The slippery slope

[sniffer 0]

I wasn't aware that intelligent and solicitor went together any more so than other professions.

[manc-mag 1]

I wasn't aware that intelligent and solicitor went together any more so than other professions.

 

You'd think I even mention it the way he goes on though. I never do because I couldn't give the first fuck about being a solicitor, anyone who's met me would tell you that. It's a job like any other.

 

Gemmill gets the same stick for being an accountant and I know for a fact it's the last thing Scott's arsed about.

 

He doesn't like teachers either like so we could be here all night with this list.

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

tbf the only time you've mentioned it I can remember is when you said you could talk someone through the basic rudiments of criminal law within a few hours, or whatever you actually said. Hardly bragging of your superior intellect that dwarfs us mere mortals.

[peasepud 59]

Bollocks, that time in the Trent, it was every other fucking word, especially when you were on the pull

[manc-mag 1]

tbf the only time you've mentioned it I can remember is when you said you could talk someone through the basic rudiments of criminal law within a few hours, or whatever you actually said. Hardly bragging of your superior intellect that dwarfs us mere mortals.

 

Glad you took it in the way it was intended as that was basically my point-theres nowt massively complicated about criminal law and as such anyone in the profession who tries to give the opposite impression is full of shit. Just being honest.

[manc-mag 1]

Bollocks, that time in the Trent, it was every other fucking word, especially when you were on the pull

 

 

I have a mate who hands out his business card. I only wish I was joking.

[peasepud 59]

Bollocks, that time in the Trent, it was every other fucking word, especially when you were on the pull

 

 

I have a mate who hands out his business card. I only wish I was joking.

Id hand mine out if I didnt think it would get me lynched

[Dr Gloom 22185]

I wasn't aware that intelligent and solicitor went together any more so than other professions.

 

You'd think I even mention it the way he goes on though. I never do because I couldn't give the first fuck about being a solicitor, anyone who's met me would tell you that. It's a job like any other.

 

Gemmill gets the same stick for being an accountant and I know for a fact it's the last thing Scott's arsed about.

 

He doesn't like teachers either like so we could be here all night with this list.

 

Don't forget about the fancy dan lecturers. And don't get him started on bleeding heart liberal pc brigade do gooders.

[Ayatollah Hermione 14069]

I hand out business cards. Though then again, I am conducting potential business deals at the time.

[LeazesMag 0]

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1

 

Why did you not say owt then?

 

I did, almost from day 1. The ONLY time I slightly wavered, was when he appointed Keegan and I HOPED [aye, let my heart rule my head, unlike me] that he would back his manager, or rather, I hoped Keegan would bully him into showing some ambition like he did when the Halls and Shepherd initially took over the club.

[LeazesMag 0]

I still think he bought it 'for fun' originally in the sense that he wanted something different to do with his 100's of £ millions. That's not to say he didn't want a profit out of it, that will always have been central, but I think that initial method was simply to buy the club cheap and sell it for double or treble a few years later. That's just what was happening in football at the time and why it would have appealed to him. I don't think his focus was on penny pinching at the very outset and I think the snapshot of transactions around that time shows this. Ditto the appointment of Keegan. Then the banks went to shit however and with it 99% of his potential buyer pool disappeared, along with the possibility he would make any money on exit. So things will have changed at that point for me.

 

The extent of the indebtedness of the club at the time of purchase/how much Ashley has put in to plug that is always going to be a source of dispute I reckon, but I'm pretty sure we're talking about significant sums. Equally whether in doing what he's alleged to be doing now (asset stripping/running it as a Sports Direct advertising hoarding) he's actually made any money overall is impossible to tell. Personally I don't think he's seen penny one yet and I don't think he'll be in 'profit' for many moons to come using the strategy. That's not a defence of his methods, just my view of the context of it all. That said he can afford to absorb those losses, which have arisen out of his own stupidity in not researching the club and bad timing (the first being his own fault and the latter being beyond the control of the speculator)

 

Think you make some interesting points on wage caps, Pud. I don't know how low he might try to drive it down further, but whats certain is we'll see the likes of Colo and Jonas leaving in the next year or so. I said that about all of the ones that went this window.

 

The vacant striker situation stands apart from anything else for me though. Any club, regardless of it's financial budget needs to replace it's main striker in that period of time, even if it's with a more economical model. To not do so at all literally takes it outside of a football economics debate. I think that's where the groundswell of opinion now lies against fatty.

 

congratulations on finally starting to wake up to what I've been telling you for ages, courtesy of PP and an excellently-put post.

 

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1, comments from Mort and Allardyce told us everything, if you were awake and receptive to see through what they were driving at, which in Morts case were naive in the extreme, or were to people who had seen the club run like a 3rd rate football club previously anyway.

 

How will he drive down the wage bill further ? By signing ever-inferior players, and "driving" down interest [and therefore gate receipts and commercial revenues etc] in the club still further perhaps ?

 

This club is in decline, it has been in decline for a few years now, since Ashley bought it, and this decline could be about to accelerate.

 

 

Not sure what you're getting at tbh. If you're talking about his intentions from day 1 I actually contradict what you're saying if you look at it (and what Pud said to a degree). I think his intentions changed when his buyer pool disappeared along with bank finance-that's when the budget model began. Of course he'll have always wanted a profit out of it ultimately (and from day 1), but then so has every owner we've ever had.

 

Pud's main point about the wage cap is absolutely compelling if it continues to go the way he predicts. And as I said, I think the (what has to amount to a refusal, never mind failure) to buy a striker actually takes it outside of a football economics debate for the present because it inflicted a real injury on the team which had absolutely no basis in budgetary constraints.

 

If somehow against all the apparent odds, we improve this season in terms of league finish then we once again get back into a business model debate though, like it or not. And I don't mean in the sense of us breaking into the top four, I just mean in terms of what we're about as a football club and what a club of our natural resources can expect to do in the present day. That goes back to the point on increased turnover incidentally, which Toonpack raised elsewhere. It will need the likes of you to start saying exactly where, how and how much extra turnover can be generated and where that allows you to aim for in this day and age. Not just 'raise turnover' because that won't do anymore.

 

But as I say, for the moment we're speared all that because it's not appropriate. In the last window Ashley inflicted a wound on the team which was utterly independent of budgets and the result has to be we don't even dignify the debate with second guessing the economics for now. That only becomes a live issue again if there is continued improvement this season.

 

load of wishy washy nothing comments avoiding the main issue, which is that you've been spouting bullshit for 4 years.

 

Leazes, you're a clot so I can't agree with you, you appreciate that deep down.

 

In one thread the other day you made a comment which essentially went: "Pardew came in and everything was fine, at some point he'll get disillusioned, and one day he'll leave/get fired. It was the same with Hughton" I honestly think you'll try and claim credit for this 'prediction' too one day, completely oblivious to the fact it is essentially the fate of 99.99% of professional managers since the dawn of time. As if anyone believes Pardew won't be leaving one day. Jesus wept

 

Deep down, you know you are wrong, and I can't agree with you because you are basically and egotistical wanker who can't admit when he is wrong.

[LeazesMag 0]

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1

 

Why did you not say owt then?

 

The key word is 'almost'. He's very cannily inserted that word in a huge amount of posts lately, purely as a get out clause because he knows we know he didn't say it from day one. Our Leazes could almost be mistaken for a lawyer

 

I started posting my reservations from when Mort talked about "good business" when we were buying players such as Geremi, and Allardyce complained that nobody was around the club to support instant decisions regarding transfers and other things on a day to day basis, and he complained again when nobody took no notice.

 

It wasn't so long into the first summer that this started happening. Its why I was banned from NO, because basically I answered everybody who disagreed with me, and I know I did, and I know it pissed people off, but I was 100% sure what I said was right. I can admit now that my false optimism when Keegan came back [like everybody] was wrong, because that is what it was. Its the only time I wavered, and its a shame others can't do the same.......

[LeazesMag 0]

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1

 

Why did you not say owt then?

 

strange that isn't it. and that's where leazesmag's whole "i was right, the rest of you were wrong" argument falls apart.

 

the only difference between leazesmag and everyone else is he thought shepherd was doing a great job. i'm sure he'd secretly admit that, just like the rest of us, he was excited at the prospect of a billionaire owner with deep pockets coming in. he didn't know ashley would be shit from the start. no one did. but it was equally obvious to everyone as soon as it started going tits up. it's not like he's some mastermind that called it from the beginning, so why he continues this crusade to persuade to prove to the rest of the board that he was right and everyone else has come around to his way of thinking is beyond me.

tbf Leazes did, I vividly remember a warning from LM when Ashley launched the takeover, and subsequent argument from me where he stated "the grass isnt always greener", my reply was along the lines of "yes its a gamble but Id rather take my chance with this new bloke than the current fat bastard".

 

 

exactly

 

I wanted Mike Ashley to be a good owner just as much as everyone else. It was just always going to be difficult , whatever the faults of the old owners.

[LeazesMag 0]

I'm quite confident now - certainly hopeful - that Ashley may match the Champions League qualifications, and better it, now that he has appointed the same manager that Fletcher, Hall Jnr and Shepherd chose.

 

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...st&p=430730

 

 

 

Leazes, can you read this?

 

stop avoiding a reply to me man both now and when you KNOW you gave me flak for saying what you are now agreeing with.

 

Look at the last post by PP too......

 

 

Desperate.

 

So can you read it btw or not?

 

so can you admit it took you 4 years to see through Mike Ashley, or are you still not able to admit you aren't such a clever boy as you think

[LeazesMag 0]

Get your head out of your arse and admit you have been wrong.

 

I'm quite confident now - certainly hopeful - that Ashley may match the Champions League qualifications, and better it, now that he has appointed the same manager that Fletcher, Hall Jnr and Shepherd chose.

 

Hmm

 

leazesmag proved to be talking shite and contradicting himself yet again. I'm surprised manc mag and others still engage with him. There really is no point in biting. It's all lies, contradictions and putting words in others' mouths to support his tired old crusade. This place is way more fun with him on ignore. Annoyingly, I still can't help but get drawn into it from time to time as ignore doesn't hide quotes.

 

my explanation is here, and I can admit something, and explain my own comments, unlike you, you utter shithead

 

you still do nothing but moan on, saying you wanted an ambitious board, when you slated one when we had one.

 

Edited September 8, 2011 by LeazesMag

[Guest alex]

Leazes called Ashley correctly before anyone else as far as I can remember. He expressed misgivings about a lack of backing way back when Allardyce was still manager.

[LeazesMag 0]

I wasn't aware that intelligent and solicitor went together any more so than other professions.

 

 

 

[Happy Face 29]

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1

 

Why did you not say owt then?

 

I did, almost from day 1. The ONLY time I slightly wavered, was when he appointed Keegan and I HOPED [aye, let my heart rule my head, unlike me] that he would back his manager, or rather, I hoped Keegan would bully him into showing some ambition like he did when the Halls and Shepherd initially took over the club.

 

 

I'll stand corrected if you can quote yourself stating his intentions at the time then.

 

As it is I've quoted you saying the opposite 7 months after the bloke arrived.

 

Hardly a temporary state of mind either cos in March you were still saying...

 

My money is on Keegan buying well and improving us quite a lot if Ashley backs him.

Everybody needs backing to have a chance.

 

Time will tell.

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...st&p=447707

 

Hardly pointing out the obvious 9 months in were you?

 

Credit where it's due though. As soon as the murmurings from Keegan started coming out towards the end of the season you started hammering Ashley at every opportunity. I (like Keegan) gave them the benefit of the doubt until Keegan walked in September, so you were a good four months ahead of the curve for me.

 

And PP has said similar I think.

 

No need to claim clairvoyance that you demonstrably didn't have though.

[Monroe Transfer 0]

Leazes called Ashley correctly before anyone else as far as I can remember. He expressed misgivings about a lack of backing way back when Allardyce was still manager.

 

In that case, give him the keys to the city!

[Guest alex]

Leazes called Ashley correctly before anyone else as far as I can remember. He expressed misgivings about a lack of backing way back when Allardyce was still manager.

 

In that case, give him the keys to the city!

Just saying, that's all. He was about the only one saying it the summer KK left too (the only one I remember anyway).

[Dr Gloom 22185]

Leazes called Ashley correctly before anyone else as far as I can remember. He expressed misgivings about a lack of backing way back when Allardyce was still manager.

 

In that case, give him the keys to the city!

Just saying, that's all. He was about the only one saying it the summer KK left too (the only one I remember anyway).

 

really? i seem to remember this place kicking off the summer keegan walked. that seemed to be when the penny dropped for most of us. people were furious with ashley after milner was sold against keegan's wishes and replaced with xisco and gonzales. that's what basically led to his departure isn't it? being undermined by the board. did leazes really see that before the rest of us?

Edited September 8, 2011 by Dr Gloom

[Guest alex]

Leazes called Ashley correctly before anyone else as far as I can remember. He expressed misgivings about a lack of backing way back when Allardyce was still manager.

 

In that case, give him the keys to the city!

Just saying, that's all. He was about the only one saying it the summer KK left too (the only one I remember anyway).

 

really? i seem to remember this place kicking off the summer keegan walked. that seemed to be when the penny dropped for most of us. people were furious with ashley after milner was sold and replaced with xisco and gonzales.

I meant prior to KK walking, obviously. Fucking hell

[LeazesMag 0]

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1

 

Why did you not say owt then?

 

I did, almost from day 1. The ONLY time I slightly wavered, was when he appointed Keegan and I HOPED [aye, let my heart rule my head, unlike me] that he would back his manager, or rather, I hoped Keegan would bully him into showing some ambition like he did when the Halls and Shepherd initially took over the club.

 

 

I'll stand corrected if you can quote yourself stating his intentions at the time then.

 

As it is I've quoted you saying the opposite 7 months after the bloke arrived.

 

Hardly a temporary state of mind either cos in March you were still saying...

 

My money is on Keegan buying well and improving us quite a lot if Ashley backs him.

Everybody needs backing to have a chance.

 

Time will tell.

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...st&p=447707

 

Hardly pointing out the obvious 9 months in were you?

 

Credit where it's due though. As soon as the murmurings from Keegan started coming out towards the end of the season you started hammering Ashley at every opportunity. I (like Keegan) gave them the benefit of the doubt until Keegan walked in September, so you were a good four months ahead of the curve for me.

 

And PP has said similar I think.

 

No need to claim clairvoyance that you demonstrably didn't have though.

 

My money is on Keegan buying well and improving us quite a lot if Ashley backs him.

 

my thoughts and reservations are still there, in the bold ??

 

I'm not going to deny my own comments, like posters such as mancmag and Gloomy do, especially to you who are one of the best football posters on the board. It's just a shame some fuckers have their heads up their arse, like the 2 mentioned, and can't admit it, especially Gloomy, who does nowt but moan on about wanting and ambitious board, when he slated them when we had it - which I pointed out to him at the time too...

 

and he knows it, which is the REAL reason why he won't engage in comments and posts to/with me.

Edited September 8, 2011 by LeazesMag

[Monroe Transfer 0]

His [Ashleys] intentions were obvious almost from day 1

 

Why did you not say owt then?

 

I did, almost from day 1. The ONLY time I slightly wavered, was when he appointed Keegan and I HOPED [aye, let my heart rule my head, unlike me] that he would back his manager, or rather, I hoped Keegan would bully him into showing some ambition like he did when the Halls and Shepherd initially took over the club.

 

 

I'll stand corrected if you can quote yourself stating his intentions at the time then.

 

As it is I've quoted you saying the opposite 7 months after the bloke arrived.

 

Hardly a temporary state of mind either cos in March you were still saying...

 

My money is on Keegan buying well and improving us quite a lot if Ashley backs him.

Everybody needs backing to have a chance.

 

Time will tell.

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...st&p=447707

 

Hardly pointing out the obvious 9 months in were you?

 

Credit where it's due though. As soon as the murmurings from Keegan started coming out towards the end of the season you started hammering Ashley at every opportunity. I (like Keegan) gave them the benefit of the doubt until Keegan walked in September, so you were a good four months ahead of the curve for me.

 

And PP has said similar I think.

 

No need to claim clairvoyance that you demonstrably didn't have though.

 

My money is on Keegan buying well and improving us quite a lot if Ashley backs him.

 

my thoughts and reservations are still there, in the bold ??

 

I'm not going to deny my own comments, like posters such as mancmag and Gloomy do, especially to you who are one of the best football posters on the board. It's just a shame some fuckers have their heads up their arse, like the 2 mentioned, and can't admit it, especially Gloomy, who does nowt but moan on about wanting and ambitious board, when he slated them when we had it - which I pointed out to him at the time too...

 

and he knows it, which is the REAL reason why he won't engage in comments and posts to/with me.

 

I think he has you on ignore, that's why he doesn't answer you.

[LeazesMag 0]

Leazes called Ashley correctly before anyone else as far as I can remember. He expressed misgivings about a lack of backing way back when Allardyce was still manager.

 

In that case, give him the keys to the city!

Just saying, that's all. He was about the only one saying it the summer KK left too (the only one I remember anyway).

 

really? i seem to remember this place kicking off the summer keegan walked. that seemed to be when the penny dropped for most of us. people were furious with ashley after milner was sold and replaced with xisco and gonzales.

I meant prior to KK walking, obviously. Fucking hell

 

Gloomy has comprehension problems, it would appear