"Greed is good. Greed is right."Dear reader, my estteemed colleague Hugh has already touched on this story earlier today and presented his own viewpoint on the matter. However, I am so incensed that I also feel compelled to register my extreme displeasure at the latest utterings of our unesteemed Managing Director, Derek Llambias.
In case you are still wondering what I’m gannin’ on about, in the responses to Chronicle readers questions on Mike Ashley’s intentions for the club, Derek Llambias responded to “Is Mike Ashley considering putting the club up for sale?” with the quote below amongst other things. At the end of the answer, he wrote:
“I’d like to make a further point here. This club can’t support itself without the financial backing of Mike Ashley; we still rely heavily on the owner. To date Mike has invested over £280m into the club, including £140m in interest-free loans. For him to continue to support the club, he has to be interested and enthused to do so. He deserves credit for his financial support but a section of supporters don’t make him feel welcome at St James’ Park, or when he attends away games. Criticism is part and parcel of the job, abuse is not. This makes life uncomfortable and certainly doesn’t make Mike feel more inclined to put his hand once again in his pocket. That’s not stubbornness, it’s human nature. I think most of us would feel exactly the same.”
Does the sheer gall of this little cipher and his fat controller know no bounds?(more…)
Alan Pardew: Up to the task?Speculation about any departure by Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is incorrect according to John Carver, but what of Pardew’s prospects for the season ahead anyway?
There has been some speculation that Alan Pardew might walk after being let down by Ashley and Llambias in the transfer window, although Assistant Manager John Carver dismissed that idea yesterday.
Carver said: “Why is his position in doubt? This has been a good start for us. We have picked up seven points from three matches and we are into the third round of the Carling Cup. We are going in the right direction.
“If you had told people we would have what we have now, they would have snapped your hands off. How can people question the position of the manager? It’s absurd.”
It sounds a bit like Carver has got the wrong end of the stick actually. I think any speculation was about whether Pardew might decide to leave rather than being sacked. I don’t think many people thought his position was in ‘danger’ as such. (more…)
Unwavering support.Yesterday evening I attended a fan meeting at The Irish Bar. It was a bit weird being in the Irish with 20-20 vision but once I got used to sobriety, we began discussing the items on the agenda.
In that meeting were some of the online elite of Newcastle United fan reporters. Malcolm Dix, shiteseats, Newcastle United Mad, MAOC, Steve Wraith and various other supporter groups. Myself, naturally, being the guest of honour.
Joking aside, the meeting in total lasted around 3 hours or so and we discussed a good few things and especially regarding the supporters group, the club, campaigns and various other things.
This article is primarily to bring awareness to certain fans. My notes are actually subjects for articles and I feel I’d be doing some of them a disservice given the weight of some of the points that were made. (more…)
Llambias: Understands fan's frustrations?Most of you will be aware by now that yesterday, Newcastle United’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias, issued a statement on the club’s performance in the latest transfer window. It read:
“Now that the transfer window has closed, we have had some time to reflect on the business we have conducted over the summer.
“Our aim was to secure young players who represented value for money and could add real strength to the squad. The majority of our transfer dealings were completed in the early part of the window and we feel we have signed some players of exceptional quality. Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Mehdi Abeid, Demba Ba and Gabriel Obertan were all brought in early and we have seen these players settle quickly into the squad and perform well on the pitch.
“Earlier this week we were delighted to sign Davide Santon from Inter Milan to fill our left-back position after the departure of Jose Enrique. Davide is an excellent young prospect and we’re sure he’ll be another superb addition to the squad. We also welcomed young goalkeeper Rob Elliot from Charlton Athletic who will help us retain healthy competition for that position after loaning out Fraser Forster to Celtic.(more…)
Shush, just like the clubNewcastle United must now face post-transfer window life and we’ll just have to get on with it. Apparently the club are due to make some sort of announcement today to explain their transfer window failures.
Newcastle United Limited has so far remained silent about the club’s failure to recruit a much-needed striker during the transfer window. Even Alan Pardew – a man not known for being backward in the tongue-wagging department – has had nothing to say.
However, they will apparently make some sort of official statement later today.
Presumably they’ve now had sufficient time to think up an excuse, probably along the lines of “we tried our best”, “we’re not paying over the odds” and “last minute rejections by other clubs”. I think we pretty much know what it’s going to say. (more…)
