Mike Ashley (former owner)

[CalmintheChaos]

We really deserve all he gives us 

[Yorkie]

I mean that's a bit misleading cos there's been much, much bigger protests than that up here. But yeah, still a bit damning. 

[Kimbo]

The only protest that matters is an empty stadium and not giving them any money, my guess is these 6 clubs will be as useless as us in that regard. Kroenke will care as much as Ashley about people gathering outside the stadium and shouting.

[ToonArmy1892]

7 minutes ago, Kimbo said:

The only protest that matters is an empty stadium and not giving them any money, my guess is these 6 clubs will be as useless as us in that regard. Kroenke will care as much as Ashley about people gathering outside the stadium and shouting.

Aye, agree with that like.

[Miggys First Goal]

Saw this cunt’s name trending on Twitter and thought something had happened to him.

Nope, just people complaining about Sky chasing down one of the Glazers in America but not doing the same to Ashley. 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Miggys First Goal

[The Prophet]

He's the reason why so many cling to positive takeover news. The thought of the takeover attempt coming to nothing and Ashley, along with Bruce taking us into another season must be absolutely crushing for fans that haven't tuned out.

You can absolutely guarantee, regardless of how arbitration goes, the takeover will be used to vindicate minimal investment over the summer.

[The Bonk]

Quote

“After four years of the club being subjected to this investigation, I am pleased it has now been discontinued. It is now time for the dark forces that are preventing this football club from becoming the power house that the fans deserve, to step aside.”

I'm putting this in here, because the cheek of this cunt is off the charts.  

[Darth Crooks]

Wondered why it took so long.

[Collage]

Dark forces  He’s Mike Ashley, trying to sell the club to Saudi Arabia 

[Collage]

Rio is a twat, btw

[relámpago blanco]

Just now, Collage said:

Rio is a twat, btw

So are you.

[B-more Mag]

Good piece by Chris Waugh in The Athletic

Quote

As desperate as supporters may be to see the back of Ashley, they should not be hoodwinked by his latest remarks. Ashley, in his attempts to resurrect the takeover, is not motivated by an overwhelming sense of duty towards Newcastle supporters, but by his own bank balance. Fans just so happen to benefit from Ashley’s departure if it ever does happen. But that is a side effect, not a cause.

The idea that Ashley presents of Newcastle becoming a “powerhouse” is so compelling but it is also so incendiary. He is the very reason that concept has become so remote.

As exhilarating as Newcastle’s victory over Leicester was, all it did was ensure they will play Premier League football again next season, when the solitary goal will once again be to avoid relegation. Should they fail in their ambitionless task for the third time since 2009, there will be only one “dark force” to blame.

 

Whole thing in spoiler below.

Spoiler

Mike Ashley's 'dark forces' talk is a shameless attempt to present himself as the fans' champion

As the clock ticked beyond the 73rd minute at the King Power Stadium on Friday night, the big screen displayed a barely comprehensible scoreline: Leicester City 0-4 Newcastle United.

How had Newcastle, woeful for much of the season, so comprehensively dismantled Champions League-chasing Leicester?

It has taken much consideration, but there is only one logical explanation: “dark forces” were at play.

After all, as Newcastle fans were informed last week by the ever-communicative and trustworthy Mike Ashley, it seems every aspect of the club has been affected by these mysterious influences.

“It’s now time for the dark forces that are preventing this football club from becoming the powerhouse that the fans deserve to step aside,” he said, as he removed his tongue from firmly inside his own cheek.

If trying to make sense of Newcastle’s dominant performance at Leicester was difficult enough, attempting to discern just how Ashley had come to that conclusion is even more unfathomable. That is until you realise that he does not actually believe that to be the case; he is just spinning a line, pretty much trolling the Newcastle supporters he has repeatedly ignored.

Just because Ashley has become an uncomfortable quasi-ally in the quest to force through the stalled takeover, that does not absolve him of his myriad failings at the club, which do not only exist in the past but also very much in the present.

In arbitration proceedings and an anti-competition case against the Premier League, Newcastle allege outside influences affected the manner in which the organisation’s owners’ and directors’ test was applied. The Premier League refutes this, but Ashley has grasped yet another opportunity to publicly kick the administration.

His mention of “dark forces” was an act of pure effrontery. The club’s equivalent of the Sheriff of Nottingham was somehow trying to portray himself as Newcastle fans’ very own Robin Hood.

Ashley had the absolute audacity to ignore his 14 years as Newcastle owner, pretty much absolving himself of any culpability for the club’s standing. Perhaps, as Amanda Staveley herself has also alleged, there has been clandestine lobbying against the takeover, but that accounts for only a tiny fraction of why Newcastle are perennial relegation candidates.

For the most damaging “dark force” hanging over the club to have the temerity to even raise the notion of Newcastle becoming a “powerhouse” was infuriating, antagonistic and offensive.

It is as if the last 14 years have not existed, or at the very least, that he feels no personal connection to them.

Newcastle celebrate their surprise victory over Leicester (Photo: James Holyoak/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The takeover saga has brought 14 months of neglect from a custodian desperate to cut his ties. But, place those into the broader context of the past 14 years, and neglect is still pretty much all you will find. He is grasping every opportunity possible to take on the Premier League legally right now, but the cruel irony is that he has never once attempted to take on the Premier League in a purely football sense.

He could have made Newcastle more appealing to players, managers, investors and supporters. He could have built a state-of-the-art training ground, invested in the academy, upgraded St James’ Park, appointed top-level managers and built a talented squad. He could have made Newcastle competitive, or at the very least competent, but he has chosen not to.

Instead, Newcastle have declined in every way imaginable under his watch.

Although hardly a “powerhouse” previously, Newcastle were a regular top-eight club before Ashley.

Alongside tilts at the Premier League title under Sir John Hall and then Freddy Shepherd, they were an ever-present top-flight between 1993 and 2007, with an average finishing position of seventh. Only four times in 14 seasons did they fail to accrue 50 points or more, and in 11 of those, they qualified for some sort of European football, including featuring in at least the Champions League group stages two times.

There was always a sense of ambition, always a desire to improve. Each manager was appointed with silverware in mind. Even if that objective was never actually achieved, aspiration was constant.

Under Ashley, aspiration has been absent. There has almost been an aversion to it. When Newcastle played in the Europa League in 2012-13, the only continental campaign of Ashley’s tenure, the billionaire saw it as an inconvenience that did not deliver the lucrative returns of the Premier League. For much of his ownership, Ashley viewed domestic cup competitions with similar disdain.

Instead, lower mid-table mediocrity has become the goal, with an average finishing position of 13th during his 11 full seasons, with only one 50-point-plus campaign in the top flight. Twice, they have failed to achieve their pathetically low target, being relegated in 2008-09 and 2015-16, but there have been at least half a dozen further near-misses.

Remember, Newcastle were considered to be pretty much equal in status, if not arguably superior, to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007. Even if Tottenham’s European Super Leaguecredentials were widely mocked, the two clubs are now barely comparable.

Being a “powerhouse” would obviously be nice, but being even a moderately proficient sporting institution has proven beyond Ashley’s capabilities.

That is precisely why the win at Leicester was so exciting — it was so unusual. Seldom have Newcastle travelled to top-four opposition under Ashley and actually imposed themselves.

On reflection, that performance was exasperating because it offered a glimpse of what Newcastle could be, what they shouldbe. That should not be a once-in-a-season-if-we-are-lucky display; it should be what the club is striving for on a regular basis.

As poor as Leicester were, they highlight what can be achieved with a bit of imagination, some TLC, sustainable investment in players and infrastructure, a clear vision, a forward-thinking manager and a healthy relationship with supporters. They have not spent billions, they are not a “powerhouse”, but they are progressive and they represent much of what Newcastle fans wish to see from their own club.

When 10,000 season ticket holders walked away in 2019 following Rafa Benitez’s exit, Ashley’s Newcastle made no genuine attempt to reconnect with them. Instead, they were pretty much forgotten about, which is reminiscent of the owner’s general attitude towards supporters.

On Talksport, Steve Bruce once again failed to endear himself to supporters by perpetuating myths about the fanbase. He spoke of entrenched  “expectations”, something outsiders often accuse Newcastle supporters of. It is simply not true. They do not expect Newcastle to be a “powerhouse”, but they do want to retain some hope that their club can be better, or at the very least tries to be.

Bruce has previously admitted that his own “remit” is to avoid relegation. Ultimately, Bruce is fulfilling the task his owner has laid out for him. Ashley has created a “survival will suffice” environment and the club has become a reflection of that.

As owner, Ashley has also left his managers to choke on their own words. Neither Ashley nor Lee Charnley, the club’s managing director, has directly communicated with supporters since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic on anything other than their attempts to conclude a transaction that will see the billionaire receive £305 million for a club that he has not even attempted to improve.

On Thursday — on the same day Ashley attempted to present himself as the fans’ champion, when really what he was doing was pushing for personal compensation in the event the takeover never passes — the club finally released information about the return of supporters for the home clash with Sheffield United later this month.

Supporters on corporate tickets, some of whom have not paid a penny towards the 2020-21 campaign given it was behind closed doors, were all given opportunities to take part in the ballot. But some fans who, for financial reasons, opted to receive a refund during the pandemic, or who opted against paying towards their 2020-21 season ticket while they were barred from grounds, were excluded from applying. That is how far Ashley’s empathy really extends to supporters.

On that same day, the government also published details of which companies used the furlough scheme in February. Newcastle claimed between £100,001 and £250,000, the same as they did in both December and January, and The Athleticunderstands the club has continued to receive state funds since. Never once, however, has the club even publicly acknowledged that it has furloughed employees.

As desperate as supporters may be to see the back of Ashley, they should not be hoodwinked by his latest remarks. Ashley, in his attempts to resurrect the takeover, is not motivated by an overwhelming sense of duty towards Newcastle supporters, but by his own bank balance. Fans just so happen to benefit from Ashley’s departure if it ever does happen. But that is a side effect, not a cause.

The idea that Ashley presents of Newcastle becoming a “powerhouse” is so compelling but it is also so incendiary. He is the very reason that concept has become so remote.

As exhilarating as Newcastle’s victory over Leicester was, all it did was ensure they will play Premier League football again next season, when the solitary goal will once again be to avoid relegation. Should they fail in their ambitionless task for the third time since 2009, there will be only one “dark force” to blame.

 

 

[Lazarus]

Good article but doesnt go far enough

[Robster]

On 07/05/2021 at 20:57, Collage said:

Dark forces  He’s Mike Ashley, trying to sell the club to Saudi Arabia 

I think you'll find he selling to The Saudi People.

[Guest]

The ambition man. Bet he wouldn’t have imagined in a million years they’d go and actually win the fucking thing within 2 years of this.

 

Here’s us about £110m spent under Bruce, further away than we were 2 years ago from the same sort of position.

 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/27387616

[Paully]

 

[NG32]

2 hours ago, Paully said:

 

"he is a good business man"

"he will save the high street"

 

[TBG]

"He could have easily sacked those so fair play to him" 

[ED209]

He’s just taking the piss with government Covid cash. Plenty doing it like the bloke near me who got Covid loans and used them as a deposit for a new Lamborghini.  Bragging about it as well. 

[TBG]

Aye we had a bloke asking for a quote for a property purchase and mentioned if he could use his Covid loan towards the purchase. 

A quick Google would suggest no. 

[Lazarus]

Boils my piss that.

We applied for a bounce back loan with 2 different insitutions and were bombed out each time with no explanation as to why.

The bounce back loan would have meant taking on new staff, all sorts of benefits to help the firm grow but we dont even know why we were refused.

Probably cos of twats like him.

[CalmintheChaos]

 

[Miggys First Goal]

I work with one.

His excuse? It'll be good to see football in the flesh again.

[Yorkie]

Ie couldn't find a solitary fuck about the wider fortunes or progress of the club, like the vast majority who go to that and any other game. 

[CalmintheChaos]

He’s getting richer and more powerful by the year. Lovely