Pardew Gives Progress Report on Newcastle United Vision
Posted on April 15th, 2012 | 135 Comments |
The “austerity” policy and supporting business model which Mike Ashley instigated when taking over the club, and which was highly criticised by many United fans, including myself, is achieving what it set out to do – to make the club financially sound and put it in a position to compete with the so-called “Big Clubs” at the top of the Premier League.
Pardew told The Sunday Mirror:
“From day one I’ve tried to be open and honest about the financial model we’re operating. I understood the fans’ initial resentment”
“Mike set out to make Newcastle self-financing and I knew exactly what that framework entailed when I took the job in December 2010. I’ve aimed to be transparent with the supporters and give them clarity about what we are trying to achieve and how we will operate in the transfer market.
“They know that in certain circumstances we will sell players.”
And it’s that last bit which always causes a little bit of unrest in the ranks of the Geordie faithful. It’s a question of when will we reach the point where we don’t have to sell players in order to feed the Ashley financial model? In other words, when will we be in a position to choose to keep our better players and say “no” when another club waves silly money at us?
He went on:
“At a club like this, where huge money was spent in the past on top players such as Alan Shearer and Michael Owen, it was inevitable that some would not be happy with our spend. Many were unhappy with the sale of Andy Carroll, but that £35million has helped us build a team that has exceeded all expectations this season.
“Our policy makes sound financial sense in a harsh economic climate and with UEFA financial fair play rules looming. Mike was determined that the club’s future would not be put at risk by spending money we could not afford. We have all seen what has happened at Portsmouth and Rangers.”
“Now I think a lot of Newcastle fans are starting to see the bigger picture and appreciate what we are doing makes sense. We set out to find value in the transfer market and I believe we have succeeded.
“We have been helped by the fact that signings such as Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba, Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye have come in and had an immediate impact.
“And I have been helped by the fact that the backroom staff I inherited are first-class.”
It’s true that many fans have indeed been seeing the “bigger picture” recently. And of course this has been helped by some excellent signings and rapid progression to a position where we are genuine contenders for a place in the Champions League – albeit a little earlier than expected!
As to the future, Pardew had this to say:
“We have proved this season by breaking into the top six that we can be a force in the Premier League and we have laid foundations that I hope can keep us at the top end of the table in future years.”
We can all speculate about what Mike Ashley’s motives are. Personally I’m hoping this season’s progress is a demonstration that he has some ambition for the club. That he wants to make it a success in order to cock a snoop at the football establishment – just as he has with his (cough) “other business” where his success has allegedly upset some of the more fragile egos in the London “City”. Yes of course he wants to make money, but he also likes success and he might also just be starting to enjoy the experience of owning a football club again after the hard time we gave him in the past.
But one thing is clear. This season is visible and tangible evidence of progress, and if this progress does continue, I for one couldn’t care what the owners motivation is!
NUFCBlog Author: UTD111
UTD111 has written 59 articles on this blog.
This doesn’t sound to me like it’s the words of Alan Pardew. He isn’t normally quite this articulate.
It sounds more like a press release by Derek Llambias to the Mirror group, which purports to be an interview with the manager.