Dr Gloom 22513 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Ashley's Newcastle future not black and white Matt Scott Tuesday July 31, 2007 The Guardian Mike Ashley's investment at Newcastle United may be a short-lived affair, if rumours in the City are to be believed. The billionaire businessman declared in a rare interview published on Sunday that his involvement at Sports Direct, the company he founded and in February floated for £2.2bn, remained a "long-term" business interest but he is not believed to have the same intentions for Newcastle. There is a suggestion that, having snapped up the club so quickly that even the former chairman Freddy Shepherd - then a major shareholder - was taken by surprise, he is encountering more problems than he expected. One interested party reports that it did not like what it saw when it conducted due diligence over the club's books before a potential takeover. There was particular concern about the debt inside the company and it is felt that Ashley will be uncovering an unhealthier business than he anticipated. The manager, Sam Allardyce, has begun to grumble about the amount of money available for signings and Shepherd was shown the door last week. Analysts who have followed Ashley's career suggest his hands-on style means he is not one to have his investments run by proxies. But the chairman he appointed at Newcastle, Chris Mort, does not intend to relocate to the north-east, fuelling the rumours that Ashley may be persuaded to bail out if a suitable buyer emerges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31587 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Well that's what you get if you don't complete due diligence, there's no point complaining when looking at the books after you've bought the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 0 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I don't get it. There's no way he'll get what he paid for it, was Ashley just a little bored? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 22401 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Wtf is going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 22513 Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 surely if mort is going to run the club, he should relocate to the area? that combined with the fact that big sam isn't being backed AT ALL makes me think ashley might try and get out while the going's good. i wonder is shepherd would be in the running to take the club off ashley's hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31587 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 It'd be interesting to see Freddy's reaction if the club were to be put up for sale again after all his blustering about how he would've put up a rival bid if he had've been fit, I bet part of him is mighty relieved that he's got the money he has out of the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack 10388 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 It's bollocks man!! He was interviewed by the Times about Sports Direct and he called the city "cry babies". He didn't mention Newcastle and this hack has made up a sensationalist story. The City hate the fucker, he tells them nowt (one interview every couple of years) so I doubt he's a good source of accurate rumours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31587 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 surely if mort is going to run the club, he should relocate to the area? that combined with the fact that big sam isn't being backed AT ALL makes me think ashley might try and get out while the going's good. It's also interesting to see that he has only taken leave from Freshfields and not resigned completely so I'd think he'd be planning to go back some time in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally 0 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Grass isn't always greener, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 22513 Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 Grass isn't always greener, is it? looks like leazes might have been right all along Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I don't buy that story for one second, I really don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 47062 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 That article is total bollocks man. Fuck me can ANYONE read the papers and NOT believe what they see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney 0 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Fat Fred: [begging] Please sell me my plant back. I'll pay anything. Ashley: Isn't this a happy coincidence! You are desperate to buy, and we are desperate to sell. Fat Fred: [calculatingly] Desperate, eh? ... Advantage: Shepherd! -- Reversal of fortune, ``Freddy Verkaufen der Kraftwerk'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31587 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I don't believe he's about to sell up again but I think they've certainly found a few nasty surprises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 22401 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 22513 Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 That article is total bollocks man. Fuck me can ANYONE read the papers and NOT believe what they see? it might happen; it might be bollocks. either way i think there's going to be implications for our transfer budget this summer. the talk of the £40m war chest and ashley bringing in a world class superstar are long forgotten and it isn't that farfetched to suggest that it might be because our debt levels are far greater than the new owner imagined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 47062 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I don't believe he's about to sell up again but I think they've certainly found a few nasty surprises. I'm sure they've found some very minor nasty surprises. Any due diligence team worthy of the name will have uncovered all of the major issues before the bloke spunked all his money on the club. There's no way they've found any massive hidden costs/undeclared liabilities in the books of a PLC that is audited by a decent firm (make all the jokes you like about Arthur Andersen etc, but it's very rare that these firms miss big errors, particularly not in a business as straightforward as a football club - this isn't a bank with complicated hedge funds or anything). The article is total bollocks imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jusoda Kid 1 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Everyone is being sucked in by this shite bar me, Alex and Gemmil, WTF is wrong with you people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 22513 Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 well i'm a natural born pessimist when it comes to nufc (it's hard to be anything else given what we have(n't) achieved in my lifetime) but i hope i'm wrong on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 47062 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 That article is total bollocks man. Fuck me can ANYONE read the papers and NOT believe what they see? it might happen; it might be bollocks. either way i think there's going to be implications for our transfer budget this summer. the talk of the £40m war chest and ashley bringing in a world class superstar are long forgotten and it isn't that farfetched to suggest that it might be because our debt levels are far greater than the new owner imagined. The talk of the £40m warchest was cobblers in the first place though. "A source close to Ashley" had us winning the Premiership within 3 years ffs. Our debt levels won't be any greater than the PLC accounts disclose them to be. All major debt agreements would have been reviewed as part of the due diligence to be sure of the structure of the debt. If there's been any major under-reporting of liabilities, the auditors will be hearing from Ashley's lawyers. Which I very much doubt will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31587 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 That's the point Gemmill, he never undertook due diligence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinofbeans 91 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 just to confirm, i believe ashley won't give the club up. it is clearly a useless hack trying to spread seeds of discontent amongst the pessemistic or gullible. there's nothing to see here, move along, move along! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 47062 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 That's the point Gemmill, he never undertook due diligence. There must have been some degree of it went on? I didn't realise that was the case though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31587 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 That's the point Gemmill, he never undertook due diligence. There must have been some degree of it went on? I didn't realise that was the case though. No official due diligence as far as I'm aware, unless SJH gave him unauthorised access, it was apparently part of his plan to push the deal through as quickly as possible to give Freddy no time to mount a rival bid, or so the papers say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima 0 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 What utter fucking tosh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now