“That’s another fine mess…”Most Newcastle United fans are now familiar with the sight of Newcastle United’s PR consultant, Keith Bishop, who seems to have become a permanent figure at the right hand side of Mike Ashley. But who is he? And how did Keith Bishop PR get the job despite being a small celebrity PR company that would be totally out of its depth with a large Premier League club? Finally, what does former Newcastle United managing Director Derek Llambias have to do with all this? Below are a few answers.
First to correct a few possible misconceptions from the local media though.
Keith Bishop PR has been described as “one of London’s most well-known PR agencies” by Mark Douglas in local newspaper, the Chronicle. In reality it is more of a C-Z list celebrity PR outfit than a proper PR company like Bell Pottinger, Edelman, Ogilvy PR and others who are commonly retained by top companies, including large Premier League football clubs. Bishop is more like a poor man’s Max Clifford, more suited to representing celebrity has beens and wanabees than a large Premier League football club. When asked by ‘Features Exec’ in April 2013“Who are some of KBA’s most well-known, or respected clients?” he replied “Newcastle United, Glasgow Rangers F.C., Flavia Cacace, Kristina Rhianoff and a few soap stars!” Other top clients of Bishop are Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers (he’s still going!), Sven’s ex, Nancy Dell’Olio, Pat ‘the mullet’ Sharp and Lord Brocket from “I’m a Celebrity”, North East Sky Sports reporter David Craig and Gary Newbon. The figures of Keith Bishop PR also indicate it is a quite a small time operation too. Whilst it is true that Bishop can also boast of having Leeds United and Rangers on his books, like Newcastle, they are also something of a PR disaster area at the moment. (more…)
Udinese owner Giampaolo Pozzo.Is Mike Ashley using Giampaolo Pozzo’s selling club network of Udinese, Granada and Watford as a model for Newcastle United, Rangers and Oldham?
To begin at the beginning though, let’s take a brief stroll down memory lane. In the aftermath of Kevin Keegan’s acrimonious departure from Newcastle United in 2008, an under fire Mike Ashley made a statement. In this, among other things, he attempted to outline what subsequently became known as his ‘Arsenal model‘ for the club. In Ashley’s own words:
“My plan and my strategy for Newcastle is different. It has to be. Arsenal is the shining example in England of a sustainable business model. It takes time. It can’t be done overnight. Newcastle has therefore set up an extensive scouting system. We look for young players, for players in foreign leagues who everyone does not know about. We try and stay ahead of the competition. We search high and low looking for value, for potential that we can bring on and for players who will allow Newcastle to compete at the very highest level but who don’t cost the earth.” (more…)
A stiff test for Carver this evening.Date: Tues 25th March 2014. Time: 7:45pm. Venue: St James’ Park. Referee: Lee Mason. UK TV: None.
Hello, good evening and welcome to our match banter for this evening’s game aginst Everton.
Once again, miscreant manager Alan Pardew will be restrained in his Benton office, leaving assistant John Carver to handle things in the dugout once again. This time though, it will be against a tricky Toffees side who have won their last three Premier League games.
Recent form.
You can see the recent form of the two teams below for their last six Premier League games (most recent first).
Team
Results
Points
Newcastle United
W|L|W|W|L|L
9/18
Everton
W|W|L|L|W|L
9/18
As you can see, in terms of recent form in the Premier League this evening’s two protagonists coudn’t e any closer with three wins, three losses and 9 points out of 18. Could it be a tight contest this evening? (more…)
Bantam cocks vs headless chickens at SJP this evening?Hello, good evening and welcome to a rather impromptu ‘match banter’ post for this evening’s game, which sees the Magpies at home against Tottenham Hotspur.
I say “impromptu” because I thought I had already written the last blog on here for some time at least, and that the server this blog is hosted on would run out on 21st. Well, to get to the other reason for this blog, it is to keep all you regular readers informed that after intense late night discussions yesterday evening, it was decided between myself and Hugh that the server, including this site, could stay up after all! Things are still the same with myself, ie I’ve been doing stuff on here pretty much non-stop for well over four years now and I need a break to concentrate on other things. However, despite my previous information, the server will be staying up for the forseeable future, and Hugh might even have a bash at a few blogs if he can, although he is very challenged at the moment too so we’ll see.
Goodbye from NUFC Blog!Venue: Carrow Road, Norwich. Date: Tues 28th Dec, 2013. Kick off: 7.45pm. Referee: UK TV: None.
Hello, good evening and welcome to my last match banter!
Please forgive me if it doesn’t follow the usual script but this piece is really just a way of saying thankyou and farewell to everyone who has read and contributed after almost five years of blogging on Newcastle United here.
A few years ago my ex-friend and colleague, Hugh, left the site suddenly. I’ve managed to struggle along on my own since then, but I now have other things to do with my life, and in the last few days, the abovementioned Hugh has also informed me that he’s going to cut off the server on the 21st February. (more…)
