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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/10/20/newcastle-united-reject-foreign-bids-for-club-as-mike-ashley-put/?

 

Newcastle United reject foreign bids for club as Mike Ashley puts up not for sale sign

 

Luke Edwards

20 OCTOBER 2016 • 5:19PM

 

Newcastle United have rejected attempts by foreign investors to buy the club following its relegation to the Championship and are adamant owner Mike Ashley will not contemplate selling despite the financial impact of losing a place in the Premier League.

 

Telegraph Sport understands Chinese consortiums were at the front of the queue of potential buyers  because they believed they would be able to persuade Ashley to sell for a bargain price.

 

There was a widespread assumption abroad that the billionaire would be looking to sell following Newcastle’s catastrophic campaign, which ended with the Magpies relegated for the second time in only seven years.

 

However, the managing director, Lee Charnley, was reassured immediately after relegation that Ashley had no interest in selling and was instructed to reject any attempt to open negotiations. As a result, potential buyers have been dismissed, even those who said they were willing to prove they had the funds needed to tempt Ashley to sell.

 

The message from within St James’ Park is that the club is not for sale this season and it is highly unlikely Ashley will consider looking for a buyer for the foreseeable future.

 

Although he rarely attends games, Ashley is said to be delighted with the way things are going under new manager Rafa Benítez, who has helped repair the fractured relationship between the club and its supporters.

 

For the first time in years, there has been no sign of any protests and St James’ Park has been full for almost every home game.

 

Much of the damage at St James’ Park had been caused by Ashley’s flawed decision making, but he has given Charnley more freedom to run the club in the way Benítez demanded. That has brought an end to a failed recruitment model, while Benítez has been left in charge of the football side of the business.

 

One of the key reassurances given to the Spaniard when he was persuaded to stay after relegation was that Ashley was willing to cover any losses in the Championship, which meant he would not be forced to sell players against his wishes.

 

It is not known how large those losses will be, as Newcastle were able to sell Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham Hostpur for £30m and Georginio Wijnaldum to Liverpool for £25m,which funded their own summer recruitment.

 

Chinese consortiums have been circling around a number of English clubs in recent months, taking control of four in the West Midlands – Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion. Another deal is expected to be ratified in the next few weeks, with Hull City the latest English club to attract buyers from the Far East. Sunderland owner Ellis Short also discussed a possible takeover with a Chinese group, but those talks ended without any sign of an agreement in the summer.

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It's a difficult one. Benitez being here and keeping every fucker else pinned to the ground... it just changes everything. If you asked me the question, would you rather Ashley stayed or left I'd probably take the chance and keep things as they are.

 

The policies came above him, but it was Pardew's ineptitude who made Ashley think we couldn't compete. If Benitez is allowed to do his thing we could be a proud club again in spite of Ashley.

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It's a difficult one. Benitez being here and keeping every f***er else pinned to the ground... it just changes everything. If you asked me the question, would you rather Ashley stayed or left I'd probably take the chance and keep things as they are.

 

The policies came above him, but it was Pardew's ineptitude who made Ashley think we couldn't compete. If Benitez is allowed to do his thing we could be a proud club again in spite of Ashley.

:thup:
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I don't think I'd fancy being owned by a Chinese consortium, they'd be in it for the money over glory and could well ruin a club trying to make the most of failed investment.  Better the devil you know over that. We need a benevolent, money no object, glory hunter, with limitless patience with Nufc to take over from Mike.

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At least Ashley is finally understanding he needs to fuck off and leave Rafa to it. We've stabilised both on and off the field this season.

 

Being bought by a Chinese consortium could set us back to people thinking they know best and reverting to the same shithouse mistakes that got us in this mess.

 

Can just imagine us buying loads of shit and unwanted Chinese players to be managed by O'Leary to 'sell the brand' in China.

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He's keeping q low profile with his tat empire being under the spotlight and rightly so. It's a wonder he's not facing criminal charges.

 

Hopefully it's signalled a more hands off approach and him just counting profit from sports direct while watching the club he help break heal itself and grow back to the potential worth it was before.

 

He's lucked out more than he'll ever know with Rafa sticking by us. It's what we deserve, it's certainly not what he deserves but like it or not we're in it together so here's hoping he allows the beneficial cease fire to continue by staying the fuck away and letting someone professional call the shots.

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Probably rejected rejected a couple of "we'll take it off ya hands" bids and is looking for something more substantial.

my thoughts too, makes no sense from Ashleys pov to sell now when he could wait and see if we get back up stabilize for a few years and see if the tv cash goes even further up and get a much better price. If he wants to sell at all, god only fucking knows what he actually wants, part of me still kinda thinks he wants to prove he can be successful in football without throwing lots of cash at it and having it be self sustaining

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He's keeping q low profile with his tat empire being under the spotlight and rightly so. It's a wonder he's not facing criminal charges.

 

Hopefully it's signalled a more hands off approach and him just counting profit from sports direct while watching the club he help break heal itself and grow back to the potential worth it was before.

 

He's lucked out more than he'll ever know with Rafa sticking by us. It's what we deserve, it's certainly not what he deserves but like it or not we're in it together so here's hoping he allows the beneficial cease fire to continue by staying the fuck away and letting someone professional call the shots.

tbh he's always appeared very hands off when it comes to the day to day stuff, sure he may broadly dictate the policy but the guys he's appointed to run the club for him have done a fairly piss poor job in implementing that policy and more importantly communicating what they're trying.

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Telegraph Sport understands Chinese consortiums were at the front of the queue of potential buyers because they believed they would be able to persuade Ashley to sell for a bargain price.

 

http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1290/12904714/2658582-1405890449975.gif

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Imagine if he sells us to someone even worse and it turns out we actually should have been "careful what we wished for"  :lol:

 

Would just be fucking typical.

 

Meanwhile there's the matter of the £129million. So in your scenario, we'd have both a nutjob owner and a legacy of debt from the Ashley era. Then Benitez goes and we fall to pieces. Scary thought, which is why I'd lean towards sticking rather than twisting, if presented the option.

 

That being said, I've always assumed that the £129m is included in the (consequently enormous) asking-price, which is why no potential buyer is even coming close, and never will until he's got that money back. Even though he's bound to have made it back (and then some), given how much Sports Direct has increased in worth since putting that loan in. 'Interest free', heh.

 

But I could be miles away. It's all conjecture, I don't really know how the financial side of things work.

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As long as Ashley lets Benitez(who gets co-operation from Charnley on the way he wants to run the club and buy players)get on with the job and provides a decent financial support to the progress which everyone wants(that does NOT mean providing endless cash for players, just an acceptable level), then things are OK.

 

We all know that he has made serious errors in his running of the club previously but it seems that he has been badly advised by previous members of management as well as not being realistic about the club's potential ; it is up to HIM to keep the ship on an even keel and if he does, we should all be reasonably happy with the situation. We cannot change the past and we have been singularly fortunate that Rafa decided to stick with us after relegation when he could have walked away...so has Ashley because his investment could have gone the way of the Titanic if Benitez had gone.

 

IF we get promoted and Ashley provides Rafa with a decent budget for buying the players we will need to progress, then all parties should be prepared to put the past behind and make the club what it should be in future. Chinese investment could be good, it could be bad...its all a lottery. Man City have been very lucky that their Abu Dhabi backers have big plans for the club but it doesn't mean that ALL owners would be like that. Its annoying to think that it could have been us, but that is history now.

 

However, any backsliding on promises by Ashley would destroy what Rafa has begun so its up to him...it's also up to us to try and put the past mistakes behind so both owner and fans have one chance to pull together - its up to both parties.

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