Doth We Protest Too Much?

Posted on August 4th, 2011 | 63 Comments |

Will protest oust Ashley and Llambias from Newcastle United?
Do they care about fan protests?
The Joey Barton escapade continues to rumble at Newcastle United with some fans asking whether or not some sort of protest would help.

It is very difficult to avoid this Joey Barton situation at the moment. A good 90%+ of the Newcastle United coverage for the last few days had been about him and his infernal Twitter machine, which has depressed me and made me wonder if it was worth chewing through the leather straps to get on here and post this morning.

Ironic, then, that I’m going to post about it too.

Joey seems to have induced an air of protest amongst many Toon fans, such as that suggested by my esteemed fellow writer. But I must say I have my reservations and since we don’t have such things as editorial policies on this ‘blog, I’ll bore you with my views on the subject.

I think any protest needs to be designed as an effective step towards some clear end result or it merely serves as a disjointed expression of anger. Some people might feel better from the emotional release it affords but it may not achieve anything towards the actual goal.

Personally, I think the way Ashley would react to a Poznan protest is to shrug and simply say “yeah, but they paid their money“. Ashley certainly used to care what the fans thought and I think it’s fair to say that the bedsheets and whatnot after Keegan debacle convinced him to try and sell the club. His lengthy club announcement from the time where he threw his toys out of the pram demonstrated genuine upset in my opinion.

But I think a harder, more business-like Ashley sits at the helm of the club today. One who is well aware that he’s unpopular with a lot of fans, but also one who doesn’t give a crap about his fan popularity anymore. I think the only way Ashley will leave this club is if he either gets back all the money he has invested in it or it becomes such a poor business proposition that it’s better for him to write it off as a loss.

If you’re trying to persuade him to sell via the first situation, it means helping to make the club profitable – maybe even suffering mediocrity on the pitch while transfer dealings continue to move into the black – and hoping that the club becomes attractive enough for some buyer to consider paying Ashley off and taking over.

To try and persuade him by the second situation you need to stop paying for tickets, pies, pints, shirts and anything that might get back to Ashley’s piggy bank. But you also need to persuade a fair chunk of the 50,000 regulars at St James’ Park to do the same thing. That would take many seasons too: most people already have their season tickets for the coming season, so that’s money in the bank for Ashley already. You’d have to start now by persuading people not to do likewise next season.

And then you’d have to think of the damage that such action would inflict upon the club in the long run. Our club remember. Making it a business write-off for Ashley is kind of like cutting off our noses to spite our faces because somebody then has to come in and make it work again, which will lead to stingy spending policies and how long would it be before we’re calling for the heads of whoever took over?

Which leads to the question about who takes over anyway. It’s always possible that we could end up with an owner who’s worse than Ashley, unlikely as that may sound to some people. In my opinion, one of the things Ashley has got right is his policy of trying to get the club on a firm financial base and I’m all for the general principle of replacing older, high wager earners with younger, cheaper players, but there are also such things as ‘transition’ and ‘balance’ and it is in this area that I think Ashley’s lack of footballing acumen becomes apparent.

I have long argued that a lot of Ashley’s ‘mistakes’ would have been avoided if he’d appointed a football-savvy Chairman instead of an escaped owl. It would mean Ashley having to listen to him in the first place of course, rather than simply hand out ‘orders’ as he seems to do with Llambias and Pardew, but I think it could have made a difference.

As to protest, I’m certainly not against it but I have to feel it has a chance of helping to achieve some sort of long-term advantage. At the moment I haven’t seen any realistic suggestions that would do that.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

Related Posts:


63 Responses

  1. Good article.

    Personally I think we just need to get behind the club and the players.

    We are ruining it for ourselves if we protest and show dislike to the club.

    Its not Ash and Co that need to ‘grow a pair’ – its us, the fans.

    :-)

  2. I tend to agree, as much as I despise the fatman and his cronies my love for the toon is far and away greater. Give the lads the best possible chance to succeed this year and lets get behind them. Whatever the politics at the club and the dislike for the owner NUFC will always come first!

  3. no point in protesting, your just giving Ashley the amunition not to spend any money don’t give him anything to bite against.
    get behind the team NO bedsheets NO protests before or after the game as shininglight says grow some balls and BE the twelth man YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU!!!

  4. Just a point here – we got 35 million for Carroll, and not a penny was spent from it.
    Further desperately needed strengthening has been postponed until Enrique is on his way.
    And we get bigger gates than Liverpool, where he’s gone to, who are spending and strengthening. They’re tyhinking big and determined to succeed for their fans.
    Ashley is, on the other hand, throwing us birdseed and telling us to “Suck seeds”
    A yes man manager and free transfers will lead to relegation….again.
    And you are daft enough to think we protest too much ?????

  5. The most balanced and sensible article on any blog for a while!

    I don’t think most ‘angry fans’ have a clue what they’re actually angry about. I’m pretty certain it’s not what they should be angry about.

    Barton flattered to deceive by using his position to say publicly what a lot of fans want to hear, then following it up with lots of ‘wonderful fans’ and ‘pride in the shirt’ statements. All the while his actions said otherwise and he basically screwed the club over to his own ends, but it kept his hero status going with the more gullible.

    We know with absolute certainty that Ashley and his team are not the most moral people. The high court said as much. We all know it and we don’t need players to screw our chances of new transfers by saying so.

    But how many clubs can boast decent men at the helm? This is footie, and there are only two kinds of people in that business: convicted crooks and the ones who haven’t been caught yet.

    My opinion is this: people aren’t angry because of the things they say they are. They’re angry because the club is sticking to a strategy that means unpopular decisions and fans think, from their armchairs and based on none of the facts, that they could do better. I do it myself – my toys came out of my pram at mach 3 when Hughton was sacked. Now I look back and I am starting to see what they were doing now more context is coming to light.

    Complain if you like, but be honest about why.

  6. Fancied going out last friday so i decided to lend myself £50.
    Stuck in the house this weekend though as I had to pay £20 back that I owed myself.

    Someone posted this on not606 thought it was quite amusing.

  7. I agree 100%. An added thought thought, you write “somebody then has to come in and make it work again, which will lead to stingy spending policies and how long would it be before we’re calling for the heads of whoever took over?”.

    Isnt that somebody Ashley? I mean, Freddy Shepard left the club in financial ruins. Surely he invested more money in it than Ashley does but is it healthy? Not really. We have a massive fanbase but the lowest ticketprices so our club is big but not massive.

    I simply cannot understand everyone taking a crack at Ashley for the Barton saga. I mean come on, do you remember when we had to do without him because he was in jail? When he got sent off against Liverpool and went on to piss off then-manager Shearer?

    Im sooooo tired of this “wheres our 35m”. I dont give a crap where they are, do we have a team that is good? We let Carroll, Nolan, Enrique and Barton go along with a few fringe players. What do we have in? Cabaye (pure class if you ask me), Demba Ba, Marveaux (I dont think you guys get how good this guy is), Abeid in.

    Ok, so in terms of +/- from last season I reckon we are a striker and a left back short, which has been pointed out. In the other departments we are stronger than last season and we will challenge for places in europe with a new striker and LB (or Enrique if he stays).

    Oh that was a semi-rant, but anyhow, I think we should support our club. Maybe Ashley/Llambas footballknowledge is a bit less than we would like, still with these guys we will be where we should be for a long long time. Maybe even poking at top 4 in a few seasons?

  8. @Phil K: This kind of comment is exactly what im tired off. Screw the 35m, have you looked at our squad? Is it crap? Then whine about that. The money is irrelevant, or would you rather that we spent £ 100m and ended up in the championship?

  9. Well Fat Ash has what he wanted putting up to 11 monkeys on the field and he knows we will turn up to watch !!! I know who is laughing all the way to the Bank!!!

  10. Good article however if there is no protest against Ashley & co where will it all end? I will tell you, Ashley the assett stripping mogul will laugh all the way to his casino what we need to do is put up a campaign to botcott all of Ashleys intrests Sports Direct, TOON merchantdise and do not buy anything at SJP, this will be the only way to make him either move on or toe the line and invest in the club.

  11. The season is going 2 start too soon for us. i fear we are not ready. number of persons and in a lot of critical areas

  12. stirring the nest with this one but i don’t think we protest enough eg at the games all well and good we do it on blogs news articles etc but where it counts is at the games to show ashley what we think, looking at the poznan debate this is one of many ways of showing ashley our displeasure for him in a positive way unlike what we did at the hull game 3 years ago where the atmosphere was very toxic which showed on the pitch.

  13. u=Unfortunately with the present management structure protests can achive very little except as a means of showing our frustrations and disappointment,at the direction our club is taking. I believe that should fans feel it neccesary to show their disaproval It might unsettle new arrivals so what can we do ?, support the team as we always have, definately avoid buying from any of ashleys retail outlets but our biggest problem in avoiding a relegation dog fight Is Pardew he is with out doubt the weakest link in our chain The owner and his cronies are here at least for the immediate future weve dealt with this situation over the years the team I think with luck can at least stay up if our recent buys settle or a couple of youngsters step up and get us a few points But to be burdened witha manager who is totally clueless concerning tacticts ,makes incomprehensible substitutions and somehow manages to lose matches against weaker opposition usually from a winning position, he cant keep senior players in order can you imagine Sir Alex allowing any of the situations that arise at nufc to occur at MUFC Then according to the media he goes back trying to bring in players who have already said they dont want to come here. every time he appears at a press conference he cotradicts something he has said earlier no wonder were close to the brown stuff as usual

  14. Good article and as usual well written.

    If I may be allowed to stick my head above the pavemnt for a nano second and perhaps argue a case of support for Mike Ashley !!! sorry sorry I know it will be unpopular.

    Look, Man U fans are a loggerheads with the owners, Scouser fans lurch from crisis to crisis, Chelski fans are regular moaners and can’t seem to be ever happy, Arsenal fans for goodness sake are up in arms over Mr W and the lack of investment in the Team.

    I think you can follow my thread from these points, all clubs and all fans are always unhappy with some aspect of the running or management of the clubs.

    In our case and the point I would like to make is that anyone who has any kind of business mind will understand why and how Mr Ashley is trying to first of all deal with the considerable burden of making the club financially sound.

    Players like Barton, Nolan, Smith etc are players of the past, good luck to West Ham and whoever gives a contract like that to Barton or Smith.

    Get real guys if it was your money would you pay Nolan a reported £50k a week for 5 years, like wise Barton who I agree is a good player but a liabilty, would you use your own money to pay him on a long term basis.

    I for one would not, yes that is a message of support for Mr Ashley, of course he has major faults but then again read my first paragraph.

    My Final thought is Black and White, yes 50% of fans will always think one way or the other ! thats life.

  15. nufc337 says: “but where it counts is at the games to show ashley what we think”

    The thing is mate, I think he already knows what we think. It just doesn’t bother him anymore.

  16. I think it boils down to a simple premise – are you a fan or a supporter? I personally am a supporter, therefore I shall support.

  17. @hugh think your right, he has grown a thick skin with all the taunts and abuse been thrown at him over the years

    another mini rant what pardew thinks of all of these must really start getting under his skin one man can take so much in losing star players and not speak up about it guess he is to much of a yes man to see that if we dont keep our players and/or replace them with quality then the next out the door will be him!

  18. I am certainly not an Ashley apologist, I dislike and mistrust him and his motives for our football club. I also understand and share the anger many fans feel towards what he has done to our club in the time he has had it.

    However, I think and have thought for a while now that the habit of calling the guy names, “Fat Ash” , “the fat man” etc etc is childish and pointless. Yes the guy is overweight or obese or whatever label you want to use but what the hell has that got to do with the price of milk?

    Do you all think he cares what you call him, that it hurts his feelings or will change the way he acts and handles NUFC, I seriously doubt it and if anything it will reinforce his feelings of disconection from the fans and the football club not force him to relent or be in any way more positive towards us.

    It seems to me that if we want him to take our complaints seriously then some of us need to grow up a bit and stop calling him insulting and frankly pointless childish names.

    Just my opinion guys, shoot me down if you will, and by the way, no I am not fat.

  19. there was a quote somewhere when he was about to launch his bid to take over the club,”mike will park his tank on your lawn,until he gets what he wants”.i think he has done that with us to a large extent,whenever things get uncomfortable for him,he retreats back to his ivory tower,and waits things out.
    when he came under pressure during “keegangate”,with the protests,he immediatley put out his statement,”you want me out,well that’s what i’m trying to do,it may take some time.i get the message,you dont have to protest against me anymore”.the protests stopped and then we had the much protacted attempted sale.all he did was wait it out and return 3 months later,saying sorry no takers,and the fans were sick of being left in limbo.
    i have to take my hat off to him there though,he is the master of mind games.protesting against him will not work,if fans are not happy,all you have to do is stay away.mike ashley has went up against big business men and won,do we really think he’s bothered about a couple of charvers in berghaus coats,caps and tracksuit bottoms,toting their mothers bedspread.

  20. Massive Bid for Barnetta….Nice one Micky Ashley!!!!!!!

    However, Barnetta’s British representative Barry McIntosh has acted with fury at Newcastle’s offer for the player.

    McIntosh claims that Newcastle have offered the player less than what he currently earns in Germany.

    Fookin Joke Shop Toon…wasting Players,Fans and Agents time.

  21. No wonder agents fees are so big when a freebies come to newcastle….bunch of total timewasters.

  22. I think a protest – unfortunatley – is going to happen.

    Why don’t we just ‘protest’ with a banner saying please

    “Ash, buy us a Striker…please”

    Nothing hurtful, just get a message to him telling him what we need.

    99% of people moaning, tend to put this one at the top of the list.

    p.s. I’m not talking of asking Ashley to leave (please read article for that.

  23. The Toon Mafia read this stuff-they know what is needed they just won’t release sufficient funds to build a decent team.

    Even the players know that as well.

  24. Wow, we really do have a split. And the more people come up with utter, utter todge like “we got 35 million for Carroll, and not a penny was spent from it.
    Further desperately needed strengthening has been postponed until Enrique is on his way.” (Both statements patently untrue) the more I SUPPORT ASHLEY.

    People need to be honest with themselves. You’re up in arms because you just don’t like the strategy. But nobody ever seems to suggest what the club could do instead. But they don’t because none of these arguments survive past the first does of reality before you end up with things like:

    “Give in and pay Nolan twice as much as Gosling and keep paying him 3 years past his prime, just to keep him here” or “let Joey continue to poison everything and scupper our recruitment rather than getting him and his £3m a year off our books” or “do exactly what we did to get Michael Owen and just pay so much for a striker that they come for all the wrong reasons”.

    Sick of it. It’s utterly stupid.

  25. Why do people seem to think the club isn’t doing everything it can to get a striker? Honestly – there’s plenty of evidence that they’re throwing everything at it, yet some seem to think they’ve just shut up shop.

    Could it be because it’s easier to be angry all the time if you just assume the worst of them all the time??

    (Incidentally – good to hear the Barnetta stuff; like the look of him)

  26. @ Whumpie 27.

    I honestly believe that the club is in good hands under Ashley. They are learning, the ONYY thing I would like to see is communicte with fans. However, sometimes the best businesses are run my people who play their cards close to their chest.

    HWTL

  27. Whumpie-(Incidentally – good to hear the Barnetta stuff; like the look of him)

    Look all you like mate he aint coming to NUFC.

  28. I can’t read anymore of this Ashley Arse licking crap.
    Off to read Barton on Twitter.

  29. I think you need to know no more about Barton than his association with Morrissey.

    The two most self-deluded, pretentious arseholes I can think of.

  30. no, your basically defending his actions and thats a load of toss, yes he may be trying to get us back to a firm financial state, but he’s only getting it back to that state so he doesn’t have to pay tax on it, i see no reason why we cant have tour say, your telling us basically to sit down and shut up or mike ashley might decide to do something else to annoy us all, and i completely agree wiv the idea that we should do everything in our power to get rid of the fat cockney bastard, i have stopped buying anything that is ashley owned/ related, we need to tell that git where he needs to draw the line when it comes to OUR club, we are the faithful we should be heard, its not our job to please a chairman who doesn’t even seem to like football, its his job to keep getting us the loyal fans through the gate every matchday/ newcastlle event.

  31. @ 31.

    Tell you what, put a fat geordie in charge of the club. That will stop all the moaning and groaning.

    …I’ll then return in a years time. To see the club is the RED, near bankcrupt, and doing a portsmouth!!

    lol.

  32. @33 Kurt.

    Really? You’ve just presuaded me to go and buy the away kits now !!!

    maybe I’ll buy some training gear, seeing as you aint buying it up.

    Looking forward to Florentina game :-)

  33. How far do you have to have Sweatshop Directs cock up your arse before you realise you’re being f*****?

  34. How far do you have to have Sweatshop Directs cock up your arse before you realise you’re being f@cked?

  35. In a word Hugh, YES.

    I said much the same yesterday but my more moderate comments were drowned out by such a sea of bile, that I questioned myself as to why I even bother with this blog.

    Todays more rational approach has restored my faith in my fellow bloggers. I largely agree with Whumpies line of thought. It aint all rotten in the garden, yes it’s easy to slag someone off and yes it may even be justified at times but I guaruntee MA is not going to learn to love the fans if he is faced with a constant wall of hate.

    I have to say that when he was shown at games on TV he did look genuinely pleased when we scored etc. So yes I reckon there is an overreaction at perceived mismanagement etc. We really need to step back and wait and see, perhaps we might even be pleasantly surprised.
    We aren’t a conference team yet.

    And notice I haven’t mentioned a certain attention seeker at all, can everyone else please follow suit. :)

  36. @ 36. wtf?

    @ all anti-ash groups. Let the players do the talking on the pitch this season. They are our club, they need us to support them. They need us to buy NUFC so we can pay the wages.

    Come xmas, if we are bottom and/or the team don’t earn their stripes, then yes… protest.

    doing it all BEFORE the new season, it DOESN’T HELP!

  37. At last, a sensible and intelligently worded article about what is going on here. AND lots of well expressed replies which has given me a greater faith in our supporters after so many knee jerk rants from those who believe they alone understand perfectly all the issues going on within the club …. Yeah, of course they do.
    Any protests would be manna from heaven for the media outlets who derive great pleasure in deriding the club AND the fans of NUFC. I can just see the headlines now ….
    As for the Barton situation, and much has been said but I’ll add my twopence worth anyway. Barton is extremely intelligent and has played the fans with great skill and seems to be doing the same with the media with his Orwellian quotes. Without Nolan to calm him down he has gone into top gear in order in order get his own way and is screaming and shouting, albeit in a very clever way, when it hasn’t been forthcoming. A toddler who does this is best ignored until the penny drops. He still owes this club big time .
    Ashley is never going to be the most popular guy but he is a business man and if he can make our club a successful business, maybe not this coming year, but his CV suggests that he will, given time, then we will hopefully have a club and a team to be proud of. I too am prepared to support whoever turns out is black and white. I’ll leave the running of it to the professionals.

  38. kurt – the things you have said you should have some ‘right to do’ all DAMAGE the club. So yes, I do get pissed off when people do them when it’s basically a total lack of understanding that makes them want to.

    If you are going to damage the club’s reputation, income, team spirit, and – ultimately – results, then YES, I’M UNHAPPY ABOUT IT!!

  39. Some of us don’t seem to get it…Ashley doesn’t need to be loved or hated; he’s running a business! We fans might like to think of it otherwise as a cherished child with all our hopes and aspiration embodied, but Ashley [and John Hall & FFS] has huge amounts of cash invested…we’ve invested our hearts! We can rant and rave’til the cows come home but think of it this way…If you invested your own money [or borrowed money that you were responsible to pay it back] would you allow your judgement to be swayed by people who clearly hate the very air that you breathe?…No you would ignore them and run your business the way you see fit, would you give those same detractors a voice on your board?…Would you even speak to them, or might you treat them with utter contempt?….I know what I would do!

  40. However, Barnetta’s British representative Barry McIntosh has acted with fury at Newcastle’s offer for the player.

    McIntosh claims that Newcastle have offered the player less than what he currently earns in Germany.

    “As it stands there is not a hope in hell that he will be going to Newcastle. In fact I am angry at their attempts to do it, and behind my back also,” he told skysports.com.

    “They have made an approach, but their offer equates to somewhere in the region of £40,000-a-week – which is just ridiculous.

    “Why on earth would Tranquilo move to Newcastle for less money? No offence to Newcastle, he would possibly consider going to Arsenal, Liverpool even Tottenham for less – but not Newcastle.

  41. See above….these are the kind of people, clubs are dealing with daily…total tossers, and we fans expect them to bend over backwards to give them what they want????…Stuff them, it’s about time players and their agents were put in their place, unfortunately some other stupid club chairman will bow to fan pressure and stump up….bigger fools them!

  42. great great article. Agree 100%
    Why can’t people wait until the end of the transfer window before passing judgment on our transfer policy?

  43. A lot of support for this article, and well deserved too.

    It’s important that the club is run as a sustainable business and we’re seeing that in many decisions which are being made. It’s also important that it’s run professionally – which I think counts as much for the employees as the employers. I know I’d be out of my job by 5pm tonight if I spent the next hour or two tweeting public criticism of my boss and business, however I feel about it.

    Notwithstanding, even if there’s no rule that income from player sales MUST be reinvested in the squad, our expectations have been pretty poorly managed
    given the statements at the time of Carroll’s departure; and to make out that this is to do with the fans misintepretation (“it includes agents’ fees, player wages etc”) is frankly to take us for fools.

    Fingers crossed for the next few weeks – striker, left back and a tough midfielder (or big soft foam boots for Tiote – anything to manage the inevitable suspensions!) and we’ll be in the top half.

  44. The club need to be congratulated for balancing the books, the only thing that has let them down is the fact that Ashley or Llambias havent actually spoken to the fans explaining what the ultimate goal is, therefore some fans have rounded on them accusing them of taking the money from the Carrol sale for themselves, I`m sure in time some if not all of this money will be reinvested in players, and when I say players I mean guys who genuinley want to be here, not some Michael Owen type character who measures success by the amount of dosh under his mattress.

  45. Avatar Dylan says:
    August 4, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    , I`m sure in time some if not all of this money will be reinvested in players,

    dylan the f@ckers have had 2 months!!!! how much time do they need like?????

  46. would a stable club looking to kick on appoint alan pardew as their manager mmmmmmm,each to their own.

  47. Unbelieveable the amount of arselicking on this page for Ashley/Llambias Here’s some reasons why:

    1. We did do due dilligence/We didn’t do due dilligence

    “We first heard about the potential sale on a Saturday and had done the deal by the Wednesday, so if you are asking if we did due diligence before buying then the answer has to be no.”

    “We did the typical due diligence one would do on a public takeover. There is no sense that anyone has tried to mislead us.”

    Kevin Keegan was in charge of transfers

    “We have started talking about who we will be bringing in and Kevin will have the final say”

    The Club repeatedly stated that Mr Keegan did not have the final say but in the letter dated 4 September 2008 from Mr Llambias to Mr Keegan setting out the Club’s proposals for trying to dissuade Mr Keegan from resigning, Mr Llambias stated:-
    “It will continue to be the position that no player will be bought for the first team without your approval, save of course for commercial deals (which we refer to as financials) which will remain within the sole discretion of the Board”.
    -INDEPENDENT ARBITRATION (KEEGAN vs NUFC)

    Wise Signed Bassong

    “He [Bassong] was Dennis’. Pick your top five players this season and you’ll see that they were Dennis’ players”

    “I came to Newcastle because my agent knew Kevin Keegan and my agent told him he had me and that I was a good player at Metz. Kevin had seen me play one or two times for France Under-21 and he asked my agent if I could come for a trial.”
    -Bassong

  48. A few more:

    Hughton was secure in his job

    “Chris is our manager and will remain our manager, and it is our intention to re-negotiate his contract at the end of the year”
    -October – 11th position

    “Newcastle United Football Club have today parted company with manager Chris Hughton. The board feels that an individual with more managerial experience is needed to take the club forward.”
    -December – 11th position

    He spends more than the fans on the club.

    “I have to put £20m a year into the club — I spend more than every other fan put together puts into the club each year.”

    Amount of money coming in from bums on seats:

    2004 – £33.9m
    2005 – £35.3m
    2006 – £30.9m
    2007 – £33.6m
    2008 – £32.4m

    This is just matchday. Not including replica strips, tours, play on the pitch, merchandise etc.

    He wanted Alan Shearer, even after relegation

    Bringing Alan Shearer back to Newcastle United was the best decision I have made. Alan and his staff did all they could to try and keep us up in the short space of time they had. Talks are now ongoing between us about how we can take this Club forward again.

    “We want him to be the manager 110 per cent, he’s very good at what he does, and he’s a straight talking guy – we like that. He’d be the perfect appointment.”

    “Do I care what Alan Shearer has to say? When he ran this football club we were relegated after picking up just five points from his eight games in charge.”

  49. Go on then one more:

    I was always prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of £20 million per year… That was my bargain. I would make the club solvent. I would make it a going concern. I would pour up to £20 million a year into the club and not expect anything back.
    Mike Ashley 14/09/2008

    Mike wants to build something here but wants to build it in such a way it’s not costing him £10m or £15m a year of his own money.
    Alan Pardew 25/02/2011

    Thoughts Ashley sycophants?

  50. Monkey, to be fair I don’t there are *too* many Ashley sycophants around. Most fans have resevations about him in one area or another after the gaffs he’s made since buying the club.

  51. Dylan says:

    “The club need to be congratulated for balancing the books, the only thing that has let them down is the fact that Ashley or Llambias havent actually spoken to the fans explaining what the ultimate goal is”

    The problem with that Dylan is if Fatman said “I want my £80m back then I’m selling the club for as much as I can” there wouldnt be a place on earth where he could hide :)

  52. Thump,
    ah! you noticed…No it’s a ‘shift’ to the ‘right’ mate, it was a little political dig.
    :)

  53. I`m not saying Ashley is the greatest club owner we`ve ever had, mind you we`ve had some shite, however, at the moment NUFC is one of the most financially secure clubs in the Premier League at the moment, and this in a very terbulent financial downturn. At the moment the US`s debt stands at $14.3 Trillion, it would take 400 years to pay it back if they paid $1 Million a day, this is going to have a massive impact on the entire world, the first thing to be impacted will be leisure, as is being shown by the fact that Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy are having major financial problems at the moment, once major tourist destinations, sooner rather tham later people are going to decide that they just cant afford to go and watch footie week in week out, owners like the Fenway group were reluctant to buy into a club, now they have come out and said publically that it would be a disater if Liverpool FC didn`t qualify for the Champions League next season. A BIG gamble methinks.

  54. Further, as I typed the previous post news was breaking that stock markets worldwide were in a 3% (minimum) slump.