Newcastle ‘not for sale’ as prices are frozen.

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 | 67 Comments |

Brrrr...
Brrrr...
Derek Llambias, our much-maligned Managing Director, has been running his mouth off again and has revealed that Newcastle United are no longer for sale and claims fans are beginning to come around to owner Mike Ashley’s way of thinking.

It’s a somewhat surprise statement really as surely any hint of a sale was ended back in October when the club was taken off the market for a second time after again failing to find a buyer, but Derek Llambias believes Ashley is now beginning to show just how committed he is to the Newcastle cause.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, PR disaster Llambias had this to say about Ashley’s commitment to the team:

“You can’t lose the income we have lost in relegation and still be where we are, so Mike has put in £25million in December and he has put in another £5milllion this week, so he is committed.”

“We bought £5.5million worth of players in January. We needed to freshen up the team and support our manager.”

I think we’ll all agree the team needed freshening up and it’s nice to see our manager getting backing from the board, something that would have avoided the mess this season had it been done last year. I do question the value of the January transfers though. I though it had been widely percieved that the net value of those transfers was more likely to be around the £3-4 million mark, especially after off-loading Geremi, and it still begs the question of why Mike Ashley is having to pump all this money into the club despite our wage bill being halved since the summer.

Next up for some of Llambias’s lyrics were the fans. Asked if he thought the Newcastle fans had become more accepting of Mike Ashley, Llambias replied by insisting the majority had already been won over but also recognised those that were still far from happy at the running of the club by adding:

“It is a passion. They are great fans.”

“There is a very small section of fans that are basically not reasonable, there is no reality to where they are.”

“I am hoping that we get there and we’ll see what happens next season.”

“The reality is that if Mike had not taken the club, we would be in a mess.”

I don’t think it’s a question of fans being unreasonable although I do accept that some people will never ever take to Mike Ashley whilst he is here. I think it’s more a case of the fans need time and a show of intent that Ashley is indeed here for the long haul and is not here for his own benefit. The majority understand the mess the club were in financially, although whether we would have been better off under a previous regime is doubtful as any asset we had as a club was mortgaged to the hilt.

One way out of this mess is to do what they have been doing all season, keeping quiet and getting on with it. Under that mantra things have been getting calmer with the focus being on the field and not off it, a period of relative calm and stability in the middle of the storm that is Newcastle United.

Stability is something we need should we manage to secure promotion then the last thing the club needs whilst trying to plan for Premier League survival is more turmoil, something that Llambias has been quick to deny. When asked if the club was up for sale he had this to say:

“No it is not up for sale. There is no money out there. Football is not what it was. We had two possible buyers and they didn’t put their money up so at the end of the day they are not real.”

It’s also been announced today the people who renew their season tickets early for next season will enjoy a price freeze. Those who renew before March 31st can have the same seat as this season for the same price as this season even if we get promoted. Manager Chris Hughton welcomed the news by saying:

“Their support this season, home and away, has been absolutely phenomenal and this is due reward for that.”

It can only be good news for the team and the club as bigger attendances can only help the players out on the pitch. Now we just have to find a way to get the noise back like ot was when we first got promoted back in ’93. Teams use to fear coming to St James’ Park and the vociferous backing of the team is something that I’d love to see return.

Perhaps we can take Stoke’s title of noisiest fans in the country back?

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

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67 Responses

  1. it’ll be a mistake if they start puffing their chests out and acting as the saviours of the club now.. even though i no odubt believe MA has supported the team somewhat this term

  2. ‘running his mouth off’?

    What happened to: ‘all we want is info’?

    Can’t win for losing, i’m guessing.

  3. Anyone that thought the club was still for sale needs a shrink.
    Howay lads.

  5. What with Llambias’ platitudes towards the fans and his spin on MA’s support for the club and investment, now we’re seeing a freeze on the price of next season’s season tickets – ’til the end March anyway!.

    http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2010/03/03/nufc-pledge-to-freeze-season-ticket-prices-72703-25952781/

    Of course we know it’s a good way of getting up-front cash for day-to-day running, planning and budgeting purposes but nevertheless, a healthy gesture I’d say.

  6. I don’t remember him ‘insisting’ that the majority of fans had been won over like.
    Nice spin-slant.

  7. Shit!
    Are we eventually gonna join everyone else in football & get some big screens up in the ground?
    Bastards!

  8. well his investment on players is too little 5.5 mill wtf how much did boro spend on players almost 10 mill …a club wid no income from tikets ….nufc at least needs to spend more than 50 mill next year not to be relegated they need 2 classy center mid field and 2 strikers who can score more than 20 goals next season….cris thinks that amiobi and loven will score goals next year ya in ur dream…this season newcastle have been lucky cause they were out played by most of the clubs both in mid fild and infront of goal…i dont know wht butt and pancrant are still doing…cris must use the youth players or else they will go to another club like millner and they will be very very succsfull…nufc must bring parker again since he left no one in that position havent been good and haris must also be a starter ….kadar and calsum morris are the next stars they alos need some games …our youth policy is the worst in england …aron spears who used to be in the top 10 future stars is now performing like the bottom 10 ….so what is wrong wid newcastle?? our youth coatching staff is very very baddd…and mike’s 5.5 mill investment is not going to help next season

  9. the price freeze and the maligned scoreboard are the only two selling points to shift season tickets for next season,as they will offer nothing else.
    substandard playing squad,a coulpe of flotsom and jetsom signings and the merry go round will start in earnest.

  10. same old same old from lamearse – I’ve no doubt Ashley is sticking his own cash but he’ll eventually get it all back, saying that he could easily have sold all our high earning players (Nolan, Smith, Butt, Barton, Collo, Jonas, Enrique ) when we went down and cut the wage bill to a realistic championship level – can’t knock him for that

    anyone got any idea when Vukic is back form injury, I seem to remember Hughton saying he would be out for 3 months back in October

  11. no-one can deny, were in better shape now than when we came down.

    yes we dont have the strongest team and that is where some canny investment is needed, but i think MA is right in not throwing money at the club… look where that got us?

    our only debt is to MA, were in better shape than 95% of the whole of english football.

    we’ll see new faces come the summer, but no trophy signings thank god and hopefully build up slowly… for a team so well supported, being managed properly as a club we will get back on our feet… foundations first

  12. Yeah, think thats a pretty fair estimate of the situation, of course there are those who will never accept Ashley, or Llambias for that matter.
    Then we see a more recent attitude by others, endorsing the proposed salary cap and in general a more fiscally conservative policy.
    Looking at the signs, a return to an earlier policy of buying youthfull prospects and developing them, the proposed salary cap combined with an age limit for incoming players (which IMO is dumb)if in fact these are policys that the club intends to impliment ?
    If the answer is yes, we may be dealing with Mr`s Ashley an Llambias for the foreseeable future
    And of course we see signs of a possible collaps of teams begining with Pompey, which if not met by sound business plans, could create problems for the EPL in general, with so many team being overleveraged.
    Of course in these financial times, who (which bank) is about to finance the purchase of a multi-million pound football club, ask RBOS if they`re sorry they made the loans to Liverpool ?
    It`s all about money in the end !

  13. Anyone thinks that the Forest game on the 29th should be the deciding match of the season????

    I think if we can win that match,it’s about 85% chance of wining the league as champion and the promotion back to BPL. :lol:

  14. llambias the man who tried to guarantee they wouldn,t get relegated to a room full of knowledgable fans who knew we would,”we just wont go there”he said.
    i,ll never be taken in by that idiot.

  16. henock you’re comparison with the ‘boro is ridiculous. Are you saying that we spent less than them this season? In my mind that is a plus. I would have been even happier if we were promoted without spending a penny on transfers.
    Why do people see that spending big=success?

  19. trojan – he said we’d get 46 points whilst wearing that – i bet you’d love to bray the shit out of me – grin all over his face.

    5 minutes alone in his company & he wouldn’t be wearing it for a good while.

  20. I fail to see where Boro spent £10 million aswell? Most of their signings are on loan from Celtic aren’t they?

  22. roy,there,s to many fans now willing to settle for ashley,s view of the future.they would have to pull something pretty special out of the fire before i will trust fatman and dobbin.
    to me at the moment all they ever done is talk a good fight.

  23. got to admit gibson has been one of the better lge chairmen,never had much luck with it like

  26. What has actually happened to the “Yes we can” campaign”?

    Is a case of “We thought we could but we can’t”?

  27. icedog , with the dissapearance of wor batty i’m on the lookout for a reliable chap to fill his shoes…someone that would like to help me out down the market on wed’s & friday’s……if you fancy it there’s a couple of jd’s in it for you…if your wanting to get involved just ask one of the lads for my e-mail & drop me a line….

    ….you know it makes sense icedog.

  28. “I think we’ll all agree the team needed freshening up and it’s nice to see our manager getting backing from the board, something that would have avoided the mess this season had it been done last year.”

    No it wouldn’t. We had one of the most expensive squads in the Premiership and to say that underinvestment in this area was the problem is completely gaga.

  29. To be fair, last season Colocini and Jonas were a sizeable investment by Ashley in monetary terms, pity it took them a while to bed in to English football. Hope they both are better next season than last season.

  30. worky – So your saying that bringing in a couple of new players in key areas wouldn’t have stopped us getting relegated, or at least given us a better chance?

    With all the players out through injury I’d suggest we had one of the most expensive treatmant rooms whereas on the pitch we were lacking, forget about the off pitch stuff for now.

  31. toonsy, everything contributed, over paid mercenaries and such disarray off the field… our number was up

    the players didnt step up and the owners couldnt find the step to step up to. hell, they couldnt find their foot to find the step with so they tripped over it… and thats putting it nicely

    we’re never the less in a better state now than then. so as the eternal optimist, here’s looking to the future

    and what has happened to batty?

  32. This is from the same mouth that stated “we have at least 2 or 3 bidders who have matched our price

  34. komfort,doing what, hope it has nowt to do with spelling is that a couple of glasses or btls,or are you trying to get me a thick ear when batty returns

  35. icedog , it’s for the sale of: socks , razor blades , hair products , seagull’s wellies & the likes…..the essentials for the man about town…..the qauntity of jd is negotiable….

    ….& dont worry about batty i’ll deal with him when he decides to surface.

  36. He said, they said they had the money.
    They just didn’t when it came to putting it where their mouth was.
    Bit of a difference.

    Anyone can SAY they’ve got the money. But if, when it comes to ante-ing up, it ain’t there, what y’gonna do?

  38. this guy is a PR disaster…why they continue to let him speak is amazing in itself…anyway…

    i think the words in regards to ash and co are “cautiously optimistic” he seems to have settled down, laid low, provided some funds to buy smartly for the run in for this season, and we’re set up to hopefully stregthen in the summer for a very important season next year.
    forgiven for all he’s screwed up in the past? far from it. seeing if this sudden bout of sense he’s come down with is staying around…i’ll give him some time.

  39. komfort,will give it some thought,trouble is i often nip over to malta to see my mates sons play (and couple of other things)just away couple of days like,but you can send e-mail like

  40. TBH,
    what has the guy said?
    Ashley’s staying-who didn’t know that?
    Our fans rock, but a minority are unrealistic-again, nowt we didn’t know.
    2 lots of chancers didn’t come up with the cash they said they had to buy the club-old news.
    Where’s the problem with any of that?
    ???????????????????????????????????????

  41. toonsy says:
    March 3, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    “worky – So your saying that bringing in a couple of new players in key areas wouldn’t have stopped us getting relegated, or at least given us a better chance?”

    It was constant changes of management that got us relegated. You can buy players but you can’t buy a team, you need stability and consistent leadership for that.

  43. watched that g.taylor on ssn on clubs demise saying players wages are not part of the problem!what planet is the guy living on

  44. it will be very interesting to see what ashley does once were promoted,see if hes learned from his mistakes,because the squad we have now will struggle like hell in the prem christ we have struggled in the fizzy pop league.

  45. Aye ice,
    & also having to buy them first, just to pay them millions.
    The buying bit has to go.

  46. Komfort you will have trouble trying to replace Batty as you know yourself he was the no1 for getting shot of knocked off gear ( sorry I mean surplus stock )he was also the Big Issue seller of the year for 2 yrs running :lol:. But I think he is back where his heart is travelling and tarmacing driveways ;).

    Worky I think your right there even Messi and Kaka couldn’t save us with the amont of upheavel and a toxic dressing room. In many ways rel was the best thing for us tbh.

  47. worky even worse than the constant change of managers was the fact that not one of the so called big players stood up and called the battle cry . On paper no matter who was manager we had the players to stave off relegation but no one and i mean no one stood up took responsibility and led on the field of play . Makes me wonder for next season if the likes of Smith & Nolan will still be banging the drum like they are this season . Next season will , well and truly show who has the bottle to stick their heads above the trenches . I expect Taylor , Guthrie , Williamson , Carroll & Harper will , but the rest ? i mean why last season was their no player exchange of views in the dressing room like their was after the Leyton Orient pre season game . I know some of the players i now mention where here last season but they were still the younger members of the squad . They will have learned and become better for their expirences before kick off next season .

  48. well i know it would never happen and go back a bit to what it was ie
    basic wage
    win bonus
    draw bonus
    bonus for progress in cup com
    bonus on crowd att
    bonus on games played
    ect
    were not out injured long thats for sure

  54. jokeing apart BIG DAVE often wondered why timekeeping is not taken off refs and given to offical timekeeper like some sports,then again we would fergi shouting for “time out”

  55. Icedog I sometimes wonder where the Refs get time added on from in fergy red nose’s case its because they are sh1t scared of him.

  60. Tell ya what. After all the kafuffle with Keith Harris trying to sell it didn’t take David Gill of Man Utd long to work him out!

    “Keith Harris is anywhere where there is publicity” :lol:

  66. As workyticket says:

    “It was constant changes of management that got us relegated. You can buy players but you can’t buy a team, you need stability and consistent leadership for that.”

    That’s the truth right there in in a couple of sentences. Not that Mickey Five-Chins and The Streak would ever admit it.

    All they have done this season is go some way toward putting right the massive damage they did to the club last season. And I reckon it’s the least they could do, so I won’t be looking to bury any hatchets just yet.

    But I’ll be supporting the team on the pitch, as always, and hoping for the best.