Old thread about a potential Icelandic takeover bid years ago

[Northern Monkey]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

But someone who sells shuttlecocks is ok?

 

As long as he also stocks the jock-straps to keep them in.

Oh how we miss the scrap merchant and his media friendly sound bites.

 

Biscuits are the new scrap metal. Fact.

[Guest Darth Toon]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

[Northern Monkey]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

i heard from [insert un-named person here] that he is completely happy, and wants to get the club crest tattood on his private area because [insert unfounded and completely unprovable shite here]. SO that pretty much ends the debate.

[Guest black]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

[jimmymag]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

[Guest black]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

 

Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years.

You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels.

Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines.

(By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.)

[Northern Monkey]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

 

Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years.

You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels.

Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines.

(By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.)

 

Nail on head.

[Martin Lol]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/result/

 

 

Jol still on thin ice and Harry poised

Derek McGovern 22/08/2007

Hardened punters have learned one thing from bitter experience - you can always rely on top football clubs to tell it like it isn't.

 

So Michael Ballack is deliriously happy at Chelsea, Thierry Henry was never going to leave Arsenal, Owen Hargreaves is a tremendous signing by Manchester United, and Martin Jol is staying put at Spurs.

 

Despite what Spurs were saying last night, White Hart Lane boss Jol has the shelf life of a lasagne. He's a dead man walking, though for the moment he ain't doing any walking.

 

An 8-13 chance on Betfair mid-afternoon yesterday to be first Premiership manager axed, Jol had by last night drifted to 9-4.

 

Significantly, though, that still made him Sack Race favourite, suggesting not too many punters are prepared to swallow the Spurs statement hook, line and tinker.

 

Juande Ramos had been odds-on with many bookies to succeed Jol following the arrival of a Spurs delegation in Seville over the weekend.

 

But many punters are beginning to believe the real Tottenham target is a man with almost as powerful a command of the English language as Ramos - Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp.

 

After the betting uproar that surrounded his return to Portsmouth, Redknapp would rather run a mile carrying Frank Lampard on his back than spark another major gamble but it's bad news for him that the other central figures in this latest rumour are also high-rolling punters.

 

Tottenham vice-chairman Paul Kemsley is a big-league poker player who once part-owned a racehorse with Redknapp - it was slower than Robbie Keane - and who at one stage last season was reported to be trying to lure the veteran boss to White Hart Lane.

 

His best pal is Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, and it could be that Kemsley has told him the Londoners are up for grabs and has invited his gambling buddy to pool their resources.

 

And with a pedigree like theirs, keen gambler Redknapp would be the ideal choice for manager.

 

Redknapp was available at 18-1 yesterday to be next Spurs boss although by the time most firms reopen their books today, the Pompey chief will be much shorter.

 

 

 

Depending on whether Ashley can sell Newcastle at the right price for him, it seems that there may be some truth in the supposition in the Mirror.  Kemsley is the one trying to push Jol to the exit door and was at the meeting with Ramos. 

[Guest black]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/result/

 

 

Jol still on thin ice and Harry poised

Derek McGovern 22/08/2007

Hardened punters have learned one thing from bitter experience - you can always rely on top football clubs to tell it like it isn't.

 

So Michael Ballack is deliriously happy at Chelsea, Thierry Henry was never going to leave Arsenal, Owen Hargreaves is a tremendous signing by Manchester United, and Martin Jol is staying put at Spurs.

 

Despite what Spurs were saying last night, White Hart Lane boss Jol has the shelf life of a lasagne. He's a dead man walking, though for the moment he ain't doing any walking.

 

An 8-13 chance on Betfair mid-afternoon yesterday to be first Premiership manager axed, Jol had by last night drifted to 9-4.

 

Significantly, though, that still made him Sack Race favourite, suggesting not too many punters are prepared to swallow the Spurs statement hook, line and tinker.

 

Juande Ramos had been odds-on with many bookies to succeed Jol following the arrival of a Spurs delegation in Seville over the weekend.

 

But many punters are beginning to believe the real Tottenham target is a man with almost as powerful a command of the English language as Ramos - Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp.

 

After the betting uproar that surrounded his return to Portsmouth, Redknapp would rather run a mile carrying Frank Lampard on his back than spark another major gamble but it's bad news for him that the other central figures in this latest rumour are also high-rolling punters.

 

Tottenham vice-chairman Paul Kemsley is a big-league poker player who once part-owned a racehorse with Redknapp - it was slower than Robbie Keane - and who at one stage last season was reported to be trying to lure the veteran boss to White Hart Lane.

 

His best pal is Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, and it could be that Kemsley has told him the Londoners are up for grabs and has invited his gambling buddy to pool their resources.

 

And with a pedigree like theirs, keen gambler Redknapp would be the ideal choice for manager.

 

Redknapp was available at 18-1 yesterday to be next Spurs boss although by the time most firms reopen their books today, the Pompey chief will be much shorter.

 

 

 

Depending on whether Ashley can sell Newcastle at the right price for him, it seems that there may be some truth in the supposition in the Mirror.  Kemsley is the one trying to push Jol to the exit door and was at the meeting with Ramos. 

 

Sorry but why the fu<k would Laura want to invest in the sh!te that is spuds?

Please leave the sh!tty tabloid media where it belongs.

[jimmymag]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

 

Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years.

You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels.

Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines.

(By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.)

 

Nail on head.

 

I agree with all of that as well, but didn't Mort say recently that there had been some sort of creative accounting going on that had "hidden" a lot of the debt. I'm not an accountant so I don't know the technicalities, but I got the impression that the new lot had been a little outsmarted by the old lot. 

[Northern Monkey]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/result/

 

 

Jol still on thin ice and Harry poised

Derek McGovern 22/08/2007

Hardened punters have learned one thing from bitter experience - you can always rely on top football clubs to tell it like it isn't.

 

So Michael Ballack is deliriously happy at Chelsea, Thierry Henry was never going to leave Arsenal, Owen Hargreaves is a tremendous signing by Manchester United, and Martin Jol is staying put at Spurs.

 

Despite what Spurs were saying last night, White Hart Lane boss Jol has the shelf life of a lasagne. He's a dead man walking, though for the moment he ain't doing any walking.

 

An 8-13 chance on Betfair mid-afternoon yesterday to be first Premiership manager axed, Jol had by last night drifted to 9-4.

 

Significantly, though, that still made him Sack Race favourite, suggesting not too many punters are prepared to swallow the Spurs statement hook, line and tinker.

 

Juande Ramos had been odds-on with many bookies to succeed Jol following the arrival of a Spurs delegation in Seville over the weekend.

 

But many punters are beginning to believe the real Tottenham target is a man with almost as powerful a command of the English language as Ramos - Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp.

 

After the betting uproar that surrounded his return to Portsmouth, Redknapp would rather run a mile carrying Frank Lampard on his back than spark another major gamble but it's bad news for him that the other central figures in this latest rumour are also high-rolling punters.

 

Tottenham vice-chairman Paul Kemsley is a big-league poker player who once part-owned a racehorse with Redknapp - it was slower than Robbie Keane - and who at one stage last season was reported to be trying to lure the veteran boss to White Hart Lane.

 

His best pal is Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, and it could be that Kemsley has told him the Londoners are up for grabs and has invited his gambling buddy to pool their resources.

 

And with a pedigree like theirs, keen gambler Redknapp would be the ideal choice for manager.

 

Redknapp was available at 18-1 yesterday to be next Spurs boss although by the time most firms reopen their books today, the Pompey chief will be much shorter.

 

 

 

Depending on whether Ashley can sell Newcastle at the right price for him, it seems that there may be some truth in the supposition in the Mirror.  Kemsley is the one trying to push Jol to the exit door and was at the meeting with Ramos. 

 

Sorry but why the fu<k would Laura want to invest in the sh!te that is spuds?

Please leave the sh!tty tabloid media where it belongs.

 

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

[Northern Monkey]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

 

Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years.

You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels.

Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines.

(By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.)

 

Nail on head.

 

I agree with all of that as well, but didn't Mort say recently that there had been some sort of creative accounting going on that had "hidden" a lot of the debt. I'm not an accountant so I don't know the technicalities, but I got the impression that the new lot had been a little outsmarted by the old lot. 

 

I don't think there was any real statement from Mort about financial or accounting malpractice, was there? Every company in the country does soem form of creative accounting, or uses the loopholes available to it.

 

If Mort did say anything, it's more likely to be to buy more time for the review, curb fans expectations of loads of cash being pumped in, or to get the fans onside by having a dig at the Fat Man.

[Guest black]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

[Northern Monkey]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

You asked why he'd invest in the shite that is Spurs. Well, he invested in us, and we're worse.

[SteveMc]

Mort just said that some money had been spent before it had been received, nothing illicit or anything.  (as far as I remember)

[OzzieMandias]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

 

Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years.

You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels.

Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines.

(By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.)

 

Nail on head.

 

I agree with all of that as well, but didn't Mort say recently that there had been some sort of creative accounting going on that had "hidden" a lot of the debt. I'm not an accountant so I don't know the technicalities, but I got the impression that the new lot had been a little outsmarted by the old lot. 

 

I don't think there was any real statement from Mort about financial or accounting malpractice, was there? Every company in the country does soem form of creative accounting, or uses the loopholes available to it.

 

He didn't speak of malpractice, but he did talk about future revenues being spent before we had them and "things like that".

[Dokko]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/result/

 

 

Jol still on thin ice and Harry poised

Derek McGovern 22/08/2007

Hardened punters have learned one thing from bitter experience - you can always rely on top football clubs to tell it like it isn't.

 

So Michael Ballack is deliriously happy at Chelsea, Thierry Henry was never going to leave Arsenal, Owen Hargreaves is a tremendous signing by Manchester United, and Martin Jol is staying put at Spurs.

 

Despite what Spurs were saying last night, White Hart Lane boss Jol has the shelf life of a lasagne. He's a dead man walking, though for the moment he ain't doing any walking.

 

An 8-13 chance on Betfair mid-afternoon yesterday to be first Premiership manager axed, Jol had by last night drifted to 9-4.

 

Significantly, though, that still made him Sack Race favourite, suggesting not too many punters are prepared to swallow the Spurs statement hook, line and tinker.

 

Juande Ramos had been odds-on with many bookies to succeed Jol following the arrival of a Spurs delegation in Seville over the weekend.

 

But many punters are beginning to believe the real Tottenham target is a man with almost as powerful a command of the English language as Ramos - Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp.

 

After the betting uproar that surrounded his return to Portsmouth, Redknapp would rather run a mile carrying Frank Lampard on his back than spark another major gamble but it's bad news for him that the other central figures in this latest rumour are also high-rolling punters.

 

Tottenham vice-chairman Paul Kemsley is a big-league poker player who once part-owned a racehorse with Redknapp - it was slower than Robbie Keane - and who at one stage last season was reported to be trying to lure the veteran boss to White Hart Lane.

 

His best pal is Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, and it could be that Kemsley has told him the Londoners are up for grabs and has invited his gambling buddy to pool their resources.

 

And with a pedigree like theirs, keen gambler Redknapp would be the ideal choice for manager.

 

Redknapp was available at 18-1 yesterday to be next Spurs boss although by the time most firms reopen their books today, the Pompey chief will be much shorter.

 

 

 

Depending on whether Ashley can sell Newcastle at the right price for him, it seems that there may be some truth in the supposition in the Mirror.  Kemsley is the one trying to push Jol to the exit door and was at the meeting with Ramos. 

 

I really don't know why you post up rubbish like this.

 

Seriously, don't drag us into your mess thank you very much.

 

So Ashley is going to sell NUFC just to buy Tottenham? If they were such buddies why when Ashley was nearing takeover of NUFC wasn't Spurs offered to him? Why would these lifelong Spurs fans sell up the club entirely to a man with no experience, or why would Ashley want to apart own and invest into a club when he could own one out right, a one which financially brings in more, who currently have a better manager and have just got rid of 80% of its problems while Tottenham create their own day by day? Ashley is a man of absolute power, would he share? I don't think so, would he jump into another mess after clearing one up, i don't think so.

 

I'm wondering what the appeal is? I certainly cannot see it, can you?

[jimmymag]

alrite guys, hate to be one of those "my uncles friends dog" people but i work for sports world in manchester and am the only newcastle fan there. the manager of the store was telling me 2day that his boss had sent him an email saying that mike ashley is definitely considering selling. i hope to god that his manager just read the speculation and doesnt no anymore. i dont want a biscuit baron in charge of my club!

 

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer.

 

If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te.

No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with.

Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up.

There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of.

If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club?

 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world.

Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why.

 

 

I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt.

 

Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

 

 

 

Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years.

You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels.

Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines.

(By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.)

 

Nail on head.

 

I agree with all of that as well, but didn't Mort say recently that there had been some sort of creative accounting going on that had "hidden" a lot of the debt. I'm not an accountant so I don't know the technicalities, but I got the impression that the new lot had been a little outsmarted by the old lot. 

 

I don't think there was any real statement from Mort about financial or accounting malpractice, was there? Every company in the country does soem form of creative accounting, or uses the loopholes available to it.

 

If Mort did say anything, it's more likely to be to buy more time for the review, curb fans expectations of loads of cash being pumped in, or to get the fans onside by having a dig at the Fat Man.

 

 

No malpractice was inferred but, iirc, he did say that they had been caught out by the way it had been done and, I believe, this wouldn't have shown up until their thorough review of the club.

[Guest black]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

You asked why he'd invest in the shite that is Spurs. Well, he invested in us, and we're worse.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

[Northern Monkey]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

You asked why he'd invest in the shite that is Spurs. Well, he invested in us, and we're worse.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

 

Yes, unless you can show how, at the time of his investment in us, we were better than Spurs.

[Guest black]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

You asked why he'd invest in the shite that is Spurs. Well, he invested in us, and we're worse.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

 

Yes, unless you can show how, at the time of his investment in us, we were better than Spurs.

 

Are you leaze in disguise?

Where did I say we were better than spurs? No I said and I'll quote to make it easy for you:

Sorry but why the fu<k would Laura want to invest in the sh!te that is spuds?

No mention of when he would invest (as you suggested) or that spuds is worse, just that they are sh!te, personally opinion but hey it's mine and it's all I've got.

[Martin Lol]

Oh, please. We know it's a s**** story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

It's not me perpetuating a tabloid driven story, it was something I heard about a few days ago and said so on page 4 of this thread and before there was any suggestion that Ashley might sell to Icelanders or anyone else:

 

It could be plausible.  There have been rumours going around for the past couple of days that Paul Kemsley is looking to buy out Levy/Enic.  Whilst he is a seriously wealthy multi-millionaire, he still doesn't have the financial clout to buy the club and progress his ambitions.  Doing the deal with his best mate backing him would make some sense. 

 

Not suggesting that this is anything but a hypothetical situation but I wouldn't say it would never happen.

 

It's not a 'we're bigger than you' or vice versa thing, the fact is that Ashley lives in Totteridge, his best mate is the Spurs Deputy Chairman and in the past has often gone with him to WHL.  I'm not saying it will happen, but if Ashley does sell NUFC, there is logic in thinking he might then go in for Spurs.

[Guest black]

Oh, please. We know it's a s**** story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

It's not me perpetuating a tabloid driven story, it was something I heard about a few days ago and said so on page 4 of this thread and before there was any suggestion that Ashley might sell to Icelanders or anyone else:

 

It could be plausible.  There have been rumours going around for the past couple of days that Paul Kemsley is looking to buy out Levy/Enic.  Whilst he is a seriously wealthy multi-millionaire, he still doesn't have the financial clout to buy the club and progress his ambitions.  Doing the deal with his best mate backing him would make some sense. 

 

Not suggesting that this is anything but a hypothetical situation but I wouldn't say it would never happen.

 

It's not a 'we're bigger than you' or vice versa thing, the fact is that Ashley lives in Totteridge, his best mate is the Spurs Deputy Chairman and in the past has often gone with him to WHL.  I'm not saying it will happen, but if Ashley does sell NUFC, there is logic in thinking he would then go in for Spurs.

 

Personally I just don't get why someone would empty their pocket to the tune of 150m just to sell it all a few months later for a insignificant profit, in the scheme of his money dealings, just to buy into a club that "his mate is involved in" when they could of organised something together in the first place, without all the headaches Ashley has been through.

[Northern Monkey]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

You asked why he'd invest in the shite that is Spurs. Well, he invested in us, and we're worse.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

 

Yes, unless you can show how, at the time of his investment in us, we were better than Spurs.

 

Are you leaze in disguise?

Where did I say we were better than spurs? No I said and I'll quote to make it easy for you:

Sorry but why the fu<k would Laura want to invest in the sh!te that is spuds?

No mention of when he would invest (as you suggested) or that spuds is worse, just that they are sh!te, personally opinion but hey it's mine and it's all I've got.

 

by inference...oh, fuck it, it's a waste of time. Yes, we'll agree to disagree, it's easier.

[Guest alex]

Oh, please. We know it's a shite story. but don't start the "we're bigger than Spurs" crap again. Because it makes us look stupid.

 

It's not a "we're bigger than spurs thing," it's a spurs fan perpetuating the tabloid driven crap that annoys me.

 

You asked why he'd invest in the shite that is Spurs. Well, he invested in us, and we're worse.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

 

Yes, unless you can show how, at the time of his investment in us, we were better than Spurs.

 

Are you leaze in disguise?

Where did I say we were better than spurs? No I said and I'll quote to make it easy for you:

Sorry but why the fu<k would Laura want to invest in the sh!te that is spuds?

No mention of when he would invest (as you suggested) or that spuds is worse, just that they are sh!te, personally opinion but hey it's mine and it's all I've got.

 

by inference...oh, fuck it, it's a waste of time. Yes, we'll agree to disagree, it's easier.