I wouldn't do itFormer Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd has blasted Ashley over his plans to sell the stadium naming rights.
Freddy said:
“I suppose nothing surprises me about the current regime, so news they are ready to sell the naming rights isn’t exactly a shock.
“I appreciate we are living in a commercial world, but there are some things money can’t buy.
“St James’ Park is one of the most famous stadia, not just in Europe but in the world. You can go anywhere and everyone knows St James’ Park is the home of Newcastle United. The two are synonymous.
“I just can’t imagine St James’ Park being called anything else. Whatever next? Why don’t they just go the whole hog and change the name of the club itself?
“Fans will be horrified, angry and upset about this. They’ve had to put up with a lot in recent months, but this is just another blow.”
Well, quite, but let’s not forget that Freddie Shepherd described Ashley as “an excellent custodian of Newcastle United’s heritage” when he sold his shares to him a few years ago. Not his best call eh? (more…)
Big tests aheadNew Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton hopes to get at least some of Mike Ashley’s £20m cash injection to spend on players.
Amidst Mike Ashley’s popular announcement that he would be inflicting himself upon Toon fans for another season and a half, there was also the news that he’s putting another £20m of his own money into the club. Ashley didn’t actually say where the £20m would be spent but it is speculated that the money would go towards new players and improving the scouting network.
Apparently Hughton – after talks with Ashley and Llambias – is already drawing up a list of targets for the January transfer window, although he was keen to just concentrate on our upcoming games for the moment. Hughton said:
“The most important thing first and foremost is that we have to work with what we have.
“We can’t bring in anybody until January other than loans.
“I’ll identify what I think we need when that time comes, but the most important thing is getting the results in the games before then.
“There are two remits really – the here and now, and then what happens when the window opens when we’ll sit down and look at it then.” (more…)
Here we go againMike Ashley has taken Newcastle United off the market after 5 months and appointed Chris Hughton as permanent manager until the end of the 2010/2011 season.
Emotions were running high when this was announced last night but I wanted to try and analyse the situation a little more objectively in the cold light of day.
It looked like Barry Moat might actually have been in with a chance at one point. According to the press, he’d had a £40m up-front plus £40m at the end of the season deal rejected and had come back to Ashley with a £60m-£20m upgrade to that, having been led to believe by Ashley that it would be accepted. Ashley however did not accept it and decided to take the club off the market amongst a lot of familiar-sounding rhetoric.
The rhetoric sounds familiar because it’s pretty much what he said the last time he took the club off the market. He stressed his commitment to the future of Newcastle United then too and he put some money into the club, but then we were relegated and the club was up for sale once again. So I have no reason to believe that Ashley’s aim is to do anything but maximise the club’s appeal so that he can put it up for sale yet again. (more…)
Ashley to remain for nowThe following announcement was made on the Newcastle United site tonight:
NEWCASTLE United are delighted to announce that Chris Hughton has been named the permanent manager of the Club, his contract will run until the end of the 2010/11 season.
At the same time the Club has confirmed that it has been withdrawn from sale and is no longer on the market.
The Club had been trying to broker a deal with a number of prospective buyers in recent months however none of those deals came to fruition. With regard to the possible sale of the Club to Barry Moat, that particular bid has now fallen through due to the cash price of £80m not being met.
In confirming the news, Mike Ashley stated that he is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focussing on gaining promotion back to the Premier League. Mike will put a further £20m into the Club this week.
Derek Llambias, Managing Director of Newcastle United, said:
“We are delighted that Chris has accepted the post of full time manager. He has done a terrific job this season and we wish him every success for the rest of this season and beyond. He will continue to receive our full backing and support.” (more…)
What's the deal guys?According to an article posted on The Telegraph’s site late last night, Mike Ashley has turned down Barry Moat’s latest £80m bid for Newcastle United even though he’d previously said he’d accept the bid on the terms specified.
What the article says is that whilst Ashley had previously rejected Moat’s offer to take £40m down and £40m at the end of the season, the pair had reached agreement earlier last week for a deal involving £60m down and £20m at the end of the season.
However when Barry Moat made such an offer on Friday, Ashley – after considering it for a few days – rejected the offer anyway, insisting he now wants the whole £80m up-front.
The Telegraph speculates that Ashley is playing hardball with Moat to give any other bidders a chance to show their hand.
To be fair, once I get past my desire to see the back of him, I have a certain amount of sympathy with Ashley over this. (more…)
