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…)
Master and discipleChris Hughton has asked Newcastle United fans to put their disagreements with the board behind them and support the team.
Fans are, of course, particularly upset that Ashley plans to peddle Sports Direct on the back of – or, to be more precise, on the front of – the St James’ Park name. Hughton evidently fears rebellion is in the air.
Praising our supporters, Hughton said:
“There are two ways of supporting a team.
“There is no support in this division which has turned up as consistently as our fans have. That is something that is vital for us.
“It is the supporters’ prerogative [to protest], it is their club. My concerns are that they get behind the team and from that angle they haven’t let us down.”
We’ve averaged just over 41,000 this season, which puts us in 6th place in the entire football league. (more…)
Mr. Popular.In the latest salvo of the Ashley counter offensive, Newcastle United’s managing Director, Derek Llambias, has been revealing the depth of Mike Ashley’s financial black hole in an interview for Radio Newcastle. He moaned about the financial meltdown involved when a monster £70 million wages club that is supposed to be geared up for European competition get relegated and much more…
What follows is Llambias’s exchange with Radio Newcastle’s Mick Lowes.
On the financial consequences of relegation, Llambias said:
“It’s been extremely painful – it was a shock, it was unthinkable. We did have a business plan in place at the time that we just put into a cupboard, because we thought we never needed to use it.
“We’ve had to move on since then and it’s given us an opportunity to bring the wages down to an acceptable level in the Premier League, but not in the Championship. (more…)
ChucklesIn his statement when he took Newcastle United off the market, Mike Ashley said “… he is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focussing on gaining promotion back to the Premier League.”
Fair enough, but what’s with all this nonsense about giving Hughton a million or two to buy some players as if it was some unplanned afterthought? I mean, what’s his transfer window budget for January, the summer, the January after that?
Surely if he’s ‘totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United’ he’s made financial projections for some years ahead, established his incomings and outgoings and got some sort of business plan for rebuilding the club that takes into account various scenarios (such as succeeding or failing to get promotion).
Of course, after his screw-up over Keegangate, he’s keen to make it known that he has the final say on transfers. Llambias said in his recent interview:
“We work with Chris. Let’s clear up the final say – the final say is with the board, which basically is Mike. At the end of the day, Mike has to put the money into it. But Chris will recommend the players and we will go out there and get his first choices, if we can.” (more…)
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…)
