It's good to talkDerek Llambias explains about the renaming of Newcastle United’s stadium.
The upshot is that St James’ Park will not be lost. The names of sponsors will just be added to the front of it in the manner of something such as ‘Sports Direct @ St James’ Park‘ or ‘Pampers @ St James’ Park‘.
Llambias goes on to say that he and Mike Ashley are fully aware of the tradition involved with things like this but that they are looking for ways to maximise revenue for the club. Llambias explains that Mike Ashley is a ‘football fan’ and understands the sensitivity around this issue.
Of course Llambias was instrumental in the constructive dismissal of Kevin Keegan and subsequent attempts to cover up the club’s actions at the tribunal, so believe what you will. (more…)
Appointed permanentlyWho sang Twilight Cafe in 1981? Ah, hang on, not that sort of ‘bits and pieces’. No indeed, just some bits and pieces about Newcastle United from the last few days that haven’t managed to get their own article.
Much has been said of Hughton’s now permanent role as manager for the rest of this season and the next one, but it’s probably worth mentioning that Colin Calderwood has taken up a similar length contract as Hughton’s assistant. Calderwood recently turned down a job at Tranmere Rovers to remain at Newcastle working alongside Hughton. Hughton said:
“Once I had my own deal sorted, the first thing I did was to get Colin sorted and he will continue now in the same role.
“Colin has been fantastic. He is someone I have known for a long time and someone I trust very much. He is an experienced football manager and that is a huge help. He’s also a fantastic coach and someone the players respect.But we’re both delighted to have this opportunity and we’re fully focussed on achieving promotion.” (more…)
'The Adidas Arena'?Alan Oliver is running an article in The People claiming that all the money from the stadium naming rights will go straight to Chris Hughton to spend on the Newcastle United squad.
Ashley has apparently insisted the naming rights won’t go cheap and he’s looking for £6m a season before he’ll sell off our heritage.
A Toon source (that lad again) said:
“But all he is asking is for the fans to sit back and take a realistic look at the situation.
“It is costing him £3m a month out of his own pocket to run Newcastle and he is trying to look at other ways of raising revenue – the St James’ Park name is one of his few valuable assets.
“But he is not going to flog the name of the stadium to the first bidder.
“He is looking for a significant figure for the stadium naming rights and if he gets it, all the money will go to help Chris Hughton strengthen the team.” (more…)
Making the best of it?Trick or treat? Which one does Mike Ashley have in store for Newcastle United over the next season and a half?
Undoubtedly there are many fans who would like to celebrate Halloween by tying Mike Ashley to a stake and setting fire to him, not least because of his crackers plan to sell the naming rights to St James’ Park.
It’s the sort of plan that will probably have people thinking about demonstrations of one kind or another, often involving bedsheets and references to the “Cockney Mafia” and strange words like ‘boycoutt’. Others suggest that the best way to get the message through to Ashley is to ‘hit him in the pocket’, as demonstrated by this letter to the Chronicle:
ASHLEY must go now. Yes, I know he has the money, he cannot be that daft, you say – let’s face it, he got lucky on the stock market and has dragged us down to gutter level and this is the final insult.
Q. How do you get him out?
A. Get the Geordies to stop going to the ground, all 40,000 of them – no income equals no soul, equals the landlord throws in his hand; 40,000 supporters to see Doncaster Rovers – it beggars belief – that is more than Chelsea get most home games!
There is however a problem with that plan. It’s fair enough asking Ashley to ‘get out of this town’ but where is he going to go? He has just tried to sell the club and failed, so his options are limited. He’s not going to give the club away and, whatever his sins, no reasonable person would expect him to do so. (more…)
