Mike Ashley

[Interpolic]

Why star the C? I mean fair enough but seems kinda pointless

 

It's an asterisk, there are terms and conditions on the back of the shirt.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Quite good that, ironically it still reminds you of Wonga.

[Benwell Lad]

I don't know if this link has been posted.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2419156/Alan-Shearer-Andy-Cole-Rob-Lee-slam-Newcastle-owner-Mike-Ashley-Joe-Kinnear.html

 

Look what they've done to our club! Ashley and Kinnear taken to task by trio of former Toon greats

 

By Sam Cunningham

 

PUBLISHED: 22:40, 12 September 2013  | UPDATED: 22:40, 12 September 2013 

 

 

Newcastle United legends have slammed club owner Mike Ashley and  his sidekick Joe  Kinnear for the way the club is being run into the ground.

 

Fans turned out in droves for Steve Harper’s testimonial on Wednesday — the sell-out 50,793 crowd at St James’ Park was their highest this season.

 

There were 4,000 more than at their previous home game against Fulham, which said as much about their love of former goalkeeper Harper as it did their hatred for Ashley and Kinnear.

 

Gone are the days of competing for the Premier League title and glorious Champions League nights; of record transfer fees and regular England internationals turning out every weekend in front of an  adoring Geordie faithful.

 

After they had pulled on the black-and-white strip once again this week to play for a Newcastle Legends side, former greats Alan Shearer, Rob Lee and Andy Cole, stars of that golden spell in the 1990s, spoke out about the current plight of the club.

 

They fear no-one wants to play for Newcastle any more, claim the club are going backwards and believe Ashley should step aside.

 

Alan Shearer

 

The Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer joined Newcastle in July 1996 for a world record £15m and spent the rest of his career at St James’ Park. He scored 206 goals in 404 games and until recently had a bar at the ground named after him. Even his time as manager, when Newcastle were relegated in 2009, did nothing to tarnish his legendary status among fans. 

 

Andy Cole

 

Though only at the club for a relatively brief period, Cole made his mark. He joined from Bristol City in February 1993 and immediately helped Newcastle win promotion to the Premier League. In his next season he scored an incredible 41 goals in all competitions — which remains a club record for most goals in a season — before joining Manchester United.

 

Lee said: ‘Kevin Keegan sold this club to me when I joined. If Joe Kinnear was speaking to you, are you going to join this football club? I’m not so sure. Players don’t want to join Newcastle any more.

 

‘It’s not going to be a short-term fix. It’s not a case of the club only needing a couple of players and then they’ll be very good. It’s more long-term than that. There aren’t the kids coming through the academy any more. Since I left we’ve had Steven Taylor, Andy Carroll and Shola Ameobi.’

 

The club broke the bank and the world-record transfer fee when they signed Shearer for £15million from Blackburn Rovers in 1996. Does he think those days are over? ‘I would say so and so would the 52,000 fans as well and a lot more,’ the former England striker said.

 

They played such good attacking football under Keegan they were labelled ‘The Entertainers’. In  successive seasons from 1995 to 1997 they finished runners-up in the Premier League. Had they not thrown away a 12-point lead over Manchester United in 1996, they would have won the title.

 

 

This season it took them until the 86th minute of their third league game to score a Premier League goal.

 

Rob Lee

 

Joined Newcastle in 1992 from Charlton and spent the next 10 years playing in the North East. In that time he helped Newcastle win promotion to the Premier League and was also a key member of Kevin Keegan’s side who challenged for the title. During his time at the club, Lee played more than 380 games.

.

Why did more people turn up to watch an exhibition match than a top-flight game? ‘It’s probably a break from the monotony of watching the team play,’ Lee said. ‘Against West Ham it was 0-0 . . . I couldn’t remember playing in a 0-0.’

 

Shearer added: ‘That 1996 team which just missed out on the title may be the best any Newcastle fan sees in his lifetime. But that is why they turned out on Wednesday night because that’s an era they loved and enjoyed. They enjoyed being entertained and that is just what that team did. It could be a long time before that happens again.’

 

 

Since Ashley bought the club  in May 2007 they have had six  managers, one executive director of football, two directors of football, an attempted name change of St James’ Park and a new sponsorship deal with payday lenders Wonga. They have been relegated to the Championship and finished in the top 10 only once.

 

‘They seem to get themselves on the right track and all of a sudden someone here derails them,’ said Cole. ‘The punters were fairly  happy a couple of years ago, the team were moving in the right direction and then decisions are made at the top which throw a spanner in the works.

 

‘It’s almost as if somebody running the club wants to upset the punters and I find that very strange. If you keep the punters on board here, it’s half the battle. If you upset them, they’re going to eventually vote with their feet because there is only so much they can take.’

 

 

Should Ashley leave? ‘In an ideal world, he should,’ Lee said. ‘But it isn’t an ideal world.’

 

 

Ashley and Kinnear have done themselves no favours by their  dismal performance in the transfer window. When he was appointed director of football in June, Kinnear boasted about his endless list of contacts, about having Sir Alex  Ferguson and Arsene Wenger on speed dial and that he was going to be the best director of football the world had seen.

 

New role: Joe Kinnear was appointed as director of football, but Rob Lee is not convinced he can attract the big names to St James' Park

New role: Joe Kinnear was appointed as director of football, but Rob Lee is not convinced he can attract the big names to St James' Park

 

When the transfer window shut they had signed a player on loan who turned them down in January — striker Loic Remy — and a little- known teenager on a free.

 

Yesterday manager Alan Pardew, speaking at a press conference about the lack of transfer activity, said: ‘I hope it doesn’t affect us. When the fans see how we play over the next eight games, if we keep everybody fit, I think they will feel a lot better than they did on deadline day.

 

 

‘Over the past 10 or so years since I’ve become a manager, I’ve said the first 10 games really and truly give you a clear indication about where you are at.’

 

 

The fans are going to take a lot of convincing. They have already accused Ashley and Kinnear of turning Newcastle into the laughing stock of football. Getting relegated would be no laughing matter.

 

Did Shearer actually say something else which is not quoted ? Nothing in his quotation sounds remotely like what the headline claims.

Perhaps they just put his name to the headline to give it extra clout ??

I wonder if this means that the couple of dozen other ex-players present preferred to keep their own counsel, or can we look forward to more of these revealing exclusives ?

[Wallace]

I am curious to know if Ashley does ever sell the club what he will actually be selling.  Everyone says he will want to make a profit but will the club in its current format be worth as much as when he bought it (excluding TV contract) - even if he did overpay. 

 

Didn't the club used to own a lot of land and property around the city?  Does the club still own that, is it held under another name or has it been sold.  Virtually everything is outsourced - potentially tied up in long deals.  We used to have an award-winning education centre with loads of high tech equipment that a lot of other clubs supposedly tried to replicate - I guess that is has long since gone.  It might be hearsay but I've been told there are many parts of the ground that are no longer used.

 

I obviously have no clue about this but I have thought for some time that NUFC as a whole is a lesser entity than when he purchased it.  Maybe this is offset by the ruthless costcutting and the loans that have been paid off but I do wonder if a potential buyer would be getting a shadow of what the club was previously.

 

 

[Guest firetotheworks]

He asked for £200 million the last time, didn't he?

[Mick]

I am curious to know if Ashley does ever sell the club what he will actually be selling.  Everyone says he will want to make a profit but will the club in its current format be worth as much as when he bought it (excluding TV contract) - even if he did overpay. 

 

Didn't the club used to own a lot of land and property around the city?  Does the club still own that, is it held under another name or has it been sold.  Virtually everything is outsourced - potentially tied up in long deals.  We used to have an award-winning education centre with loads of high tech equipment that a lot of other clubs supposedly tried to replicate - I guess that is has long since gone.  It might be hearsay but I've been told there are many parts of the ground that are no longer used.

 

I obviously have no clue about this but I have thought for some time that NUFC as a whole is a lesser entity than when he purchased it.  Maybe this is offset by the ruthless costcutting and the loans that have been paid off but I do wonder if a potential buyer would be getting a shadow of what the club was previously.

 

 

Somebody is building on some land I thought the club owned opposite the Milburn stand and it has a big Shepherd sign up which seems strange.

[Guest Fumaca]

serz if posted

 

.com

 

Currently doing the rounds, one toon fan's slightly inelegant solution to the dilemma of wanting a current toon shirt but not wanting to promote payday loans.

 

This is most definitely not available in the shops....

 

http://i.imgur.com/sz042pQ.png

 

You beat me to it!

 

Funny this - they wouldn't be able to make them quick enough to meet demand

[mrmojorisin75]

He asked for £200 million the last time, didn't he?

 

when he fucked off to dubai with dekka were there not rumours he was asking for 400m that time...

[Unbelievable]

I don't think anybody knows for certain how much Ashley would require to sell up. It's all guess work.

[mrmojorisin75]

I don't think anybody knows for certain how much Ashley would require to sell up. It's all guess work.

 

no shit

[Unbelievable]

I don't think anybody knows for certain how much Ashley would require to sell up. It's all guess work.

 

no s***

 

Just pointing it out while you seem to be bandying random numbers around..

[mrmojorisin75]

yeah, but he's a MASSIVE CUNT so it's obvious he'll not sell for a fair price

 

500m no less iyam

[Unbelievable]

yeah, but he's a MASSIVE c*** so it's obvious he'll not sell for a fair price

 

500m no less iyam

 

I can't see him selling for less or equal what it cost him to buy the club either. Using profits to pay off the loan, if it ever gets to that, will only serve to hike any asking price too. I'm resigned to the fact he will be here for a while yet, but not willing to accept it, or to stop complaining over his constant mismanagement.

[mrmojorisin75]

i was doing a parody there like, seems to me it'd be better for everyone if he just took what he spent and loans the club and fucked off like...250m or whatever, shake hands and move onto the next shite owner

 

funny, i always flash back to NE5 when we think about how shit ashley was and how he kept saying we'd get a shit owner

 

ashley has managed the finances much better than FS ever did, but he's also managed to tear the heart and soul out along the way

[Wullie]

 

ashley has managed the finances much better than FS ever did, but he's also managed to tear the heart and soul out along the way

 

He really hasn't, not by any measure.

[Minhosa]

Daily Mail have changed their tune since Dekka left.

 

Weren't him and Charlie Sale mates?

[mrmojorisin75]

 

ashley has managed the finances much better than FS ever did, but he's also managed to tear the heart and soul out along the way

 

He really hasn't, not by any measure.

 

Depends how you look at it I suppose, let's just say he hasn't allowed the club to spend beyond it's means then and leave it at that.

[Ronaldo]

Shepherd.

 

Some fucking hilarious references to him in Bellamy's book, like. I miss him.

[Guest firetotheworks]

I didn't realise that Bellamy had a book out. Is it worth a read?

[Guest neesy111]

 

ashley has managed the finances much better than FS ever did, but he's also managed to tear the heart and soul out along the way

 

He really hasn't, not by any measure.

 

Depends how you look at it I suppose, let's just say he hasn't allowed the club to spend beyond it's means then and leave it at that.

 

Yeap, but for driving growth across the club's various income sources he's been a disaster.

 

The people I feel sorry is those people who've lost their jobs behind the scenes etc under Ashley.

[Ronaldo]

I didn't realise that Bellamy had a book out. Is it worth a read?

 

Dude, it's an absolute must. Cracking insight into the SBR/Souness days.

[Kanj]

I didn't realise that Bellamy had a book out. Is it worth a read?

 

Dude, it's an absolute must. Cracking insight into the SBR/Souness days.

 

Agreed, great book.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

 

ashley has managed the finances much better than FS ever did, but he's also managed to tear the heart and soul out along the way

 

He really hasn't, not by any measure.

 

I keep having this same argument with a mate of mine. Ashley has turned a club capable of competing financially with even the likes of Arsenal at the time, to one that cannot, in the manager's own words, compete with Southampton.

 

FS may have spent more than he should have on players and used future ST money etc. to do so and yes we were in debt but the club could handle it and because we actually had ambition, we were only ever a good appointment away from succeeding as we showed under Sir Bobby. Ha we kept Sir Bobby and gave him 50m even if it was borrowed, we would have succeeded somehow at some point.

 

Oh and while we did owe the banks a lot of money, we didn't owe anywhere near as much to them as what is owed to MA, a malicious cunt of a man who has zero interes in the club other than what we spend and where he can plaster his tacky two-bit SD brand.

[DJ_NUFC]

 

ashley has managed the finances much better than FS ever did, but he's also managed to tear the heart and soul out along the way

 

He really hasn't, not by any measure.

 

I keep having this same argument with a mate of mine. Ashley has turned a club capable of competing financially with even the likes of Arsenal at the time, to one that cannot, in the manager's own words, compete with Southampton.

 

FS may have spent more than he should have on players and used future ST money etc. to do so and yes we were in debt but the club could handle it and because we actually had ambition, we were only ever a good appointment away from succeeding as we showed under Sir Bobby. Ha we kept Sir Bobby and gave him 50m even if it was borrowed, we would have succeeded somehow at some point.

 

Oh and while we did owe the banks a lot of money, we didn't owe anywhere near as much to them as what is owed to MA, a malicious cunt of a man who has zero interes in the club other than what we spend and where he can plaster his tacky two-bit SD brand.

 

How do I do that clapping thing?

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Btw, I fucking hated FS and how he ran NUFC, mainly for his own personal ego and wealth. But even despite that, the man had ambition for NUFC and tried to deliver success. FS in many ways wanted his cake and to eat it, and eat it all. He wanted the big name signings, the big nights in the CL, trophies, attacking football etc. just like us all but he also wanted to make money and his family money too. He also wanted credit and to be seen as a big player in the world of football.

 

His fault though or rather his undoing and with it ours was that when it came to football he didn't have a clue. That's why he appointed the wrong men or got so many things wrong.

 

I do believe though that beneath his ego, and the money he took from the club, he was a fan at heart and he understood the one thing Ashley never will and that is what NUFC is all about or needs to be all about and that is competing for the best players, the best wages, the best managers etc. and the big honours and we did that under FS once or twice.

 

I even suspect with the appointment of Big Sam he was learning from his mistakes, that the club needed built up and modernised and that we couldn't keep spending good money after bad. I think the Owen deal and how that panned out was a real eye oepner. And to be fair to FS, the money he took out of the club he kind of invested back into it by buying up shares.