. We support them because we pretty much have to.

 

I want us to progress, but we have to face that it will have to happen slowly.

 

We've gone from Champions League to bottom half relatively quickly, it can be turned around as well.

 

I'm just saying the club could be selling it/planning it a bit better. I'm all for the idea of "gradual progress" but "0 net spend for five years and we might be about where we were in 2006/2007" is just depressing.

 

You cannot just set it down in stone that you're not spending money for five years. There has to be some sort of wiggle room for acceptable risk when a good opportunity comes along.

 

Obviously that club statement at the end of last season was a disaster on all counts.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

We should organise a protest.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

We should organise a protest.

 

your spelung iz 2 gud.

[Guest neesy111]

We should organise a protest.

 

we've been hearing of protests for years against the board, and nothing has happened 

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

What are NUST up to these days?

[Guest neesy111]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

was just wondering that, they've been very quiet recently

[Mick]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

Still trying to buy the club, I think.

[Shearergol]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

Still trying to buy the club, I think.

 

As successful as Roeder with Kuyt.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

was just wondering that, they've been very quiet recently

 

Been quiet since a week after it was formed. Though I suppose that might be down to people like me who were dubious towards them from the start, so they don't feel like coming on other forums anymore due to the abuse/questions they get.

[Guest neesy111]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

was just wondering that, they've been very quiet recently

 

Been quiet since a week after it was formed. Though I suppose that might be down to people like me who were dubious towards them from the start, so they don't feel like coming on other forums anymore due to the abuse/questions they get.

 

i was never ever in support of them anycase

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

I wasn't one way or another, but I found I had more questions than I did answers from them.

[Ronaldo]

We're still a significantly better side than we were when we went down, and even then we only got relegated by a point.

 

Yes and no imo.

 

We look a bit more settled in defence, we look to have a decent pair of wingers this time around, and Carroll may be able to get 10+ goals this year if we're lucky.

 

However, Harper looks too easy to beat, we have a clear problem with the right back slot, our midfielders are all very slow, lacking in creativity, and none of them are good at protecting the back defense, and aside from Carroll, we're probably going to be hopeless in attack. Furthermore, if we get a couple of injuries to the likes of Jonas/Enrique/Carroll, we're probably f***ed.

 

It's a complete crapshot anyway. The team that got relegated was significantly better than the s*** Roeder had to work with for the majority of 2006/2007.

 

 

No chance.

[Guest neesy111]

We're still a significantly better side than we were when we went down, and even then we only got relegated by a point.

 

Yes and no imo.

 

We look a bit more settled in defence, we look to have a decent pair of wingers this time around, and Carroll may be able to get 10+ goals this year if we're lucky.

 

However, Harper looks too easy to beat, we have a clear problem with the right back slot, our midfielders are all very slow, lacking in creativity, and none of them are good at protecting the back defense, and aside from Carroll, we're probably going to be hopeless in attack. Furthermore, if we get a couple of injuries to the likes of Jonas/Enrique/Carroll, we're probably f***ed.

 

It's a complete crapshot anyway. The team that got relegated was significantly better than the s*** Roeder had to work with for the majority of 2006/2007.

 

 

No chance.

 

exactly what i said

[Liam Liam Liam O]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

They're striving for positive change.

[TheGuv]

[Wullie]

This ridiculous myth that the club has no income and can only spend money if Mike Ashley raids his own personal piggy bank has to stop.

 

John Hall and Freddy Shepherd never put a single penny into NUFC over a fifteen year period and still managed to have us competing for the title, playing in cup finals, playing in the Champions League and paying big money for quality players.

 

Yes their reign turned sour thanks to a few dud managers who in turn made more than a few dud signings and left us in a bit of a state (much less of a state than certain other Premier League clubs who continue to improve their side I might add) but that took nearly two decades to get to that point - I remember arguments on here about them taking massive dividends out of the club each year atop massive salaries and still we managed to spend money on players, long before any financial troubles loomed large.

 

Now I appreciate that there was debt left over but much of this was on the stadium. Ashley claims that it was mainly on transfer fees previously paid - what were these mega fees out of line with most other clubs cos I must have missed them? A Boumsong here and a Luque there might not be ideal but I don't think it should cripple the club. I would also argue that a club needs debt to compete. I have a massive debt on my house, but we all do, I'm not going to stop replacing the lightbulbs because of it.

 

Over time season ticket prices have soared yet the sort of transfer fees we as a club pay have remained similar - in fact nowadays they are vastly less than they were in the early to mid-90s with a much smaller ground. We no longer pay the mortgage on the ground that we did when we upgraded it, so we get the vast majority of gate fees back into the coffers, something that has only been happening under Ashley's reign. Meanwhile the wage bill (which Ashley bloated when he arrived, despite his pleas that it was Shepherd alone) has been slashed, TV money rises year on year, we had a big parachute payment to cushion the drop back into the Championship, we have sold Bassong, Martins, N'Zogbia, Given, Duff, Milner et al for a combined total of nearly £50m and spent a small fraction of that on replacements.

 

Now I know nothing about finances (obviously, I hear you cry ) and most people seem content to accept what they're being told by Ashley and his mates but to me, something isn't right with what we're being told re: the club's financials. Where is the money going compared to the previous fifteen years? How long can we accept the "we're skint" line? Five years? Ten years?

[Guest firetotheworks]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

They're striving for positive change.

 

It's better than hoping for it like the rest of us.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

They're striving for positive change.

 

It's better than hoping for it like the rest of us.

 

Can you tell me what it actually means?  Like in terms of something specific?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Is it not just a difference in policy Wullie? Previously the owners didn't mind the debt increasing, so allowed spending to continue. Ashley wants to make the club self-sufficient, so he's not sanctioning any increase in borrowing.

 

Obviously the economic situation has worsened massively as well.

 

Obviously you'd be silly to stop buying lightbulbs because you have a mortgage to pay. But equally you'd be silly to take out loads of credit to buy a plasma telly and a new car.

[Guest firetotheworks]

What are NUST up to these days?

 

They're striving for positive change.

 

It's better than hoping for it like the rest of us.

 

Can you tell me what it actually means?  Like in terms of something specific?

 

Aiming for a target, first hand.

 

We're hoping for a target, second hand.

 

 

I'm not saying they're the bees knees or anything, but if they're doing something, or they're planning to do something, then they wont get any snide remarks about them from me. Especially when I'm doing fuck all to truly make a difference myself.

[Wullie]

Is it not just a difference in policy Wullie? Previously the owners didn't mind the debt increasing, so allowed spending to continue. Ashley wants to make the club self-sufficient, so he's not sanctioning any increase in borrowing.

 

Obviously the economic situation has worsened massively as well.

 

Obviously you'd be silly to stop buying lightbulbs because you have a mortgage to pay. But equally you'd be silly to take out loads of credit to buy a plasma telly and a new car.

 

The club will never be self sufficient as a yo-yo club. It was self sufficient through the 90s with less transfer fees and far higher ground income (albeit lower wages too) when we were spending money to compete with the big boys. I appreciate things have changed re: Man City, Chelsea etc but the club no longer being able to compete with Everton, Spurs right down to Stoke City and Bolton? Nah sorry, not buying it.