Llambias’ and Pardew’s Carroll deception unravelled in bar rant?

Posted on November 14th, 2011 | 160 Comments |

Ashley, Llambias and Pardew - Did they deceive us over Carroll?
Ashley, Llambias and Pardew - Did they deceive us over Carroll?
A few days after Newcastle United’s already despised Managing Director, Derek Llambias, announced the club’s corporate renaming of the club’s traditional home as “The Sports Direct Arena”, it would be hard to imagine his or Mike Ashley’s reputation sinking any lower.

However all that has changed now after one simple drunken rant in a bar which was recorded by fans and passed on to the Mirror newspaper. My erstwhile collegue, Hugh, has dealt with his jealous and contemptible potty mouthed rants about former managers, Alan Shearer, Kevin Keegan and Chris Hughton in this piece. Here I will concentrate on how his words about Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool seem to suggest that both he and manager, Alan Pardew, deceived the fans about the circumstances leading up to the controvarsial transfer, leading fans to brand Carroll a “Judas” for deserting the club he had supported since boyhood.

If you recall, after a completely bogus story was put around the media about a very large Tottenham bid for the Bensham Bomber, Liverpool’s first bid for Andy Carroll was a lowly £30 million (what on earth were they smoking that day???). When one fan asked Llambias if he thought that Andy Carroll was worth that amount, Llambias replied:

“No – he’s worth f*** all.”

The potty mouthed M.D. then went on to brag in a vulgar fashion about how he and Ashley took “control” of the hapless Merseyside club, who had just sold their previous star number 9, Fernando Torres, for a English transfer record busting £50 million to Chelsea. On this he added:

“It is about control. We had the control. We knew the Torres deal was there. We drew that f****** deal, perhaps the ultimate.”

On his response to Liverpool’s £30 million offer the odious little man continued:

“So £30m? F*** off! Don’t waste my time and I slammed the phone down.

“£35m? Everybody including Pardew all agreed.

Then, detailing how he and Ashley turned the screw still further, he bragged on:

“But the £35m they wanted to pay over four years. It was rubbish. Mike (Ashley) said — and he is a brave boy Mike I promise you — get all the £35m up front.

“We got it all up front and then they never paid us on time and we charged them 12 grand f****** interest.”

This of course is somewhat different to his account of events at the time, when he and Pardew convinced fans to put the blame on to Carroll himself, making him a figure of hate within some sections of the fanbase. Llambias said in sincere tones shortly after the move:

“We didn’t push Andy Carroll out, far from it — he asked to go.

“The fact is Mike Ashley didn’t want to sell him, it’s not like he needs the money is it? And remember we turned down bids of £30m and then £35m from Liverpool.

“That’s serious money for a 22-year-old with only six months’ experience in the Premier League. But finally Mike’s point of view was the player’s put in a transfer request, so what can we do?

“Andy was already earning top money at the club after signing a new deal recently.

“But he said he’d been offered £80,000-a-week from Liverpool and asked what we would pay to make him stay. We told him the club just couldn’t afford to give him a deal like that, nothing close.

“And when we said ‘No’ — well, that’s when he put in his transfer request.”

Andy Carroll of course had a somewhat different recollection of events, saying that it was actually Llambias who instructed him to put in the transfer request. After claiming that he was “pushed into a corner” by Ashley and Llambias, he continued:

“Derek asked me to hand in a transfer request, so I was pushed into a corner and had no choice. I wasn’t wanted by them and they made it clear they wanted the money.”

“Then I flew down in [Ashley’s] helicopter. I didn’t want to leave.

“I’m gutted that I wasn’t wanted at my home team after everything I have done and the progress I have made.

“I didn’t want to leave at all. Make sure they know I didn’t want to leave. The players, staff and fans were fantastic.

“Derek asked me to hand in a transfer request, so I was pushed into a corner and had no choice. I wasn’t wanted by them and they made it clear they wanted the money.”

As mentioned above, many fans chose to believe Llambias over Carroll, branding him a “Judas” for deserting the club. However in the light of Llambias’ latest faux pas, it seems that Carroll’s version of events may have been closer to the truth after all.

Some of this may have been due to Alan Pardew backing up of Llambias’ account of events all the way. When he was asked to respond to Carroll’s account of the events leading up to his transfer (which Carroll initially texted to Toon Talk’s Steve Wraith), Pardew, who had previously “guaranteed” fans that Carroll would stay at the club responded:

“What can I say? We didn’t force anybody to leave.

“I disagree with that point. He had a contract here for five years, and at some point it would get renewed, but for him to sign in October and it get renewed in January – where would it stop?

“Personally, I’m disappointed. He’s a lovely lad, and I really like him, but it was his decision, and you can’t change that.

“Was this about football? That’s what you have to ask. I don’t think it was.

“We turned down a big offer, and they came back with a second big offer.

“We were having a discussion about what we were going to do with that offer when Andy requested to see me.

“I went to see Andy, and face to face we had a conversation about him wanting a new contract, even though he signed on in October, and (he said) if he didn’t get that contract, he wanted to go.

“I asked him what he wanted, and I went to the board. We had a discussion about what the ramifications would be for the whole club.

“We took the view, with him signing a contract in October, that this would cause us all sorts of problems.

“We decided that we needed the conversation confirmed, and he put in a transfer request, which he did.

“He spoke to his agent, and between them they put the request in. We decided with the size of the offer, and what it meant to us, that we would accept.”

However, if Llambias’ current version of events is to be believed, and both Llambias and Pardew had already agreed that he would be leaving for Liverpool, this would mean that both Llambias’ and Pardew’s accounts at the time were painting quite a false picture to the supporters, playing us for fools, and turning Andy Carroll into a hate figure throughout the region. That would be a disgrace, though sadly, if true, it wouldn’t be the first time!

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NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1096 articles on this blog.

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160 Responses

  2. Everyone not working with the club shud f off and become a middlesbrough fan. St James park will always be St James Park, anyone who wants to pay for a superficial name change let them. As for Lambiarse breath of fresh air, agree with everything he said and like him more for hearing it. I like Ashley trust him with the club, if it weren’t for him we’d be Leeds. All we need is an Arab billionaire one will come just have to bide our time.

  4. Carroll isn’t a super star and bottom line is he didn’t have to go, he had a very good 5 year deal with the ink still not dry. Ffs 35M was a steal and good business, get over it.

  5. Almost a year on and the summary is MA & DL are lying c***s who behave inappropriately and AC was forced to hand in a transfer request. We already knew this so not really news. Fat Freddy wasn’t exactly a role model Chairman calling Geordie women dogs whilst on a piss up with a sheik in a Spanish brothel. We seem to be in better shape now than we were then so I’ll forgive them their many faults and concentrate on the football performances. The only thing that really pisses me off about the stadium deal is Citeh get in excess of £100M and we’re only looking to get £8M…how does that work, is Champs league worth £92M more in sponsorship?

  6. julio laker says:

    “The only thing that really pisses me off about the stadium deal is Citeh get in excess of £100M and we’re only looking to get £8M…how does that work, is Champs league worth £92M more in sponsorship?”

    The Etihad deal is £10m over ten years as was the Emirates. However there is still some debate about the amounts involved as Etihad are “related” to the Sheikh who runs Citeh and there was considerable concern about Citeh’s ability to work within the UEFA “Financial Fair Play” before the £100m sponsorship magically arrived :)

  7. This may help explain why the loud-mouthed and utterly contemptible Derek Llambias told us we were wrong to boo Andy Carroll on the pitch. Pangs of conscience perhaps, Mr. Llambias? No chance. There is no conscience.

  8. Actually feel happier that DL and MA are in charge after this, than before. Whether Carroll walked or was pushed does not disguise the fact that we got £35m off the Scousers, it was paid up front and we charged them interest – think that is hilarious for an untested and unproven CF. Yeah he is a foul mouthed unpleasant individual, worked with people like that before in business, but you rarely get to the levels these guys are at without that steel; would imagine most chairmen are like this . Anyway, we are in a great position, with a unified team and performing well on the pitch. Dont let this average story deflect us from our true path!!

  9. “The Etihad deal is £10m over ten years as was the Emirates”

    That looks wrong as it should be “£100m over ten years” therefore £10m a season. The Gooners deal was also a £100 million deal which included naming rights to its new stadium for 15 years and shirt sponsorship for eight years,

  10. Why should he resign or be sacked? What has he said that isn’t true? Keegan has bottled it in almost every management job he has, Chris Hughton…. cracking bloke and love him for what he achieved but took us as far as he could….. and as for Shearer? Yes, we put him on the arrogant step and he’s lived off it ever since – i’m a bit biased cos I dont really like the bloke as a person.

    But as for Lambias…. he’s a bit of a creep but i respect him for saying it as it is….drunk or not.

  11. Andy Mac says:
    November 14, 2011 at 9:28 pm (Edit)

    “The Etihad deal is £10m over ten years as was the Emirates”

    That looks wrong as it should be “£100m over ten years”

    Andy, it’s actually four times that, ie £3-400 million over ten years.

    The reason it’s so absurdly high is because both Etihad and the owners of Man City are very closely related and they’re attempting to flout UEFA’s “Financial Fair Play” regulations on turnover so they can continue to outspend other clubs on players.

  12. If dekka really spoke to Liverpool like that on the phone then hats off to him for getting 35m up front, balls of steel that man. To be honest I like the way we go about business these days, pushing boundaries and rules to the limit to maximum effect. I think they are learning quickly on how football really works and now they realise it is just as underhand and murky as the casino world, dekka is going to be formidable moving forward and like he says, with an owner who is brave (thick skinned, loves a gamble etc) expect more beneficial situations coming our way. Who cares of they lied anyway (I personally don’t think they did), everyone was a winner in that deal, including the player. Fed up again that the self publicist wraith managed to get in on it, he speaks for no one but himself and his own agenda.

  13. Au contraire, mes amis (sorry, I’m just picking up on all our French speaking players) but I do not respect Derek Llambias for this outburst. “Think it but don’t say it” is often a useful yardstick, as is “Discretion is the better part of valour.” When you hold such a position as MD of a large, national company you need integrity in order to gain respect from everyone within the profession. Instead, he will be branded as a crass, uncouth pillock by his peers which, no doubt, is already how they had him pegged. Those with integrity, assuming they still exist in the crazy world of football, will be reluctant to do business with him since he has so openly displayed his true, foul-mouthed colours.

  14. Llambias is an absolute f*****g embarrassment to the club and its fans. Treating Liverpool like idiots is fine with me but its us who are being repeatedly lied to by this little cockney a******e !!

  16. durhammag says:

    “but you rarely get to the levels these guys are at without that steel; would imagine most chairmen are like this”

    Just like the NOTW’s who thought it OK to tap phones of Royal Family, Z List Celebrities and others ??

    “Anyway, dont let this average story deflect us from our true path!!”

    There are some who’d be happy for scumbags to run this club as long as we are successful just as FFS and the Weasel did. Yet ultimately they failed but managed to extract millions from the club which we could have done with to develop the team.

    IMO this isnt an average story but one of the fundamental reasons why we wont succeed at the highest level while these two are in charge. As you cannot exist in this football “bubble” without the support, aquiescence or at least grudging respect from your peers. These two twats obviously believe they can be as “F@cking horrible” as they want to be without considering the players, fans, media or other clubs who all form part of the world in which they operate.

  17. Paul in Hollywood says:

    November 14, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    “When you hold such a position as MD of a large, national company you need integrity in order to gain respect from everyone within the profession. Instead, he will be branded as a crass, uncouth pillock by his peers which, no doubt, is already how they had him pegged. Those with integrity, assuming they still exist in the crazy world of football, will be reluctant to do business with him since he has so openly displayed his true, foul-mouthed colours.”

    I couldn’t have put it better myself Paul. He’s dragged the club’s name back into the mire once again and lost us even more respect. Some people don’t have any kind of moral compass and can’t see things in the long term either. They only have the capacity to hold one thought in their head at a time and that thought at the moment is “we’re third!”

  18. Aye you’re right WT but you cant help but think the money just moves from one pocket to another and back again ?

    “A Uefa spokesman said: “We are aware of the situation and our experts will make assessments of fair value of any sponsorship deals using benchmarks.”

    Under the terms of financial fair play, clubs have to show they can break even in the medium term if they are to take part in European competitions and, for City, that represents a significant issue given that their last financial figures reported a £121m loss and the next accounts, to be published in September, are expected to be worse.

    The club have, however, made extensive inquiries of their own, consulting with Uefa in the process, to ensure the Etihad deal fits in with the rules and cannot be construed, in essence, as a different twist to ‘mates’ rates’.”

  19. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    “Expletives are cool Paul.”
    Just so long as they are disguised Clint, like your name!

  20. Andy,

    “Just like the NOTW’s who thought it OK to tap phones of Royal Family, Z List Celebrities … ??”

    I loved seeing notw gan doon, but those mentioned are actually fair game, as it happens.

    :)

  21. Shit!

    rumbled!

    They can’t touch you for it mate, it’s only words after all.

    That bit in Apocalypse Now! Where Kurtz is doing his speech about how US soldiers can kill but not write F*** on their planes.
    Heavy irony!

    :)

  22. Andy mac – I get your point but abramovic and buck don’t give a f@@k, the blazers do what they want, arsenal don’t really know who owns them as that Russian guy keeps buying up old ladies shares, Liverpool over the odds for players and just let others do Thd scouting and try and steam in at the last minute, old saggy chops and levy let it be known all the time that someone else’s player is ‘triffic’ through the media, man city do what they like and crush everyone in their way, so in the grand scheme ov things, our lot fit right in with the other top teams

  23. Used to feel for the Newcastle fans and what MA was doing but after reading these comments, I’ll be th first to laugh when it all goes wrong for you, which it will.

  24. There are no good guys at the top, and we have never had a good chairman who didn’t take from the club without putting more in than they took out. So what?
    I support the toon not the board, never have and never will, as I dont support the chairmen who own the brewery that makes my beer, nor the chairmen who run the bank that I keep my money in. Changing the owners won’t guarantee success, so why pretend it’s any different at NUFC? We are a football club not the catholic church.

  25. workyticket says:

    “I couldn’t have put it better myself Paul”

    Ditto

    “Some people don’t have any kind of moral compass and can’t see things in the long term either. They only have the capacity to hold one thought in their head at a time and that thought at the moment is “we’re third!”

    Sad but true WT !

  26. Andy Mac says:

    November 14, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    “Aye you’re right WT but you cant help but think the money just moves from one pocket to another and back again ?

    “A Uefa spokesman said: “We are aware of the situation and our experts will make assessments of fair value of any sponsorship deals using benchmarks.”

    Andy, Sheikh Mansour is the half-brother of etihad’s chairman. That’s the way things are in UAE / KSA etc. If UEFA let this go through, it will have a whiff of FIFA style corruption all over it.

  28. Simon says:
    November 14, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    “Used to feel for the Newcastle fans and what MA was doing but after reading these comments”

    Simon, Your whole view of Newcastle United is shaped by a few selected comments one one ‘blog?

  29. worky,

    it wouldn’t be the first time that someone passing (& obviously not a Toon fan) got disgruntled that we all weren’t of the same mind as them.

    Don’t know how i’m gonna sleep tonight knowing that simon is pissed with us. It’s sent us right into one.
    :)

  32. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    November 14, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    “it wouldn’t be the first time that someone passing (& obviously not a Toon fan) got disgruntled that we all weren’t of the same mind as them.”

    Et tu Clint? Or are you being sarcastic again?

    I’m certainly not of thae same mind as some of the comments above and I’m sure that most Geordies, the ones with some kind of self respect aren’t either.

  34. CLiNT FLiCK says: “it is the sort of crap you’d expect in a bar like, isn’t it?”

    Clint, I’ve managed people in companies before and had personal opinions about some of them that might not be complementary.

    I’ve also spent a lot of time in pubs. Yet I’ve never felt the need to spout off expletive-ridden attacks about the people who do or have worked for me in them.

  35. If it didn’t expose Mr. Ashley’s hypocrisy, which would be as bad if not worse, he should have fired Mr. Llambias first thing this morning.

  36. worky,

    i was more referring to simon.
    We’re hardly gonna square with what he thinks, are we?

    He’s probably a liverpool fan who’s gutted that ac hasn’t worked out yet?

  37. Hugh,

    me too mate.

    Although, i think if we consider the scene before we judge.

    We weren’t there, we don’t know what went on.

    i’m not coming down on either side, i try not to concern my self with this kind of gossipy stuff.
    It’s not my bag.
    I think that’s true to my usual form, isn’t it?

  38. I tend not to come down on ‘sides’ either Clint. Sometimes I’m praising something Ashley’s done – sometimes criticising it. I take each issue on its own merits.

    If the reports are true – and irrespective of whether he’s right or wrong about Keegan, Shearer, Hughton and Carroll – I think it’s an unprofessional way for an MD to behave.

  39. Hugh,

    i’ve noticed that mate.
    ;)

    He’s obviously ‘lost it’ with someone’s persistence & let rip.
    Very unprofessional of course, but strangely human.

    :)

  40. Of course. it makes sense.

    Football fans know how to run a business: corporate financiers know how to run a football club.

    No, hang on, fans know how a club should be managed, and directors know how to assemble a squad.

    No, no, actually it’s the owners who know. Or the fans. Or an accountant from the firm of Pugh, Pugh, Barney, McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb.

    Or is it the three witches who are are called “weyard,” but never “weird.”

    It’s all all all a conundrum wrapped in a puzzle that is an enigma that is a difficult question on ‘Eggheads’.

    Is it howsomeveranyroadup, any more than a gang of blokes kicking a ball around rather than face shopping-with-the-wife-on-a-Saturday-so-she’ll-let-me-go-t’pub-on Sunday?

    Granted, some of said ‘blokes’ get paid in excess of lots of money a week for pelting the leather, where some of us have to do that in the privacy of oor oon hames, like.

    Shall we chastise them for that? Should we castigate/castrate/cogitate a spotty twat for the ability
    to blatter leather about?

    There are them what think not so.

    Shall we thrash providers of several poonds aslo?

    Is it that we cut off the very hand that feeds us? Shall we call a rotund person a ‘fat barsteward’ because he tries to resemble a shirtless geordie, or because he has more money than a shirtless geordie?

    It’s a puzzle and no mistook. T’club is settling in the top three (where most would settle for top ten)and yet people still bleat on like there was a problem.

    As esteemed reporters would have it, the chances are are are that the financial situation vis-a-vis the club is possibly better now than a good few years ago when you could get a pint for 2 and 6. A bag of chips, and crackling, and 10 Woodbine. All for a poond.

    So, financially the club moves a Pace. {wiki has a definition of a Pace}. One move was to rename the stadium. Brilliant: I’ll call it ‘Beardsley’s Bottom’. It really doesn’t make *that* much difference, it’s still ‘St James’s Park’, or will the masses call it by it’s new name? I think not, I can’t see even a die-hard Geordie leaving pub at lunch time to “gan dan Sports Direct”.

    He will gan, hooever, to the game.

    Which is what it’s all about.

  42. I think we knew Pardew was stretching the truth in that statement when he described Carroll as `a lovely lad’ :)

  43. When I first started going to the match, us fans were all a bunch of blokes who went to the match to watch the football & enjoy the banter…when did we turn into socio-economic analysts discussing the finer points of business strategy and fiscal maneuverability in a fluidic market environment?

  44. Looking at some of the comments on this page i thought i’d stumbled upon the Cashley and Lamarse appreciation society by accident. Not so long ago they were villains of the lowest order but after making a drunken mockery of our club, its managers and its players they’re suddenly heroes.

    “Hats off to Derek”? Are you kidding me? How many clubs will want to talk transfers with a chairman who boasts about how he “owned” Liverpool.

    The way you conduct yourself when you’re in a position of power reflects on your business. If you’re applauding this foul mouthed gangster what hope is their for NUFC?

  45. It’s never boring w/NUFC. FFS, so much high drama. “So much drama at N-U-F-C, it’s kinda hard bein’ the cockney Mike Ash-ley”.

    I mean seriously. We’ve had a crackin start to the season and almost as soon as the int’l break boredom is about to settle over us… bam! The renaming and now this sordid affair. WTF, over?

  46. DL is a disgrace who has no moral and no repects to ppl he conducts business with, never mind the fans. I don’t give a shit of being third in the league, Toon Army is always about attitude and pride, and these thick moron made me feeling ashamed. I would take relegation again only if that will mean the end of DL and MA at the club.

  48. Think its all hilarious, DL has done nothing wrong. Hes just saying what we all know. nice to rip off another club for a change, do you think Rangers werent laughing when we paid £8m for boumsong?? and all the rest…

  49. the guy’s an arsehole and has treated the fans like muppets, that’s my only beef with the AC transfer.

    35m is stupid money and AC wasn’t worth that, and it’s unlikely he’ll reach that valuation with clubs needing to act more responsibly in regards to their finances.

    quite frankly i thought it was a great bit of business by the club. no player is irreplaceable, and that 35m would get you someone else of Carroll’s ability and potential with change. a lot of change.

  50. Good morning all.
    I’ve spent the last hour reading through the twilight posts and I’m shocked to see so many divided views.
    It would be nice to know if all the post in favour of mike and lamearse are from people born and bread in the north east.

    As for the comments DL,ma and pardeux made at the weekend. One word simply sums that up. Disrepute.

    Not only that but it will have the fa and premier league cringing.

    Not only that but fifa will no doubt be alluding themselves at the decision to award Russia and Qatar the world cup.

    Can you tell me another club apart from juventus whose owners manage to drag their club into so much disrepute on a world scale than Newcastle united owners have in the last 20 years.

    This shambolic behaviour needs to stop. Not only have they brought our club into disrepute but have dragged the fa and premier league to new depths.

    The MPs that have depended us so well will now be even more on the war path.

    In my opinion they are the shining light of “fit and proper”

    For those who say they have done no wrong.
    They have lied to the fans and tried to make themselves the innocent party.
    Carroll left, but now the air is clear, both parties are as much to blame as each other.
    Yes £35 million was to good to turn down. We all know that but it would have been nice to know the truth officialy rather than find out via a drunken game of craps.

    If people think this behaviour is acceptable ill say this.
    Would you mind your wife shagging the boss, coming home, lieing to you, all her work mates including some mutual friends lieing to you as part of the game.
    How would you feel if someone who a actually give a shit filmed everyone laughing at you and snearing behind your back.
    How would you feel?

    Not only would it make your wives work place look prety poor but it would bring a shadow of doubt over the whole industry. And doubt whether this behaviour is rife.

    The behaviour at the week end is not only disrespectful but when you have the whole world watching idiotic to boot.
    No doubt ashley slag off his sports direct customers just the same as he slagged off his Liverpool customers for buying over price goods worth f all.

  51. Stephen,

    I agree with Hugh that a MD should not say in public what he thinks in private about current and/or former employess.

    However, having said what he only behaved and sounded like almost any Newcastle fan that you would meet in any bar or pub.

    There been a lot of hypocrisy on this and other blogs by fans commenting and complaining about his language but using the same or similar foul language to do so.

    I don’t like the bloke but I prefer to have some hardnosed people running the club than some mamby pandies who squander or steal the clubs resouces.

  53. yes they definitely are DL reports as far as japan and Australia and UAE already mate.

    check out http://www.newsnow.co.uk you will see how far news travels mate.

    and what i’m getting at kamar is responsibility. what example are the main men setting to young children who attend games?

    you expect foul language from fans yes, but not when you are associated with the FA, The Premier League and FIFA.

    fans are only connected via their support for the club, own are connected in a whole different manner.

    and surely that should mean showing some respect.

    but obviously not

  54. I’m beginning to suspect that Newcastle fans are being dragged kicking and screaming through a massive reality check. Previously some fans have appeared to be living in some sort of fairytale world where prospective owners, managers & players alike would crawl on hot coals with their testicles on fire to be associated with Newcastle United….owners would spend vast fortunes of their own hard earned cash just to see the Toon challenge for the title or maybe Europe. Managers and players would take massive backward career steps to be here rather than work\play for some other ‘plastic’ but rather more successful club, simply out of adulation for the club and the Geordie fans. Some of us left these unrealistic dreams behind when we saw Santa doing some unspeakable act of copulation with our mothers, and realised that the land of make-believe was just that!….it’s called Growing up!

  58. Thanks for the reply Stephen & Hugh….Small point I wasn’t claiming that Llambias & Ashley ARE grown up, I think a lot of what’s happened appears to be out of spite & this latest episode is stupid…even if DL was right a clever operator would keep such comments to himself. I didn’t say anywhere in my comment that I thought anyone who disagreed with me was not grown up, but I have detected a tendency on this blog that if anyone disagrees with the general consensus then they are very quickly dissuaded from making further comment or are often abused, these ARE juvenile tendencies though!

  59. Foul language?

    Ah! I see what you did there…’Foul’, get it?

    Language isn’t foul, it’s legitimate language, words, part & parcel of life.

    Pompous overarching of vowels & the cropped, smugness of the toffs & the like, that’s foul language.

    Joe does make some pertinent points though.

    Cold reality is what it is!

  60. LameArse should go back to what ever little gambling hole he came out of and leave big business to big boys!

    Should I hire a plumber to run my telecoms business?

    Why are you happy they sold AC. £35m in his back pocket, not ours, or the clubs!

    Ashley, get out of our club!

  62. WOW…no way I want to stop free speech!.. I think it’s great that people are able to converse on here it’s just that some of us don’t seem to realise that the world isn’t really black & white and whilst Ashley & Co are wrong some of the time, in the real world nasty things happen and in business dirty tricks are played. I personally don’t really want to be part of that, and so would rather just watch the games and enjoy our relative success….leaving the ‘foul’ business dealings to the people who are running the club!….but whatever way others want to approach this is up to them, what would be sad though is if fans negativity toward the owner derailed the current success of the team!

  64. joe,

    i’m like you, just can’t be arsed with the gossip/politics/etc.
    I’m into football, the game. While some ‘background’ stuff is vaguely interesting, i’ve got very little time for the politics, or otherwise of football. There are more pressing matters in life/politics.

    I’m also no ‘head in the sand’ type either.

  65. Kamar says:

    November 15, 2011 at 9:46 am

    “However, having said what he only behaved and sounded like almost any Newcastle fan that you would meet in any bar or pub.”

    Kamar, You mustn’t have a very high opinion of Toon fans then if you think we all behave like that scumbag.

  66. I’m of the opinion that it’s politics in the game that prevent players performing to their full potential. When fans are restless it transmits through to the pitch and players concentration drops. Pardew is having success with some average players because he has so far been able to keep them disconnected from the of-field B.S…..however if it all kicks off again with the ‘bedsheets & the Getoot of wor club gang’ I suspect he may chuck in the towel and we’ll be back to square one!

  67. Joe, this article is specifically about Llambias’s comments in relation to Carroll, so tell me this: does it help or hurt the club that he crowed publicly about getting £35m off Liverpool for Carroll despite him being worth ‘f*** all’ according to Llambias?

    Presumably we’ll have to deal with Liverpool again in the future, so what will they make of it? And what about other clubs reading Llambias’s statement – will he have helped or hindered dealings with them?

    My main argument throughout has been that Llambias was wrong to make this outburst, unprofessional to slag off past employees in public and potentially damaged the club by boasting about his ‘transfer prowess’ regarding Carroll.

    Do you disagree with that?

  70. Hugh take your point and wouldn’t disagree, however there could be an upside to this…..Ashley is first & foremost a wealth generator and his main driving force is money. I suspect the minute DL becomes a liability he’ll be jettisoned, and with each mistake he makes that day could be closer than any of us realise. Fans kicking off could have the opposite effect and have Ashley take a defensive stance…..give these blokes enough rope and they’ll hang themselves, there’s not really much else we can do in the meantime is there?

  71. These guys are buisness people, they play hard ball. Agree that the two of them slimy, oderous suvorn tossers but the club is certainly far healthier now. Lets forget about all this clap trap and celebrate £35 million off the scousers. I live decidedly closer to Liverpool than to the Toon and there are a lot of LFC supporters who often berate me for selling that pile of shit to them, love it. And then the daft buggers went and bought Henderson from the unwashed for a fee which might rise to £20 million. Americans, stick to your version of football dudes.

  72. Derek L says:

    November 15, 2011 at 9:58 am

    “The whole world is watching what is happening at Newcastle United ? Get a grip”

    Perhaps Derek llambias should have thought of that before getting drunk, bragging in bars and dragging the club’s name down into the gutter once again?

  73. Hugh,

    just to be devil’s advocaat, ‘n all that.

    What did the people making this public think about with regards the effect you’ve outlined? Did they have the clubs best interests at heart or were they more concerned with defrocking DL?

    Also, did he say in the same breath that liverpool were mugs & we ripped them off cos ac was worth f all?
    I doubt that, it seems very paraphrased, correct me if i’m wrong like.
    But it seems there’s a lot of ‘agenda’ surrounding anything to do with any of this & other ‘issues’.
    Focus has not so much been lost, as given up on.

    There’s a very (over?) emotional tendency in these situations.

  74. JoeSoap says:
    November 15, 2011 at 12:52 pm
    I’m beginning to suspect that Newcastle fans are being dragged kicking and screaming through a massive reality check. Previously some fans have appeared to be living in some sort of fairytale ….owners would spend vast fortunes of their own hard earned cash just to see the Toon challenge for the title or maybe Europe. Managers and players would take massive backward career steps to be here rather than work\play for some other ‘plastic’ but rather more successful club, simply out of adulation for the club and the Geordie fans. Some of us left these unrealistic dreams behind when we saw Santa doing some unspeakable act of copulation with our mothers, and realised that the land of make-believe was just that!….it’s called Growing up!

    joe my friend, we are only making our voices heard.
    but you sum everything up in your comments.

    “world where prospective owners, managers & players alike would crawl on hot coals with their testicles on fire to be associated with Newcastle United”

    that is mainly down to what we have been given in the past. its not about being in a dream world its about expectations.

    yes by all means part of growing up is adjusting to new horizons and new changes, but changes with contempt are out of order.

    is there any true Newcastle fan that actually thinks the name change is anything but selfish contempt?

    the link i posted a few minutes ago in my opinion sums everything up.

    but tell me your opinion?

    as for being abused people have opinions and reflection and in doing so they tend to be different.

    i wouldn’t say you could call what anyone recieves on here as abuse. more like banter.

    we give as good as we get.

    chuck and i have had our fair share over the last few weeks and i have only started posting on here over a matter of weeks.

    our mutual appreciation for everything that is NUFC often drives us on. but also can be divisive. its our religion, i can appreciate the extremism of islam when you hear how some people behave over football. you can appreciate the instant hatred for any one disrespecting your mecca.

    and i have probably come close to explaining how we feel.

    how do you think Muslims would feel if their holly land was name changed?
    there would be war, explosions and death all around.

    so it just goes to show that we all have strong feelings but not every one is willing to pay the ultimate price for their love. some people just want to get on, some people don’t want to get involved but some want to go all the way and die for their cause.

    extremities of life joe.
    where as some people would die for queen and country some people would not.

  75. As far as I’m aware, Clint, Llambias’s outburst was recorded and quoted verbatim by the Mirror. I think they’d be on dodgy ground if they quoted that sort of stuff without proof, although I’m willing to be proved wrong if someone can enlighten me otherwise.

    As to your other point, the people who released it may not have had the club’s best interests at heart. I doubt the Mirror did! Or maybe they thought it was in the long-term interests of the club to expose Llambias. I don’t know.

  76. Hugh,

    i’m not ‘blaming’ the mirror, which is unusual for me, but i’m guessing the ‘perps’ were Toon fans?

    I was more wondering about the way round the words of the ‘outburst’ were being reported, not so much whether they were uttered or not. It would make quite a difference.
    A bit like stats, words & their order can change the meaning amazingly.

  78. If what Llambias says is true, both Llambias and Pardew have made fools out of the supporters for lying to them over Carroll, leading some of us to victimise Carroll under false pretences. It also drags the name of the club into the gutter once more.

  79. Hugh de Payen says:

    November 15, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    “Maybe Clint. A complete, unedited transcription of the recording would be useful but I doubt we’ll get that.”

    If it was inaccurate, Llambias could sue the Mirror Hugh.

  80. It’s also very interesting to hear the questions/accusations asked/shouted in these circumstances too. It would give a much more balanced picture of what went on & would make it very difficult to argue.

  81. in my opinion i think they have probably done this before.

    how many times have we heard something that we wished we could have taped? over heard something we wished we had some evidence of?

    i think they have probably done this type of thing before but this time people were ready.

    and it looks to me the scene of crime was aspers….again.

  82. Worky, I agree. He probably would sue the Mirror. But I take Clint’s point too – he might have said it but it could have been as part of something longer and therefore taken out of context.

    I think it’s tricky to misinterpret a lot of what he said though Clint.

  83. he gets more and more ugly,everytime i see him,does the rotund mr ashley.
    i dont suppose he’ll give a f**k,with all the money he’s got,but he’s an extremely ugly man.
    it just goes to show you cannot polish a turd.

  84. Hugh de Payen says:

    November 15, 2011 at 2:30 pm

    “Worky, I agree. He probably would sue the Mirror. But I take Clint’s point too – he might have said it but it could have been as part of something longer and therefore taken out of context.”

    But it’s pretty hard to take those comments out of context Hugh as you suggest.

  86. You’re still overlooking the potential importance of what was said & how it was said from the other ‘protagonist’.

    Does that have a bearing?

  87. i don’t blame the person recording, in fact complete opposite.

    we now know what we were previously told to be false and there for can now be more weary in future.

    we can forget the £35 million we were promised.

    the £12,000 they charged Liverpool probably went on cheap under-soil heating too.

    either way. we know what to expect. in future thanks to some clever guy with a mobile phone.

    if we knew what make we might be able to buy one instead of buying from sports indirect

  88. CLiNT FLiCK says:

    November 15, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    You’re still overlooking the potential importance of what was said & how it was said from the other ‘protagonist’.

    Does that have a bearing?

    Clint, no matter what anyone else said, or whatever the context, there’s no excuse for saying:

    “It is about control. We had the control. We knew the Torres deal was there. We drew that f****** deal, perhaps the ultimate.”

    “So £30m? F*** off! Don’t waste my time and I slammed the phone down.

    “£35m? Everybody including Pardew all agreed.

    “But the £35m they wanted to pay over four years. It was rubbish. Mike (Ashley) said — and he is a brave boy Mike I promise you — get all the £35m up front.

    “We got it all up front and then they never paid us on time and we charged them 12 grand f****** interest.”

    And if it’s true, there’s certainly no excuse for lying to the fans about things at the time. As I mentioned previously, they made a laughing stock out of us, especially the ones who labelled Carroll as some kind of “Judas” on the back of it.

  90. i have noticed people say they didn’t like Sir. John hall so much.

    but if you look back to the sale of Andy Cole there isn’t any comparison.

    who said keagans head was all over the place? at least his heart was in the right place.

    and at least he wasn’t being asked to lie to people he loved in the sale of Andy Cole.

    so as for head all over the place, you cant really expect it to be in the right place working with these Tw*ts can you?

    call it what you like. i call it courage, dignity and integrity when you can’t do i job you thought you could and you hold your hands up and don’t blame anyone else but yourself.

    and its been proven in court, honesty is something Keegan has and something Lamearse and Ashley do not.

  91. They waved 80 grand a week in front of Carroll and like a performing chimp he reached for it! They knew his greed & intellectual limitations would get the better of him……not nice! But as I said earlier business isn’t nice! I do think that the rest of football are sussing these two out and the number of shady deals and fast practices they are able to pull will become less & less. That’s the time when fat Mike will move on to graze in some other fertile field of business. Although I doubt they’re not the only smooth operators in the PL these days!

  92. ah yes, NewsNow.com – the gateway to the world. Yes the story may be online but that doesn’t mean everyone in the world knows about it.

    Also, to the fool who said they wouldn’t get a plumber to run a telecoms business – that is correct. BUT – I would get a Businessman with 31 years of experience to run a business. Once again, to 3rd in the Premiership.

    HWTL

  93. joe i think there will come a time quite soon where no one will want to deal with us.

    http://www.clicklancashire.com/sport/blackburn-rovers-fc/1210848-newcastle-united-leave-birmingham-city-defender-ridgewell-to-blackburn-rovers-and-west-brom.html?

    this goes to show how damaging the comments made can be.
    not only will this have an effect of fans, investors, players but anyone wanting to do business with us and or wanting to play for us.

    any friend of anyone lambasted will think twice about joining Newcastle now.

    the black list is well in truly in action so let us batten down the hatchet because its going to be a dirty winter.

  94. Like I said Stephen…give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves, and we the fans don’t need to be taken down with them if we just maintain a watching brief. If we start the witch-hunts we”ll get the blame when it hits the fans [pun intended!]

  95. The Sunday Sun claims the versatile defender was a favoured target of Alan Pardew and the club considered bringing him in during the summer window, but other targets have moved ahead of him.

    Obviously because WE HAVE OTHER TARGETS…we are black-listed?!?! WTF are you smoking ?

  96. Derek L i think you are clutching at straws there mate.

    if you think our minds our that simple, that we believe because something has been on news now that everyone tunes in like the newest episode of corry then you are naive and under estimating the fans.

    it doesn’t do any favors when articles reach parts of the world people are trying to sell to.

    it isn’t exactly good PR.

    what business will want to rent the space formally occupied by St. James park now?

    but do you think we were naive enough to believe it would be occupied by anyone else but Sports Direct?

    as for 31 years of business experience.
    that doesn’t make that person the best man for the job.

    and subcontracting different departments isn’t exactly running a business.
    its more like something out of the tory party manifesto

  97. but other targets have moved ahead of him

    or more like they now know they don’t stand a chance so they have moved on.

  98. Surely there’s an arguement that says that employers can say what they actually want to say?

    It’d be different if an employee rocked up and slagged off the ‘company’, but them what’s in charge can say what they bleedin’ well like as they pay the wages.

    Personally, I’d be chuffed if I’d made 12 grand ****** interest on any deal, let alone one that generated millions to help pay of my debts.

    In fact, if I ran a company that could get it’s name plastered all over an icon in the north-east I’d feel a bit smug. I could then only hope that anything I said was printed in the daily rags, and then reproduced throughout the blogosphere.

    What more could a company want?

    Possibly a top three position in the Premier League? No, that wouldn’t work, there’d still be someone who bleated on about the ephemera: the fact that top three wasn’t good enough as the fans didn’t like the fact that all the pies were re-named ‘Sports Direct Nibbles’, or that the Gallowgate will now be known as ‘The Sports Direct Hang y’bastard’ Gate.

    In the long-term does it matter?

    Do the manic ravings of a self-made millionaire really add up to much when, as a fan, the Club is lying third in the English Premier League?

    Or is the shenanigans that create a third-placed EPL team such that erstwhile reporters start paying hackers, silent shadows, and 24/7 Surveillance Officers to watch a fat bloke in a pub?

    Well of course it could be argued, that there are them what are in it to make money, ergo a profit. This so-say Reporter is sorry (nay abject, in his misery) but who cares, dare it be said, where the money comes from?

    The club are currently third in the EPL.

    Does this mean it’s all carp because it’s not run by the glorious Triumvarate of Shearer, Keegan, and Robson? Or is it just carp because it’s run by a triumvarate of piss-heads who want to succeed financially?

    We’re third in the table.

    That’s what counts.

  99. take a step back and ask yourself who is clutching at straws here. You are reading far tom much into this. Why would we want a championship who West Brom and Blackburn are interested in. The last time I checked the table they were a lot lower than us

  101. kilgore

    i couldnt disagree more with you.

    3rd in the league doesnt count towards peoples feelings.

    being 3rd in the league at this moment in time doesn’t count for anything. it doesn’t even come close.

    yes we have had a good start but that may or may not continue and at the end of the season it will still leave a bitter taste in a lot of mouths in the north east.

    i for one would rather be 10th in the league than be used for a marketing tool for a self made exploiter of poverty who knows how to be horrible.

    i will let worky post you a video on the issue and will see that being 3rd in the league isn’t all that matters.
    but the sanctitude of how we get their does.

  102. Derek L name a player of top quality who would be willing to sit on the bench as cover?

    a decent championship player would fit into an emergency role quite nicely unless the central defender is a replacement.

    perch is obviously a bad example but there are still good defenders out there in the championship who would love the step up, even if it meant warming the bench.

  103. 05 Zabaleta, 22 Clichy, 28 K Toure, 11 Johnson, 19 Nasri, 45 Balotelli

    06 Evans, 20 Fabio Da Silva, 16 Carrick, 25 Valencia, 09 Berbatov, 32 Diouf

    Any quality in that list ?

  104. absolutely but with £50+ million in wages along with it would anyone of them not break our wage structure?

    was it not the bouard who said they wouldnt pay for a like for like defender just to sit on the bench?
    referring to the Enrique/Pieters a fair.

    with 31 years of business experience you tell me what would be the point in having £8 million worth of equity held up on the bench?

    a championship player would fit the bill until we are in a position to compete realistically on both wages and chances of winning the premier league and more.

  105. Stephen of course you are entitled to your opinion and highly held moral stance regarding selling out for the sake of 3rd place, but really? The only people who are being exposed here are the two protagonists…we the fans and the ‘club’ as an institution can hold their heads high if we remain above this. The whole country knows its not the fans or the day to day workers in the club, and we are merely ‘spectators’ as the current charade is played out. The aren’t the first couple of shysters to hold power in a football club and they won’t be the last!

  106. “fit the bill until we are in a position to compete realistically on both wages”

    and how would we get into a position like that. please, enlighten me…

  107. would it involve letting average players sponge £80,000 per week off the club. Or spending £35 million on a total flop ?

  108. Kilgore_D_Sprout says:

    November 15, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    “In fact, if I ran a company that could get it’s name plastered all over an icon in the north-east I’d feel a bit smug. I could then only hope that anything I said was printed in the daily rags, and then reproduced throughout the blogosphere.”

    Is Derek Llambias running Sports direct now Kilgore? I thought it was Mike Ashley and Keith “Robo-cop” Hellawell, ex Chief Constable of Smogland.

    “We’re third in the table.

    That’s what counts.”

    So were Phil Brown’s Hull City not so long ago so it doesn’t really mean alot alot. As for feeling “smug”, many people would feel ashamed and rightly so. It says alot about the desperation of this club that so many of us are prepared to let it lose all semblance of dignity and pride just because it’s third in the Premiership 11 games into the season. It’s just completely short sighted and retarded surely?

  109. Team not playing well ? Any bad players on the pitch ? How about what the manager has managed to do ?

    Why does it always have to be doom and gloom. Is anyone that matters ever going to call it anything other than St James’ ? and so f**king what if they do.

  111. Derek mate, you are being a bit pedantic with your comments friend.

    employing the list of bench warmers you quoted from would incidently do just that. i.e. allow £80,000 per week scroungers in through the door.

    but employing high end championship defenders who would be happy with a little more would go a long way.

    havintg a like for like first 18 (11+7) is acceptable and having a decent reserve side ready and willing to step up(like we do) is an ideology we have never experienced before but i’m sure we will reach.

    no one is claiming everything at the club is being run in the wrong manner. the wage issues need addressed by all clubs. but it can also leave clubs like ourselves vulnerable.

    £80,000 per week a for a young lad is too much to turn down. £35 million for a potential flop (as carroll could only have been known at the time) was a deal written on the moon.

    no one would argue that fact. no one would argue the wage structure either. it is the contempt at how it is being done that is the problem

  114. empty vessels, mindless thugs or brainwashed, gullible cretins who dont mind being used.

    the world is full of people who take it up the Arse. it doesn’t hurt so much when you get used to it. some people even swear by it.

    and before long most people who do…. live by it. thats why they have a rainbow parade every share to celebrate it.

    nothing else to live for but to be taken up the arse.

  115. I would gladly have any of those “scroungers” in the squad. I didn’t say we would buy any of them but I did answer your question about people sitting on the bench.

    In all honesty. I am just sick of all the whining that goes on. I don’t buy anything from S****s D***** , I dont agree with the stadium name being changed. BUT I AM SICK OF ALL THE P*SSING MOANING.

    If you think anyone outside of the UK is even affected by this, you are sadly mistaken.

  116. Derek you need to realize some people actually have to sweat to be able to put anything in our purses. if you think people up here in the north east don’t care about people in Laos then you need to take a walk on your own through the bigg market and stare at your makers door

    wrapping yourself up in cotton wool and hiding yourself away behind cash isn’t something we can do, but broken bones, blood and sweat is something we live with every day.

    and values are abundance its just those with larger purses seem to have very few.

    morals and sanctity are something a lot of people have up here.

    so who ever you are and who ever you are trying to be don’t learn from those you can see, learn from those you cant see and those you know are always there.

  117. I am from the North East, and I don’t care about people from Laos. You live with broken bones, blood and sweat everyday?? you are such a drama queen.

  118. workyticket says: “It says alot about the desperation of this club that so many of us are prepared to let it lose all semblance of dignity and pride just because it’s third in the Premiership 11 games into the season.”

    Well said!

  120. Derek people who are outside the UK will be put off by this.

    i dont mean the average guy, the average consumer i mean the people who Mike and Derak are trying to attract.

    it looks embarrassing to investors if you have just invested £100 millions of there cash on a party ship when you thought you were buying a yacht

  121. Derek L says:

    November 15, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    “I am from the North East, and I don’t care about people from Laos.”

    Derek, what the relationship between not caring about people from Laos and being from the North East? You’re implying that just because you’re ignorant to the plight of people less fortunate then we all are, which simply isn’t the case. Don’t tar us all with the same brush!

  122. Derek maybe you should start to care about the people in Laos. if you did then you would understand why some people dont like St. James Park being renamed Sports Direct arena.

    its a bit like renaming robbie williams , garry glitter.

  123. Stephen C says:

    November 15, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    “its a bit like renaming robbie williams , garry glitter.”

    Stephen, you could have picked a better example than Robbie Williams. :lol:

  124. worky i thought the same thing as i clicked send.

    its a bit like renaming Jacky Milburn, Garry Glitter

  125. Stephen C says:

    November 15, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    “its a bit like renaming Jacky Milburn, Garry Glitter”

    Stephen it’s a building of considerable history and tradition.

    How about it’s a bit like renaming the Tower of London “Lidl Towers” ?

  128. A source close to Ashley told the People: “Mike understands the massive backlash he has had from the Newcastle supporters. And to tell the truth he is irritated by it all.
    “He cannot understand why some supporters are saying he is trying to destroy the club after all he has done in the past couple of years.
    “He does not mind if those supporters still refer to the stadium as St James’ Park. He would not expect anything else. This is purely a commercial decision – a decision he feels had to be made.
    “Roman Abramovich is a heck of a lot richer than he is yet he is not receiving anywhere near as much flak as Mike in his bid to sell the naming rights at Chelsea.
    “Mike would like the supporters to look at where Newcastle United are compared with a couple of years ago when we were in the Championship with massive debts and too many average players earning massive salaries.”

  130. “Derek, what the relationship between not caring about people from Laos and being from the North East?”

    This:

    ” if you think people up here in the north east don’t care about people in Laos then you need to take a walk on your own through the bigg market and stare at your makers door”

    £1 per day in laos works out to be the equivalent of someone in the UK living off 9000 roughly. Which is similar to those sponging benefits from tax payers. At least they have a job.

  131. to be honest hugh

    to me it has David Craig written all over it.
    i don’t trust him, i don’t like him and he is up ashleys arse quicker than lamearse is.

    but did you check out the two links i posted?

    the green bay packers is a half decent idea. although we wouldn’t get a share we could rake in £2-£3 million between us surely to take on the naming rights ourselves

  132. Stephen if you read my blog on how sponsorship consulants, the people who will be advising brands on whether St James’ Park would be a good sponsorship opportunity, thought that this would be a disaster and how they would be advising their clients to avoid it, some of them made some similar points about “insensitive branding.”

    “I don’t think any brand will be buying in to naming rights at Newcastle unless they are focusing on building a relationship with fans. In this [recessionary] market you have to recognise what sponsorship is about: adding value for fans in the club they love,” – Andy Westlake chief exective of Fast Track.

    “The reason any sponsor associates with you is to associate with your brand, and if you damage or devalue your own brand then you could lose sponsorship revenue over the long run anyway. Because it’s your brand that you’ve really got to sell. You’ve got to be careful because when you are buying into something like Newcastle you’re buying into the history and local passion – you don’t want to damage that.” – Dominic Curran MD of Synergy

  133. Derek mate that is bull shit.

    ive got friend in that part of the world.

    what you are refering to is the exchange rate.

    £1 gets you roughly 12,000 kip. it still doesnt buy you jack shit if you work there and live there. things are just as expensive as they are here.

    that is the whole reason why so many corporate business manufacture their items over there becasue they pay little in comparison.

    but it doesnt mean that the people there are getting paid huge sums.

    they dont. they get paid just as much as we would in comparison.

    £20,000 in the Philippines would get you a mansion with acres of land but people work all week for 50 pessos (72p) £20,000 in pessos is 1,300,000.

    so either way just because we get a great exchange rate it doesn’t mean they get a decent life.

    with no health care, welfare, benefits or free schools all the 9000 is quickly reduce to nothing.

    people in the north east get paid less than in london.
    the pound buys you more in the north east. its all about the cost of living, the cost of living is just the same in comparison as everywhere else.

    but i admire you efforts Derek keep looking.

    you will learn the depravity that exsists there.

    research the Laos sex trade find out how much it would cost you to have sex with a child of 6 or 7 year old. probably .50p doesn’t make it right if you give them £50 its exploitation in the extreme but the goverments over there are fueling everything that exsists within its walls. if they cared they would have done something about it by now.

    why would they? too many westerners are lining pockets of pimps and parliamentarians.

    its a paradise for hookers, hustlers, pimps prostitutes and people like mike ashley

  134. Derek L says:

    November 15, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    “£1 per day in laos works out to be the equivalent of someone in the UK living off 9000 roughly. Which is similar to those sponging benefits from tax payers. At least they have a job.”

    That’s completely untrue Derek. Where did you get that from? As for that “at least they have a job” crack, I’m sorry, but that was just crass and ignorant in the extreme.

    Also, if you couldn’t care less about people from Laos, how come you’re such an expert on Laotian socioeconomics now? Or are you just making things up off the top of your head according to your own prejudices? ;-)

  135. Worky how much do you think it would take to buy the space ourselves? say £3 million?

    who was the guy who was going to buy St. james from Ashley last year?

    any one buying the rights and turning them back to St. James is onto a gold mine.

    to be honest if we buy the rights ourselves not only are we buying a player (allegedly) but taking control of an issue ourselves.

    its an ideal opportunity to put something back ourselves, buying a season ticket isn’t a sacrifice but funding the kitty for keeping St. James Park Is.

  136. worky give derek some credit atleast he is enlightening himself.

    let him keep looking, he seems young. he will learn the darker side of life.

    i would enlighten him into the amputan massacre but that put me off life for months. something i would not wish on anyone.

  137. i worked it out by comparing the average wage’s not the exchange rate actually.

    I hate to burst your perfect world bubble but cheap labour is a competitive advantage.

  138. Stephen C says:

    November 15, 2011 at 6:37 pm(Edit)

    “Worky how much do you think it would take to buy the space ourselves? say £3 million?”

    Well, Llambias says £8-10 million, but going by clubs such as Arsenal and Dortmund it should be more like £3-4 million without shirt rights too. However, wouldn’t doing that would be like giving in to blackmail or extortion?

  139. worky giving into black mail or extortion maybe not. but it would be nice to be given the choice.

    even though it would probably go into mikes pocket at least we can hold our heads high.

    the “Mike has put millions into this club” would be words of the past and worth paying £3million just to wipe the smiles off their faces.

    i for one have got £100 to start the pot. if i’m correct 30,000 people isn’t impossible its more realistic that the NUST idea of buying the club.

    30,000 people @ £100 per head is small. even in this recesion. there has to be 30,000 small business in the north east with £100 spare.

    £100 would get your name in the programme every weekfor a season.

    you couldn’t advertise in the programme for that.

    we would be getting advertisements at ashleys rate near enough

  140. fairly hypocritical to be spending £3 million on naming rights when the poor people of Laos have to work for £1 per day.

  141. Derek you were comparing the average wage with the exchange rate.

    £1 get you the equilient of 9000.

    you need to be comparing the cost of living and what that 9000 would buy in laos compared with what it would buy here.

    remeber, no NHS. No Benfits. no pension. no social housing. and no free education. no free medication.

    9000 doesn’t go far. if we had to pay as we go in the UK it would cost us 9000 per month just to scrape by.

    and i would hate to burst your bubble but cheap labour is called exploitation, another form of slavery.
    research the slave trade in the USA.
    blacks were made to work in cotton plantations just to live. they instantly owed their owners for the privileged of having a roof so cotton plantations were a way to pay of the eternal debt.

  143. you can be a keyboard warrior all you like. Why would you assume I am young ? Unlike you, I can spell and according to this blog your bedtime last night was 9pm, did your mummy tuck you in ?

    I actually have an insight into industry, which you clearly dont. I work in a country where the use of third country nationals is acceptable to keep costs down. These guys are paid $40 per day, 40% of which goes to their sponsor in the country.

    Also, exchange rates never came into my calculation. I compared the average wage of both countries and the proportion of this that £1 per day would be equivalent too.

  145. yes. the boy is getting paid and paid well compared to wherever he is from no doubt. he can work until he is in his late 40’s and then go home and live out the rest of his life financially stable.

    Iraq was a good guess but not quite.

  146. that guy works for the US so as far as third country nationals it cheap labor and exploitation.

    why do i think you are young?

    your immature references, your continuing argumentative attitude. your obsessive references to gain your ego a little inch. reminds me of the morons i spent time at school with. they were never wrong(or the thought) they kept badgering on because they thought they were good(or so they thought)

    “according to the blog last night i went to bed at 9pm”

    are you making notes? are you stalking me? do i interest you that much that you need to write down details of my existence?

    i go to bed when i’m tired i don’t feel the need to hold on to get a clip of babestaion and a quick call.
    i’m mature enough to go to bed when i feel tired.

    according to the blog the night before last i didn’t even go to bed. why? because i am mature enough to choose and safe enough not to allow myself to get obsessed over someone.

    unlike me you can spell?

    Derek i’ve been up since 4am i can spell, but having the need or energy to care is something completely different and completely irrelevant.

    so for your notes.

    captains log: Stephen C went to bed around 8pm and mommy didn’t tuck me in.

  147. Derek would you not like to live with your family? would your rather kids were torn away from their fathers just so you can wear cheap clothes?

    your views are that of the like of Ashley and Lamearse them selves. no doubt your parents do well and you feed from their bosom and your ignorance or care for any life other than yours in showing but the type of ignorance that turns a place like St. James Park into a tacky crass cheap place like Sports Direct Arena.

    and what is more important? the correct spelling or the message the words bring?

    understanding is everything, spelling is nothing.

  148. I think we’re kind of straying form the point here, the point being that our Managing Director is an odious little man who’s bringing the club’s name into disrepute.

  152. aye its funny how carroll has never denied putting in a transfer request…

    then of course there were his dodgey agent dealings at the time

    then ‘captain’ nolan virtually packing his bags so he could move to a ‘great’ club

    unfortunately the conspiracey doesnt work…in fact decker rant actually fits pretty well with what happened

    £35m was rejected – because they wanted to pay in installments.

    remember the transfer request came in BEFORE the £30 or £35m offers were made.

    so sadly i dont think there is much merit in this poor little andy being forced out

  153. to be honest 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other isnt what we were lead to believe.

    it would have been nice to just be honest.

    Keagan on the steps of the milburn stand when we sold Andy Cole show the honesty we expect so any thing less is both disrespectful and insulting to our intelligence.

    at least now we know the £35 million isn’t going anywhere but the pockets of those brokering the sale i.e. Mike, Lamearse and Parduex.

  154. sprigsy we don’t know if the transfer request came before or after.

    my understanding is it came in between, and at 12pm lunch time not 8pm supper time.

    and David Craig in my opinion is just as much a Sports Direct Market tool as he is a F*cking Tool.

    the reality is, any one can hold up a mobile phone claiming just to have received a sms but in reality he could have received that at any time during the day.

    it doesn’t take much to double a journalist wage to hold off broadcasting an issue. the press do it all the time.

    it seems mr. Craig is too pally with mike and lamearse to give the fans the scoop as it happened.

    i’ve got a friend at the training ground who gave me the scoop at 3pm and i was the last to know. he knew at 12pm.

    which worky is free to follow me around for a week to clarify my credibility on the issue.

    i’ve got nothing to achieve by making a story like this up.

  155. spriggsy says:

    November 15, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    “aye its funny how carroll has never denied putting in a transfer request…”

    Spiggsy, Carroll maintains that it was Ashley and Llambias who forced him into making a transfer request, whereas Llambias and Pardew maintained at the time that Carroll did it of his own free will. That is the dispute.

    Bearing in mind what Llambias was bragging about to fans, it now seems that Ashley, Llambias and Pardew already decided to sell him to Liverpool anyway, and all that stuff Llambias and Pardew told the fans about Carroll forcing their hand with his transfer request was complete and utter shite and they were merely using him as a scapegoat for their own decision to sell.

  156. he played into their hands and made their lives easier.

    they would have been laughing their Lamearses off when carroll walked in and asked for a “transfer”

    they would have been wandering what to tell the fans until he made their lives easier.

    poor sod probably only tried to get a pay rise officially not actually get himself sold.

    Making things official or getting it in writing is what is needed it helps the paper work along and give agents something to do and normally help negotiate a decent deal if both parties want to negotiate.

    as it happens i don’t think both sides did. but i do think Carroll only wanted to negotiate not prematurely evacuate.

  158. Stephen C says:

    November 15, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    “and on that note
    i’m off to bed good night all.”

    Will you be sticking some more pins into you David Craig doll first Stephen? :-)

  159. “Derek would you not like to live with your family? would your rather kids were torn away from their fathers just so you can wear cheap clothes? ”

    For 50% of the year I don’t live with my family. So that I can provide for them and so I don’t have to buy things from places like S****s D*****.

    “your views are that of the like of Ashley and Lamearse them selves. no doubt your parents do well and you feed from their bosom and your ignorance or care for any life other than yours in showing but the type of ignorance that turns a place like St. James Park into a tacky crass cheap place like Sports Direct Arena.”

    Its strage that I work in business management and have the same views of 95% of the worlds business markets. You by the sounds of things belong with the protesters on wall street. Each to their own, but you and they are just wasting your time, it will never change, deal with it.

    “understanding is everything, spelling is nothing”

    I understand what is going on from both sides as a professional and a football fan. What you choose to understand, 1. Speculation, 2.Conspiracy Theories and 3. What ever you mate who “works at the club” (ever heard of Chinease whispers ? Very naive view of the world.