Mike Ashley

[Sir Toon]

Being City I don´t understand why Ashley would like to impose his football philosophy on NUFC..

 

I mean our own Sheikh makes a visit about every 2nd year and mainly just walks around and have a look, his guys at the club sort out everything while hired football people manage the teams, He himself just enjoys having his clubs and is of course very popular among the fans.. Something I´m sure Ashley would enjoy as well instead of the constant troubleshooting you see at NUFC

 

 

Ashley's "football philosophy" is to advertise his tatty company to the widest audience possible whilst spending as little money as possible. That's the beginning and the end of it.

 

Well, that´s the coastermonger philosophy in a nutshell..  But it seems to me that what differentiates Ashley from say the Al-Nahyan family at City or the King Power guys at Leicester is that he wants everything on the cheap.

But relegations are not cheap.

Perhaps he might find it cheaper to actually nourish the club in the long run

 

You wouldn't believe how much cost cutting he does. I'm not talking about getting Obertan off the wage bill, I mean cutting certain departments down to skeleton staff on minimum wage and refusing to put out so much as a plate of biscuits for the press on a matchday.

He's always thought along the lines of "I've built up a completely dominant company and destroyed my competition by paying staff peanuts and running everything on a shoestring so why won't it work for a football club?"

 

So how does Rafa fit in there.. Is the leopard changing his spots?

 

I don't believe so. If McClaren had two more wins on the board, he'd still be sitting pretty as safe as houses.

 

Ashley knows where the money is and will do what it takes to get back there. He did nothing to rock the boat in 2009-10 either after it quickly became evident that we were going to p*ss it. It's after promotion that would be my concern. Rafa walking now would have been a disaster for him, with a massive drop in attendances and a mass exodus of players. I honestly don't think he'd give the slightest s*** about losing Benitez after promotion, in fact I think he'll want someone else in who will help him sell assets and diminish expectations. We'll see I suppose. I don't trust him and I never will.

 

The only flaw I see in your philosophy is that if Rafa's contract is as watertight as is made out, he can stay until he receives a pay out which will cost a minimum of £5 million a year. Whatever is left. So a forced leave would be pointless to a large extent.

 

I still refuse to believe that there can be anyone on the planet that thinks the better and more financially profitable one is to hire a puppet for a job. Maybe this way and the impending financial boost that an extra 10 - 25,000 fans per home game than what there could well have been under the old guard has lit the old light bulb in Ashley's nappa.    I know we doubt it but sometimes when toast drops on the floor, it does land butter side up.

[BlueStar]

My worry is he'll try and take advantage of the lift in mood to sneak through some stadium naming shite again or the like.

[Guest]

Or a ticket price hike to aid the transfer treasure trove.

[Darth Crooks]

Road to redemption. Good move this one.

 

Let's not go off at the deep end. He's been largely forced into doing this. Positive step for us and the coaching though certainly.

[matta]

Road to redemption. Good move this one.

 

Let's not go off at the deep end. He's been largely forced into doing this. Positive step for us and the coaching though certainly.

 

Agree with this, thankfully he for once did what was right. When has that happened since he appointed Keegan?

[Interpolic]

Lawro on R5 saying Ashely is much maligned, has put his hand in his pocket and that the constant turnover of managers has been the problem.

 

Mark Lawrenson thinks Alaska is a country.  By some distance the funniest thing the tiresome cunt's ever said n'all.

[HawK]

Lawro on R5 saying Ashely is much maligned, has put his hand in his pocket and that the constant turnover of managers has been the problem.

 

Mark Lawrenson thinks Alaska is a country.  By some distance the funniest thing the tiresome c***'s ever said n'all.

 

Autobahn, mate. 'Nuff said

[Interpolic]

That was only funny because it was shit, then we saw a split second of the man in emotional turmoil.

[HawK]

That was only funny because it was s***, then we saw a split second of the man in emotional turmoil.

 

That was the best bit!

[Interpolic]

Well yeah, agreed

[mrmojorisin75]

I'd say the Benitez thing comes down to one of two things; either he's realised that employing cheap shite to run his club is self-defeating when you get relegated right before the biggest TV deal in history or he's been told by The Bishop that making sure Benitez stays is the best way to keep attendances up and stave off a potential fan backlash against him.

 

Time will tell.

[NG32]

Penny wise pound foolish.

[BONTEMPI]

Penny wise 365 pounds of foolish.

 

fyp

[Varadi]

I'd say the Benitez thing comes down to one of two things; either he's realised that employing cheap shite to run his club is self-defeating when you get relegated right before the biggest TV deal in history or he's been told by The Bishop that making sure Benitez stays is the best way to keep attendances up and stave off a potential fan backlash against him.

 

Time will tell.

 

Probably a bit of both tbh. Maybe he does have some kind of, albeit glacially slow, ability to learn from his mistakes, but the one guarantee we have is that he's never going to not be an absolute cunt.

[STM]

I've always thought that Mike Ashleys mistakes of the past were because he didn't know what he was doing, more than him being an evil villain. He also seems the type that won't be told when he's wrong.

 

None of this excuses him, especially considering the dodgy goings on in his brand.

[mrmojorisin75]

I've always thought that Mike Ashleys mistakes of the past were because he didn't know what he was doing, more than him being an evil villain. He also seems the type that won't be told when he's wrong.

 

None of this excuses him, especially considering the dodgy goings on in his brand.

Nah, the period after promotion up to Pardew leaving was very calculated imo; shit, cheap manager who'll do what he's told and keep the club in the PL with players he's given along with peddling the better ones to sell on at profit.

 

Pardew leaves then they think they can repeat with McClaren who is less odious than Pardew but will ultimately do as he's told.

 

Suppose in a way we should thank McClaren for being so comically inept that he's inadvertently forced a total change of direction.

[STM]

I've always thought that Mike Ashleys mistakes of the past were because he didn't know what he was doing, more than him being an evil villain. He also seems the type that won't be told when he's wrong.

 

None of this excuses him, especially considering the dodgy goings on in his brand.

Nah, the period after promotion up to Pardew leaving was very calculated imo; shit, cheap manager who'll do what he's told and keep the club in the PL with players he's given along with peddling the better ones to sell on at profit.

 

Pardew leaves then they think they can repeat with McClaren who is less odious than Pardew but will ultimately do as he's told.

 

Suppose in a way we should thank McClaren for being so comically inept that he's inadvertently forced a total change of direction.

 

I think their decision to go down the cheap coach route was a badly advised decision, probably coming from Graham Carr's direction.

 

Either way, they have landed at the right decision, here's hoping they stick to their promises.

[Mr Logic]

 

 

So how does Rafa fit in there.. Is the leopard changing his spots?

 

I don't believe so. If McClaren had two more wins on the board, he'd still be sitting pretty as safe as houses.

 

Ashley knows where the money is and will do what it takes to get back there. He did nothing to rock the boat in 2009-10 either after it quickly became evident that we were going to piss it. It's after promotion that would be my concern. Rafa walking now would have been a disaster for him, with a massive drop in attendances and a mass exodus of players. I honestly don't think he'd give the slightest shit about losing Benitez after promotion, in fact I think he'll want someone else in who will help him sell assets and diminish expectations. We'll see I suppose. I don't trust him and I never will.

 

I see where you're coming from Wullie with this PoV, God knows the history is there for all to see. I just think on this occasion Ashley has painted himself into a corner and will ride the coat tails of Rafa out of it. He has no options left, and so called 'water-tight' contracts will see he remains holding the coat tail and not doing anything stupid.

 

Charnley must be thanking all known deities for this turnaround, he's still in a job and all he has to do is follow Rafa's lead in most areas and he won't fuck up again. Everytime I hear Rafa mention how he gets along with Charnley and can work with him I think this is the scenario. Rafa will be subtly guiding Charnley all the way. The only stumbling block I can see is with transfer funds, but if Rafa has already been given a figure he will work within it I'm sure.

[BlueStar]

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley says he will now go before MPs to defend the firm's "good name".

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36456245

 

 

[Klaus]

'Good name' 

[mrmojorisin75]

Some sense of humour

[peder]

Is there any article or anything that takes up the subject Mike Ashley and how much he have made / lost on the club?

 

Or his brand.

[Disco]

It's alright name, not a good one. A bit bland but a solid English name. I'd give it 6/13.

[U2]

Mike is up for questioning shortly and you can watch it here: http://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/a870989f-3119-4e2a-9ea7-e6ab094e77d1 http://i.imgur.com/3G7PBFL.gif

 

Edit: Mike's on later in the day, but the proceedings have begun.

[NG32]

Nice, this should be fun.