Mike Ashley: Laughing all the way to the bank again.With the news that Mike Ashley’s downmarket sports chain, Sports Direct, is about to be included in the reshuffled FTSE 100 Index of the top 100 UK companies, I took a peek at their latest figures, as I do from time to time.
As has been the norm with Sports Direct for quite some time now, the figures were obscene, with profits rising a whopping 23.2% to £260.1 million.
What caught my eye however was the current Sports Direct share price standing at well over £7 and rising three or four times just as I was reading it over the share ticker. This means that Ashley’s current 64% holding in Sports Direct International is now worth over £2.75 billion, and this is after Ashley cashed in some 4% of his shares for over £100 million back in February.
To put this in perspective in terms of Newcastle United and it’s importance in the scheme of things to Ashley, that is well over 10 times the value of what Ashley has invested in the club, around £262 million. This includes a debt of around £129 million to Ashley, most of which is repayable on demand with the rest secured on future broadcasting revenue. (more…)
Pardew: Persisting with phony Cabaye narrative.In the latest chapter in the Yohan Cabaye saga, Alan Pardew has been speaking further on what he calls “the situation” with the French midfielder.
Despite a constant campaign of innuendo against the French midfielder, and ably assisted by his friends in the local media, he still steadfastly refuses to mention whether the player actually went on strike for the first two games of the season, instead preferring to hide behind vague terms like “the situation.”
Whether Cabaye went on strike or not, the idea, as stated by Pardew himself that he has been “protecting” the player from the savagery of we fans if he reveals the real facts is obviously ludicrous, not to mention an insult to we fans. He knew perfectly well when he said that he was protecting Cabaye from being savaged by primitive fans that most of us would only assume one thing, that Cabaye was refusing to play. If he really wanted to protect him, he would have kept his mouth firmly shut (If that is possible for Pardew?). It was either very stupid or very devious, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the former. We are being played again, just as we have been so many times in the past. Meanwhile, being almost certainly bound by a gagging clause in his contract, Cabaye probably can’t speak for himself. (more…)
More Cabaye cobblers?Tweeting on his Twitter page earlier today, the BBC’s James Pearce claimed the following:
I’m told Mike Ashley let Cabaye listen to phone negotiations last week + he heard Arsenal say: “25 million a lot for a reserve” #moodchanger”
Of course, it was rapidly retweeted all over the Tooniverse, with the story being repeated on quite a few web sites, based solely on the tweet you see above. However, none of stories I saw seemed to ask the obvious question. Presuming for a moment that Pearce is actually telling the truth and someone did actually tell him that, then who was it and WHY?
After all, the club have placed an iron wall of secrecy around what has really been happening with Cabaye. If someone did actually tell Pearce that, and I have doubts about that, I would also seriously doubt that it would be something that was picked up by a cleaning lady who was hoovering under the desk or dusting the shelves at the time. It would be far more likely that it would be someone FAR higher up the hierarchy at the club if they were privy to that information. It also fits in perfectly with the constant stream of carefully crafted but ridiculous and insulting innuendo put out by Alan Pardew in recent days suggesting that Cabaye has been on strike, but that he can’t say that outright because of his wish to “protect” the player from the fans, even though he is letting the cat of the bag merely by mentioning it. (more…)
NUFC Blog on metro.co.uk It was disappointing yet sadly predictable to see some fans at St James’ Park booing Yohan Cabaye on his to action on Saturday, even though they still didn’t know the exact reasons for his absence from Newcastle United’s first two Premier League games. But now I’ve got that off my chest, it’s time to tell you that my latest blog on metro.co.uk is now up!
Entitled “The Yohan Cabaye affair: What the fans think” most of it was actually written by you lot out there! As some of you know already, I posted this blog last Friday asking readers of the site to give your thoughts on the Cabaye transfer imbroglio, and as usual, you gave some excellent responses! They ranged right through the spectrum, from those who believe he actually went on strike, should be banished to the reserves and made to publically apologise to fans, right through to those who thought the strike story was yet another trick to put the blame on the player instead of the club like as they did with the Andy Carroll transfer and several others. (more…)
Cabaye: The soap continues…There have been many baffling comments so far from Alan Pardew on the current Yohan Cabaye situation which have been about as clear as mud.
There have also been conflicting reports about Cabaye being on strike / Cabaye not being on strike, with Pardew speaking of Arsenal trying to drive his well maintained Cabaye 2.8 away from the car dealership (NUFC motors presumably) without agreeing a price, suggestive comments about how “there has to be a way back for Yohan,” how he is protecting the player and the club, how the club always comes first with him and much more…
Now, in his latest suggestive statement on the imbroglio, Pardew says that he “expects” Cabaye to be playing against Fulham:
“What I have said to Yohan Cabaye is I expect him to play this weekend. Until another bid comes in from Arsenal that is accepted or not that will be the situation.”(more…)
