Newcastle United finally release official statement.
Posted on May 9th, 2010 | 241 Comments |
I am honestly a little bit lost for words right now having quickly skimmed over the contents, but my initial reaction is that it doesn’t sound pretty and we should settle down for what is going to be a long hard season next year. The statement begins by summarising the accounts from last season, with the headline being an operating loss of £37.7 million for the accounts just filed. It then goes on to forecast estmated losses of £32.5 million for the season just gone whilst also indicating that we have a £20 million overdraft that is fully comitted. Dire financial circumstances indeed which is something I think that deep down we knew all along. Those financial circumstances could become even more dire when I reveal the most chillng words of the whole statement in my opinion.
That is the fact that there are no plans for any capital outlay on any new players, and that the team from this season will form the basis of the team we will start the Premier League season with. Any new additions will have to be self funded by player sales by the looks of it. I am actually lost for words as I really thought that there may still be a surprise this transfer window and that Mike Ashley had learned that that the playing staff needs investment. Apparently not.
The clubs focus will be on academy players with the ethos of promoting from within. It then bullishly claims that ‘no longer will players like Alan Shearer and Michael Carrick slip through the net at Newcastle United’. Thanks a lot, I guess we should be grateful for that!
What ambition eh? The new five year plan will see us in a ‘break even’ financial situation by the year 2015 apparently. I never expected a fortune spent, but he is asking for trouble if he thinks running with this squad is the way to go. We may survive, just, but it would have been nice to see our owner back Hughton a bit to give him the best possible chance of staying up.
If you want to read the full statement you can do so here. But it looks like again next season we have to do our bit to help out the players. They have done nothing wrong in this so we need to stick with them. I hate liars, but I actually hope they are telling porkies this time. Doubt it though.
I’m off to punch a wall..
This statement + Hughton’s statement that no more players will be leaving, makes for a disappointing start to our Premiership campaign. I do still believe we will sign 2 or 3 players, but something tells me they will either be on a free, on loan, or as a result of recieving an offer for one of our current players that we just cant refuse.