Calls for Mike Ashley to show some honesty

[Christmas Tree 4827]

From todays Ronny

 

 

FANS and civic leaders were today united in telling Toon owner Mike Ashley "enough is enough".

 

The club is in a deepening crisis, with no manager, no new owner and just 10 days to go until the start of the season.

 

Despite repeated claims from managing director Derek Llambias that a sale is imminent, a deal is yet to be done, with the Singapore-based Profitable Group yesterday withdrawing its interest.

 

And a usually reliable source close to another bidder has made contact with the Chronicle saying they are extremely frustrated in their efforts to negotiate a deal.

 

Those involved are said to be angered at the way they have been treated, the time it is taking to get access to the accounts and the lack of communication from the club.

 

The group is unwilling to go public until they get some answers, which the source claims they were seeking from Derek Llambias today.

 

A source at Seymour Pierce confirmed a meeting was taking place today but could not say who with. He added they had been in constant dialogue with all bidders and any suggestion they or the club had been unhelpful was not true. We have also been told Ashley is currently abroad but no-one would confirm this.

 

While the saga of the club’s ownership drags on, manager in waiting Alan Shearer has been left in limbo.

 

BBC colleague Gary Lineker today said he expects Shearer to be on the Match of the Day sofa, rather than in the Magpies’ dug-out come the start of the season.

 

What is for sure is the club’s income has been dented so much by demotion to the second tier, a major cash injection is needed simply to balance the books, with the bulk of United’s big money stars still on the payroll.

 

That has led to rumours it is on the brink of administration, which would lead to a 10 point deduction. It is difficult to know who to believe such is the shambles surrounding the whole process.

 

A spokesman for the Newcastle United Supporters Club, set up amid angry protests at Kevin Keegan’s St James’s Park exit, said: "Our position has been consistent throughout this sorry affair – Mike Ashley should go now, he has mishandled the sale much in the way he has handled the club.

 

"Newcastle United is not a stack of chips on a poker table to be gambled with, it’s a living entity that provides jobs and hopefully enjoyment to people in the future.

 

"What we are calling for is an end to the uncertainty, secrecy and rumour mill. It’s cards on the table time for all concerned and that includes the potential bidders for the club."

 

The Mag editor Mark Jensen said: "All fans are just waiting for a positive sign to rally behind and in this case, that has to be a new owner or Alan Shearer or another credible candidate being named as manager.

 

"There is a huge responsibility for Mike Ashley, the likes of Derek Llambias, and whoever is looking to buy the club to make that happen. What is happening at the minute is just damaging everyone from Ashley, the potential new owners and the fans."

 

Civic leaders say the United crisis has far- reaching consequences. City council leader Coun John Shipley said: "The success of Newcastle United as a football club is fundamental to the economic success of our city.

 

"We are one of the few cities with a stadium right in the centre and that generates a lot of income on a matchday, while the club can also attract significant corporate hospitality income.

 

"The spin-off the benefits to the wider city are hugely important and matter a great deal and that is why it is very important that the future ownership and management is sorted out as quickly as possible. Inevitably, there are deep financial issues that come as a result of relegation but the city needs bold action to be taken, otherwise there is a serious risk of drift."

 

Toon fan and MP for Newcastle East and Wallsend Nick Brown said: "If you ask anyone about Newcastle, the first thing they will say will be either Newcastle United or Brown Ale.

 

"That is how important the club is to the city and it is absolutely vital that Mike Ashley sells the club to a consortium that not only has the wealth to buy the club but is able to invest enough in it in future years.

 

"It is of overwhelming importance that the club is returned to the Premier League for the benefit of the city and the supporters of Newcastle United."

 

Six questions for Mike Ashley

 

1. ARE you going to sell the club and if so, how many serious bidders are still active?

 

2. IF you fail to find a buyer for Newcastle United, are you going to place the club in administration?

 

3. WHEN are you going to appoint a full-time manager?

 

4. ARE you sorry at the state of the club you have put up for sale?

 

5. IF you had your time again, what would you do differently with Newcastle United?

 

6. EXACTLY how has the situation come to this, and at what point did things start to go so disastrously wrong?

 

UTTER contempt – two words with which Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias must be familiar.

 

That is how the men in charge of Newcastle United have treated the fans and more than 100 staff they have contributed to making redundant after their mismanagement led to relegation.

 

It is how they have treated three great Newcastle icons, Kevin Keegan with his appointment and subsequent sacking, Alan Shearer a man they hailed as their greatest signing left not knowing where he stands, and Sir Bobby Robson – nowhere to be seen at a tribute dinner or match in his honour.

 

It is also, if information being passed to the Chronicle is to be believed, how they are treating serious bidders keen to do a deal but frustrated by a lack of co- operation.

 

Ten days to go and everyone is still waiting to know who will be in the boardroom, the dugout and on the pitch for the first match.

 

A demoralised squad, many of whom don’t want to even be here, gearing up for a difficult opening game at West Brom.

 

This should be a time to be United, to pull together in the same direction and strive for an immediate return to the Premier League.

 

Instead we have a club in crisis, owned by a guy who doesn’t care. We need answers and we need them now.

 

RIGHT here, right now, the Great Betrayal has got to stop.

 

Mike Ashley, the deaf mute of football who refuses to hear the wailing of a tortured Geordie clan or offer up either explanation or apology for the shocking, run- down state of Newcastle United, had better repent and come clean.

 

He must address those he has abused with an honesty he has never demonstrated.

 

He must clear the air. Tell it as it is. No longer hide behind the veil of secrecy he has drawn around himself.

 

Ashley is nothing short of an absolute disgrace, displaying total contempt for the ordinary man in the street – dismissing him as a horse dismisses an irritating fly with the swish of its tail.

 

Common courtesy is beyond him. He feels he owes nobody a thing and that he can do as he likes, when he likes, in the way he likes.

 

Well, he can’t. He is only passing through St James’s Park.

 

He may be the landlord but they come and go. United are forever.

 

History will judge him more harshly than anyone who has strode the corridors of power before him. He is the ultimate wrecker of dreams.

 

Not once this dreadful, barren, hopeless summer has he explained a solitary thing to those who care. Who wait in vain.

 

A Third-World dictator would at least pass public sentence before the firing squad got out the blindfolds.

 

Here we are heading into August – just days away from United’s first game out of the top strata since Kevin Keegan spectacularly rescued them in the mid- 1990s.

 

Yet we know not a thing about what is going to happen to our cherished club.

 

Is it near being sold? Or is the secret plan to jettison it into administration and so start the season with a 10-point deduction?

 

And what happened to the two consortiums managing director Derek Llambias told us in a rare loose-tongued moment had bid the asking price of £100m?

 

The silence is deafening from Ashley, a man who promised a more open regime after past misdemeanours.

 

A man who emblazoned King Kev on the back of his black-and- white striped shirt before hounding him out of town.

 

The same man who called Alan Shearer his best-ever signing and then ignored him as though he had swine flu.

 

All we’ve wanted throughout summer months is to be kept informed of what was club policy within SJP.

 

We never expected minute details of any takeover bids, which are laced with legal requirements over confidentiality.

 

All we hoped for was a general explanation over progress, the future of Shearer, the reasoning behind a total transfer black out, what the short-term plans were etc.

 

Darn it, one good reason why Ashley bought the club in the first place might not have gone amiss because he has never told us and I’m blowed if we can fathom it.

 

I have travelled the area as part of the Supporters’ Club roadshows talking to fans in Blyth, Holystone, Brandon and the like, and all, without exception, have nothing but contempt for United’s arrogant and indifferent owner.

 

Former players have approached me bewildered and angered, managers have been inquisitive, unable to believe what they see from far afield.

 

Even other chairmen have asked me: "How does Ashley get away with it?"

 

And I’m not talking about Dave Whelan at Wigan!

 

What is baffling is not only why Ashley wanted United in the first place, but what has been behind club policy ever since.

 

Appointing Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez. Messing about KK who has a history of not tolerating such behaviour. Bringing Joe Kinnear out of retirement. Treating Chris Hughton, three times caretaker boss, like a yo-yo. Trying to sell the club twice and taking it off the market once. Wearing shirts with first Alan Smith, then King Kev and, very fleetingly his wow signing Fabricio Coloccini on the back.

 

All class acts!

 

No wonder Geordies are asking how Ashley ever became a millionaire if these are examples of his visionary decision making.

 

We have put up with enough.

 

We have been a laughing stock long enough.

 

If we are condemned by the incompetence or indifference of this man then let him have the guts to tell us we don’t matter and he doesn’t care.

 

THE LONG SILENCE MUST END RIGHT NOW!

[MOT 0]

Silence is Golden.

[Guest alex]

Silence is Golden.

So is piss.

[Fop 1]

&

[Jimbo 175]

"The man don't give a fuck"

[Fop 1]

Silence is Golden.

You know you are in trouble when Leeds fans try to Troll you.

[Ayatollah Hermione 14052]

This is all fruitless. He doesn't give two shits about what he's doing and if he were to come out, it'd probably all be bullshit anyway, like every other statement.

[Christmas Tree 4827]

I think this is exactly what is needed, ie the media attention focusing on them and their lack of communication rather than the likes of Steve Mcmahon.

 

Hopefully the big boys will pick up on this and even if Ashley is thick skinned, the likes of seymour pierce wont want their reputation damaged with talked of badly treating potential bidders.

[Tom 14013]

I blame the fans.

[Happy Face 29]

He's a lying twat bag.

 

He could stand on the steps of St James' and answer any and every question thrown at him and we still wouldn't have a clue what the fuck is going on. At least when they keep their mouth shut they don't cause any more embarrassment.

[trophyshy 7084]

I'm sure his mother still loves him.

[ewerk 31200]

Who is Adam Jupp then?

[Park Life 71]

Freddie stepping up the phony war.

[Christmas Tree 4827]

Freddie stepping up the phony war.

 

 

Probably, but im in the whatever it takes camp.

[Park Life 71]

Freddie stepping up the phony war.

 

 

Probably, but im in the whatever it takes camp.

 

All the signs are in place, the shit will hit the fan in the next few days I reckon.

[Guest alex]

I'm in the I hope he has a crash and ends up a quadriplegic camp.

[Christmas Tree 4827]

I'm in the I hope he has a crash and ends up a quadriplegic camp.

[Park Life 71]

I'm in the I hope he has a crash and ends up a quadriplegic camp.

 

Mmm...SpackaDirect.

[2bias 3]

Silence is Golden.

So is piss.

depends how hydrated you are

[Angelus71 4]

"The man don't give a fuck"

 

[trophyshy 7084]

I'm in the I hope he has a crash and ends up a quadriplegic camp.

 

What are the odds of crashing into a quadraplegic camp though, can't he just hit the ocean like everyone else?

[ewerk 31200]

[Sonatine 11542]

I'm in the I hope he has a crash and ends up a quadriplegic camp.

 

First read that as quadriplegic gimp

[JUICE690 0]

Would have been nice to hear something from the F.A I realise there's fuck all they can do (isn't there?) but putting out some kind of statement that may in turn, turn the screws a little on the fat man a bri.....

 

 

..ah fuck it, what's the point.