Well said that man

[Snake 0]

Another one has seen through the bullshit and lies

 

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/col...St_James__Park/

 

Vow of silence finally broken at St James' Park

 

By Scott Wilson

 

 

SO Derek Llambias has finally broken his silence, and said he’s sorry. What Newcastle’s embattled managing director hasn’t said, though, is what he’s sorry for, or what he’s willing to do to repair the damage.

 

As befits a regime that appeared to have taken a collective vow of silence following its takeover of Newcastle United, this week’s offensive in the ongoing propaganda war was more notable for what was not said than what was.

 

At no stage was there an acceptance that the structure at St James’ Park is flawed, or an acknowledgement that Newcastle supporters’ grievances run far deeper than an emotional yearning for Kevin Keegan’s return.

 

There was no commitment to provide supporters with a meaningful input into the running of their club, only a suggestion that talks were already ongoing with the Newcastle United Supporters’ Club – a claim that was later denied by the fans’ group.

 

And there was no grand plan for how to get Newcastle out of the mess they currently inhabit.

 

So if Llambias, pictured below, failed to address a number of key issues that have turned Newcastle supporters against their own club, what did he say?

 

Plenty that was predictable.

 

There was a commitment to improve dialogue between the management and the fans, but no sense of how this was going to happen, and certainly nothing that suggested that Mike Ashley was going to become the public face that Newcastle desperately need.

 

There was a series of attacks on the former regime – the club was in financial trouble, transfer fees were outstanding even though deals had been concluded years previously, sponsorship money had already been squandered on the purchase of Michael Owen – but no admission that all of this should have been known before Ashley put his business plan in place.

 

Newcastle supporters should not be paying the price for their owner’s impetuosity.

 

A failure to complete a meaningful process of due diligence meant that crippling financial problems only came to light when it was too late to modify expenditure to deal with them.

 

Freddy Shepherd’s stewardship has clearly saddled Newcastle with a myriad of debts, but if you buy a car and it breaks down the following day, it’s your problem not the previous owner’s.

 

Ashley appears to have splashed the cash without even checking there was an engine under the bonnet. He also introduced a controversial management model that ultimately led to the departure of Keegan, yet Llambias was quick to defend a system that has been dismantled at every other Premier League club at which it had previously been deployed.

 

“It’s been tore up at Tottenham and they’ve dismissed it to go back to the old-fashioned style, but for us we still thinks it works,” said Llambias.

 

It works so well, it seems, that the departure of one of the most iconic managers in Newcastle’s history and a transfer policy that has seen James Milner, Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia depart for a combined total of about £24m can be deemed a success.

 

And what of Dennis Wise, Newcastle’s million-pounda- year man? What does an executive director (football) do to justify his salary when the only players to arrive last month were a free agent who was being touted around the Premier League and two players who could be seen on Match of the Day every Saturday night? Despite a supposed new era of openness, your guess is still as good as mine.

 

If there were positives to come out of Llambias’ address they were the fact that the interview took place at all – any information has to be better than none, even if the recipients of said information were carefully controlled – and a promise to reinvest the £8m-or-so that is outstanding from transfer receipts in the summer transfer window. Provided, of course, Newcastle retain their Premier League status between now and then.

 

Ultimately, though, this was a case of too little, too late. Too late, because a significant section of supporters have already delivered their verdict on the regime and intend to vote with their feet next season.

 

And too little, because contrary to the popular song lyric, sorry is not the hardest word. An apology means nothing without a commitment to change.

[Big Onion 0]

I hope the local press remain as sceptical for as long as the bullshitfest continues.

 

Just as an aside, this idea that they didn't undertake due diligence is repeated so often it's now taken as fact. Yet Mort said this in August 2007:

 

"It's a bit more complicated than saying there's a debt figure of £x. In terms of money being spent by the club it is more convoluted than that. It's not that debt has been squirrelled away, it's spending some of the money before it comes in, which frankly, is not necessarily debt, it's just a means of investing money before you've actually got it. There's been a bit of that, the club has done that."

 

So there is something in the rumour that Newcastle spent their Northern Rock sponsorship money up front? "I'd rather keep it broad. I just think the financial position of the club is not as strong as we hoped it might be. But that in itself has not held back our investment on the playing squad and it's something that we'll deal with. We did the typical due diligence one would do on a public takeover. There is no sense that anyone has tried to mislead us."

 

I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced by the often-used notion that Ashley bought the club blind, as it were.

[snakehips 0]

"Ashley appears to have splashed the cash without even checking there was an engine under the bonnet'

 

More like he's bought a bus without an engine; he's got rid of the competent driver we had and replaced him with a driver who has health problems and isn't qualified; has employed a smarmy conductor; and expects the passengers to push the fucking bus, without telling them where we're going or passing on any thanks.

Edited February 13, 2009 by snakehips

[paddock 0]

"Ashley appears to have splashed the cash without even checking there was an engine under the bonnet'

 

More like he's bought a bus without an engine; he's got rid of the competent driver we had and replaced him with a driver who has health problems and isn't qualified; has employed a smarmy conductor; and expects the passengers to push the fucking bus, without telling them where we're going or passing on any thanks.

 

 

 

and buy a pass for the next three years, oh and if we get a puncture during the three years , we will let the wheels fall off our wagon.

[ICJ 0]

“It’s been tore up at Tottenham and they’ve dismissed it to go back to the old-fashioned style, but for us we still thinks it works,” said Llambias.

 

based on what logic?

yer fucking spineless streak of piss

[Big Onion 0]

Even spuds realised that there might just have been a relationship between them being in the relegation zone and their transfer policy.

 

Not sure buying back all the players they'd just sold was the best way to rectify things mind