E.U. fear new type of WMD!!

[Park Life 71]

HTT:

 

 

Despite the abysmal communication levels at Newcastle United what we do know is that Mike Ashley is going nowhere for the time being, that there is no white knight on the horizon to save us and perhaps save him and that literally, we are stuck with one another for an undetermined length of time.

 

Now in this time we can go on protesting (NUSC), unfurling anti-Ashley banners (Kieth of Toon Travel fame), endlessly writing about our woes (Chronicle, Journal and true faith) and generally keep up with this ill-feeling towards the owner and those he has put in charge of running the club (message board, pub and city wide talk alike) while Ashley and Co can continue to antagonize fans with their lack of communication, contradictions and mismanagement.

 

Or... we can all call a truce and start rebuilding this damaged club of ours Newcastle United.

 

How about it Mike? I ask you because it has to start with you first and foremost and NOW before there really is no going back.

 

What we as fans and indeed the club need from you is this:

 

Communication - First of all we need you to inform everyone what kind of state financially the club is really in and you need to come clean on how you intend to get the club's balance sheet back in order. If that means selling our top players and heavily trimming the wage bill for example you have to be up front with us and be honest about it. I for one can accept that if there is no real alternative. I may not like it but if that's the best way to get us back to being self sufficient then so be it.

 

You cannot however mislead us with phony attempts to keep high wage earners like Michael Owen when in reality you'd love to get him and others earning big money off the wage bill nor can you have the manager going out in public and saying any money raised from sales will be his to spend if that really isn't the case as happened in the January transfer window.

 

There are too many amateur accountants, guess work and contradictions regarding the finances and debt levels be it the club's or your own debt and that will only lead to scare mongering, uncertainty and mistrust and much more. Come clean, tell us how bad off we are financially. But don't stop there, tell us how you plan to fix things. Level with us. Inform us of your plans and convince us that you know best and that whatever plan you have is the best route to go down. We are not all knuckle draggers or illiterate mongs like Sky and some sections of the media would have you believe.

 

Secondly you need to personally draw a line under the whole Kevin Keegan saga and acknowledge that things could have been handled much better. I personally don't want to listen to any blame game or hear phony apologies. What is done is done. Draw a line under it, acknowledge things could have been handled better and if you insist on sticking with Wise and Co, come out and back them publicly, tell us why you appointed them, what exactly their roles are and what you expect and what we can expect from them. Again I can live with the likes of Dennis Wise and Co if I only knew what they did and what their objectives are and whether you, like you would a manager Mike, will have targets for them and whether you will hold them responsible if these targets don't get met or not.

 

Challenge them to achieve certain goals and targets publicly, fans and the media have this image of them as your drinking buddies and that no matter what, they are immune to any kind of body check.

 

Thirdly you need to and I can't stress this highly enough, let us all know your true intentions as owner of our club and if this means coming out and letting everyone know that you would like to sell the club on at some point, you have to be brave and say so. Sure this will cause some negative reaction and may unsettle one or two nerves but if we all knew and more importantly understood what the long-term aim REALLY is we can all accept the reality of the situation.

 

When you put the club up for sale and then sought a buyer for it after the Hull match it did create a level of uncertainty but that was down to the manner in which you announced your intention and the manner in which you then went about trying to sell the club.

 

That uncertainty was caused because you basically left the club to fend for itself, to be ran on its own. For example you could have appointed a manager and carried on with the plans you had for it before you put it up for sale and still sought a buyer.

 

I once put my own business up for sale and actively sought a buyer (and succeeded eventually), but at the same time still ran the business as normal and still attended to all its needs. You can do the same. If you came out and told the fanbase of your intentions to sell but in the meantime, this is how we're going to run the club and this is the plan, providing it is a positive plan that is designed to improve the financial health of the club and improve the football team, fans will accept it and we would all then be able to carry on as per usual. When you put the club up for sale the first time however everything was basically left to chance.

 

Knowing would be more preferable to a future of uncertainty which still exists today despite knowing the club has been taken off the market, or so you say. See Mike, no-one really knows unless you yourself come out and tell everyone your real intentions not short-term but long-term.

 

And if you don't want to sell and want to remain in control of the club as owner, then once again, say so rather than these ambiguous half statements. You are clearly back in some context, what is it?

 

Believe it or not Mike, many fans would give you a second chance and I include myself in that despite having zero faith in your abilities to run the club, trust in you, your choice of people to run the club nor a desire to see you remain as my club's owner for any length of time. I want you out and yesterday, but leaving all personal feelings aside for a moment what I really want is what is best for my club and if you are that then I want you to start showing it, to start producing, to start the ball rolling to get this troubled, deeply damaged club back on the right track.

 

That doesn't have to mean spending mega money on big name players or talk of the top 4 or European football. That is not what I value as essential prerequisites of a healthy NUFC, far from it. I value good leadership, a good sustainable plan of action, action over words, progress be it slow and gradual. I value good honest people in charge of my club with good honest plans, sensible and realistic plans. If you can bring that to the table, strive towards that and one day achieve that you will be welcome at my club as owner. You have to start talking though Mike and start delivering.

 

The manager - You may like Joe Kinnear and feel somewhat indebted to him but if you are serious about progress and turning this club around he is not the answer and never will be. You have to get rid of him at some point otherwise no matter what your intentions really are or what kind of plan you have in place behind the scenes, the one thing that glues everything together and keeps those attendances as high as they are despite most fans being against you and even Kinnear is that team of ours out on that pitch. That's what we support and spend all that money, time and emotion on, the players. Keeping Kinnear in charge will see to it that this team and those players will only ever go one way - downwards.

 

Kinnear needs replaced with a competent manager capable of organising a team, developing players, with a grasp of tactics and good communication and motivational skills. I won't attempt to provide the name of this manager as there are too many and too few really depending on viewpoints, but someone out there with the right skills exists and can be brought to this club and it is your job to find this man.

 

The system - You need to decide whether this system is delivering or can deliver and whether those whose jobs it is to make it work are competent enough to do so. So far the jury is well and truly still out and that's just regarding the players bought and sold and not what such a system does for the manager or not. If you are to keep the system once again you need to clearly define why and what its purpose is and the roles of those charged with making it working and you then have to find a suitable manager to work with such a system. Kevin Keegan couldn't and Joe Kinnear isn't the answer either. There exists such a manager that can work with such a system and you need to find him and bring him to the club, remembering he has to be a competent manager in terms of organisation, tactics, motivation, player development etc. and not any old manager. The manager will always be the key person at the club regardless of whether he has full and absolute control or is working under a Director of Football however and you must accept this Mike because in football that is the reality and always will be.

 

The players - The very thing that we are all here for. You need to decide what the recruitment and selling strategy is and again you have to let fans know rather than wonder and guess. If you need to get rid of the likes of Michael Owen as his wages restrict recruitment then say so. What kind of team do you want Mike? Fans would all love a team of world-class stars capable of winning the league but we are realistic and the vast majority will accept a good honest side full of professionals with some modicum of talent that can be developed (that's where a good manager comes in Mike) and turned into a good team capable of going places. Some would say we have the nucleus of such a team despite our league position (again that's where a good manager comes in) and while I personally don't quite share that thought I do believe with some clever thought and not necessarily money, such a team can be assembled be it via a manager with absolute control or a multi-layered recruitment and scouting system that already exists at the club, even with the current personnel. It is all about identifying what the team needs and what kind of player to go for. There are many clubs and managers out there who have shown that you don't always need to spend big money to create a good side.

 

The fans - I can only speak for myself here Mike but you guessed wrong in your post Hull match statement when it comes to the type of owner, club and players needed. I don't expect a Man City style club nor do I expect to see the world's biggest names here, much less expect mega money to be spent on players. All I expect from my club and those responsible for running it is for the club to always at all times try at least to be the best it can be and that for me is a top 6 club which isn't asking for the earth. If a good manager was brought in and players capable of developing into good players were added to the team, that can be achieved if not over night than within a few years, without a doubt, even on a frugal budget.

 

Regarding fans in general, it is up to you Mike to win us over and you can do that without any extravagances or gimmicks, good old fashioned sensible management and gradual improvement will bring about happier faces on the stands and you are in a position to do that and that's just what you need to do. Because make no mistake about it the depth of feelings fans have for this club of ours goes a long way and if you think a few thousand empty seats and protests during the Hull match are as bad as it could possibly get for you, think again.

 

Unless positive action is taken and this club improves, you reduce your stake in it by the day and your right to own it which will always be challenged so long as the club under performs and carries on being mismanaged in the fashion it has been and is being ran today.

 

You decide Mike what you want and let us all know how you plan on achieving it eh

 

Yours in vain, a NUFC supporter.

[Guest alex]

Another boring essay? No thanks

[Kid Dynamite 7312]

I dont think we have a divine right to know how much Ashley has in the bank tbh. Its also pretty much ripping off what the NUSC said months ago

[Guest Stevie]

First toon game at 17 years of age. Nah.