Indian billionaire revives interest in Newcastle - and could hire Kevin Keegan

[paddy 17]

I'm actually ridiculously glad that Watford are in the Championship. And hope that the Premiership abandons the lower leagues and becomes a closed shop - the Championship (bar those cuntfuckers QPR who seem to want to ruin everything) is exciting and anything can happen - even if the football isn't pretty, I'd rather go in to every game with a chance of winning than having to cross out half the fixtures as pre-decided defeats and then hope to win some of the other games to finish 14th again this year. Great fucking success that is, eh?

 

 

i was just thinking back to the old days, the odd foreigner in a team shite pitches red hot crowds, one game on live on a sunday (if u were lucky)

 

[Snake 0]

I'm actually ridiculously glad that Watford are in the Championship. And hope that the Premiership abandons the lower leagues and becomes a closed shop - the Championship (bar those cuntfuckers QPR who seem to want to ruin everything) is exciting and anything can happen - even if the football isn't pretty, I'd rather go in to every game with a chance of winning than having to cross out half the fixtures as pre-decided defeats and then hope to win some of the other games to finish 14th again this year. Great fucking success that is, eh?

You've missed out the joy of nurturing youth players for a few years only for another club to steal them away for a pittance

[Golden Glory 0]

That's the only real shame about being where we are. Young, Bouazza, Forrester (not yet but in future), Eagles amongst others have been in our system recently, but are now at greener pastures. Except for the jug-eared alien-headed twat Bouazza, who's at Charlton now.

 

But you can put up with it - really. See - being able to appreciate the brilliant shitness of Darius Henderson is something you couldn't do in the Premiership, it was the highlight of last season.

[Snake 0]

That's the only real shame about being where we are. Young, Bouazza, Forrester (not yet but in future), Eagles amongst others have been in our system recently, but are now at greener pastures. Except for the jug-eared alien-headed twat Bouazza, who's at Charlton now.

 

But you can put up with it - really. See - being able to appreciate the brilliant shitness of Darius Henderson is something you couldn't do in the Premiership, it was the highlight of last season.

Get a bid in for Shola, good times return

[paddy 17]

we should see if our Royal Family want to buy the club..........oh hold on more fookin cockneys

[Park Life 71]

we should see if our Royal Family want to buy the club..........oh hold on more fookin cockneys

 

Germans shirley?

 

Goethe Sax Coburg.

[snakehips 0]

we should see if our Royal Family want to buy the club..........oh hold on more fookin cockneys

 

Germans shirley?

 

Goethe Sax Coburg.

 

This glib 'Germans' comment that gets trotted out on regular occasions really gets on my tits.

 

How long does someone have to live in England to be English???? There are thousands upon thousands of sons and daughters of immigrant families who have only been here a dog's watch yet are rightly proud to call themselves English.

 

Rant over. Sorry for spoiling the thread.

[Park Life 71]

we should see if our Royal Family want to buy the club..........oh hold on more fookin cockneys

 

Germans shirley?

 

Goethe Sax Coburg.

 

This glib 'Germans' comment that gets trotted out on regular occasions really gets on my tits.

 

How long does someone have to live in England to be English???? There are thousands upon thousands of sons and daughters of immigrant families who have only been here a dog's watch yet are rightly proud to call themselves English.

 

Rant over. Sorry for spoiling the thread.

 

They rarely procreate outside the 'blood lines' and when they do they kill them to keep order.

[luckyluke 2]

I'm actually ridiculously glad that Watford are in the Championship. And hope that the Premiership abandons the lower leagues and becomes a closed shop - the Championship (bar those cuntfuckers QPR who seem to want to ruin everything) is exciting and anything can happen - even if the football isn't pretty, I'd rather go in to every game with a chance of winning than having to cross out half the fixtures as pre-decided defeats and then hope to win some of the other games to finish 14th again this year. Great fucking success that is, eh?

 

The financial gulf is so great between the two divisions that it's a distinct possibility. You'd have to say that favourites for the drop this season are the newly promoted teams. I know that's said most years, but I can only think of one such recent instance, 98-99 I think when Forest, Palace and Charlton all went straight back down, and it really looks more appparent this time around. If it happened for a few seasons in a row, you can imagine that making the Premiership a closed shop would definitely be suggested.

[toontoasey 0]

If Ambani has been following the club closely over the past few days he will know that Keegan was virtually unsackable and in the space of a week Ashley has gone from popular owner to a hate figure because of it, there is no way he's going to bring Keegan back and risk himself going the way of Ashley, none at all IMO.

 

A good point. Keegan's gone and to bring him back would be farcical.

If he did bring Keegan back i am sure he would be in charge of which players he brings to the club, and if it didnt work out after he had spent millions i am sure Keegan would be the first to admit it, we wouldnt see the same debacle we see now,what i am saying is Keegan will be given the chance to do it his way and if it doesnt work out we will move on.

[The Fish 10963]

I'm actually ridiculously glad that Watford are in the Championship. And hope that the Premiership abandons the lower leagues and becomes a closed shop - the Championship (bar those cuntfuckers QPR who seem to want to ruin everything) is exciting and anything can happen - even if the football isn't pretty, I'd rather go in to every game with a chance of winning than having to cross out half the fixtures as pre-decided defeats and then hope to win some of the other games to finish 14th again this year. Great fucking success that is, eh?

 

The financial gulf is so great between the two divisions that it's a distinct possibility. You'd have to say that favourites for the drop this season are the newly promoted teams. I know that's said most years, but I can only think of one such recent instance, 98-99 I think when Forest, Palace and Charlton all went straight back down, and it really looks more apparent this time around. If it happened for a few seasons in a row, you can imagine that making the Premiership a closed shop would definitely be suggested.

The logical progression of that is for the Premiership to begin operating in a similar vein to the American sports. Blackburn could not support itself in such a league with it's paltry attendances, it cannot compete, so it wouldn't be in the realm of fantasy to see Blackburn Rovers move to another city who could support a club of it's size.

 

Long before then I'll have started supporting a small town club, simply because the beast that would be called Newcastle United would not be the creature I know at all.

[JonGoodwyn 1]

The perfect owner is one who just lets the manager get on with it - Is willing to give funds for players but doesn't say 'oh I want so and so' and 'I don't want so and so' because clearly they don't know best.

[Jimbo 175]

The Telegraph

 

Unfortunately for Keegan's supporters, the Ambani camp last night played down suggestions that the sixth richest man in the world was about to buy the club from sports retail tycoon Mike Ashley and immediately re-install the manager who resigned from his position at the Tyneside club last week.

Ambani, who is said to be worth £21billion, was first linked with a move for Newcastle last month and, despite strenuous denials, he is still said to be ready to seek talks with Ashley this week. One of his first decisions would apparently be to re-hire Keegan.

 

However, his representatives are denying that the chairman of the Indian phone giant Reliance Communications is about to enter the fray on Tyneside. Intriguingly, though, they are refusing to rule out a move in the future.

"Our position is that nothing has changed and we have been wondering why these stories keep surfacing in England," a spokesman for Ambani told The Daily Telegraph.

 

"We have not expressed interest in Newcastle. There is nothing in the latest stories. It's a non-starter. As of now there is no interest, although I cannot speculate on what may be the future plans of my management."

Ashley, who bought Newcastle for £134 million last summer and spent £80 million wiping out the club's debts, has been looking for fresh investment but, according to City sources, is not keen to sell up.

 

After the angry reaction among supporters to Keegan's resignation, Ashley is increasing security to protect him and his home.

His management team are focusing on finding Keegan's successor and, while they are hopeful of finding their man before Saturday's visit of Hull City, they envisage him surveying the action from the directors' box rather than the dugout, which would suggest Chris Hughton would be in charge on a caretaker basis.

Gus Poyet, Tottenham's assistant manager, was yesterday installed as odds-on favourite to fill the vacancy which would mean a reunion with Newcastle director of football Dennis Wise. They played together at Chelsea and Poyet, 40, was Wise's right-hand man when he managed Swindon and Leeds.

Their former Chelsea team-mate Gianfranco Zola, 42, has also been linked with the position, with Ashley said to be keen to persuade him to choose the North-East over West Ham.

 

Thanks to the speculation surrounding Ambani, Keegan remains the bookies' second favourite to return to his old office while another Chelsea old boy, Didier Deschamps, is third favourite, followed by Alan Shearer, Real Zaragoza manager Marcelino Garcia Toral, Michael Laudrup, Alan Curbishley and Wise.

Meanwhile, Newcastle went on the offensive, claiming Keegan had "lost the plot" with Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho, David Beckham and Thierry Henry on a £200 million wish list.

 

"If only people knew the real truth of what's been going on, because in the end it was ridiculous," a highly placed Newcastle source was quoted as saying yesterday. "People inside the club joked about it, calling it the 'madness of King Kev', but no one was really laughing."

League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan defended Keegan, saying he felt "very sad and disappointed" by the turn of events.

[TheMoog 0]

The Telegraph

 

Unfortunately for Keegan's supporters, the Ambani camp last night played down suggestions that the sixth richest man in the world was about to buy the club from sports retail tycoon Mike Ashley and immediately re-install the manager who resigned from his position at the Tyneside club last week.

Ambani, who is said to be worth £21billion, was first linked with a move for Newcastle last month and, despite strenuous denials, he is still said to be ready to seek talks with Ashley this week. One of his first decisions would apparently be to re-hire Keegan.

 

However, his representatives are denying that the chairman of the Indian phone giant Reliance Communications is about to enter the fray on Tyneside. Intriguingly, though, they are refusing to rule out a move in the future.

"Our position is that nothing has changed and we have been wondering why these stories keep surfacing in England," a spokesman for Ambani told The Daily Telegraph.

 

"We have not expressed interest in Newcastle. There is nothing in the latest stories. It's a non-starter. As of now there is no interest, although I cannot speculate on what may be the future plans of my management."

Ashley, who bought Newcastle for £134 million last summer and spent £80 million wiping out the club's debts, has been looking for fresh investment but, according to City sources, is not keen to sell up.

 

After the angry reaction among supporters to Keegan's resignation, Ashley is increasing security to protect him and his home.

His management team are focusing on finding Keegan's successor and, while they are hopeful of finding their man before Saturday's visit of Hull City, they envisage him surveying the action from the directors' box rather than the dugout, which would suggest Chris Hughton would be in charge on a caretaker basis.

Gus Poyet, Tottenham's assistant manager, was yesterday installed as odds-on favourite to fill the vacancy which would mean a reunion with Newcastle director of football Dennis Wise. They played together at Chelsea and Poyet, 40, was Wise's right-hand man when he managed Swindon and Leeds.

Their former Chelsea team-mate Gianfranco Zola, 42, has also been linked with the position, with Ashley said to be keen to persuade him to choose the North-East over West Ham.

 

Thanks to the speculation surrounding Ambani, Keegan remains the bookies' second favourite to return to his old office while another Chelsea old boy, Didier Deschamps, is third favourite, followed by Alan Shearer, Real Zaragoza manager Marcelino Garcia Toral, Michael Laudrup, Alan Curbishley and Wise.

Meanwhile, Newcastle went on the offensive, claiming Keegan had "lost the plot" with Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho, David Beckham and Thierry Henry on a £200 million wish list.

 

"If only people knew the real truth of what's been going on, because in the end it was ridiculous," a highly placed Newcastle source was quoted as saying yesterday. "People inside the club joked about it, calling it the 'madness of King Kev', but no one was really laughing."

League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan defended Keegan, saying he felt "very sad and disappointed" by the turn of events.

[Tom 14013]

Either Ashley goes mental or we have our own unknown P.A weapon in this hurricane of shit

 

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley wants to flog club to follow Hollywood dream

By Danielle Lawler And Jeremy Armstrong 8/09/2008

 

 

Newcastle soccer boss Mike Ashley wants to flog the crisis club - to become a Hollywood movie mogul.

 

Billionaire Mr Ashley, 45, has spent the past week in the US wining and dining film executives.

 

And he has told pals he is willing to "sell Newcastle tomorrow" if he finds a £250million buyer - and then amazingly wants his own movie studio.

 

A source close to the Toon tycoon said: "He's fallen in love with Hollywood and this is something he has been pursuing for more than a year.

 

"Mike has spent a week speaking to very important movie executives in New York and Miami and is ready to invest.

 

"He has so much money he is looking to buy his own Paramount Pictures.

 

He still loves Newcastle but if someone came in with a decent offer to buy him out tomorrow he would sell up."

 

It would prove merely the latest in a series of bizarre developments in the topsy-turvy world of Newcastle United.

 

But the under-fire sportswear mogul is apparently hellbent on fulfilling his unlikely ambition.

 

One of the bigwigs he has met is movie director Mike Jefferies - who wrote Goal 3, the Newcastle-set soccer drama in which Mr Ashley has a cameo role as himself.

 

The soccer tycoon has ploughed some of his own money into the movie.

 

And the Newcastle insider added: "Mike and Jefferies have a long standing relationship.

 

"He asked Jefferies to introduce him to his contacts in the industry so he would be able to put feelers out.

 

"Mike has thrown a few parties and had meetings to show he means business.

 

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"He has already put an offer in on a Beverly Hills mansion, so it is just a case of when he is ready to sign the deal with a movie house, rather than if."

 

The Newcastle crisis he hopes to leave behind turned even uglier yesterday as a war of words erupted between the board and former manager Kevin Keegan.

 

Keegan, 57, confirmed speculation that he quit last week after less than eight months because director of football Dennis Wise overruled him on transfers.

 

He said in a statement through the League Managers' Association:

 

"Kevin Keegan's chief complaint, amongst others, is that it was always agreed the director of football could not impose a player the manager did not want.

 

"This agreement has been broken. The chairman, the director of football and the owner of Newcastle United have confirmed previously in public meetings and publications that he would always have the final say."

 

Former Toon and England boss Sir Bobby Robson backed Keegan as he said "no manager worth his salt" would want the job unless the hierarchy was changed.

 

He added: "You cannot imagine Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Rafa Benitez being handed players they did not know anything about."

 

But the club hit back: "We have no desire to engage in a war of words, but inaccurate reporting of factual matters and inaccurate allegations have to be corrected.

 

They insisted: "It is a fact that Kevin Keegan, on appointment on January 16, 2008, agreed to report to a director of football and to the board.

 

"The structure at NUFC is clear and has been clear from January 16, 2008."

 

He's in love with Hollywood. If a decent offer came in for the club he'd sell up

 

ASHLEY PAL YESTERDAY

[Fop 1]

Hmm.... billionaire mid-life crisis I guess.

[Jusoda Kid 1]

As I said before a source from inside the club has told a good friend of mine that there's been meetings going on for weeks at the club with Indian/Arab looking fellas. So this either that Steve Mcmahon carry on or a takeover in the process.

[Tom 14013]

Hopefully he is selling up - perhaps that's why pretty much fuck all happened towards the end of the transfer window.

 

You would hope so anyway.

[Wavey Davey 0]

So we've gone from dismissing the rumours and calling them lies to hoping they become a reality.

 

What a difference a week makes, eh?

 

[Guest Stevie]

Billionaire denies

Toon interest

A spokesman for Indian businessman Anil Ambani has denied that the billionaire has launched a takeover bid for Newcastle.

 

Ambani:

 

 

The Indian, apparently a Newcastle fan, was reportedly ready to make his move after the club plunged into further turmoil under Mike Ashley's reign following Kevin Keegan's decision to quit the club last week.

 

However, Ambani's official spokesman has denied that talks are ongoing with Ashley about purchasing the club.

 

"We have denied this earlier and we have no plans to take over Newcastle United or any other English club," head of Corporate Communications for Ambani's parent group Reliance, Gaurav Wahi told the Journal.

 

"All these media reports are inaccurate.

 

"Our position is that nothing has changed and we have been wondering why these stories keep surfacing in England.

 

"We have not expressed interest in Newcastle. There is nothing in the latest stories. It's a non-starter."

 

A source close to DIC - the investment arm of the Dubai Government who tried to buy Liverpool - has also told the Journal that they have no interest in Newcastle.

 

KNOCK BANG KNOCK BANG KNOCK BANG KNOCK BANG KNOCK BANG KNOCK BANG

 

Do you know what that is? It's the final nail in our coffin. All hope is lost.

[LeazesMag 0]

I think - or rather I hope - that as more people buy into the premiership, that its only a matter of time.

 

We are however the club most ripe for a sale, apart from Everton.

 

I only hope that, when it happens, we get good people, and by that I mean people who want to run a good club aiming for success and know whats needed.

[spongebob toonpants 4133]

I think - or rather I hope - that as more people buy into the premiership, that its only a matter of time.

 

We are however the club most ripe for a sale, apart from Everton.

 

I only hope that, when it happens, we get good people, and by that I mean people who want to run a good club aiming for success and know whats needed.

 

 

I agree with this, I do think Everton will be next to go

[LeazesMag 0]

I think - or rather I hope - that as more people buy into the premiership, that its only a matter of time.

 

We are however the club most ripe for a sale, apart from Everton.

 

I only hope that, when it happens, we get good people, and by that I mean people who want to run a good club aiming for success and know whats needed.

 

 

I agree with this, I do think Everton will be next to go

 

Well, Everton would cost less than us, but they don't have a ground like us and need a new one.

 

Newcastle also have a massively superior brand name, for instance the one club city, Newcastle brown ale, and bigger support and at the moment anyway, they can appoint any manager they please.

 

Fear is that someone good would come along and bid less than Ashley wants and they bugger off somewhere else, like Everton.

[Park Life 71]

I think - or rather I hope - that as more people buy into the premiership, that its only a matter of time.

 

We are however the club most ripe for a sale, apart from Everton.

 

I only hope that, when it happens, we get good people, and by that I mean people who want to run a good club aiming for success and know whats needed.

 

Only the good people will survive the bad one's will get turfed out as we are about to witness.

[spongebob toonpants 4133]

I think - or rather I hope - that as more people buy into the premiership, that its only a matter of time.

 

We are however the club most ripe for a sale, apart from Everton.

 

I only hope that, when it happens, we get good people, and by that I mean people who want to run a good club aiming for success and know whats needed.

 

Only the good people will survive the bad one's will get turfed out as we are about to witness.

 

 

thats a remarkably optomistic view