Stick or twist?It’s been nearly four months since promotion back to the Premier League was guaranteed.
The mood was optimistic and getting promoted so early would surely mean we could steal a march on the competition in the transfer market, right?
Wrong, or so it seems. Here we are with only 13 days of the transfer window remaining, and still we await some key additions to our squad as we preapre to fight for our Premier League lives.
I’m not suggesting that the squad we have currently can’t survive as I believe they can, if we are able to field our best eleven in every game that is, and given our record with injuries any chance of that happening would seem unlikely. I’m also not suggesting that we won’t sign anybody else in this window, we may well do. But the way this transfer window is working out certainly has a sense of deja-vu about it. (more…)
Money can be made by signing players!Now you probably thought when you saw the headline that this would be yet another Ben Arfa article, correct?
Well it is, sort of, but I am more using his name to lauch into another tangent of thought, although these same thoughts can be applied to any player of a certain ilk in fairness.
As a fan, when you look at a transfer, all that we generally tend to look for is how much it cost and how much the player is getting paid in wages. That doesn’t change the fact that they are still assets though. Sulky, moody assets in the case of Ben Arfa, but an asset all the same. In many cases, money can be made by signing a player who pleases a crowd.
Go to any football game and you will see replica shirts all over the place, Newcastle fans are notorious for it in fact. Some of them have names on the back of the shirt, but there are a lot that don’t, and much like an empty advertising board, it is a space that gives the club an avenue to claw back some money on a transfer. (more…)
Where is the money?Ok, I apologise if any of you feel that I am covering over old ground here, but it was mentioned the other day by someone and it got me thinking.
Whatever happened to the name change that was supposed to be happening at St James’ Park?
Most of you will know what I am talking about when I mention this, but for those who don’t, I am referring to the decision that was taken by Mike Ashley some time last season to sell off the naming rights to St James’ Park. The theory behind it was purely business, with the aim being to increase revenue coming into the club. Cynics may suggest that the decision to advertise the name change using Ashley’s Sports Direct label was just a ploy to increase awareness in his own brand rather than trying to promote an opportunity for another business to increase their own brand awareness through our club. Anyway, are those plans still in the pipeline, or have they died off? (more…)
Cheap cheap!The new Newcastle kits have been out for a while now, but still the debate rages on as to whether or not people like them or not.
Personally I like the white shirt, and I am pleased to see that the badge on it is not like one of those bubble-gum transfer sticker things that many first feared it would be.
But none of that really has any relevance to the point I am about to make.
The question is, are we being ripped off with these new shirts? Particularly by the amount that is being charged for them? On the face of it I would have to say yes! It is something that has really been bugging me for a few days, ever since I stumbled upon the price comparison between shirts on sale at the NUFC club shop and shirts on sale at other stores, namely SportsDirect, and here is why. (more…)
Mike Ashley - Bad, but is he the worst?Much of a din is being made about Mike Ashley at the minute, and how the man is not fit to be owner of our beloved club. Which does have it’s own valid points I guess.
However, when I hear that I always say that we have had it worse, much worse than what we have now. Of course it is largely irrelevant as the past can’t be changed, but neither can Mike Ashley and his apparent business approach to running Newcastle United, unless you have the required funds to buy him out of course.
Despite all that has gone on in the past few years though, I still maintain that Ashley is far from the worst owner/chairman/president or whatever we have had, mind you he is trying his hardest to steal the title! In fact Newcastle have been ‘blessed’ with poor management structures for many many years, which is easily forgotten, time is a great healer and all that, so why don’t we have a look at just what some of our previous bastians of power have achieved in their time ruling the iron fist over St James’ Park. (more…)
