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Guest antz1uk

I think the PR with the fans this season has been excellent tbh, I don't really care too much that Mike isn't too open in the public eye, but the manager, players, and even the staff (Carver & Carr) have went above and beyond this season in that department.

 

don't think abramovich has ever been inrerviewed or spoke on the record about chelsea either, very happy where we are

at the moment

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We are third in Debt league....

 

 

 

Premier League: the alternative results table

 

 

Monday 14 May 2012

In a dramatic conclusion to a nail-biting finale, Manchester City grabbed the Premier League title with seconds to spare. But when football finances are considered, was it really such a surprise?

 

Hundreds of Man City fans are lining the streets on Monday to celebrate winning English football's top prize for the first time in 44 years.

 

But football finance expert Dr John Beech is not quite so impressed - and not just because he is a Portsmouth fan.

 

"You could sum it up as 'billion-dollar-team' beats 'one-man-down' team", he told Channel 4 News. "There's evidence that buying success is not always guaranteed, but when you buy it on such a scale as Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour, it is."

Premier League: the alternative results table

 

The Channel 4 News alternative league table shows the levels of debt within the Premier League (based on most recent figures available) and does not even take into account this season's most recent epic spending. While clubs' total spend and debt accumulation does not correlate exactly with their position based on points, the big spenders float towards the top and the teams that actually make a profit are in the minority.

 

    It's destroying any natural competitive balance, moving away from realms of sport to realm of entertainment. Yes it's entertaining, but it's not sport. It's the uncertainty of outcome that's being removed. Dr John Beech

 

Manchester City last year posted record annual losses of £195m following a spend of £175m on wages alone, funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Carlos Tevez was bought for a reputed £47m, and along with Yaya Toure receives a weekly salary of around £200,000.

 

City fans may be overjoyed at their last-gasp triumph at the weekend, but many believe their new-founded dominance merely confirms that the game's finances are spiralling out of control.

 

"The spending of this scale started 20 years ago with the formation of the Premier League, and I do see it as 'football selling its soul'," said Dr Beech.

 

"It's destroying any natural competitive balance, moving away from realms of sport to realm of entertainment. Yes it's entertaining, but it's not sport. It's the uncertainty of outcome that's being removed."

 

Financial fair play regulations

 

Uefa is attempting to put teams on a more equal footing by controlling clubs' spending, imposing a £38m cap on losses through financial fair play regulations, which will come into play from 2013 to 2015. Clubs will be fined or risk exclusion from their league if they fail to comply.

 

The aim is that clubs will be forced to compete on commercial revenues, so that if they make money they can spend it, but relying on hugely wealthy benefactors will not be an option.

 

Whether the regulations will have an impact is yet to be seen. Wyn Grant, co-editor of footballeconomy.com and professor of politics at Warwick University, is not convinced.

 

For a start teams may be able to mount a legal challenge, and Uefa will have to be careful about how many teams it gets rid of, he told Channel 4 News: "What they will really do is entrench the status quo. The Real Madrids, the Barcelonas, will stay top of the pile if the regulations are in fact enforceable."

 

Read more: Is it the 'English' Premier League any more?

 

Long-term aim

 

It could take up to 10 years before Uefa's regulations manage to equalise club's spending - that is, if the clubs themselves play ball.

 

"My main concern is that fans are tending to be uncritical - all they care about is what happens on the pitch, not what happens in the boardroom," Dr Beech said.

 

"But I would hope to think that within ten years, we'll be looking back and saying 'how on earth was this allowed to happen'."

 

 

http://www.channel4.com/news/premier-league-the-alternative-results-table

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I too am content with his reign. I would classify myself as happy if it weren't for the vandalism of our beloved St. James' Park. It's something that really grates me. It doesn't matter how high up we win, it will still upset me.

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From The Shields Gazette

 

Mr Ashley was unable to offload Newcastle United, and Mr Harris said the St James’ Park club would still be difficult to sell because the owners have already “maximised its revenue streams”.

 

He said: “Part of the due diligence is that it has wonderful fan support, but it doesn’t have much of an international brand presence.

 

The problem is that if you own the club, how do you improve it? Off the pitch, they have already done a good job of optimising what they earn and you can’t get more people in the stadium.”

 

Got quite angry when I read this (especially the bold part). I get what he means. But for me that is a really clumsy statement. Maximize your income because the stadium in full and only the geordies supports them... so how do you improve your income then? Play better and more sucessfull football! It´s not harder than that.

 

 

The quotes is from the articel about Ashleys first five years and an interview from Keith Harris that tried to sell the club, with Mr Mort as the clostes one, and of course Mr Harris is licking it all up here.

 

One interesting note though is that the requsted money for the club was £80m :lol: You can only imagan what he would get for it today. I think he for one is quit glad he hanged on.

 

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/local-news/millionaire-was-close-to-buying-newcastle-united-1-4583284

 

By PAUL CLIFFORD

Published on Friday 25 May 2012 08:15

 

A MILLIONAIRE businessman with links to South Tyneside was the only person to make a serious bid to buy Newcastle United when owner Mike Ashley tried to offload the club, it has been revealed.

 

Investment bankers were called in to sell the Magpies in 2008 after Mr Ashley put the club on the market in the face of an angry fans’s revolt.

 

In an open letter to supporters at the time, he said he had put the club up for sale, claiming he had been advised not to take his children to the ground over fears they would be attacked.

 

But takeover deals repeatedly collapsed, leaving Ashley desperately looking for a new investor.

 

Now, Keith Harris, the chairman of Seymour Pierce who were brought in to oversee the sale, has revealed that only one offer was seriously considered.

 

That was a bid by Barry Moat, founder of Premier Direct which was based at Simonside East Industrial Estate, South Shields, until it closed in 2008.

 

Mr Moat left the company, which sold books, novelty toys and gifts to schools, hospitals and local authorities, in 2005.

 

The £100m deal for the club eventually collapsed after details of the intensely private businessman’s takeover became public knowledge.

 

Mr Harris, who counts Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra as associates, spent more than six months searching the world for potential buyers.

 

He said: “We were retained by Mike Ashley to sell the business. We got expressions of interest from a lot of people as is typical in football.

 

“Mike lost patience with the whole process. As we narrowed it down, there was one very interested party. He was very interested and a deal was on the cards.

 

“He had some additional money to raise and the terms he suggested were not far off. It was a credible and possible buy-out.”

 

Mr Harris was appointed to handle the sale after entertainment mogul Chris Nathaniel said he was fronting a Nigerian bid to buy the Toon.

 

Mr Harris added: “There were probably about 20 people who came back positively to express an interest and that was filtered down very, very quickly.

 

“Football is a great opportunity for people to enhance their personal profile, but Mike stayed cool through the whole process.

 

Mr Ashley was unable to offload Newcastle United, and Mr Harris said the St James’ Park club would still be difficult to sell because the owners have already “maximised its revenue streams”.

 

He said: “Part of the due diligence is that it has wonderful fan support, but it doesn’t have much of an international brand presence.

 

“The problem is that if you own the club, how do you improve it? Off the pitch, they have already done a good job of optimising what they earn and you can’t get more people in the stadium.”

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Isn't our debt to Ashley though which makes it a whole lot better than it looks?

 

Yes every penny we owe is to Ashley.... we dont owe a single penny to the banks or anyone else for that matter....

 

The whole we are 131m in debt is very misleading.

 

http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/newcastle-united-life-in-northern-town.html?utm_source=BP_recent

 

Explains our finances in greater detail..... although the headline is a massive fail  :lol:

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Quite mystifying how other clubs' debt levels are suddenly so low according to that Channel 4 table. Weren't Man Utd and Liverpool's debt levels not in the hundreds of millions not so long ago, as their owners had basically taken out loans to fund the purchase of the clubs? Also I believe Chelsea still officially owe Roman's holding company the best part of a billion pounds? Not sure how all these cosntructions are really massively different to our interest free loan..?

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Quite mystifying how other clubs' debt levels are suddenly so low according to that Channel 4 table. Weren't Man Utd and Liverpool's debt levels not in the hundreds of millions not so long ago, as their owners had basically taken out loans to fund the purchase of the clubs? Also I believe Chelsea still officially owe Roman's holding company the best part of a billion pounds? Not sure how all these cosntructions are really massively different to our interest free loan..?

 

Think Roman converted the debt (or at least some of) owed into equity

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Quite mystifying how other clubs' debt levels are suddenly so low according to that Channel 4 table. Weren't Man Utd and Liverpool's debt levels not in the hundreds of millions not so long ago, as their owners had basically taken out loans to fund the purchase of the clubs? Also I believe Chelsea still officially owe Roman's holding company the best part of a billion pounds? Not sure how all these cosntructions are really massively different to our interest free loan..?

 

In Germany some clubs such as Hertha Berlin sort of outsourced some of their departments in order to get a better financial result.

 

Don't know how it worked and from that day on I didn't really bother anymore as to how much dept a club has. It's just too unclear to really see through for me.

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Apologies if Giggs, but the Telegraph is reporting that Ashley is considering buying Umbro. Might be the end of Puma kit for us.

Very much a Giggs, that was a few years ago and Nke bought them.
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Apologies if Giggs, but the Telegraph is reporting that Ashley is considering buying Umbro. Might be the end of Puma kit for us.

Very much a Giggs, that was a few years ago and Nke bought them.

 

Nike are trying to offload them.

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Apologies if Giggs, but the Telegraph is reporting that Ashley is considering buying Umbro. Might be the end of Puma kit for us.

Very much a Giggs, that was a few years ago and Nke bought them.

 

Nike are trying to offload them.

Oh right, my mistake.

 

Anyway I don't see how that would mean they would automatically become our new shirt makers when our Puma deal expires, Ashley also owns Lonsdale and we never had them as our shirt makers.

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5 years ago today...

 

"The board believes that SJHL and Mike Ashley will be excellent custodians of Newcastle United's heritage and will provide the best possible opportunity for the club to flourish in the future, to the benefit of the company and its fans."

 

:spit:

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5 years ago today...

 

"The board believes that SJHL and Mike Ashley will be excellent custodians of Newcastle United's heritage and will provide the best possible opportunity for the club to flourish in the future, to the benefit of the company and its fans."

 

:spit:

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