Archive for category: Mike Ashley.

If 1000 fans can scare Ashley, what could 50,000 do?

October 29th, 2013 | 29 Comments |

Kim Jong Un.
Another fat dictator.
Dear reader, if you haven’t seen it yet, my latest piece on Mike Ashley’s childish and pathetic attempt at censorship was published yesterday on metro.co.uk and you can read it by following the link below:

Why Newcastle United’s media ban is a bigger issue than the Sunderland defeat.

Just for the record though, the titles are not my own. I would never say that a media ban was more important than losing twice in a row to that lot! Also, I have never described the club I have supported since the 1970s as a “laughing stock” just its owners and a few other clowns who have been associated with it down the years.

Since I wrote that piece, there have been quite a few stories from a vengeful press pack over Mike Ashley’s crass attempt to muzzle the media. It takes a really nasty piece of work to actuallly make the fourth estate look like the good guys nowadays, but, alas, it’s a cakewalk for the odious Ashley with his laughable spoiled brat tantrums. Thanks to his latest blunder, he has now made a small march with only around 1000 participants at most into a major event in the national media, and even overseas. To borrow an American expression, Way to go, fatty! (more…)


Who is right? Patronising Pardew or revolting, self destructive fans?

October 18th, 2013 | 13 Comments |

Big question marks.
Who is right? Patronising Pardew or revolting fans?
As many of you will be aware, a motley collection of fan groups angered by Mike Ashley’s mismanagement, repeated dishonesty, a perceived lack of ambition and Newcastle United’s general underperformance on the pitch will be on the march before Saturday’s early kick-off against Liverpool.

On the other side, Alan Pardew in his recent interview with Sky Sports’ “Goals on Sunday” painted a picture of Newcastle United fans as small town, simple minded football obsessives who actually damage the club with overreactions like this, as well as being too financially unsophisticated to understand that Mike Ashley has put over £200 million into the club.

But who is right?

Pardew has suggested that we’re “not in a bad position” but that the fans have unrealistic expectations that the club should be competing with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United: (more…)


Ashley’s confused about football – Do tell!

October 14th, 2013 | 140 Comments |

Mike Ashley.
Ashley: A bit of a clown when it comes to football?
In an interview for Sky TV, Alan Pardew expresses the depths of Mike Ashley’s confusion about football and erroneously claims the club has no debt.

Normally, I avoid the Daily Mail unless I have fires to light but this particular interview, originally for Sky TV, caught my eye.

In the interview, Pardew says:

Mike is a strong character who has been a success in his whole business life and is a genius in that world – but when you come to football, the logic doesn’t quite fit.

He loves football but he sometimes can’t understand how it works and it confuses and upsets him, and when he is upset, he does things that aren’t brilliant for the football club.

That’s just Mike and he has funded the club, made sure we have no debt – other than to himself – and supported me, but unless we get a billionaire from deepest Russia we are probably not going to be able to compete with the likes of Man United, Man City and Chelsea, which is what our fans want. (more…)


Cabaye challenges Kinnear to come clean on Cabayegate (the full exchange translated)

October 8th, 2013 | 79 Comments |

Yohan Cabaye at Clairefontaine.
Cabaye: Have we been conned again by Newcastle United?
As I wrote at the time, with Newcastle United, the club of smoke, mirrors and downright lies under current owner, Mike Ashley, there are things we still do not know about the Yohan Cabaye kerfuffle at the start of the season.

In an interview as part of the France squad at the side’s Clairefontaine HQ, Cabaye made some rather suggestive comments about what Alan Pardew called “the situation” at the time. If you recall, Pardew made a series of simlarly suggestive statements, implying that Cabaye refused to play in early season games in order to allegedly force a move to Arsenal. However, he steadfastly refused to mention it outright under the pathetic pretence that he was “protecting” Cabaye, even though he was actually hanging him out to dry with innuendo. When interviewers did ask for a direct answer, interviews were quickly halted by a female press secretary and they quickly got the message.

However, the fleet-footed Frenchman has now cast doubt on the Pardew’s and the club’s narrative, suggesting that only he and Joe Kinnear know the truth of what really happened, challenging Kinnear to play “Deep Throat” and finally come clean on what really happened in the ‘Cabayegate’ scandal.

Below is the full exchange about Cabaye and the Newcastle United imbroglio (translated by myself): (more…)


Newcastle United board say trying for a cup would risk relegation

September 28th, 2013 | 17 Comments |

NUFC Blog on metro.co.uk
NUFC Blog on metro.co.uk
Ladies and Gentlemen, my latest piece on metro.co.uk is now up!

Once again, the Metro’s trainee headline writers and sub-editors have been at it to ensure it gets as few a readers as possible but never mind! It’s now entitled “Newcastle’s lack of ambition in the cups is a slap in the face for the club’s supporters.”

Basically, it is my thoughts on the following exchange between two Newcastle United fans’ representatives (Phil Patterson and Chris Forster) with unnamed representatives of the club at the recent ‘Fans’ Forum’ meeting at St James’ Park.

When Phil Patterson asked: (more…)