Mike Ashley

[Al1892]

I honestly don't think at ever has been for sale, no.

 

Ashleys business credentials can't be called into question, he's without doubt one of the best in the country. If he wanted to sell nufc back then, he wouldn't have got s*** faced in dubai as was reported.

 

I think it would as a box ticking exercise, personally.

 

When my business ran into trouble, the bank told me to sell my house. I'd paid £300k for it, the market was f***ed and it was worth £250k, I marketed it at £300k,because i didn't want to sell, although I argued that what i had paid, and that's what I wanted.

 

It was advertised, at £300k, and the bank got off my back.

 

It was 'for sale', but wasn't 'for sale', if you get what I mean.

 

If I'd really wanted to sell, it would have been marketed at £250k,but I didn't, I wanted a box ticked.

 

Same with us, imo obviously.

 

Interesting, I've never  looked at it like that.  What do think his motivation was? To con the fans he was trying to get rid but couldn't?

[HawK]

I honestly don't think at ever has been for sale, no.

 

Ashleys business credentials can't be called into question, he's without doubt one of the best in the country. If he wanted to sell nufc back then, he wouldn't have got s*** faced in dubai as was reported.

 

I think it would as a box ticking exercise, personally.

 

When my business ran into trouble, the bank told me to sell my house. I'd paid £300k for it, the market was f***ed and it was worth £250k, I marketed it at £300k,because i didn't want to sell, although I argued that what i had paid, and that's what I wanted.

 

It was advertised, at £300k, and the bank got off my back.

 

It was 'for sale', but wasn't 'for sale', if you get what I mean.

 

If I'd really wanted to sell, it would have been marketed at £250k,but I didn't, I wanted a box ticked.

 

Same with us, imo obviously.

 

Interesting, I've never  looked at it like that.  What do think his motivation was? To con the fans he was trying to get rid but couldn't?

 

As if there'd be any doubt whatsoever.

[Unbelievable]

I honestly don't think at ever has been for sale, no.

 

Ashleys business credentials can't be called into question, he's without doubt one of the best in the country. If he wanted to sell nufc back then, he wouldn't have got s*** faced in dubai as was reported.

 

I think it would as a box ticking exercise, personally.

 

When my business ran into trouble, the bank told me to sell my house. I'd paid £300k for it, the market was f***ed and it was worth £250k, I marketed it at £300k,because i didn't want to sell, although I argued that what i had paid, and that's what I wanted.

 

It was advertised, at £300k, and the bank got off my back.

 

It was 'for sale', but wasn't 'for sale', if you get what I mean.

 

If I'd really wanted to sell, it would have been marketed at £250k,but I didn't, I wanted a box ticked.

 

Same with us, imo obviously.

 

Interesting, I've never  looked at it like that.  What do think his motivation was? To con the fans he was trying to get rid but couldn't?

 

As if there'd be any doubt whatsoever.

 

Absolutely this. If we were for sale at a reasonable price we would get sold. I don't think Ashley ever wanted to sell. It appears some have fallen for his antics though. He doesn't own us despite his best wishes, he owns us because he profits massively from it, at our expense.

[Rosenrot]

I am slowly coming to the belief that the only way to get rid of Ashley is chemo. And by chemo, I mean relegation. For an extended period of time.

[Conjo]

Well, he is known for using the same strategy for "buying" players. It wouldn't surprise me.

[Ankles Bennett]

Can't say I blame Ashley now we have the new sky TV deal.  The club is in the black but has to generate it's own funds from selling before buying.  Ashley pockets £70m TV money each year.  In the next 4 years he will have trousered £280 m which is close to what he paid plus the debt.  Perhaps he will go in 4 years time which coincides with the end of Parsnips contract too!!!

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Ashley won't be buying Rangers and he won't be selling us that's for sure. The only way he leaves is in a wooden box or if we get relegated and don't come back up or if we all suddenly stopped going.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Whether you like Rangers or not it's another victory for the disgusting side of the sport. It could be Sunderland and it would still be taking a chip out an institution that I love less and less every time things like this happen.

[Kanj]

Part of me wishes he follows his dream and buys Chelsea, his true favored club. If Roman somehow got into some bother and needed to sell, I could see MA stumping to buy them and basically not touching a single thing. You know he doesn't give a single fuck about us besides the cash he makes and follows the results of Chelsea (Imo).

 

I've said before - he could easily sell this club if he tried, there are buyers out there in all forms for sports and real estate. The fact is he isn't using an investment bank of global broker (as far as I can tell) so he's limited his pool/contacts and he'd likely want far over what is market for the club.  Being he seems only interested in SD & its affiliated brands, I'd imagine he also wants it tied into the deal somehow. No chance does he allow those SD signs to be taken off unless he's getting paid handsomely for that as well.

 

Just my guess here.

[Minhosa]

If someone offers him the right money, he'll sell. That's wholly dependent on a Sugar Daddy turning up, out of the blue, with a desire for NUFC.

 

Unlikely unfortunately.

[Kanj]

Right isn't it, I'm sure he's been offered right money. He just hasn't been offered the blow it out of the water type deal yet that nobody is going to pay unless the buyer is recession proof and the sport retail business has fallen apart and MA is skint.

 

What is really shitty? Dude is fucking rich as shit and a small fraction of cash injection and big time thinking and this club would be fucking magnificent. Right manager, right signings, right board and proper sponsorship and such. Such an asshole.

[Minhosa]

Right isn't it, I'm sure he's been offered right money. He just hasn't been offered the blow it out of the water type deal yet that nobody is going to pay unless the buyer is recession proof and the sport retail business has fallen apart and MA is skint.

 

What is really shitty? Dude is fucking rich as shit and a small fraction of cash injection and big time thinking and this club would be fucking magnificent. Right manager, right signings, right board and proper sponsorship and such. Such an asshole.

 

That's the kicker.

 

He could have us as competitive as anyone else if he really wanted to.

 

His approach in this respect makes me certain he'd sell for the right price. It's a business to him, not a sporting institution.

 

It's just the old adage Llambias used.........his house wasn't for sale but if someone offered him twice its market value then he's sell.

 

I'm not sure it would take a ridiculous bid to get him to agree to sell but, no question, it'd have to be slightly over the odds.

[jdckelly]

If someone offers him the right money, he'll sell. That's wholly dependent on a Sugar Daddy turning up, out of the blue, with a desire for NUFC.

 

Unlikely unfortunately.

don't think its likely to see too many sugar daddies like Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour in the near future simply because of the FFP rules. Makes the man city style growth from midtable to title contender in a couple of years impossible unless you like the idea of not being allowed into the champions league (which that kind of owner will obviously not like) and you can be damned sure uefa would smack down hard on any upstart daring to break up the old guard of europes neat little cartel and carving up of the champions league money.

[lovejoy]

With his £250-£300k house to go back to.

 

 

Haha, wankers. :-)

[Guest JS]

The way I see it:

 

He wanted a well supported, top tier football club to use to market his shitty SD brand. John Hall's quotes also state his intention. No real problems with that if it's done appropriately, which it f***ing hasn't been. He subsequently has his fingers burnt thinking he had a bargain and ended up with a debt laden club. His own f***ing fault for not doing due diligence. The guy had some fun enjoying his new toy, throwing an NUFC shirt on and watching games in the stadium. Sacked the buffoon Allardyce and, as far as I can sort of guess, used KK to put a good front on the club, get fans on board, etc.

 

Sackings, relegation, questionable (at best) hiring policy of manager and staff, constant changing strategy of the club, fallen through sale of the club and all that s*** later, and we're no further forward as a sporting institution; we've went backwards considerably. If you've been burdened with an asset where you're neither wholly liked or supported by your customer and client base, you have no real interest in said asset either now or in the first place, you're only ever left with 2 choices: make money from it or sell it on. His hide is too f***ing thick to be bullied into selling on the back of small sections of fan pressure, not helped by the number of Wonga-mongs who happily pay out the nose to put up with the s**** served every week.

 

I fear if we got relegated this season, he would simply either downsize the whole operation so that we could still float in the championship, or perhaps take the risk and keep some money in the club to try and gain promotion at the first attempt again. I can't foresee him trying to get rid of the club and make a huge loss in the eyes of the business world, nor throw money at a fallen horse. We'd probably end up with kit made by a subsidiary of SD, sponsored by SD or any other highest bidder, and cutting operating costs if we stayed down there. This way he would at least still 'be up' with the SD exposure and avoid making big losses. He'd have his shitty manager in place working for buttons and a squad of young 'talent' to either get back up to the PL or sell for higher fees. Rinse and repeat perhaps.

 

Providing we float around in the PL, I'm pretty sure now that he's complacent enough with the linked success to SD, minimal outlay and recuperation of his losses via the TV money. Everything here is in place to achieve the 'bare minimum' (17th-8th) with the carrot of long contracts to ensure that it stays this way or goes elsewhere for bigger compensation - staff, players, kit manufacturer, everything. It's cheap, no frills and here to stay for a while. A recipe for sustained shitness, yet keeps the banknotes rolling in. If Pardew ever looks to be in serious, real danger of relegation, I wouldn't be surprised to see him replaced early enough to avoid it happening. Last season didn't warrant it from that perspective as we were in no danger of going down post-Christmas.

 

The other option? Sell the club. Unsurprisingly, people in the city seem reluctant to deal with this prick despite his success, and only those desperate enough jump in knowing now the potential consequences. He'll want top whack for this club, or at the very very least what he's spent on it, and providing a sugar daddy with a connection comes into play (as previously mentioned, and again unlikely) then I can't see this happening for a while now.

 

I think sporting companies, investors and individuals who look at the PL know now that the ship has sailed to break into the top 4 and make the big money via the CL without significant and smart investment; Lerner has had enough, Short may be trying to flog or streamline the mackems, the bloke at Hull is desperate to change the name in belief it'll attract foreign support/investment. Khan and Tan at Fulham and Cardiff respectively have both went down and their goal now must surely to stick around in the top flight gravy train to get the money coming back in.

 

Despite being marketed as the biggest league in the world () the only hope for any club outside the top 5-6 realistically is to win a domestic trophy, again now seemingly not worth much in the eyes of some of the higher powers in football clubs, or to retain the status as a PL club. I really have to give it to Everton for working with what they have and still really trying to go for it with the right people in the right positions there. They might be skint in comparison to other clubs, but f*** me, at least they have ambition.

 

The whole thing is f***ing tragic because we weren't far in peoples minds of being a 'European' club 7 years ago. We weren't that far from consolidating our position as a top 4-6 club in this country despite the Souness and Roeder debacle. He could have invested quite heavily initially and potentially had us there. He could have put in, as Kanji has mentioned, a fraction of his worth into the club year on year on top of the money it generated/generates and had his SD s**** all over the f***ing place. People wouldn't have blinked had he been a seemingly decent bloke about the whole affair and had the fans interests at the forefront of his business strategy - played his cards right and he could have had SD across Europe, across many more shirt and merchandise sales worldwide; it's not too difficult to see how success can go hand in hand with other business successes.

 

And now? We're a floating turd of a club, with a fraud, rotten f***ing manager, seemingly incompetent staff and a share of players here for the stepping stone experience. They have turned this club into a small time, tacky embarrassment of it's former self, quite an achievement to follow on from Shepard in that fashion. I digress..

 

I can't see him selling unless the gravy train dries up or we're ever in a position where the club is draining his resources considerably and it's scrapped for as much as he could get back (back to back relegation perhaps?). He may use NUFC as a makeweight in another deal, but at the end of the day it'll be for his own gain and interests and never ours.

 

Lots of 'ifs and buts', I know..

[timeEd32]

[Guest northshieldsmag]

Good summing up by JS, what happened to.the wild celebrations when he bought us in 2007 now ?

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Cracking read JS!

[Guest Howaythetoon]

 

Ashley won't be buying Rangers and he won't be selling us that's for sure. The only way he leaves is in a wooden box or if we get relegated and don't come back up or if we all suddenly stopped going.

 

Why has he increased his stake and bought the naming rights then? For no reason?

 

Branding, same with Oldham. He can get what he has at NUFC for next to nothing at Rangers, £1 for the stadium renaming rights was it? £4m to buy an exclusive water tight contract to sell their shirts exclusively through his SD shops and even rebrand them if he wants. None of this costly ownership shite.

 

He is here for the long run.

[Doug]

Very depressingly astute JS

[Big Geordie]

Nail on head JS, as sad as it is. I could be 'away' from St James Park for a very long time.

[Al1892]

So, general consensus is that he's not gonna sell unless he gets all his money back and then some.  I've read an article by Happy Face (Chris Holt) on the mag that suggests MA might be reAdy to start investing more in coaching/playing staff if/when he gets rid of pardew. This is based on purely his net spend on transfers since relegation,rising slowly.  It also suggests he would take a back seat and let the club run autonomously now that it's making a profit.

 

I think this theory has legs as that's what I believe he initially signed up for and put Chris Moat in charge.  This obviously failed due to his lack of due diligence and we've been paying for it ever since!  I think be realised he made a massive mistake and felt he had to take charge himself to get the club back on a level footing.  If he thinks he's done that then this could be the time where he steps back and let's the club be run as sporting institution rather than a buissness.  He could still turn a profit and advertise within reason while the club are able to compete to their potential.

 

Do you think this is realistic? Or am I being too optimistic? Would you be happy if this came to pass?

 

ps I'm not an Ashly sympathiser btw.  My ideal scenario would for the club to be owned by the supporters.  Not ever likely to happen though.

 

 

[Al1892]

Cracking post JS

[Unbelievable]

The way I see it:

 

He wanted a well supported, top tier football club to use to market his shitty SD brand. John Hall's quotes also state his intention. No real problems with that if it's done appropriately, which it f***ing hasn't been. He subsequently has his fingers burnt thinking he had a bargain and ended up with a debt laden club. His own f***ing fault for not doing due diligence. The guy had some fun enjoying his new toy, throwing an NUFC shirt on and watching games in the stadium. Sacked the buffoon Allardyce and, as far as I can sort of guess, used KK to put a good front on the club, get fans on board, etc.

 

Sackings, relegation, questionable (at best) hiring policy of manager and staff, constant changing strategy of the club, fallen through sale of the club and all that s*** later, and we're no further forward as a sporting institution; we've went backwards considerably. If you've been burdened with an asset where you're neither wholly liked or supported by your customer and client base, you have no real interest in said asset either now or in the first place, you're only ever left with 2 choices: make money from it or sell it on. His hide is too f***ing thick to be bullied into selling on the back of small sections of fan pressure, not helped by the number of Wonga-mongs who happily pay out the nose to put up with the s**** served every week.

 

I fear if we got relegated this season, he would simply either downsize the whole operation so that we could still float in the championship, or perhaps take the risk and keep some money in the club to try and gain promotion at the first attempt again. I can't foresee him trying to get rid of the club and make a huge loss in the eyes of the business world, nor throw money at a fallen horse. We'd probably end up with kit made by a subsidiary of SD, sponsored by SD or any other highest bidder, and cutting operating costs if we stayed down there. This way he would at least still 'be up' with the SD exposure and avoid making big losses. He'd have his shitty manager in place working for buttons and a squad of young 'talent' to either get back up to the PL or sell for higher fees. Rinse and repeat perhaps.

 

Providing we float around in the PL, I'm pretty sure now that he's complacent enough with the linked success to SD, minimal outlay and recuperation of his losses via the TV money. Everything here is in place to achieve the 'bare minimum' (17th-8th) with the carrot of long contracts to ensure that it stays this way or goes elsewhere for bigger compensation - staff, players, kit manufacturer, everything. It's cheap, no frills and here to stay for a while. A recipe for sustained shitness, yet keeps the banknotes rolling in. If Pardew ever looks to be in serious, real danger of relegation, I wouldn't be surprised to see him replaced early enough to avoid it happening. Last season didn't warrant it from that perspective as we were in no danger of going down post-Christmas.

 

The other option? Sell the club. Unsurprisingly, people in the city seem reluctant to deal with this prick despite his success, and only those desperate enough jump in knowing now the potential consequences. He'll want top whack for this club, or at the very very least what he's spent on it, and providing a sugar daddy with a connection comes into play (as previously mentioned, and again unlikely) then I can't see this happening for a while now.

 

I think sporting companies, investors and individuals who look at the PL know now that the ship has sailed to break into the top 4 and make the big money via the CL without significant and smart investment; Lerner has had enough, Short may be trying to flog or streamline the mackems, the bloke at Hull is desperate to change the name in belief it'll attract foreign support/investment. Khan and Tan at Fulham and Cardiff respectively have both went down and their goal now must surely to stick around in the top flight gravy train to get the money coming back in.

 

Despite being marketed as the biggest league in the world () the only hope for any club outside the top 5-6 realistically is to win a domestic trophy, again now seemingly not worth much in the eyes of some of the higher powers in football clubs, or to retain the status as a PL club. I really have to give it to Everton for working with what they have and still really trying to go for it with the right people in the right positions there. They might be skint in comparison to other clubs, but f*** me, at least they have ambition.

 

The whole thing is f***ing tragic because we weren't far in peoples minds of being a 'European' club 7 years ago. We weren't that far from consolidating our position as a top 4-6 club in this country despite the Souness and Roeder debacle. He could have invested quite heavily initially and potentially had us there. He could have put in, as Kanji has mentioned, a fraction of his worth into the club year on year on top of the money it generated/generates and had his SD s**** all over the f***ing place. People wouldn't have blinked had he been a seemingly decent bloke about the whole affair and had the fans interests at the forefront of his business strategy - played his cards right and he could have had SD across Europe, across many more shirt and merchandise sales worldwide; it's not too difficult to see how success can go hand in hand with other business successes.

 

And now? We're a floating turd of a club, with a fraud, rotten f***ing manager, seemingly incompetent staff and a share of players here for the stepping stone experience. They have turned this club into a small time, tacky embarrassment of it's former self, quite an achievement to follow on from Shepard in that fashion. I digress..

 

I can't see him selling unless the gravy train dries up or we're ever in a position where the club is draining his resources considerably and it's scrapped for as much as he could get back (back to back relegation perhaps?). He may use NUFC as a makeweight in another deal, but at the end of the day it'll be for his own gain and interests and never ours.

 

Lots of 'ifs and buts', I know..

 

Stunning!

[magpie1892]

So, general consensus is that he's not gonna sell unless he gets all his money back and then some.  I've read an article by Happy Face (Chris Holt) on the mag that suggests MA might be reAdy to start investing more in coaching/playing staff if/when he gets rid of pardew. This is based on purely his net spend on transfers since relegation,rising slowly.  It also suggests he would take a back seat and let the club run autonomously now that it's making a profit.

 

I think this theory has legs as that's what I believe he initially signed up for and put Chris Moat in charge.  This obviously failed due to his lack of due diligence and we've been paying for it ever since!  I think be realised he made a massive mistake and felt he had to take charge himself to get the club back on a level footing.  If he thinks he's done that then this could be the time where he steps back and let's the club be run as sporting institution rather than a buissness.  He could still turn a profit and advertise within reason while the club are able to compete to their potential.

 

Do you think this is realistic? Or am I being too optimistic? Would you be happy if this came to pass?

 

ps I'm not an Ashly sympathiser btw.  My ideal scenario would for the club to be owned by the supporters.  Not ever likely to happen though.

 

I think it's unrealistic. He will continue to cream off tens of millions of what is basically free cash every season we're in the Prem. He will continue to have his shitty brands all over the place and pay nothing for the privilege using the £129m 'loan' he owes himself. He could have paid this off with two years' of TV money but he never will.

 

For a look at Newcastle's immediate future, have a look at the current home and away shirts for this season. Poor quality and very thin materials, very basic in construction, the continuation of the insulting sponsor and, of course, the stick-on crest. Puma gives clients a list of variables for the construction of a shirt, and Jabba has picked the cheapest option in each case to maximise retail margin.

 

He's going nowhere, and 17th is just fine for him.