Newcastle cling on to spot in rich list elite!

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 | 95 Comments |

Moneyball is a funny old game...
Moneyball is a funny old game...
It’s the time of the year when Deloitte publish their annual ‘rich list’ of European clubs, and this years report holds a pleasant surprise for Newcastle United and offers us fans another chance to stick two fingers up at opposition taunts with the revelation that the Toon still have a place in top 20 of Europe’s richest clubs.

If anything the list confirms something that a lot of us already know, that Newcastle United have massive potential to be European contenders. The list publishes figures from the 2008/09 season which we all know was hit by many many troubles on and off the field, a combination of which ended in our relegation.

The report takes into account money that is generated on a day-to-day basis and it reveals that Newcastle United managed to generate £86 million pounds in a relegation season, not bad and can only be bettered by the likes of the Big 4, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City from the domestic game. Of course, however much of that £86 million was then spent on wages and other day-to-day running costs is an open question that can only be answered by the official accounts being published.

Although a slight success and an indication of how much money the club could generate if we ever actually managed to get it together on the pitch, we have in fact slipped 3 places from the previous season where we generated £99.4 million.

So how is the money worked out?

Well it is split into 3 categories: Matchday income (£29.0 million), TV & Broadcasting (£37.6 million) and Commercial revenue (£19.4 million), add them together and Bob’s your uncle.

Matchday revenue has always been one of our strong points although it did decrease 10% from the season before. Despite all the trouble last season, we still averaged crowds of 49,000 which is massive display of just how loyal our fanbase is, something we would be nothing without!

It could be argued that exchange rate between the £ and the euro has had an adverse effect on our position in the rich list. If the pound hadn’t recently taken a dive against the euro then we would be sitting 18th in the table rather than 20th although that would just be splitting hairs.

I wouldn’t expect us to make next seasons rich list. Despite our crowds staying strong and being far superior to anything else in The Championship, they are still down 20%. Add to that the drop in commercial and TV money that relegation brings and that should see our stay in top 20 rich list come to an end after 16 succesive years.

On the up….

With the club in pole position for a quick return to the Premier League then hopefully it will be a short abstinance form football’s rich list. If we do go back up then we will benefit from and increase in attendances, an increase in commercial revenue and the bumper TV rights payout. The TV rights alone should see us back into the rich list, even from where we are now.

So an increase in revenue and a reduced cost base awaits us should we claim promotion. The key thing is to not let the promotion become a one season wonder and get relegated again. That means careful investment on the pitch and no interfering off it, look where that got us last time Mr Ashley!

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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95 Responses

  3. One thing we don’t need is another summer of turmoil. Decisions need making now regarding Ashley staying or going. I’ve noticed a softening towards him recently, not a like of him but a softening of peoples hatred for him. I’ve also noticed he has started enjoying games again, or at least it looks that way.

    If anything, this proves that if he does stick around and if he manages us properly and manages to build us up then he has a real money earner on his hands.

  4. you are spot on there,thats been the trouble with toon for many many years,owners taking MORE out than a fair share and throwing us a couple of so called star signings to keep us coming back for more,what happens then we scream sack the manager,hes had the money hes shit.mind i will never trust ashley i cannot trust anybody that tells lie after lie making mistake or not,and still not sure ch is good enough for epl but would be willing to give him 10 games. rant over sorry!

  6. People seem to forget it was not mike ashley put us in the red it was fredie shepard made the mistakes and put the club in trouble.Why do you think fredie shepard got out of the club he knew he was in a mess of his own making.

  7. Fredie shepard is the culpruit, Mike is just a scapegoat or a fat cow without a head

    Employing all the wrong people for the job. Wasting lots of money.

    Except for kelvin keegan, he is the one who make M.Owen work like cow in the midfield and was effictive.

    How i wish Keegan will came back as a manager or a role that he can have a say at who can be sign.

    He is a good striker and he can identifield who is good in attack.

    Come back kelvin keegan.

    1) CH (if he cant make it in PL)
    2) KK (Please come back to take us forward)

  8. Cant agree with posts 6 and 7, Ashley has made some terrible decisions which have cost the club a fortune, Allerdyce signings, Keegan sacking and Wise to name three.
    Shephard was running the club along the same lines as most others, taking on large debts to improve the team on the pitch.
    Ashley deserves credit for trying to make the club a more prudent business but he should have been more about honest about his plan.
    He could have saved himself a small fortune by investing in the Premier league transfer windows but chose to make a profit, so relegation and re building were his choice, why pretend otherwise.

  9. From truefaith,

    Some bloke wouldn’t shake some other blokes hand at the weekend cos the bloke had shagged the other blokes lass, well ex-lass actually and another little Welsh bloke chipped in and said the bloke that had shagged the first blokes ex-lass was well known for being a wrong’un and the second bloke said the Welsh bloke should keep his gob shut cos everyone knew HE was a wrong un too and the tabloids and SKY all creamed their pants and it’s all the greatest show on Earth (and that’s not Hollioaks) and the bloke who wouldn’t shake the first blokes hand won the moral argument. God help us.

    ***********************

    I had a dream the other night and actually started laughing out loud (I think it’s called ‘LOL’ing) on the way in to work today. It was the second week in May and that smug Tory prick had just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the General Election, our hangovers had just subsided after the championship party at QPR and some blokes down the road who were heading for the Champions League in October were looking slack jawed towards the Felling Bypass and wondering why the ‘Fizzy Pop League This Way’ sign was pointing in the direction of Mordor all of a sudden. Just thought I’d share that with you.

    PERCY ALMS

  10. I think there is blame on all quarters whether it be Shepherd or Ashley. Both made mistakes but the only difference is Shephaerd didn’t have any more assetes to borrow money against which would have ended up in disaster whereas Ashley has his own money to fall back on to rectify his mistakes.

  11. bigbadbob got to agreed to you about the decision Ashley made. I guess he is too raw to this business, but he is picking up.

    But is he the one who suggested all plans or ploy all this? Thats the question.

    He did mention about youth development when he first started this club. And we now have to accept the fact that this club needs this current state to rebuild and recover from Kevin Keegan time.

    To cut the story short..

    He employ Shearer for whatever reason – thou didnt keep us afloat but did a very good job on n off the field And in a spat of days, got rid of the worms in the club making it looks much better now with other appointments. – GOOD Move, i was long waiting for this to happen. It was a major turnaround. It needs guts to fired an old head. Shearer have it!

    Shearer – Good in backend people appointments but not too sure about his assistance ability.

    With Shephard dont think any of this will happen. Even if we stays in the BLP.

    1)We have no chance of any better buyer that will make a bid – cause the account alawys getting red. Investor will be afraid.
    our name will be bad. Negative news keep spreading non-stop.

    2)Our success is short lived. Or winning is short lived. Sign a well known player then fail to live it up.

    #We want our success to last and is now on the way to long haul. Just like former ManUtd. Built the players to bond. Just like Arsenal, scout for young guns signing.

    NEWCASTLE = (NEW ARSENAL + NEW MAN UTD)

    Team that spend big is having problem now..their account is in RED. We are just starting on the progress to balance the book.

    Inviting and opening doors to better prospect investors.

    Common Newcastle…many folks have been waiting for years for the success.

  12. Ashley has, IMHO, always been a man of contrasting qualities. I think he had a lot of the right ideas but shot himself in the foot with bone-headed implementation of those ideas.

    If Ashley wants to stay I think he should be clear about committing to the club and I would really like to see him employ a football-savvy Chairman and get shot of Llambias.

    If Ashley’s not committed to the club in the long-term though then I’d rather he left as soon as practicable so that we can settle under a new owner and move forward.

  14. Hugh – Funny you should mention that. As I said Llambias was on SSN saying is comitted to Newcastle United and the club is not being sold.

  15. Toonsy, I didn’t see that. Did he just say the club is not for sale *now* or did he indicate some sort of long-term committment from Ashley?

  16. Hugh – I think the words were ‘fully commited’ and we has seen signs of his commitment this season. Read into it what you will but there was no mention of timeframe.

  17. Of course the club’s not for sale but what better way to advertise the fact that it is than to say it isn’t!

  18. lesh – I wouldn’t say that. i think deep down everything has it’s price and whilst Ashley may not be actively seeking a buyer I’m sure if the right offer for the right money came along then he would be off.

  20. Precisely toonsy.

    Could it be that his comments were aimed at reminding Keith Harris, who’s involved in trying to drum up the consortium funds to launch a bid for ManU, that Newcaslte United hasn’t gone away?

    Just a thought from a cyninc.

    An afterthought: Where’s Stardust these days?

  21. Haven’t seen Stardust for a while actually, no doubt he is watching ;)

    The Llambias thing is coming on SSN shortly if anyone wants to keep an eye out for it. I’ll use the power of the digital age to try a write it on here.

  22. Of course, I could have just rewound the TV in the time it tokk me to write that :lol:

  24. “You can’t lose the income we have lost in relegation and still be where we are. Mike’s put in £25 million in December and another £5 million this week”

    “He’s comitted. We went out and bought £5.5 million worth of players in January. We needed to freshen up the team, we needed to support the manager and he is fully fully comitted to where we are”

    Speaking of the fans:

    “It’s a passion, they are great great fans but there is a very small section if the fans who are not reasonable, there is no reality to where they are So i’m hoping results, we’ll get there and see what happens next season”

    “Slowly the reality is coming back to football, with what’s happened in January at West Ham, Portsmouth and other clubs aswell as Man Utd, the reality is if Mike hadn’t got the club then we would be in a mess”

    “No it’s not up for sale, not up for sale at all”

    “The position is there is no money out there, the reality is football is not what it was and we had 2 possible buyers and they didn’t put their money up so at the end of the day they aren’t real”

  25. Sorry, that’s what Llambias had to say on SSN a minute ago. It’s not word perfect but that’s the jist of what was said.

  28. Toonsy, Llambias seems to be talking sense for once and he’s right about the unreasonable elements among the fans.

    He’s also spot on about the realities of the economy at the moment – a message that some folk need to understand and were it not for MA subbing the club, we’d have been in Portsmouth’s situation a while ago.

    Like it or not, Ashley has saved Newcastle United from itself!

  29. a few more lies spun by the – evil within – and the weak lily-livered like lesh flock around agreeing with any words they utter.

  30. lesh – do we know which element he is talking about? Does he even know?

    He’s not saying anything that most of us don’t already know and yet the way it seems to come across is very condescending. Sorry, even transcribed by toonsy, he is utterly lacking in charm. I dislike the man more, every time he speaks.

    I was completely wrong to say we need communication, if he is the spokesperson, the club should say nowt.

    “£5.5 million” on players? I’d be interested to see where that went mind…

    My ‘live to hate’ attitude should bring old Dusty out of the woodowork. Perhaps that was him on SSN 8O

  31. No it is not up for sale. There is no money out there. Football is not what it was,” he explained.

    Does that suggest if there was money out there Ashley would sell?

  32. Nah Bowburn, it wasn’t the enlightened one (Sawdust!) doing the Llambais. He’s working with his personality doppelganger (Mandelsohn) on Brown’s personality makeover.

    Then when he’s finished that (in about 10 minutes), he’ll be advising Cameron on his election tactics, tnen on to sorting out the biggest enigma mankind’s ever seen – himself! Now that will take a lifetime!!

  33. Mr Cropper – I take exception to your refernce to “the weak lily-livered like lesh flock around agreeing with any words they utter.”

    I’d like to think that a lot of folk (particularly those who’d posted on Ed’s site) would say that I was a huge critic of Ahsley’s antics and mismanagement of the Keegan situation and for some time therafter. I, like many others have crossed swords with the charismatic, enlightened one – Stardust.

    Roy, you really shouldn’t post without thinking beforehand!

  34. Get y’heads round it,
    ashley will not be selling the club.
    No one wants to buy it, it costs too much.

    So you better get over it, learn to deal with it, whatever you have to do or whatever you wanna call it.

    Think about it.

  35. The club needs a better front man. The way Lambias is talking, it’s almost as if he is trying to make the outside world believe that every NUFC fan has just rolled over and now are in complete adulation of Ashley. Whilst my views on Ashley don’t count for much (mainly because the politics behind the beautiful game sadden me) even I can tell that there are still a lot of people that need convincing with regards to Ashley.

  37. bowburn,
    are you honestly saying you’re not aware of the vociferous minnority?
    What about nust?

    Any amount of supposition, assumption, &/or crying into beer will not change
    the cold, hard reality of the global banking meltdown.

  38. Shit!
    Hardly any supporter likes the chairman or owner of their club.

    Wake up!

    Get a life, we support the team not ashley, lambias or who ever.

  39. CLiNT – What am I saying is that he clearly hasn’t got a grasp on what the fans think.

    Just because there aren’t as many renditions of ‘Get of our club’, it doesn’t suddenly mean he’s been begrudgingly accepted. Trust me, of the fans I listen to around the games, they are still just waiting for him to go. This charmless rhetoric from Llambias does him no favours either.

  40. He casts aspersions on the very people who make the club what it is CLiNT. His patter is dreadful.

    And they’re not going to respond? And divn’t just be contrary for the sake of it. It’s OK to say he’s a sh*tbag you know.

  41. They are still a minority mate & are shrinking.
    Especially as the reality of football clubs financials start to hit home to even the most illogical fans.
    This crap is so over, we’re left with no choice but accept that football clubs have to
    get real & make changes to how they spend.
    Like it or not, by luck or design, we’re in a better position than most right now.

  42. BBM – I like that – lacking in charm. The bloke’s a useless liability. How Ashley can’t see that . . . maybe LL has something on him (wouldn’t be a surprise). However, in the light of the present football economy it seems Ashley’s doing exactly what’s needed, regardless of his earlier devastating moves.
    It can’t be far around the corner that £5m transfers will be superstar high and wages of 20k a week will be massive. It has to happen and Ashley has started. We’ll be OK in the Prem.

  44. Invariably, back in the summer was the chance to get rid. Stop going to games which means he has to put in more of his own money. That’s what I did and still do, despite the fact I get called an apologist for him! Go figure.

    I don’t like him but there is very little that can be done if he wants to stay. Obviously if I had a spare £250 million or whatever in the bank then I could do something about it. I get the feeling that it still wouldn’t be enough for a lot of our fans, despite the fact I’d have the clubs best interests at heart.

    It seems what most want is an owner we can trust, of which there aren’t many at all in football. Alternatively, a compromise (in my opinion) is to get rid of Llambias and employ someone with some people skills. We want communication, we got communication although I question what SSN were doing at a film premiere and it probably wasn’t the best place to interview Llambias.

  45. I couldn’t care less about him if i tried, he’s a chairman, that’s it.

    Casting aspersions on the vociferous few isn’t caning into the fans at all.
    You can’t say that some couldn’t care less how they affect the club.
    One can always read into anything what they want, i suppose.
    I know he’ll/they’ll never get the support of some fans, who cares, they’re going out of their way to keep the shit going cos they know no better.
    All i’m saying is forget ma & dl & support NUFC, the team, the players.
    It’s all old as the hills now.

  46. I think the reality of the matter is that if we got someone with true football and club passion then he would probably be lacking in some of the financial knowledge that is needed to run a club. At this moment in time i know that i would rather have someone in charge that can run the books in a fashion that will save us from a ‘pompey’ kind of situation in the near future. If Ashley just happens to be that man then so be it, but i agree with Toonsy, we do need a better spokesman

  47. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting his understanding of the financial world is wrong or that the prudent nature we need to follow is wrong.

    I think he’s wrong to assume or suggest that there is anything like a noteworthy number of people who do not see the financial issues everyone faces. Every club has people who are unaware or unconcerned by this. To make mention of a ‘minority’ of our fans is like an insult. It also misses the point as to why they are are being ‘unreasonable’. It’s not about the money, it’s about the spin and the bullsh*t that has come with this regime.

    Even if it were true, which is still in some doubt, how many times do we need it rammed down our throats that Ashley is spending money on the club? It’s his investment, his concern!! Do me a favour Derek…

  48. bowburn – To be fair, Llambias was asked “Do you think the fans are coming back on side?”

    Or something similar.

  49. CLiNT – That’s precisely my point CLiNT. Keep their heads down, stop spouting financial rhetoric and don’t antagonise. Why keep poking with a stick?

    Or get an entirely different spin doctor in and we’re probably all happy…

  50. Morning Lesh – Toonsy.

    Your right fellas I haven’t been posting – I am just enjoying our position and basking in the glory that everything I said all along was right ;) A financially well ran club investing in youth and good buys not the delusions of grandeur spineless creeps (step forward the deluded Mr Owen).

    BBM, Bigbadbob et al are still busy riding on their stage coach trying to a get a posse when everyone else has went home for tea. Give it up fellas you look a bit silly now – (but if your insistent I gather Fenwicks have a special on cap pistols and potato guns)

    DL was right to talk about the unreasonable element of fans – passionate but unreasonable (also uninformed and a bit dense (that was one for you Lesh – wouldnt want to let you down lol))

    Also good to see the new season ticket initiative with prices frozen from this year for next should we get promoted. It suits the fans and clubs needs at this time – a very good move and excellent for the feel good factor.

    One other – Toonsy – love the thought provoking slant of your articles – good stuff, even if you are one foot on the stage coach one foot off :lol: (but all the best commentators do that)

  51. toons – He might have been bettered placed saying something diplomatic like. “They are passionate, so it is a touchy subject but hopefully in time yes, but for some maybe never but that’s life Jim…” assuming the journo was called Jim.

  52. BBM – I like what he said – it sent out the real feeling of the board – that those fans are uniformed and unreasonable therefore they arent worth listening to – Thats what the radged up element has created – not respect – ambivalence.

    To be fair it sickens me that you and your mates conduct your hate campaign, sing your anti songs, then cry like babies when something is said back. Whats good for the goose and all that

  53. Yeeha Stardust, yeeha…

    Us ‘club-haters’ just love a bit of rabble-rousing. I suggest you don’t drink anywhere around the ground if you think everyone has gone home for tea and to stick up their I-LUV-MIKEY posters.

  54. Stardust – to be fair you know very little about me. But it’s heartening to know the image you have sickens you.

  55. Stardust – I like to provoke thought, and to do that I need to be able to write from both sides so it gives people something to discuss. Devils advocate and all that….

  56. clint ime with you i just care how the lads do on the pitch and will always surport them.but i have said before i can not trust anyone who tells lie after lie and hires 3 more who do the same,i think we had one guy who was good for the club/fans C.MORT but think he saw the light early and walked

  59. BBM – are you still loved up with the NUSC’s? Or do you accept they are now a dead duck ( dead of their own making and terrible decisions and press releases)

    Even if we get promoted – they have made their own position untenable – if they were deciding to go with fan action to prevent season tickets being bought to force a sale – it looks like the board have wind of it and went early with their discounted tickets initiative.

    So for all their time and trouble they have make donkeys out of themselves and members – how do you feel about that?

    Bet they regret everything theyve said. If they dont – they should – and it proves further they really are thickheads.

    Dead duck – quack quack.

  60. Mr Stardust – been reading your posts all year and yeah you have been right all along. About the financials that is. But perhaps you’re slipping a little. No price rise for next season does sound good – at first. However, that will retain prices at far too high a level. They’ve been way over the top for donkeys years. Look at Germany – highest attendances of any league – average ticket price £13. That’s what we should be aiming at. The current disrespect for the fans seems to be something you share with MA and LL.

  61. typical fare you get from llambias when things are going okay.these characters are totally fair weather when it comes to running a football club,bullish when it doesn,t cost them anything,and when we are winning a few games.
    more garbage from the invisible man imo,their roy of the rovers pipe dream still seems to be alive.
    you,re right about one thing del boy,lets see what happens next season,when we are bottom of the league losing games hand over fist,oh we,re not doing so well,but isn,t that a lovely scoreboard.
    my concern now,is they are milking the current football financial crisis for everything it,s worth,it gives them carte blanche to run the club cheaply.
    this crisis has been a god send to the scarlet pimpernel,and his sidekick,lets see if they are so buoyant this time next season?will the imaginary for sale signs be aloft once more?.

  62. Despite Ashley’s best intentions, he has dropped many a bollock when it comes to his implementation strategy and he can’t expect fans to forgive and forget that overnight.

    Ashley has put the club on the market and taken it off again twice now, so it’s understandable that people mistrust (or are at least unsure of) his long-term intentions.

    The only way he’ll win over the majority of fans is through his actions. He’s started doing that this season to some extent but it will take a fair bit longer than that to build up trust.

    Most people are reasonable and won’t expect great shakes next season if we get promoted. Most people can see how football is waking up to financial realities and won’t expect £25m+ signings in the summer. A reasonable aim though is to avoid re-relegation and if Ashley invests enough to ensure we avoid a relegation battle (maybe aiming for a lower-mid table finish) then he’ll have taken the next step in gaining trust.

    Then the season after that it is probably reasonable to expect a further improvement, whereupon more trust will be earned.

    Assuming he doesn’t just sell us if a bidder matches his price of course.

  63. Stardust – It’s nice that you recognise the fallibilities of NUST and not of the board. The only thing the board got wrong was communication, right? You’re still maintaining that?

    I think deep down you recognise that I write my articles in the way you suggest is the right way. The NUST article was no different. I never made a strong argument for the actions, attitudes or goals of those behind it, only that I appreciated the sentiments and the principles. Nor did I endorse their product or encourage any take up on financial backing. Despite what you want to imply.

    Clearly, at the moment they have stalled in their attempts and probably are doomed to fail ultimately. I’m sure they’ll take your kick in the teeth and get on with their lives and for the time being, their campaign. It’s nice to know you were so quick to defend the board and so quick to pull to shreds, fellow supporters.

  64. lesh says:
    March 3, 2010 at 10:20 am
    Mr Cropper – I take exception to your refernce to “the weak lily-livered like lesh flock around agreeing with any words they utter.”

    I’d like to think that a lot of folk (particularly those who’d posted on Ed’s site) would say that I was a huge critic of Ahsley’s antics and mismanagement of the Keegan situation and for some time therafter. I, like many others have crossed swords with the charismatic, enlightened one – Stardust.

    Roy, you really shouldn’t post without thinking beforehand!…..

    – lesh i will monitor your future comments and if they appear as you claim then i may consider withdrawing my criticism of you – i can’t say any fairer than that.

  65. bowburnmag,i think you and toonsy write great posts,very fair and up fore debate which it is all about imo,but i think its time we kept our minds on the job in had getting the lads up to epl as when it comes to money side of that size i dont think a lot of fans are whiz-kids (no insult ment)

  67. their strategy for next season,to sell tickets will not be signings who,ll take the club forward,oh no it will be a scoreboard,even then i,ll believe it when i see it.

  69. on the one hand we,re pleading poverty,on the other hand we,re in the top twenty rich list of football clubs mmm…

  70. Geogio “Look at Germany – highest attendances of any league – average ticket price £13. That’s what we should be aiming at. The current disrespect for the fans seems to be something you share with MA and LL.”

    Fans can not demand star players for 10mn etc and not expect season ticket prices to rise!

    £13 tickets in the UK is a first division price – thats what UK footy has become.

  71. Trojan – historical data – we wont be there next year.

    BBM – I think you often write with your heart and compassion , you feel empathy with NUSC therefore you defend them (unreasonably – tell me one good thing they have done?)

    I defend the club as the only thing that mattered at that time was sorting out the finances – which looks almost done – once we have a long term future I will concentrate on the next most important things.

    As we now see Ashleys strategy played out (and to be fair he had said this but you chose not to hear) its the best position we have been in for years

  72. stardust,understand where you are coming from in regards to affordable football for all,but ashley will still be charging a pretty penny to watch the games.
    you could also see the price freeze as a prelude to this rubbish squad on display next season.

  74. stardust, i think they will be good enough to reach the epl,but that,s when the problems will start imo.

  75. Stardust – there is so much spin it’s never clear what position we’re actually in, so it’s difficult to know whether we’re in a good position or not. Simply because I don’t know what to believe anymore, for all I know we could be starting from scratch again in the summer and with a risk of more upheaval if Ashley leaves.

    If he sticks around in the summer, I’m not convinced he’ll speculate enough because he may be just massaging his margins so that his getaway is satisfactory in terms of cutting his losses.

    By the way, the only thing I ever really defended about NUST was the principle of the move based on meeting them in The Strawberry that one night.

  76. By the way, all I’m genuinely interested in as a rule, is watching the lads play. But I am honest enough to admit that Derek Llambias brings out the worst in me. I can’t see that changing anytime soon.

  77. NUSC and NUST are proper fans, misguided, delusional, maybe but passionate all the same and i struggle to understand how supposed fellow fans can hammer them for trying to do something positive rather than roll over and get their belly tickled.
    Stardy, you appear to be an intelligent man but were quick to swallow the club mantra that extreme pain and disappointment are good for you along with at least one season in the fizzy pop league, but you also blame everyone but Ashley for the clubs demise despite him being responsible for all the disastrous decisions which took us down, the fans kept their part of the bargain but he failed in his duty.
    The best position for years? are you pissed or rolling around the floor with your Reg Vardy red and white top on laughing your cock off at those of us daft enough to take you seriously.

  78. Understand what youre saying Citizen BBM :lol:

    I chose to cut through all of the Headlines and Edlines and concentrate on the important and knowable only – thereon to put myself in that position and see what decisions I would have made.

    Its easy to throw stones – and when they hit their target they cause damage – its much harder to catch them and take them back once thrown.

  79. “Its easy to throw stones – and when they hit their target they cause damage – its much harder to catch them and take them back once thrown.”

    And you’ll never get a camel that ends well to be worth two in the bush.

  80. Bigbadbob

    As bizarre as it will sound to you – (ask BBM) I supported most of his decisions throughout the chaos of last year (in light of changing realities)

    I never supported his silence – which was imo the fundamental reason for that chaos.

  83. Nobody knows much yet Roy. Apparently he was managing Macclesfield last night and was fine sfter the match and when he got home. Then today he died.

  84. bowburnmag says:
    March 3, 2010 at 11:02 am

    “He casts aspersions on the very people who make the club what it is CLiNT”

    Aye, relegated and full of rancour.

  85. nust are detractors & opportunists not supporters.

    ‘Spin’ or whatever it’s new name is, is the way of the world. It used to be call: Hype, PR, adverts, the news.
    Take y’pick.

    Why let the facts get in the way of a good argument, hey?

    Bury the f****** bone.
    It’ll be there to dig up later when we lose a game, or maybe even draw. & heaven forfend we get back up. Soon as someone miss kicks a ball you’ll be able to blame away, again, to you hearts (hates?)
    content.

    Ashley is here to stay for a while & endless cycles of this pap will alter NOTHING.

  87. rip keith alexander,he,s had bother in the past with brain aneurysms,i wonder if it has been a return of them?
    53 is no age,my heart goes out to his family.

  88. bowburn,i hope that was in jest lol,ashley walks on water,ashley could have fed the 5,000 but kept back the bread and fishes for himself the greedy b*****d.

  89. Ashley may or may not be our savior.
    Or it could just be happenstance in these ‘interesting’ days we inhabit right now.
    We’ve been forced to pare back & it could be the best thing that’s happened to this club in decades.
    Either by luck or design.
    Who knows what the future holds for football?

  90. “Fans can not demand star players for 10mn etc and not expect season ticket prices to rise!

    £13 tickets in the UK is a first division price – thats what UK footy has become.”

    That’s my point Stardust! What it has become is unsustainable and unaffordable for too many fans. Our last 10m signing? My daughter bought me a ticket for his home debut. It was £51.

  91. “DL was right to talk about the unreasonable element of fans – passionate but unreasonable (also uninformed and a bit dense (that was one for you Lesh – wouldnt want to let you down lol))”

    Stardust, I resemble that remark!

  92. Lesh – I was living up to my online persona not suggesting for a second that you are dense ;)

  93. Trojan – 74 – part of the interest of supporting is watching the developments! (not always fun though lol)

  94. Have to agree with BBM, Llambias is totally lacking in any of the social graces, to put him in front of a camara
    is the equivalent of the old adage , “waving a red flag at a bull” regardless of what he has to say.
    I wonder why Ashley does`nt understand it , or if in fact he does, why he does it.
    Maybe a f..k you attitude, possibly he`s a great YES man ?
    If i were Ashley, he`d a been outta here a long time ago and someone with both a track record in the business and a Geordie would be in the job.
    But what do I know ?