Mike Ashley

[BottledDog]

Don't ever leave us Mike.

 

...with the massive debts you've accumulated.

[Jill]

Tough reading for some on here.

 

Grammatically it wasn't great and it pissed me off that he kept starting paragraphs with 'that's not to say' but I got through it

 

 

I was more concerned by the title. Dramatically nonsensical?

 

Yeah, the title bears no relation to the article.

 

Their titles are always shit like. Always when I see what lyric they're coming out with each time.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Cockney Boy Done Good - The Mike Ashley Story

 

The ownership of Newcastle United by Mike Ashley is tantamount to an enigma. It's a mystery, a test filled with highs and lows veering between the two at hurtling speed. In this black and white era of a football where everyone is either hero or villain, it’s almost impossible to make a fair judgement. Unlike the Magpies themselves, this one is knee deep in shades of grey.

 

The latest report is that a group of Newcastle fans staged a protest during a reserve Tyne-Wear derby over the naming of St James Park. Signs bearing the new name, Sports Direct Arena were torn down, the walls were emblazoned with graffiti and a coffin was brought in. I'm certain some of that is hyperbole (a coffin?!) but even so the fact that a protest was held at all raises major questions.

 

If there was a coffin involved, what exactly was it supposed to represent? The death of the club? Newcastle are actually sitting pretty in fifth place, perfectly poised to make a shot at Champions League football in the run in. They won't get it but they will get a nice run out in the newly revitalised Europa League next season.

 

Or was the coffin a threat to Ashley himself? It all just seems a bit much for a man who has turned the club around not by making the decisions the fans called for but going the much more difficult route of making unpopular, but in hindsight, inspired choices.

 

Without giving a brief history of Newcastle United, the most notable recent flashpoints would be firing Chris Hughton. A great guy, a decent manager and a loyal servant of the club and replacing him with another Cockney yes man. Only it turns out that Pardew might not be a bad manager after all. He's went from almost Bond like villain to prospective England manager in just over a year and few Newcastle fans would ask him to leave now.

 

Last January, Ashley took the outrageous decision to sell Number 9, big Andy Carroll pocketing only 35 million for him. Since then he's been replaced with new cult heroes Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse. Following on from the decision to replace Nolan and Barton with Cabaye and Tiote, Mike Ashley is suddenly looking like a transfer guru.

 

And now we have the battle over St. James Park. It's a classic case of a rose by any other name. The ground will always be St. James Park. The bricks and mortar haven't changed. The memories that fill the stadium haven't died. Yes the media will now have to refer to it by its actual name but there's no such mandate for fans. You can call it what you want, it'll always be St. James' Park.

 

And what does it do for the club? In a time where purse strings should be tightened and balance sheets, well, balanced, this re-naming offers Newcastle a chance to bring in extra funds, some of which may go towards buying a new French wonder in midfield or another cult hero up front. The rest will go to ensure the club gets to stay afloat, paying its wages and staying profitable. Not a bad businessman this Mike Ashley. 

 

In a league where every second club is having a protest to get their owners out, it becomes a question of who the hell would want to own a football club. The fans want money in. Money lost? More money in. But refuse to acknowledge that cash has to come from somewhere. Mike Ashley has had a lot of lows with the club but he seems to be on the up and up now and he can take a lot of credit for that. If he can keep it going it won't be long before he's an adopted Geordie again.

 

Because the Geordie fans are a breed unto themselves, and the top league is all the better for having them. But this protest screams short sighted. The good times are rolling and they might not last forever so enjoy it while you can and leave your coffins at home. I mean if you’re going to protest, can't it be about the more pressing issue of getting those fat fans to keep their tops on? Come on guys, priorities.

 

http://sportwitness.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cockney-boy-done-good-the-mike-ashley-story

 

[gbandit]

These articles do make me feel sick. Financially doing well doesn't mean you can just forget about some of the things he's done. I know they all add the caveats about the past but even if we win a trophy under him, I won't be singing his praises

[NEEJ]

These articles do make me feel sick. Financially doing well doesn't mean you can just forget about some of the things he's done. I know they all add the caveats about the past but even if we win a trophy under him, I won't be singing his praises

I think I'd be happy to overlook his (appalling) mistakes if we were to win a trophy like.

[gbandit]

These articles do make me feel sick. Financially doing well doesn't mean you can just forget about some of the things he's done. I know they all add the caveats about the past but even if we win a trophy under him, I won't be singing his praises

I think I'd be happy to overlook his (appalling) mistakes if we were to win a trophy like.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted for the club and incredibly happy. I would also admit that we wouldn't have been able to do it without his involvement as he has done many things right but I won't ever be someone who says 'I'm so pleased we have Ashley, he turned the club around'.

[High Five o]

Cockney Boy Done Good - The Mike Ashley Story

 

 

 

And what does it do for the club? In a time where purse strings should be tightened and balance sheets, well, balanced, this re-naming offers Newcastle a chance to bring in extra funds, some of which may go towards buying a new French wonder in midfield or another cult hero up front. The rest will go to ensure the club gets to stay afloat, paying its wages and staying profitable. Not a bad businessman this Mike Ashley. 

 

 

 

http://sportwitness.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cockney-boy-done-good-the-mike-ashley-story

 

 

Shit article, we need defenders !

Writer need to do better research.

Boycouttt in coffin!!11 SMB

[Elliottman]

These articles do make me feel sick. Financially doing well doesn't mean you can just forget about some of the things he's done. I know they all add the caveats about the past but even if we win a trophy under him, I won't be singing his praises

I think I'd be happy to overlook his (appalling) mistakes if we were to win a trophy like.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted for the club and incredibly happy. I would also admit that we wouldn't have been able to do it without his involvement as he has done many things right but I won't ever be someone who says 'I'm so pleased we have Ashley, he turned the club around'.

 

Why? Surely you want him to turn it around? Why would you not want him too?

[NEEJ]

These articles do make me feel sick. Financially doing well doesn't mean you can just forget about some of the things he's done. I know they all add the caveats about the past but even if we win a trophy under him, I won't be singing his praises

I think I'd be happy to overlook his (appalling) mistakes if we were to win a trophy like.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted for the club and incredibly happy. I would also admit that we wouldn't have been able to do it without his involvement as he has done many things right but I won't ever be someone who says 'I'm so pleased we have Ashley, he turned the club around'.

Surely winning a trophy would be him turning the club around?

[gbandit]

I have said in my posts that that is exactly what he has done and is continuing to do. He is turning the club around, but I'm not ever going to be someone who backs him and says 'thank fuck for Mike Ashley' for doing it. He has made a lot of very good decisions and a number of awful decisions which for me are about more than football. The Keegan issue, the renaming, the Shearer stuff in the press, Hughton, the lies, these are problems which cannot be overlooked in human terms and I hold them as more important than financial terms

[LFEE]

I've always felt the main problem in simplistic terns has been that MA rarely follows a good decision with another good decision and has a habit of overshadowing his own good work...

[Guest Howaythetoon]

All Ashley has done is not do the extremely shit dob he was doing owning us prior to last season. For that, he deserves no praise or any kind of pats on the back, especially as the good work being done now was mostly required following all the bad work he presided over. Its like me getting praise of my staff for keeping the books in order or making sure things are ran well. Err, that's my fucking job and the least that should be expected. If he wants praise and aknowledgement, take us into the CL, drive record revenues and profits, build SJP up even better. Deliver success. Do that and he'll deserve all the praise in the world. For merely doing his job and for merely not doing a shit job, he deserves no praise at all.

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

 

I bet your house smells of dust.

[BottledDog]

 

I bet your house smells of dust.

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

All Ashley has done is not do the extremely shit dob he was doing owning us prior to last season. For that, he deserves no praise or any kind of pats on the back, especially as the good work being done now was mostly required following all the bad work he presided over. Its like me getting praise of my staff for keeping the books in order or making sure things are ran well. Err, that's my fucking job and the least that should be expected. If he wants praise and aknowledgement, take us into the CL, drive record revenues and profits, build SJP up even better. Deliver success. Do that and he'll deserve all the praise in the world. For merely doing his job and for merely not doing a shit job, he deserves no praise at all.

 

So short-sighted it's unbelievable. What about all the financial shite he inherited from the previous owners? And the worsening outlook for football clubs in general? Relegation didn't cause the fundamentally terrible state of the club's books year-on-year.

 

If you say "but it was his fault for buying us so there" or something I won't be happy.

[pi_D]

 

I bet your house smells of dust.

 

I bet your house smells of dust.

 

 

[Si]

 

I bet your house smells of dust.

 

[EthiGeordie]

Here's how Newcastle became the Talk of the Toon (again) thanks to Ashley's rethink

By NEIL ASHTON

 

 

High up in the stands at the Sports Direct Arena a group of Newcastle United executives are in an air-conditioned office, thumbing through some financials. Liverpool catch the eye.

Kenny Dalglish's team, beaten 2-0 by Newcastle last weekend, will be fitted out in Warrior sportswear next season in a deal worth £25million a year. Add the £17m paid annually by shirt sponsor Standard Chartered and Liverpool's kitty is swelled by £42m before a ball is even kicked.

Towards the bottom of the list are Newcastle United, paid a combined £5m a year by kit supplier Puma and Virgin Money, who are splashed across the front of the iconic black and white jersey.

Over at Darsley Park, Newcastle's magnificent first-team training complex, Alan Pardew has a different set of figures in front of him. After 31 games in the Barclays Premier League, his Newcastle team are sixth in the table, 11 points clear of Liverpool.

This is the inside story on the complete restructuring of a famous football club, cutting it to the bone and finally settling on a sound business plan. It is the rebirth of Newcastle United.

When Mike Ashley bought the club in 2007 for £130m and granted an interest-free loan of £100m in 2008 rising to £140m at present, he was immediately caught up in football's brainless bubble. There were 'PAs for PAs', an annual wage bill that reached 91 per cent of turnover and a flawed recruitment policy.

He has made plenty of mistakes, most of which he has publicly or privately accepted, since he bought out Sir John Hall and Freddy Shepherd. Those errors include a string of chaotic managerial and executive decisions - Kevin Keegan and Dennis Wise, Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer among them - based on advice from 'football people'. After Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League in May 2009, the billionaire businessman resolved to do it his way.

When Ashley arrived in the North East, annual interest  payments and bank charges were a staggering £6.5m. That figure has been reduced to £212,000. The club save £200,000 a year using an in-house cleaning team at the stadium and the training centre, but make more money  outsourcing the catering in the hospitality suites.

 

Recently they won an award for reducing carbon emissions, saving £400,000 a year in power supplies. If an employee does not turn off a light or leaves his computer on after work, an alarm sounds in the facility manager's office so that they know who is responsible.

This is Ashley's business model, unashamedly brought in from the nerve centre of retail giant Sports Direct. He hates waste. When Ashley is not satisfied, he isn't afraid to pick up the phone or fire off an email demanding improvements. Now Newcastle continually review, rehabilitate and then reset.

Ashley works on an 80:20 principle, placing his trust in managing director Derek Llambias to  oversee the administration and operation of the club (20 per cent), plus the football (80 per cent). Their popularity ebbs and flows, confusing outsiders because it rarely tallies with anything that is happening on the field.

When Andy Carroll was sold to Liverpool for £35m in January 2011, supporters outside Shearer's, the bar at the stadium named after their record goalscorer, blamed Ashley. A little over a year later the  Gallowgate taunted Carroll with chants of 'One greedy b*****d' when the Liverpool striker ripped off his shirt when he was substituted 10 minutes from time.

 

On February 5, 2011, when the team were 4-0 down at home to Arsenal inside 26 minutes, one supporter ran down the steps of the Milburn Stand, directed a thumb towards the south and told Pardew: 'Get back to London, you Cockney b*****d.' After Cheick Tiote scored  Newcastle's 87th-minute equaliser, grown men were in tears in the boardroom at St James' Park (yes, Ashley and Llambias still call it that).

The owner is attending matches again, dining out with Llambias and his family in Newcastle the night before last weekend's impressive 2-0 win over Liverpool. They still encounter pockets of hostility, but accept the Geordie Nation's passion for the team playing at the sporting cathedral on top of Town Moor.

The current beef is the stadium naming rights, a decision that prompted some supporters to stage a mock funeral by marching to St James' Park with a black and white coffin. Ashley answers them all, telling them that with a stadium already operating at 91 per cent of capacity, he is forced to look at alternative revenue streams. Turnover at Newcastle last season was £88.46m, a million miles behind Manchester United (£286.3m), Arsenal (£222.6m), Manchester City (£153.2m) and Tottenham (£163.4m).

Newcastle's recruitment policy is crucial, but Ashley accepts that it will never be truly scientific - there is always a margin for human error.

Ashley has restructured the  talent and development team, placing Newcastle's players on a grid that monitors current performance, valuation and future potential. It is a system that has produced spectacular results, with 'the 1s' a reference to first-team players and '2s' those pushing for a place in the team.

Many of them were  identified by chief scout Graham Carr, working to a narrow and specific brief that was provided from the very top. Yohan Cabaye, Papiss Demba Cisse and Tiote were not on the radar of Newcastle's supporters until they set foot inside St James' Park.

Positions are identified by Pardew up to a year in advance and then Carr, along with his tiny team of talented scouts, set off on predetermined missions. Only players of a certain age, value and salary expectation make it through the sieve for consideration. The rest are discarded, no matter how good their agent promises they will be.

At any one time Carr, Pardew and Llambias have access to a confidential file that itemises the first-choice replacement for any first-team player or a potential second choice. Ashley does not believe that it is a ground-breaking system, but it works based on the financial restrictions in place at Newcastle.

 

Until recently, Ashley bought into the myth that Newcastle had to pay a premium to convince players to move to the North East. It drove prices higher and forced him to authorise bigger wages. After nearly five years in charge he will no longer succumb to temptation, trimming the wage bill to 60-65 per cent of turnover and fantasising about the unlikely day when it will be as low as 50.

With the exception of the team bonuses agreed with the squad at the start of the season, Llambias rarely commits to incentives in individual players' contracts. The strikeforce do not have a bonus for scoring or assisting in goals; and Newcastle's defence would not have been specially rewarded for their clean sheet against Liverpool, beyond their regular weekly salary. Occasionally, 'a 2' will be incentivised as part of his package to try to push his established rival out of the team.

Player negotiation is straight-forward, with a transfer valuation and a salary tag attached to each player on Newcastle's grid. When Carroll was attracting attention, Llambias enhanced the valuation of every player in the squad during the countdown to the close of the transfer window. By the time Liverpool came calling, it was too late for Newcastle to sign a replacement and the Merseysiders appeared desperate. Llambias set a fee based on the timing and, incredibly, Liverpool agreed to pay it.

Every player at Newcastle remains for sale, provided the price is right for Llambias and Ashley. They trust Carr and know that his team of nine scouts, some full-time and some part-time, are one step ahead and have already identified the replacement's replacement.

When the time comes for that to happen, they fully expect Pardew still to be in charge of the team to oversee the transition. He was brought in on a five-year contract, the man for the job after Llambias noted his work at West Ham.

 

Llambias's three children are Hammers fans and he frequently took them to Upton Park during Pardew's largely successful spell in charge. Pardew knitted West Ham together, sealing promotion in the play-off final against Preston in 2005 and taking them to within a whisker of winning the FA Cup against Liverpool the next year. Llambias made a mental note, recognising Pardew's qualities and working  furtively behind the scenes in order to convince Ashley he was the right appointment.

Ashley has been impressed with his tactical acumen and his attention to detail since he replaced Chris Hughton in December 2010. His media profile and his  conduct have met with Ashley's approval and the board are  satisfied he has the complete respect of the players.

Pardew, along with his coaching staff, have the added security of long-term contracts, empowered by the board to make the best decisions for the team. They are done with the hire-and- fire approach that has seen Ashley terminate the contracts of Sam Allardyce, Keegan, Kinnear, Shearer and Hughton since  January 16, 2008.

In that time, Chelsea, level on 53 points with Newcastle, have hired and fired four managers at a total cost of £46.3m. What a waste, as Ashley might say.

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2125810/Newcastle-Talk-Toon-thanks-Mike-Ashleys-rethink.html#ixzz1rDk6Tx7l

[Exiled in Texas]

Impressive article.  Very interesting

[David28]

Very interesting read indeed.

 

 

Still hate the idea of 'every player being for sale'. Think we should keep together the squad this summer, go for one or two new players and try to improve next season again.

[Stu]

Very interesting read indeed.

 

 

Still hate the idea of 'every player being for sale'. Think we should keep together the squad this summer, go for one or two new players and try to improve next season again.

 

Why keep a player who has his head turned by one of the 'elite' European clubs? With the exception of Modric this summer (and I firmly believe he'll be off if Spurs don't make Champs League), even the top clubs end up having to sell once a player has his heart set on moving.

 

See, Ronaldo.C as a perfect example.

 

The trick is to keep them for as long as you can before milking the buying club for as much as you can.

[Optimistic Nut]

Very interesting read indeed.

 

 

Still hate the idea of 'every player being for sale'. Think we should keep together the squad this summer, go for one or two new players and try to improve next season again.

 

I think it's more a case of "every player has a price" rather than actively being for sale. If someone comes in with £20m for Tiote for example, that would be hard for any club in the world to reject, nevermind Newcastle. I doubt he'd be allowed to go for what would be considered "market value".

[Guest Roger Kint]

Very interesting read indeed.

 

 

Still hate the idea of 'every player being for sale'. Think we should keep together the squad this summer, go for one or two new players and try to improve next season again.

 

Shame you 'accidentally' chopped off the rest of that quote, i dare say even at Manchester United you can say the exact same thing(albeit on a grander scale obviously) but luckily for you that error in quoting meant you can avoid such facts.

[Nobody]

Mike Ashley

Started by: Chrstmas Tree

 

[David28]

We will see in the summer. I hope it'll really be the case that we'll only allow players to leave if clubs offer us silly money for them - like Carroll.