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Chris Gray on NUFC under Ashley


Stu

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Reading the various blogs linked to the local papers (this one included) might make you think that Newcastle had had a bad season and face a horrendous future. All we hear from supporters - who, if their comments are anything to go by, are a pretty brainless lot – is that Ashley is the devil incarnate and is to blame for everything. I am no Ashley apologist, but this will just not do – not least because it only serves to undermine and damage the club we all supposedly love.

 

Look at the facts, you blind, knee-jerking idiots (sorry, nothing personal intended).

 

Newcastle United have just finished in a better premiership position than when Ashley took over. Fact.

True, we’ve been down and come up again but I’m with those who claim that was a good thing (although it didn’t feel like it at the time).

 

The finances at Newcastle are immeasurably better than they were then. Football clubs have to get their financial house in order first – then they might have a chance of moving forward on a firm footing. Fact.

 

Ashley now has his own man in the job – like him or loathe him, Pardew is Ashley’s choice and there is a chance he will get funds to spend. The predecessors were either inherited (Allardyce), short-term (Kinnear and, initially, Hughton) or foisted on him (Keegan, Shearer). For the first time, he has his own man in post. Fact.

 

Some (not all) of Wise’s young recruits are now coming through. We Newcastle supporters have never been prepared to be patient – we want it all now – but it will be worth waiting for the likes of Vuckic, Kadar etc (I exclude Ranger, although I expect he’ll do very well wherever he goes). Fact (more or less).

 

Gone are the days when we become the laughing-stock of everyone else by paying crazy money (transfer fees and wages) for dreadful players. The successful clubs in the future will be those who are sensible, prudent and build gradually. (OK, freak situations like Man City might threaten that – but we still await their real success, and will it last?) Fact (in my opinion).

 

And – I’m not sure quite how the Ashley-haters deal with this one – Mike Ashley has pumped over £100 million of his own money into the club. It may be a loan, but without it no-one seems quite sure where we’d have been. Fact.

 

And finally, whether we like it or not, Mr Ashley has bought us. It’s a free country, governed largely by property and ownership and money – and Ashley owns the whole thing from Jose Enrique down to the light switch in the gents toilet. Fact.

 

Now for the controversial bit. I was born in Elswick and Albert Bennett, Gordon Marshall and Dave Elliott were playing in the first game I ever saw. I was at Hillsborough, Wembley etc and was even one of the 7,000 at the Norwich game at the end of the pre-Keegan relegation season. I am black and white, North East through and through. But … the trouble with us is that we don’t live in the real world. Our culture up here is one of dependency – it’s someone else’s fault. I know it’s not pc to say it, but we are the antithesis of entrepreneurial flair. Ask anyone who tries to stir up business activity in this region. They won’t say it publicly but they’ll admit it in private. We know nothing, or so it seems, of economic reality. Football clubs cannot just throw away huge contracts – it makes absolute sense to do what we’ve done with Barton and – allegedly – Nolan. Footballers get far too much money and the game can’t afford them. Ashley isn’t being greedy by seeing that – he’s being a good businessman. That’s what Newcastle United have needed since the days of Stan Seymour, Lord Westwood, Gordon McKeag. Arsenal have been unlucky not to have won a trophy in the last few years but they’ve won plenty over the years under Wenger. Arsenal are the soundest club in the country – the only club in the top four who are virtually certain to be still there in ten years time. Wenger and his board will not spend unless they absolutely have to – they have spent a lot less than Newcastle since Wenger took over but have developed from within and bought young, hungry players at prices often well below £1m. (Vieira, for example, at £350k). When from time to time they’ve bought big, the player has almost always been a great success.

 

That’s the model to follow. All you Ashley-bashers really haven’t a clue.

 

A bit OTT for me but he does raise a couple of worthwhile talking points. Could it be Llambias under a pseudonym? :D

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Guest BooBoo

Scratch away the mountains of shite and Ashley has made some sensible decisions, there's little doubting that.

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Reading the various blogs linked to the local papers (this one included) might make you think that Newcastle had had a bad season and face a horrendous future. All we hear from supporters - who, if their comments are anything to go by, are a pretty brainless lot – is that Ashley is the devil incarnate and is to blame for everything. I am no Ashley apologist, but this will just not do – not least because it only serves to undermine and damage the club we all supposedly love.

 

Look at the facts, you blind, knee-jerking idiots (sorry, nothing personal intended).

 

Newcastle United have just finished in a better premiership position than when Ashley took over. Fact.

True, we’ve been down and come up again but I’m with those who claim that was a good thing (although it didn’t feel like it at the time).

 

The finances at Newcastle are immeasurably better than they were then. Football clubs have to get their financial house in order first – then they might have a chance of moving forward on a firm footing. Fact.

 

Ashley now has his own man in the job – like him or loathe him, Pardew is Ashley’s choice and there is a chance he will get funds to spend. The predecessors were either inherited (Allardyce), short-term (Kinnear and, initially, Hughton) or foisted on him (Keegan, Shearer). For the first time, he has his own man in post. Fact.

 

Some (not all) of Wise’s young recruits are now coming through. We Newcastle supporters have never been prepared to be patient – we want it all now – but it will be worth waiting for the likes of Vuckic, Kadar etc (I exclude Ranger, although I expect he’ll do very well wherever he goes). Fact (more or less).

 

Gone are the days when we become the laughing-stock of everyone else by paying crazy money (transfer fees and wages) for dreadful players. The successful clubs in the future will be those who are sensible, prudent and build gradually. (OK, freak situations like Man City might threaten that – but we still await their real success, and will it last?) Fact (in my opinion).

 

And – I’m not sure quite how the Ashley-haters deal with this one – Mike Ashley has pumped over £100 million of his own money into the club. It may be a loan, but without it no-one seems quite sure where we’d have been. Fact.

 

And finally, whether we like it or not, Mr Ashley has bought us. It’s a free country, governed largely by property and ownership and money – and Ashley owns the whole thing from Jose Enrique down to the light switch in the gents toilet. Fact.

 

Now for the controversial bit. I was born in Elswick and Albert Bennett, Gordon Marshall and Dave Elliott were playing in the first game I ever saw. I was at Hillsborough, Wembley etc and was even one of the 7,000 at the Norwich game at the end of the pre-Keegan relegation season. I am black and white, North East through and through. But … the trouble with us is that we don’t live in the real world. Our culture up here is one of dependency – it’s someone else’s fault. I know it’s not pc to say it, but we are the antithesis of entrepreneurial flair. Ask anyone who tries to stir up business activity in this region. They won’t say it publicly but they’ll admit it in private. We know nothing, or so it seems, of economic reality. Football clubs cannot just throw away huge contracts – it makes absolute sense to do what we’ve done with Barton and – allegedly – Nolan. Footballers get far too much money and the game can’t afford them. Ashley isn’t being greedy by seeing that – he’s being a good businessman. That’s what Newcastle United have needed since the days of Stan Seymour, Lord Westwood, Gordon McKeag. Arsenal have been unlucky not to have won a trophy in the last few years but they’ve won plenty over the years under Wenger. Arsenal are the soundest club in the country – the only club in the top four who are virtually certain to be still there in ten years time. Wenger and his board will not spend unless they absolutely have to – they have spent a lot less than Newcastle since Wenger took over but have developed from within and bought young, hungry players at prices often well below £1m. (Vieira, for example, at £350k). When from time to time they’ve bought big, the player has almost always been a great success.

 

That’s the model to follow. All you Ashley-bashers really haven’t a clue.

 

A bit OTT for me but he does raise a couple of worthwhile talking points. Could it be Llambias under a pseudonym? :D

 

FACT, or not at all as the truth would have it.

 

Who is Chris gray

 

There is an Ashley thread

 

Either a soopafan or he plays for the Seattle NFL team according to wiki.

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For a start, Vieira cost £3.5 million, not 350k. So the author should do a bit of research.

 

Also - aren't we more in debt that we ever have been? So how does that make us on a better financial footing?

 

Newcastle United have just finished in a better premiership position than when Ashley took over. Fact.

 

Did Dekka write this?

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The "fact" stuff is poor, like, but there are some valid points in among the bollocks, as always though it's trying too hard to be controversial and garner attention that way.

 

For the record, "bollocks" would class as assuming Vuckic and Kadar will be "worth waiting for", suggesting Hughton was anything other than Ashley's own man (when I've heard Llambias personally describing Hughton as "our hero" over and over) and the complete lack of anything resembling balance in the article. For every good move Mike has made, he has undermined it by doing something equally stupid, to this point at least. There's more, but it's making me miserable having to keep re-reading it.

 

Only now are we really starting to turn the corner (even still there's the Barton/Enrique/Nolan stuff hanging over our heads as we speak), and this is still after losing Hughton and Carroll in acrimonious circumstances just a few months ago, so I reckon this arsehole might be jumping the gun a bit.

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The "fact" stuff is poor, like, but there are some valid points in among the bollocks, as always though it's trying too hard to be controversial and garner attention that way.

 

For the record, "bollocks" would class as assuming Vuckic and Kadar will be "worth waiting for", suggesting Hughton was anything other than Ashley's own man (when I've heard Llambias personally describing Hughton as "our hero" over and over) and the complete lack of anything resembling balance in the article. For every good move Mike has made, he has undermined it by doing something equally stupid, to this point at least. There's more, but it's making me miserable having to keep re-reading it.

 

Only now are we really starting to turn the corner (even still there's the Barton/Enrique/Nolan stuff hanging over our heads as we speak), and this is still after losing Hughton and Carroll in acrimonious circumstances just a few months ago, so I reckon this arsehole might be jumping the gun a bit.

 

:laugh:

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Guest ObiChrisKenobi

Also - aren't we more in debt that we ever have been? So how does that make us on a better financial footing?

 

Its not 'bank' debt, but 'Ashley' debt, if that makes sense.

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Also - aren't we more in debt that we ever have been? So how does that make us on a better financial footing?

 

Its not 'bank' debt, but 'Ashley' debt, if that makes sense.

 

I know. ;)

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Ashley has made some terrible decisions in his time but in no way is he the anti-christ he's made out to be.

 

He's no saint, but at the same time I think he's ran the club a hell of a lot better than Freddy Shepherd was when he took over.

 

We've had our ups and downs but right now I think things are looking positive for our club.

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Guest sicko2ndbest

If we really do have a good summer and spend most if the money I am prepared to give him some credit

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Ashley has made some terrible decisions in his time but in no way is he the anti-christ he's made out to be.

 

He's no saint, but at the same time I think he's ran the club a hell of a lot better than Freddy Shepherd was when he took over.

 

We've had our ups and downs but right now I think things are looking positive for our club.

 

5.2 The Club admitted to the Tribunal that it repeatedly and intentionally misled the press, public and the fans of Newcastle United.

 

:whistle:

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Na Ashley needs to take the blame for Newcastle's demise last year, there's no doubt about it. He made a catalogue of errors.

 

However, improvements have been made.

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Ashley has made some terrible decisions in his time but in no way is he the anti-christ he's made out to be.

 

He's no saint, but at the same time I think he's ran the club a hell of a lot better than Freddy Shepherd was when he took over.

 

We've had our ups and downs but right now I think things are looking positive for our club.

 

5.2 The Club admitted to the Tribunal that it repeatedly and intentionally misled the press, public and the fans of Newcastle United.

 

:whistle:

 

I take that for granted, PR is all about putting a positive spin on things, the only difference is we got caught doing it.

 

Can you tell me you've never extended the truth on your CV when applying for a job?

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Shearer and Keegan were "foisted" on him? Definitely not KK!

 

True, we’ve been down and come up again but I’m with those who claim that was a good thing

 

Yes, I'm sure he intentially meant that. :kinnear:

 

But.... I can see Ashley's vision, financially, for the club. It always crosses my mind that Ashley is preparing this club for UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations in mind. (I know it only applies to clubs in European compeitions at the moment.)

 

Overall, a shit article, fuck off you twat.

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Shearer and Keegan were "foisted" on him? Definitely not KK!

 

True, we’ve been down and come up again but I’m with those who claim that was a good thing

 

Yes, I'm sure he intentially meant that. :kinnear:

 

But.... I can see Ashley's vision, financially, for the club. It always crosses my mind that Ashley is preparing this club for UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations in mind. (I know it only applies to clubs in European compeitions at the moment.)

Overall, a shit article, fuck off you twat.

 

I personally think his financial vision for the club ties in with making us a more attractive proposition for potential buyers.

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Fact (in my opinion)

 

Brilliant stuff.

 

While everyone is aware of the need to balance the books, I cannot fathom this retrospective disdain of big-money signings. Yes, some of them were disasters. Equally, some of them were fabulous to watch. And Arsenal have the considerable advantage of being able to charge double the prices on their STs and a corporate section that shits gold ingots. They haven't got all that cash just from clever transfer dealings.

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Shearer and Keegan were "foisted" on him? Definitely not KK!

 

True, weve been down and come up again but Im with those who claim that was a good thing

 

Yes, I'm sure he intentially meant that. :kinnear:

 

But.... I can see Ashley's vision, financially, for the club. It always crosses my mind that Ashley is preparing this club for UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations in mind. (I know it only applies to clubs in European compeitions at the moment.)

Overall, a shit article, fuck off you twat.

 

I personally think his financial vision for the club ties in with making us a more attractive proposition for potential buyers.

 

yeah, that's crossed my mind as well.

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Now for the controversial bit. I was born in Elswick and Albert Bennett, Gordon Marshall and Dave Elliott were playing in the first game I ever saw. I was at Hillsborough, Wembley etc and was even one of the 7,000 at the Norwich game at the end of the pre-Keegan relegation season. I am black and white, North East through and through. But … the trouble with us is that we don’t live in the real world. Our culture up here is one of dependency – it’s someone else’s fault. I know it’s not pc to say it, but we are the antithesis of entrepreneurial flair. Ask anyone who tries to stir up business activity in this region. They won’t say it publicly but they’ll admit it in private. We know nothing, or so it seems, of economic reality. Football clubs cannot just throw away huge contracts – it makes absolute sense to do what we’ve done with Barton and – allegedly – Nolan. Footballers get far too much money and the game can’t afford them. Ashley isn’t being greedy by seeing that – he’s being a good businessman. That’s what Newcastle United have needed since the days of Stan Seymour, Lord Westwood, Gordon McKeag. Arsenal have been unlucky not to have won a trophy in the last few years but they’ve won plenty over the years under Wenger. Arsenal are the soundest club in the country – the only club in the top four who are virtually certain to be still there in ten years time. Wenger and his board will not spend unless they absolutely have to – they have spent a lot less than Newcastle since Wenger took over but have developed from within and bought young, hungry players at prices often well below £1m. (Vieira, for example, at £350k). When from time to time they’ve bought big, the player has almost always been a great success.

 

That’s the model to follow. All you Ashley-bashers really haven’t a clue.

 

That bit that I've highlighted in bold is the bit that I found most interesting...perhaps that's the bit that folks need to really get debating. The rest is more of the same old, same old.

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Since when is flogging tat 'entrepreneurial flair'?

 

Arsenal are the only team to be sure of top four status in the next ten years? They're on a downward slide, and the only way they'll arrest that is to start keeping up with the Jones'

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I know it’s not pc to say it, but we are the antithesis of entrepreneurial flair. Ask anyone who tries to stir up business activity in this region. They won’t say it publicly but they’ll admit it in private. We know nothing, or so it seems, of economic reality.

 

That bit that I've highlighted in bold is the bit that I found most interesting...perhaps that's the bit that folks need to really get debating. The rest is more of the same old, same old.

 

Just from personal experience working in and with small businesses in the area, I think the original quote is bollocks. There might not be enough small business development (not solely a NE phenomenon) but he's miles off the mark to suggest there isn't any.

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