BlueStar Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 http://www.themag.co.uk/2015/05/comment-mike-ashley-plays-catch-22-with-newcastle-fans/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattoon Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Another excellent piece by Edwards: By Luke Edwards 3:02PM BST 13 May 2015 Newcastle owner has transformed a club that almost every fan in the country had a soft spot for into one that most supporters would like to be relegated Mike Ashley has done some pretty diabolical things as Newcastle United owner, but the most depressing has been to turn a football club that almost every fan in the country had a soft spot for into one that most neutrals would like to be relegated. That is a tragedy for English football. Ashley has not only sucked the joy out of supporting the team, he has also drained it of its mass appeal. Newcastle are no longer a credit to the Premier League, they are an embarrassment to a competition that prides itself of being the most exciting, bold and unpredictable. Newcastle fans want Mike Ashley to sell the club Newcastle are the antithesis of excitement. They have become a bland football club run by bean counters. If people really do want Newcastle to be relegated, it is because they want Ashley to be punished for what he has done. Unfortunately, it will be the supporters who suffer the most. It will be the innocent minions who lose their job to cut costs in the Championship. ADVERTISEMENT Ashley will be hurt by relegation and he may well officially put the club up for sale again, but as a billionaire with other interests, he is largely immune. • Ashley has divided and conquered the Newcastle fanbase Even if he is forced to bankroll the club in the Championship, he will do so in the form of interest free loans, which remain on the club’s books indefinitely and will have to be repaid at some point. That, though, is of little concern to those who do not have an emotional attachment. To those outside, relegation will be seen as a fitting punishment for Ashley and his cohorts. Protests against Ashley have become commonplace at St James' Park You may mock the “daft Geordies” and I know many of you reading this will. You will scoff at their supposedly high expectation levels and smirk at their ridiculous loyalty to a team that never wins anything. Most of you will have taken some pleasure from a Newcastle meltdown in the past, but the sad thing is, all the Magpies provoke now is boredom, weariness and, I suspect, some sadness too. • Newcastle and Southampton lead chase for Charlie Austin I’ve even heard a Sunderland fan tell a Newcastle one after a fifth successive derby defeat that “it’s a disgrace what Ashley has done to your football club.” Of all the things I’ve read and heard about Newcastle’s decline, those 11 words echo in my mind the most. Even Newcastle’s bitterest rivals recognise the damage that has been done. Newcastle have never been a successful big club, but they have always been admired, not just because of the loyalty and passion of their largesupport, but for the way they went about things. It was a proper football club. Self-destructive, perhaps, prone to emotional meltdowns and always likely to implode when the pressure was on in the pursuit of silverware, but they always generated excitement. Ashley seems largely immune to the vitriol aimed his way When Newcastle rolled into town, they fired up atmospheres inside normally bland arenas. They filled away sections with colour, noise and gallows humour and the locals responded to their noise with their own. When Newcastle fans travel now they are shorn of hope and are more concerned with protesting against Ashley than supporting the team. Divided and depressed. Newcastle used to earn respect because they had a go. They were fascinating. They were a team that other fans, albeit begrudgingly, liked to watch. They played football in a manner that suggested they would always much rather attack than defend. If the truth be told, they were often a source of amusement, but there was always affection there, a recognition English football would be a lot duller without them. • Newcastle United 1 West Brom 1, match report Newcastle, though, have gone from affectionate figure of fun to a club that people would like to see suffer. I do not say that with any pleasure, pride or satisfaction. I write it with a heavy heart, butwhat is the point of Newcastle under Ashley? That gripe has extended way beyond Tyneside. They bring little to the Premier League table. They are, at best, a solid mid-table club that does not try in cup competitions. They are a club that exists for foreign players to use as a shop window. Newcastle are bringing nothing to the Premier league table right now For the second season running, the team have spent the second half of the campaign looking like manikins for a dubious internet loan company playing in front of billboards for a scruffy high street sport shop. Newcastle don’t add anything special anymore. They do not help sell global television rights. They do not even make domestic ones appealing. What is the point of a football club that exists merely to promote other business interests? The Premier League is big business but, fundamentally, it remains a sport in which the glory comes from winning things and the enjoyment comes from trying to pursue that glory. Football is meant to be fun, not a monotonous annual procession towards a mid-table finish. • Why won't Mike Ashley sell up? Newcastle are a business where predictable outcomes ensure stable cash flows. Ashley has made that more important than sporting adventure. They have become tedious to watch and are in danger of becoming a toxic football brand, which could poison others. A quick glance at the list of remaining relegation candidates suggests the following: Leicester City deserve to stay up because they have been brilliant when they needed to be. Sunderland are not the most glamorous club and they always seem to be in this position at this stage of the season, but at least they try to be more than that. Hull City have their problems. They also have an unpopular owner who refuses to listen to the concerns of the supporters over his proposed name change. They have been poor for long periods of the campaign and are geographically difficult to get to, but Steve Bruce is a popular figure and, again, they have tried to do more than they have achieved. The point is, Newcastle have not tried and if you do not try you deserve to fail. It would be awful for proud supporters to suffer a second relegation in just six years, but even they do not like their football club at the moment because of the man who runs it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenige Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Personally I think that article is dreadful, but hey, horses for courses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figures 1-0 Football Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. Because we think we're gonna win the league every year, will get Klopp as manager and sign Messi next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EthiGeordie Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I have Edwards he is a Mackem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maze Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. Because we think we're gonna win the league every year, will get Klopp as manager and sign Messi next season Are you trying to tell me that we are not appointing Klopp, signing Messi and winning the league next year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figures 1-0 Football Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. Because we think we're gonna win the league every year, will get Klopp as manager and sign Messi next season Are you trying to tell me that we are not appointing Klopp, signing Messi and winning the league next year http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/12/31/2451A14900000578-2892368-John_Carver_could_take_over_at_Newcastle_job_until_at_least_the_-a-32_1420026222910.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Ahmed Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. A few people I know have mentioned it, mainly because they think Ashley is a prick and his decisions are stupid therefore they want us relegated I suppose it's similar to how I guess most people wanted Blackburn to get relegated because of their idiot owners, Cardiff too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy Chibas Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Another good piece by Edwards. His assessement of Mike Ashley's club, Sports Direct United, is spot on - it brings nothing to the competition.It merely exists as a promotional branch for business interests unrelated to football, with no ambition in winning silverware or achieving sporting success, and it's a whipping stick used against a supporter base whom the owner despises. The simple notion of 'trying' will always be the core fundamental in any sporting competition. So this business entity - I don't view it as a sporting club anymore - only deserves to drop like a stone. A healthy percentage of neutral purists won't miss Sport Direct United's annual presence at the lower half of the table either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugoinufc Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Personally I think that article is dreadful, but hey, horses for courses. why? think he is spot on! but i do think many neutrals actually are starting to feel sorry for us more than they want us to fail. people who follows the PL can see what is going on....they can separate ashleys regime from nufc...the c... have hijacked our club! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppe Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. Because we think we're gonna win the league every year, will get Klopp as manager and sign Messi next season Are you trying to tell me that we are not appointing Klopp, signing Messi and winning the league next year http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/12/31/2451A14900000578-2892368-John_Carver_could_take_over_at_Newcastle_job_until_at_least_the_-a-32_1420026222910.jpg http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/Pictures/Pictures/FantasticFour11.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
magpie1892 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Personally I think that article is dreadful, but hey, horses for courses. I'm inclined to agree. Edwards is hurting from his ban, he's let that slight become personal, and he's since written a number of articles such as this which lack balance. The essence of this piece is correct, that much is true, but there's way too much subjectivity therein. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-ashley-would-need-astronomical-9247263 How low are the standards at the Chronicle like? Literally robbing a living this guy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenham Mag Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Why do neutrals want us relegated? I haven't come across that view. Because we think we're gonna win the league every year, will get Klopp as manager and sign Messi next season Are you trying to tell me that we are not appointing Klopp, signing Messi and winning the league next year http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/12/31/2451A14900000578-2892368-John_Carver_could_take_over_at_Newcastle_job_until_at_least_the_-a-32_1420026222910.jpg More contours than an Atlas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggs Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-ashley-would-need-astronomical-9247263 How low are the standards at the Chronicle like? Literally robbing a living this guy. By night he is http://i.imgur.com/dc9KOxHl.jpg by day he is http://i.imgur.com/NY84rUWl.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmk Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Personally I think that article is dreadful, but hey, horses for courses. I agree, it's absolute bollocks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roger Kint Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-ashley-would-need-astronomical-9247263 How low are the standards at the Chronicle like? Literally robbing a living this guy. He uses wages and expenses as another issue for buyers? In Ryders world will Ashley be taking all future income with him too? Stealing a living writing such bollocks on a daily basis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Crooks Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Any one else read his signature at the top as 'LEERY DER'? Quite appropriate. Also, what's the deal with his paragraphs? Teacher's nightmare... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-ashley-would-need-astronomical-9247263 How low are the standards at the Chronicle like? Literally robbing a living this guy. He uses wages and expenses as another issue for buyers? In Ryders world will Ashley be taking all future income with him too? Stealing a living writing such bollocks on a daily basis that is a truly fucking unbelievable article, can't believe a 'trained professional' could come up with so much shite Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Gasping for SackPardew/AshleyOut to move on to Lee Ryder once they're done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roger Kint Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Gasping for SackPardew/AshleyOut to move on to Lee Ryder once they're done. Hes arguing with fans all over the shop this morning rather than admit he was talking shit over the pipedream comment. Somehow making himself look even more of a twat than normal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huss9 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 bet Douglas is sat next to him in the office with his heads in his hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm starting to think he's not even based at The Chronicle, he just still has his login details. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedX02 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-ashley-would-need-astronomical-9247263 How low are the standards at the Chronicle like? Literally robbing a living this guy. Explains his loyalty to Carver then...birds of a feather, etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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