Ashley v Mansour?

Posted on October 2nd, 2010 | 79 Comments |

Here is what we could have won....
Here is what we could have won....
Newcastle head to Manchester City over the weekend and will see a glimpse of what could have been as they take in the money enhanced surroundings of Eastlands.

Most fans are now aware that Sheikh Mansour, the guy who has bankrolled City for the past couple of seasons, was very much interested in buying Newcastle United way before City arrived on the radar screen of the mega-rich tycoon.

That possibility floundered when our owner missed a meeting with Mansour’s associates, with speculation suggesting that Wise, Ashley and Llambias went out for a drink instead.

The rest, as they say, is history, and the two clubs have gone on to follow a remarkably different path in last few seasons. Newcastle suffered a humiliating relegation and have endured a ‘character building’ season in The Championship, whilst Manchester City have been the only team to spend some real money and strengthen their team in these challenging economic times.

The question is, what approach do you prefer? Do you prefer the way that our club is being run now, with the focus being on the sustainability of the club and with the club living within it’s potentially huge means for the forseeable future? Or would you prefer a mega-rich tycoon to pump in vast amounts of cash like Mansour is doing at City?

I know what I would prefer, and it isn’t the sustainable model. I personally think that anyone who would choose the first route over the second route is stark raving bonkers and that they should give themselves a bit of a shake. It’s one thing playing with the sustainable hand we have been dealt, but to actively choose that path over the path that Man City have taken would be mind-boggling.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty happy with the direction that our club is heading in at the moment, although I would be a whole lot happier if this season was over and we had survived in the Premier League. But for people to say that they would turn down a billion pound investment in the club is, well, scary.

The bubble may not last forever at Manchester City, and they may one day come back down to earth with a bump, but it will have been a hell of a lot of fun for those fans along the way. The introduction of the new finanical fair play rules may limit what Man City can spend in the future, but the full impact of those rules will only be known when they come into force.

I’ve never had a problem with Manchester City fans to be honest and find them a decent bunch of lads and lasses. They too have suffered lows similar to what we have had to endure over the last few years. In fact you could argue that they have suffered more than what we have after they slipped from Premier League level to what is now League One level.

They deserve some good times! Mind you, so do we….

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

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79 Responses

  1. sure i’d love to have a mega rich owner for the club,but one who is wise enough to not blindly pump his cash into mega million deals for any blithering idiot capable of a good game once in a while..

  2. Hughton for me. Anyone can buy success! If Mancini is given enough money eventually he will stumble upon the right forumula. I dare say that myself, you, anyone would be the same.

    Hughton has shown careful consideratin in his transfer dealings in most cases. Sure they haven’t all been successes, but no manager has a 100% success rate with transfers. On the whole though, Hughton’s signings have improved the squad each time.

  3. mancini doesn’t know anything other than catenaccio tactics.in other words he gets his kicks from watching drab defensive sides play.at least our gaffer tries to make us play offensively.
    mancini should strangle on his own scarf.

  4. I’d rather have the money buy the players hopefully win something then once the new rules come in you live within your means. Lets not kid ourselves,when/if the new rules come in the big clubs will still be the big clubs, they will still attract the big players and they will still win the majority of the trophies……and that’s without finding away around the new rules(which they will). I don’t know all the ins and outs of them but whats to stop the Sheik saying,”put my name on the stadium and I’ll sponsor it for £150m a year?.
    Man City aren’t one of the top clubs in Europe yet but they will be by the time the new rules come in imo. Yes we slag them off and say they’re buying their way to the top but so did Chelsea. They were nowt special before Roman came along, Spuds have spent big to get up near the top and the big clubs have always spent big generally.
    As long as the sheik is there,they’ll spend new rules or not, as long as it is alongside a good manager and spent wisely they’ll win something and good luck to them…jealous…..damn right :-)

  5. aye toonsy,hughton has been most wise with his transfers.
    i hope carroll ends up giving de jong a haemorrhage,if the dastardly dutchman even ponders drop kicking one of our players.

  6. Rich – All advertising deals of that nature (Mansour sponsoring things) will have to be market tested to see if they are fair deals and not an excuse for owners to pump million into the club on the sly according to the rules.

  7. roscoe is right!!!FCUK WOLVES.mick mcarthy and his boys should dig a hole and die,the mangy dogs..

  8. Got a good couple of articles coming up a bit later from Paul and Fernando. Good lads :)

  9. Aye will be nice to see some well written articles, For a change…

    Karl Henry what a bellend.

  10. pity cantona,roy keane et al never got to play this wolves side..i’d love to see how a game of football could transform into mortal kombat.i’m pretty sure the wolves players don’t go out to score goals,more like getting a ‘FATALITY…’

  11. Oh put your handbag away i was only messing…

    We really could do with a draw between these two

  12. Toonsy…they’ll get around it somehow I reckon,either way the bigger clubs will still have way much more money to spend than the rest of us…….the next thing they’ll do is negotiate their own tv deals and the rest of us will get peanuts like in Spanish football.

  13. what a lousy looking bloke sheikh mansour is..how does a guy like him end up with so much money?the world is a cruel place.

  14. arka……..and a good looking charming young lad like myself hasn’t got a pot to p!ss in :-)

  15. mansour’s private jet should crash into molineux..actually not.better idea,de jong should kick mick mcarthy in the face,especially the nose.who knows,that could get him on his christmas list?

  16. jay jay……meant to ask,how come ya can’t come to the derby game now….can ya not get oot of ya pit early enough?? ;-)

    Was too late to make some changes to my ff team :-(

  17. In response the actual article, I wouldnt want either of them.

    I wanted and still want an owner who would look to get the club on a sound financial footing as well as appointing a talented manager and coaching team, Develop a worldwide scouting network, Gradually improve the playing staff and prioritise developing local talent and scouring the world for the best young players.

    So i suppose Ashleys plan when he first bought the club was what i wanted.

  18. ime back nice to read a toonsy post,dont understand that french crap,more good news henry off,hope everyone behaved them selves know richie wouldnt like

  19. No doubt that ugly, pea-brained twat, McCarthy will come out saying it wasn’t a red card offence and he just narrowly missed the ball. Wolves are indeed a disgrace. Even if Henry does get the ball, why the hell is he going in that hard!? What an idiot. Why do poor players in the Premier League believe “going in ‘ard!” has anything to do with being a good defender? What happened to quality, intelligent defending? I hope Wolves continue getting the negative publicity they are currently getting as this bo****ks has no place in modern football.

  20. @ 7 agree – city are heading for a place (in the very near future) we will never see whilst fat man ashley is at our club.

    regarding tomorrow’s game – i think we will get stuffed 5/6 nowt :(

    p.s richie i luv you x

  21. RICHIETOON canny trip m8,son saw a couple of places he wants 2nd look at later in the month,cannot say ime a froggy lover like,oot happened bud ?

  22. El Toro…….he’s a disgrace………..yes some of the tackles he went in for Barton he won the ball but he was also intent on taking the player out along with it. That’s a foul, regardless of whether he won the ball or not imo

  23. me either Ice, nowt much been happening at all mate.

    Cheers Roy…….I …er am very fond of you too ;-)

  24. Most fans could see the Henry sending off coming a mile off, fank thuck the player isnt hurt but he has gone unchecked all season revelling in his hard man attitude and what have the Premier League done about him?
    I honestly thought it would take a horror tackle on a player from a top four team to get him sorted out after he got away with breaking Zamoras leg, its a start, sort dorty Stoke out next and the thuggery will stop.

  25. We should put five or six past Newcastle, let’s be honest.

    Don’t think the Toon will go down, but they’ll be in the mix.

  26. BBB aye m8 your reet,even in old days gone by they werent as bad as some you see now,that i can think of like except mackey on len white,and a few bad ones roy keene who was a dick

  27. We should have a poll who the most dirty player in the EPL is . Henry , cattermole or De jong .

  28. ColinBall says:
    October 2, 2010 at 2:15 pm

    “We should put five or six past Newcastle, let’s be honest.”

    Aye, You should given your ridiculous, farcical overspending but you wont, Your manager with his 3 holding midfield players is far too negative.

    You need us to come and attack for your side to take advantage of the space, We wont do this we are a counter attcking team ourselves so good luck with breaking us down, With Milners crossing ability and sideways and backwards Barry.

    You may beat us by the odd goal but your team wont dish out the beatings Manure and Chelsea will while Henry Mancinis involved.

  29. Hope not Colin….or I have a long trip back.I’d be over the moon with a point but more in hope than expectation.

  30. De jong is not dirty as he always make sure his tackles are clean and not reckless and he actually wins the ball most of the times,henry and cattermole have no brain and common sense which is why they tackle without thinking of the sanity of fellow professional.

    Players like cattermole and henry if they weren’t footballers would be working in a warehouse not because it is all they could do but because their small and not so clever brain wouldn’t allow them to learn anything else if not definitely thugs on the street especially for henry.

  31. slightly more concerned about wigan picking up the 3 points than whether karl henry gets his comeuppance or not

  32. This is very bizarre, but Sunderland v Manchester United has been delayed by 20 minutes after some of the roof of the United dressing room reportedly collapsed. They have had to move dressing rooms.

    LMAO~~~ :lol: :lol:

  33. zinaldo1982 says:
    October 2, 2010 at 2:38 pm
    Players like cattermole and henry if they weren’t footballers would be working in a warehouse not because it is all they could do but because their small and not so clever brain wouldn’t allow them to learn anything else if not definitely thugs on the street especially for henry
    ——————————————————
    And what is wrong with working in a warehouse zinaldo???

    I suppose your an office dweller, sat on yer fat ass earning money for hitting a few keys on a keyboard instead of working for a living.. :(

    De Jong is as dirty as Cattermole & Henry, the only difference is, he gets paid way too much money!!!

  34. To be honest Toonsy, I’d would prefer to have someone like Randy Learner to either Ashley or Monsour, as he’s done what most billionaire owners should do, back your manager, keep out of the way & just enjoy the success of the team without worrying too much about anything…. Ashley could have done that, he could have sold to Monsour or he could have invested but chose to blow his millions on other things & now isn’t really a Billionaire anymore but not far off….

    I’m glad we are where we are now but it’s come at some cost to the club & Ashley but hopefully this time next season, we’ll be sorted & maybe then, someone may come in & buy the club off Ashley but I’m not holding my breath… :(

  35. Did you read what i said,there is nothing wrong with working in a warehouse but when you are clever enough you can try and do better whereas people like cattermole and henry are unfortunately not clever enough to do so.

    De jong is not as dirty as them as he almost never lunges in recklessly the way they do,yes he is as committed as them but at least he doesn’t go to ground on every occasions which is the best way to avoid breaking or kicking people.

  36. Richietoon, sorry for the late reply, the first train from birmingham doesn’t get into Newcastle early enough mate.

  37. jay jay……nae express coach?

    Howay Bournemouth..the only team not to score n my goals galore…tw@ts

  38. Incidentally, those wins for Wigan and Everton today ensure, Liverpool, Liverpool, are in the relegation zone. :lol: :lol:

  39. beat Villa 6 nowt in one of them ;-)
    football doesnt work like that or your saying we’ll lose all the rest of our home games ‘cos Blackpool beat us ;-)

  40. And Stoke??? :lol: :lol:

    Let’s hope we get our Home games on winning run sooner rather than later.

  41. Aye….has to be the next one mate.

    jay jay there’s a train gets in at 1228……divnt miss the derby man :-)

  42. The only way I would look at it would be to look at Arsenal and then Portsmouth.

    Arsenal have won trophies before – obviously not any recently, but whoever takes over from Wenger next walks into a club making millions of profit by itself every year. It’s an outstanding business model for a club that consistently rubs shoulders with the top clubs of european football.

    And then look at Pompey; a club taken over with a great buzz surrounding Redknapp’s big name signings and the foreign owner pumping the cash in… or more like spunking it up the wall… So what do they have to show for the good times, an FA cup? Well i’m sure every fan here would take an FA cup, but at the expense of being dumped into the situation they are now? Come on, don’t be so short sighted.

    Let’s not forget we’ve been up with the big boys before, spending over £10mill on players and finishing in the top 3, and quite undoubtedly because of the expense of that success along with idiot owners who wanted instant glory and publicity over a club built up from on the right foundations we’ve ended up with the hard times we’ve endured under Ashley.

    You can’t tell me that if our club was water-tight financially when Ashley came in that he would have still ended up introducing the cost cuts and the drama that entailed. In fact he’s already put a lot in from his own pocket.

  43. I am interested to see what NUFC side will be out tmr against Man City…

    Though i still stick on my prediction of 6-0 to Man City. ;)

  44. So what, is it Carroll upfront alone tomorrow, or do you bring Chelsea hero Shola in next to him… or Mr Lover Lover?

  45. jay jay……still seats cost ya £120 return tho

    Peter L….but Pompey were spending money neither them nor the owner could afford……Man City and Chelski arent/werent(to my knowledge anyway) so no comparison to Pompey ;-)

  46. “That possibility floundered when our owner missed a meeting with Mansour’s associates, with speculation suggesting that Wise, Ashley and Llambias went out for a drink instead.”

    That was all complete and utter cobblers embroidered by the likes of the Daily Mail, Toonsy, and it wasn’t Mansour.

  47. off for a couple of sherberts…out earlier home earlier cos ganin doon to Citeh tomorrow……..if I dont mek it on in the morning enjoy the match lads.HWTL

  48. “I know what I would prefer, and it isn’t the sustainable model. I personally think that anyone who would choose the first route over the second route is stark raving bonkers and that they should give themselves a bit of a shake.”

    I would rather live in S________d than have a human rights abusing bastard like Mansour running my club. Life isn’t all about money.

  49. Toonsy, not sure about this blog. No evidence that citys owner was interested in us at all.

  50. Micky – Aye, I probably just made it up like but I’m sure I read something about it at the time.

  51. toonsy says:
    October 2, 2010 at 7:03 pm

    “Micky – Aye, I probably just made it up like but I’m sure I read something about it at the time.”

    It was more Dubai lot like Maktoum etc than Abu Dhabi, and that’s when they said that Ashley wanted £481 million for NUFC, which was absurd. But that’s academic as it was all utter twaddle anyway, built around a blurry photo of Mike Ashley in a bar somewhere that could possibly have been in that part of the world, and designed to get Geordies radged up.

    The alleged Mansour interest was a separate thing.

  52. But then again we were linked with everyone from Bill Gates to Billy Binladen, but I think that was made up too, probably by Toonsy again :lol:

  53. What is going to happen to clubs like Man City when the new UEFA fair play regulations force them to spend within their means. In otherwords, when they have to be run like proper businesses without sugar daddy handouts?

  54. no one in there right mind would buy newcastle the fans are fickle they havent won anything for donkeys years and they only have half a ground. your a bad risk as you always seem to get relegated and lets face it newcastles hardly beverly hills is it. plus another point is your all very fat and ugly like your women…thats the thing about snorting coke it makes you tell the truth