Tight as a......Here’s something a little controversial from someone who has had very little positive to say about Mike Ashley since last summer. What would you say if I was to suggest he may turn out to be, not the worst thing to have happened to Newcastle United in recent years? OK listen, I haven’t lost it completely, I don’t think. For the last twelve months, I’ve struggled to find an emotion beyond abject loathing to describe how I feel about the bloke but something is changing in me, even if I’m crucified for admitting it. At least hear me out anyway.
Football is arguably all about winning. The ‘getting there’ is part of the fun but is ultimately a means to an end for most. So what it comes down to is wanting to be successful. As a result, the game becomes about gaining a competitive advantage and one way to do that, is to throw a stack load of money at it, which we threw by the barrel load. And what did it get us? Naff-all except close to financial meltdown.
Instead, in rode Mike Ashley with his bright ideas, prudent business acumen and his novel notion of mixing with the working class kids in the stands. Once he tried to bring the good times back via Kevin Keegan’s third coming it all went pair-shaped but not before he’d implemented a financial strategy to put the club back onto a firmer footing. There is perhaps a fair argument to say that he did this for selfish reasons (to make a profit potentially more viable when the time came to sell?) and that we only benefitted as a by-product. (more…)
Is it really a year?It was about a year ago today, just after the 2008 summer transfer window closed, when Newcastle United went into the free-fall it has yet to recover from.
To be fair, the club wasn’t exactly setting the world alight before that and, arguably, the last period of stability ended when Sir Bobby Robson was given the sack. Freddie Shepherd had been spending the club into debt and had installed the revolving door for managers with both Roeder and Souness serving for less than a season before Shepherd settled on Sam Allardyce.
Then along came Ashley. Initially he was partnered by Chris Mort, who had helped Ashley with the takeover, and in January 2008 the pair sacked Allardyce, sensationally appointing Kevin Keegan as manager. A lot of people felt Mort was a good communicator who built important relationships with the fans, keeping them informed of the goings-on at St James’s Park and setting up things like the Newcastle United Foundation to bring the club into the community. Mort left in June 2008 and was replaced by Derek Llambias and thus began the regime of ‘Dastardly and Muttley’ at Newcastle United and it has been like Wacky Races ever since. (more…)
Hughton making the most of itWe waited with bated breath, following weeks of anticipation, even though the outcome was almost inevitable. Despite rumours of several incoming loans and transfers, today’s 5pm transfer deadline passed with only one addition to the squad and undoubtedly the biggest positive most fans took from today was that it appears that we managed to keep hold of everyone currently signed on.
Peter Lovenkrands proved to be the only body we managed to get on board before the summer transfer window slammed shut. Opinions of Lovenkrands are fairly high, ranging from those who think he’s canny squad player to others who think he will set The Championship alight. I’m at neither end of the spectrum but I suspect he will get more joy at this level than he did in The Premiership.
The problem is, that he represents what’s wrong with this football club, like they’re making it up as they go along. It seems both we and Lovenkrands flirted with the idea of a longer contract but could never agree and yet we had to go back, cap in hand because the situation was so dire that we had few other options. He’s a good option, no doubt, but it’s frightening that’s he so far the sum total of all our transfers-in activity. And how much has Hughton been kept in the loop as his public statements have cried out to the board to signal the arrival of new recruits while at least his pleas to stave off the sale of anymore of the current squad presumably were honoured. Who knows what ideas Hughton had and how many of the names mentioned in the public domain were on his wishlist? (more…)
Star-spangled Toon.According to The Mirror, Alan Shearer is the fairest of them all.
Or at least that will be the case if the Sheard-fronted American bid is successful.
The Mirror claims the consortium is close to signing a deal, although forgive me for not getting all excited but we’ve heard this sort of stuff before and it has so far come to nothing.
Apparently these Yanks have a background in the American sports industry and have the funds to pay Ashley’s £100m asking price, build and market the club and sign players.
A source close to the bid (yawn) said:
“This bid is both serious and credible. The difference between this and other bids is that the funding is there to buy the club if agreement can be reached on other financial areas such as the club’s £39million overdraft.
“Ideally, the consortium would have liked the business completed before the transfer deadline closed but they are serious about buying the club and won’t rush.
“Talks are under way and Mike Ashley’s original asking price shouldn’t be an issue. But it will take time and because of all the other disappointments the Americans have to play their cards close to their chests.” (more…)
Waiting for another bite at the cherry?It’s a debate that’s raged for months but I thought I’d raise it again simply because the end may be nigh, one way or another. Who wants Alan Shearer at the helm? All in favour, say wheyaye. OK, a little more serious then, why is there even a debate?
I’m reasonably certain an overwhelming majority would have been either fully in favour or at least apathetic to his permanent appointment before his brief and ill-fated sojourn into the managerial hot-seat. So partly the reason more supporters are against the idea is due to the fact that Big Al fairly spectacularly failed to save us from the drop. What portion of blame you attribute to him is also very debatable, though to my mind he’s pretty blameless.
However, there’s no getting away from the facts, he failed to do what many hoped and secretly believed he might do. That was to re-unite the dressing room and galvanise this stricken club. Alas, despite his monumental presence on the field during his playing career, Shearer wasn’t able to transfer his influence on the dressing room sufficiently to prevent the inevitable slide.
Supporters on the flip side of the coin will take umbrage at that view and will point to the very word ‘inevitable’. They would argue that nothing and nobody could have prevented our demise once we hit the final straight and that our place in The Championship was booked long before Big Al was given the opportunity to try and turn it all around. So are these people blinded by regionalist bias and a weird penchant for the messianic? Is he really only the right man for the job because he’s ‘one of us’? (more…)
