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Mike Ashley


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Aye, no idea what happened to Kadar, he was looking promising at one point.

 

Always looked a decent prospect, but injuries and such have hampered his progress here (much like Vuckic though he seems to have overcome that).

 

For one reason or another, it sounds like we're going to loan him out.

 

“Yes, its true that there was a possibility for Tamas to move on loan during the last transfer window.

 

“He played really good games for Hungary under-21 in Toulon, he played against France and Mexico and lot of scouts liked him.

 

“We had interest in him from the top league in Holland, from Italy and from Germany, but unfortunately he picked up an injury in the pre-season so the deal collapsed.

 

“At this moment he is fit again and working very hard to reach the first team again. He played four games in the reserve team, where he is the captain, and showed a good performance in Turkey where he played with Hungary under-21.

 

“He would like to be in the first team squad of Newcastle United again, and working for it every single day.

 

“We will see what’s happening in the next few weeks and if there is no chance for him to play games in the first team than we will speak to Newcastle United about a loan possibility.”

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"fat cockney bastard - get out of our Club"

 

Didn't hear that ditty last Sunday. Anyone think he might be turning the corner personally or are the fans that chant it now realising their MIGHT just have been method in the madness?

 

Still a way to go admittedly. But ...there really is nowt as fickle as fans.

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The fact that our new boys who we bought on the cheap and fans were skeptical about have turned out to be really impressive has obviously helped.  We've done incredibly shrewd business and whether or not an element of luclk was involved, Ashley has somehow managed to come out of this summer with a slightly higher reputation.

 

Also think the fans have the common sense not to bring such negativity to the ground when the team is doing so well.  It's not what we need right now.

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The fact that our new boys who we bought on the cheap and fans were skeptical about have turned out to be really impressive has obviously helped.  We've done incredibly shrewd business and whether or not an element of luclk was involved, Ashley has somehow managed to come out of this summer with a slightly higher reputation.

 

Also think the fans have the common sense not to bring such negativity to the ground when the team is doing so well.  It's not what we need right now.

 

Hopefully it stays that way when the going is not so good. I've said it time and time again, if people want to be negative, sing whatever before/after the game or at half time when the players aren't on the pitch.

 

And for the record, there was at least one 'get out of our club' chant from Lv7 on Saturday but it appeared to be the same weak voiced few that seemed to start it last year around (towards the right of the old singing section as you look down to the pitch). However, unlike last year where pretty much the entire corner sang it as soon as it was started, very few people around them joined in it very quickly died out. I don't think personal views have massively changed towards him but people are starting to look at the bigger picture with regards to the wellbeing of the club.

 

 

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So it's true that in 2008/9, we had an operating loss of 37m. However, we also made over 23m of profit on player trading. With a bit of taxes and stuff, we lost only 15m that year.

 

If we are going to break-even this year, then I think we'll almost certainly show a profit. I think last year will show a profit as well because we made a profit on player trading which covers the operating loss.

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Given our position, the good football and the waves of optimism.. how would everyone feel if it was reported Ashley had found a buyer and was considering selling?

 

Pretty gutted.

 

A period of stability would make a welcome change.

 

Hope we keep on making small forward steps and Pardew stays for many years.

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Depends on who the buyer is obviously.

 

Well I accept that one buyer may be more attractive looking than another, but I was thinking mainly regarding any new owner wanting to make changes to our current set-up. Rocking the boat so to speak.

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I just don't want any change of manager or owner now, preferably for at least 3 - 5 years. Ashley has been incompetent and/or disastrous for the club in the past, but now most of his errors are minor (the excessive SD advertising etc). And the effects of even his worst mistakes have turned out not to be that bad in the end.

 

In an ideal world, Pardew could build an Alex Ferguson-lite career here and still be our manager in 10 years time. That is more likely to happen under the current regime than a new owner IMO.

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Depends on who the buyer is obviously.

 

Well I accept that one buyer may be more attractive looking than another, but I was thinking mainly regarding any new owner wanting to make changes to our current set-up. Rocking the boat so to speak.

 

Wouldn't be happy with that at all actually. For once, we have some stability and Ashley (bar his obsession of plastering Sports Direct logos everywhere at St. James') seems to be slowly learning lessons about how to actually own a football club. Still can't be excused for his past behaviour mind but for the time being (or 3-5 years like Ian W mentioned above), any changes above/in ownership would be a bad idea (well apart from firing Llambias maybe).

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If we had an owner who was more willing to spend then I wouldn't mind it in the least if he bought out Ashley. The problem is that Ashley is still operating very conservatively. He doesn't realize the fact that if we had 52k in the stadium each week, he'd be able to spend 10m++ more per year and get huge sponsorships - at least better than the measly 2.5m we're getting for Northern Rock. I know this was signed when we were just promoted but contracts like these can be bought out if there's the will. I don't think Ashley realizes or cares how much money is being left on the table by the negative attitude and press that he's been getting. If we fill the stadium for every game, our turnover would easily reach 110m, and we'd be able to spend way more. But filling a stadium requires optimism and passion from the fans, which sometimes comes when the owner takes a risk and spends first. You look at Arsenal. They're in the CL and they're still not selling out the stadium, and that's only because of the impression that Fabregas and Nasri leaving has left on the club. They haven't declined yet, but the expectation and perception is there, which impacts their attendance figures, which will now inevitably impact their finances and sponsorships when they come up for renewal.

 

The same logic applies to us. If we had an owner who was more willing to spend, I think we'd fill up the stadium pretty easily, and the money generated from the extra attendance will be worth the initial investment, based purely on the perception that we are a club on the up. And it wouldn't be strictly an attendances thing. Sponsorships would come flying in if there is a perception that we are once again a 'big' club. Freddy did it right in this aspect. If only we could combine the ambitiousness of Freddy with the detailed and tight-fisted way that Ashley operates, we would be a club that spends money on great players, gets loads of money from sponsorships and doesn't get fucked by agents and other clubs on fees and wages. The best of both worlds. I'll be honest: 43k against a very good Spurs side when we're sitting fourth halfway through October after some excellent performances is pretty disappointing. Under Freddy this would never have happened. Maybe it's the recession that is having an effect, but I think a big part of it is also the perception that we can't compete with the big clubs now - which is a perception that Ashley, Pardew and Llambias have been very keen to reinforce - whereas under Freddy I never felt that we couldn't compete. We had bad years and wasted money, but because we had high revenue relative to other clubs and a bigger stadium, I always felt that we would end up being able to compete again sooner rather than later. Ashley has really sorted out the costs side of the finances, but the revenue side has been a major disappointment if you compare ours to clubs who we would normally consider our rivals.

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If we had an owner who was more willing to spend then I wouldn't mind it in the least if he bought out Ashley. The problem is that Ashley is still operating very conservatively. He doesn't realize the fact that if we had 52k in the stadium each week, he'd be able to spend 10m++ more per year and get huge sponsorships - at least better than the measly 2.5m we're getting for Northern Rock. I know this was signed when we were just promoted but contracts like these can be bought out if there's the will. I don't think Ashley realizes or cares how much money is being left on the table by the negative attitude and press that he's been getting. If we fill the stadium for every game, our turnover would easily reach 110m, and we'd be able to spend way more. But filling a stadium requires optimism and passion from the fans, which sometimes comes when the owner takes a risk and spends first. You look at Arsenal. They're in the CL and they're still not selling out the stadium, and that's only because of the impression that Fabregas and Nasri leaving has left on the club. They haven't declined yet, but the expectation and perception is there, which impacts their attendance figures, which will now inevitably impact their finances and sponsorships when they come up for renewal.

 

The same logic applies to us. If we had an owner who was more willing to spend, I think we'd fill up the stadium pretty easily, and the money generated from the extra attendance will be worth the initial investment, based purely on the perception that we are a club on the up. And it wouldn't be strictly an attendances thing. Sponsorships would come flying in if there is a perception that we are once again a 'big' club. Freddy did it right in this aspect. If only we could combine the ambitiousness of Freddy with the detailed and tight-fisted way that Ashley operates, we would be a club that spends money on great players, gets loads of money from sponsorships and doesn't get f***ed by agents and other clubs on fees and wages. The best of both worlds. I'll be honest: 43k against a very good Spurs side when we're sitting fourth halfway through October after some excellent performances is pretty disappointing. Under Freddy this would never have happened. Maybe it's the recession that is having an effect, but I think a big part of it is also the perception that we can't compete with the big clubs now - which is a perception that Ashley, Pardew and Llambias have been very keen to reinforce - whereas under Freddy I never felt that we couldn't compete. We had bad years and wasted money, but because we had high revenue relative to other clubs and a bigger stadium, I always felt that we would end up being able to compete again sooner rather than later. Ashley has really sorted out the costs side of the finances, but the revenue side has been a major disappointment if you compare ours to clubs who we would normally consider our rivals.

 

That's a great post, but a couple of small points, we had more than 46k against Spurs (away support does count) but yes still a bit disappointing.

And I'm not sure that spending freely would have meant better players or improved playing performance. We've been there and I'm sure most would now admit that a structured transfer policy has brought better players to the club in the last couple of years than the mega deal trophy signings like Luque,Owen,Kluivert,Boumsong,Viduka,Smith etc etc. I do however take your point that big signings tend to get bums on seats and increased media attention.

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Good post Pip, but I still think that our (still pretty good) attendances are lower because of a period of relative failure and tough economic conditions.

 

Yes, it is possible that spending a lot more could bring more excitement and therefore attract some of the fans back, but it's also possible that we'd waste the  money on shite players that would fail to impress fans or bring success.

 

I agree that we maybe need to maximise incoming revenues more though, hopefully a couple of top 8-10 finished can help us to do that.

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