This Llambias interview

[Kitman 2207]

Sounds like we'll conduct our transfer business in a more professional manner in the summer. We'll be sending our customary fax to Sunderland with the offer for Kieran Richardson at half past 4 on transfer deadline day; no more leaving it till 6 O'Clock anymore, no sirree. That'll leave plenty of time to fax Liverpool with a 5m offer for Gerrard, in the unlikely event Sunderland turn us down

[Kid Dynamite 7169]

Delete this if its been posted but heres the full list of questions that were asked

 

COMMUNICATION

 

Can you offer any explanation as to why there has been a lack of communication from the club and owner. But particularly during the time when Kevin Keegan departed the club?

 

Why was there no press conference/ statement from the club when Keegan left the club?

 

Why did you never follow the example set by Chris Mort who communicated with the fans?

 

Why can’t Mike Ashley talk to the fans in a fans forum (such as the NUSC) or speak directly to the local press regarding his plans for the club?

 

Will you be improving the PR with the fans by communicating regularly through the local media?

 

Can you explain why Mr Ashley completely ignored a request from NUSC to meet in a location of his choice to liase with fans?

 

Does this interview signal a change in management style which will keep the fans informed as to which direction the club is heading?

 

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

 

What exactly does Dennis Wise do and will he be staying?

 

If Mike Ashley cares about the club and listens to the fans why didn’t he reinstate Keegan and get rid of Wise?

 

Was employing Wise the biggest mistake you made? - a manager should never have players forced upon him.

 

Are there any plans to abolish the two-tier continental style management structure - as Spurs have - as it is not working?

 

Would Mike consider re-appointing Chris Mort as chairman?

 

How can you justify running a company from London when the company’s head office and entire operation is based in Newcastle?

 

Can you please detail the current management structure at NUFC and the job descriptions of Dennis Wise, Mike Ashley and yourself?

 

You are always sat on your own at matches. Do you not have any friends?

 

Given your background in the entertainment industry, Derek, how do you think this makes you qualified to run one of the biggest clubs in the world?

 

TRANSFERS

 

Do you think the lack of money spent in the transfer window will cost you in the long run with relegation a real possibility?

 

Is it true the entire first team squad was available for transfer during the summer window?

 

Why bring in Keegan and then not back him with transfer funds?

 

How can Mike Ashley claim to care about the club when he refuses to invest in players. His net spend is just £2.1million?

 

How do you account for making a profit in the last transfer window of nearly £8m when it was blatantly obvious the squad needed to be strengthened?

 

During the transfer window why didn’t the Shay Given deal proceed on the condition Michael Johnson came the other way? And did you honestly believe Sunderland would sell Kieran Richardson?

 

It was clear to everyone you needed to increase the squad size during the transfer window to avoid relegation, why was everything left until the last minute?

 

With Mark Viduka and Michael Owen looking likely to leave in the summer why have we not purchased a striker during the transfer window?

 

Who signed Xisco and why?

 

What happened to the James Milner cash?

 

Geordies can handle the truth. Is there any money for transfers or not?

 

Who has the final say on transfers, ingoing or outgoing, Wise or Keegan/Kinnear?

 

At this moment in time is the club self-sustainable or is there pressure to sell players to bring money in?

 

Sebastien Bassong and Jonas Gutierrez have been good signings to be fair, but will they still be at Newcastle next season given the current trend of selling our best players?

 

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

 

Many fans believe you are destroying NUFC. Discuss

 

How do you respond to Shay Given’s criticism?

 

What are the long-term plans for NUFC – if there are any?

 

What is your current vision for NUFC and how do you plan to achieve this?

 

Where do you see Newcastle United in five years time and how are we going to get there?

 

Why are Newcastle fans treated with such contempt by you and Mike?

 

How confident are you about escaping relegation and is there a plan in place if that disaster happens?

 

When you were trying to sell the club did anyone get as far as due diligence?

 

Is it true you and Mike were drinking in a bar in Dubai instead of meeting with a potential buyer?

 

Has there been any interest in the club since Mike took it off the market?

 

Do you accept you have made mistakes in how the club has been run?

 

Do you apologise for the upset you have caused with your actions and decisions?

 

SEASON TICKETS

 

I’ve paid for my season ticket for three years after being sold the Keegan dream. Can I get a refund on the remaining two years?

 

What would you say to anybody who is considering giving up their season ticket and what are the incentives to come back in August?

 

Given the fact attendances are down are you still looking at expanding the stadium?

 

Why were senior and disabled season tickets raised by 20%?

 

In recent games, such as the Hull City FA Cup replay, there have been yet more complaints about heavy handed stewarding for incidents as trivial as standing up when the team gets near the goal. Is this something you are looking into because it is bad customer service?

 

JOE KINNEAR

 

Now the club is off the market is it not time to look for a good, young manager?

 

It was made clear to fans at the time of Joe Kinnear’s appointment that he was only here to steady the ship so why have you offered him a two-year contract?

 

Has Joe been offered a two year contract? If so why when the majority of fans do no think he is the man to take us forward?

[snakehips 0]

Re the 8m transfer budget:

 

This could just be a case of forewarning clubs we are wanting to buy players from, not to ask too great a price in the assumption NUFC have a load of money to spend.

 

Or, it could well be a clever statement which just about equals KK's pay-off if he wins his case. Who would be looking the bad guy if KK wins his case and no player of any note is bought?? "Well, we were going to spend 8m - as I told you in Feb - but we have had to pay-off Kevin Keegan."

[Park Life 71]

Re the 8m transfer budget:

 

This could just be a case of forewarning clubs we are wanting to buy players from, not to ask too great a price in the assumption NUFC have a load of money to spend.

 

Or, it could well be a clever statement which just about equals KK's pay-off if he wins his case. Who would be looking the bad guy if KK wins his case and no player of any note is bought?? "Well, we were going to spend 8m - as I told you in Feb - but we have had to pay-off Kevin Keegan."

 

 

Ah! Didn't think of that.

[trophyshy 7084]

Re the 8m transfer budget:

 

This could just be a case of forewarning clubs we are wanting to buy players from, not to ask too great a price in the assumption NUFC have a load of money to spend.

 

Or, it could well be a clever statement which just about equals KK's pay-off if he wins his case. Who would be looking the bad guy if KK wins his case and no player of any note is bought?? "Well, we were going to spend 8m - as I told you in Feb - but we have had to pay-off Kevin Keegan."

 

Fuck me, that is exactly what the fuckers'll do.

[Big Onion 0]

I hope Keegan does win the case. The thought of this bunch of tricky, unscrupulous lying fucks being several million out of pocket to KK pleases me immensely.

 

(I realise some will object to that sentiment on account of the cash coming out of club coffers. But a.) I don't see any reason to believe Ashley will invest significantly in the first team whatever happens, b.) I suspect Keegan is in the right, and c.) I hate Ashley.)

[trophyshy 7084]

What a fucking carry on.

 

You couldn't make all this up, really.

[Snake 0]

I hope Keegan does win the case. The thought of this bunch of tricky, unscrupulous lying fucks being several million out of pocket to KK pleases me immensely.

 

(I realise some will object to that sentiment on account of the cash coming out of club coffers. But a.) I don't see any reason to believe Ashley will invest significantly in the first team whatever happens, b.) I suspect Keegan is in the right, and c.) I hate Ashley.)

 

Couldn't agree more. Then I hope Keegan goes public with every last detail

[Park Life 71]

I hope Keegan does win the case. The thought of this bunch of tricky, unscrupulous lying fucks being several million out of pocket to KK pleases me immensely.

 

(I realise some will object to that sentiment on account of the cash coming out of club coffers. But a.) I don't see any reason to believe Ashley will invest significantly in the first team whatever happens, b.) I suspect Keegan is in the right, and c.) I hate Ashley.)

 

Couldn't agree more. Then I hope Keegan goes public with every last detail

 

+1

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

It was made clear to fans at the time of Joe Kinnear’s appointment that he was only here to steady the ship so why have you offered him a two-year contract?

 

What was the answer to that one?

[Park Life 71]

It was made clear to fans at the time of Joe Kinnear’s appointment that he was only here to steady the ship so why have you offered him a two-year contract?

 

What was the answer to that one?

 

Err....Err...Ahmm...

[smoggeordie 0]

“West Brom wouldn’t allow him to wear jeans and his shirt and jacket.

 

“So when they come here I will insist they wear jeans and T-shirts.

 

“We’ll see how they like that one!”

 

 

 

 

That would have been funny if we hadn't already played them at home.

[Snake 0]

I think I preferred it when they said nothing

[acrossthepond 878]

"Many fans believe you are destroying NUFC. Discuss."

 

Great question!

 

"What are the incentives to coming back in August?" is a really good one as well.

[ewerk 31195]

Derek Llambias lifts lid on N'Zogbia and Given

 

Feb 11 2009 by Lee Ryder, Evening Chronicle

 

 

TOON supremo Derek Llambias has revealed his feelings over the departures of Newcastle United stars Charles N’Zogbia and Shay Given.

 

The pair jumped ship at St James’s Park during the January transfer window, with Given opting for Manchester City while N’Zogbia headed for Wigan and made his debut in front of 16,499 in their 0-0 draw with Fulham.

 

Llambias has accused N’Zogbia of being “deluded” but says that Given, who still has plans to hold fund-raising events for cancer at St James’s, will always be welcome at Gallowgate.

 

Llambias told the Chronicle: “Since I’ve been here Charles was always trying to get out of the club.

 

“He seemed to have this delusion that he was going to Arsenal or Man United and he’s ended up at Wigan.

 

“What’s all that about? It makes you think what are his motives.”

 

And speaking on Given, Llambias added: “The Shay situation was really difficult for us – he was an icon here, he was like Alan Shearer.

 

“We didn’t want to lose that.

 

“We never wanted to lose him.

 

“We emphasised that to him.

 

“Mike Ashley flew into to see Shay and tried to make him realise how valuable he was to us.”

 

“We want to continue working with Shay on his Macmillan charities.

 

“We don’t want to lose this relationship with Shay and I’ve made that very clear with the charity.

 

“It’s unfortunate, but what can you do when a player wants to leave?

 

“It’s no good having a player sitting in the stands, what can you do?

 

“It doesn’t do anybody any good.”

 

Llambias has also reflected on the exit of James Milner back in the August transfer window when Aston Villa coughed up £12m for his services.

 

Llambias said: “We didn’t want to lose James Milner.

 

“Realistically, he was only worth £6m according to people on our football side.

 

“Mike’s reasoning was that Villa would never pay £12m.

 

“But Villa went on and on and on, it got to 10 and we stuck to 12 because we didn’t want to lose him.

 

“At the end of the day I sat here with Milner and his head was turned, he’d played for Villa before and he wanted to go.

 

“We are not a selling club. We’re a buying club.”

 

Meanwhile United confirmed they go back in for January transfer targets Kieran Richardson, Michael Johnson, Nedum Onuoha and Albin Ebondo in the summer.

[Asprilla 96]

fucking hell

[NJS 4411]

Suggesting that they will go back for the same targets in the summer suggests two things:

 

1. Wise et al are really in charge of transfers a la supposed structure which makes "Every manager has had the players he's wanted" a complete lie.

 

2. Operation aside, they are assuming/have planned for Kinnear being manager next season

[Park Life 71]

They make a fair point about Milner. Never worth 12m.

[peasepud 59]

Some good questions there, how do we know these are the questions that were asked?

 

Because theyve been printed in a newspaper with the answers against them?

[peasepud 59]

We are trying to pay up front. People like (Fabricio) Coloccini, Xisco and (Jonás) Gutiérrez, we own those players, but that wasn’t the case before we got here.

 

“It’s like buying a car on hire purchase, but then it gets written off, but you still have to pay for it. That’s how the business was being run, they ran it on credit.

 

Are we sure about that? The rumour was that we paid half now and half after x (possibly 10) games.

 

 

As for the credit line, can someone put me straight here cos my brains frazzled.

 

How is it better to pay £6million up front for a player than pay in two installments of £3million each a year apart? My (probably dim) view of it is that there are a number of benefits to doing this.

 

Firstly, you save £3million which can be left in the bank and earn interest for a year or even better would be to use that £3million to buy another player?

 

If this is the case and we insist on paying cash upfront then how come we're not (allegedly) insisting the same on sales? The belief that the worlds richest club are paying us 6million over 4 years for Given is ludicrous.

[ewerk 31195]

How is it better to pay £6million up front for a player than pay in two installments of £3million each a year apart? My (probably dim) view of it is that there are a number of benefits to doing this.

 

Given the time value of money it's not better for us, the only benefit would be if we were to get a dscount for paying up front.

[Jackies the Lad 0]

what has been said is nothing short of a load of bullshit.

[northwestmag1892 0]

Telegraph Online

 

It's Day Two of Derek Llambias' exclusive interview in the Newcastle Chronicle ('The One They All Wanted!') and it's tough to know who's getting the bigger kicking from Toon fans – Llambias or the Chronicle.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...omedy-club.html

 

Does either really care?

[Kitman 2207]

Telegraph Online

 

It's Day Two of Derek Llambias' exclusive interview in the Newcastle Chronicle ('The One They All Wanted!') and it's tough to know who's getting the bigger kicking from Toon fans – Llambias or the Chronicle.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...omedy-club.html

 

Does either really care?

 

Seems like they've both gone to a bit of effort so I assume so.

[northwestmag1892 0]

Telegraph Online

 

It's Day Two of Derek Llambias' exclusive interview in the Newcastle Chronicle ('The One They All Wanted!') and it's tough to know who's getting the bigger kicking from Toon fans – Llambias or the Chronicle.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...omedy-club.html

 

Does either really care?

 

Seems like they've both gone to a bit of effort so I assume so.

 

I know what you mean but my real point was that the Chronicle has a captive audience anyway, and Llabia has opened his cake hole for the first time in the last week despite all that has gone on which is pretty shameful.