The slippery slope

[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.

 

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'd call that cautiously optimistic rather than pointing out Ashley's obvious intentions from day one.

 

I'm sure no-one would disagree with that cautious optimism at the time or deny that you weren't 100% sure about him. But you're over egging the pudding with your "I knew from day one" claims.

 

I could equally say I was right from ay one when i said in the week of the buyout...

 

Ashley needs a stooge to take a fall if it all goes tits up.

 

First sign of trouble, Shepherd will be the scapegoat.

 

...but we didn't know anything....we were being cautious.

[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 and replaced with xisco and gonzales.

I meant prior to KK walking, obviously. Fucking hell

 

ah, fair enough. i don't remember that. people were probably still prepared to give him a go during the window because he was a billionaire and we hoped we might spend the cash. it became pretty obvious what his intentions were though by the end of the summer.

 

the mad thing with leazes is i think he actually agrees with us all really about ashley. he probably had the same hopes the rest of us did when he took over. it seemed on paper that we were about to get a guy with deeper pockets than the previous owners - his post quoted earlier about being excited when they appointed keegan backs that up.

 

the main difference between leazesmag and the consensus is his views on the old board. he was right about them being better than the current lot but i don't get why he makes stuff up to make his point. he constantly accuses me getting what i wanted in ashley (obviously wrong), taking four years to come around to his way of thinking (wrong as proved in this thread) and saying anyone was better than fred (obviously wrong. i thought a better owner might be out there but i wasn't naive enough to think we definitely would get one and a new owner would definitely be better than the old board. i don't know where he gets that from tbh)

[Guest alex]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

[Ollie Burtons Grandad 0]

I could be wrong but is this thread now devoted to Team Delusional having a go at LeazesMag because he was right about Ashley, the only point in question seems to be exactly when he was right. Well before any other fucker it would appear; is that what is causing the outpourings of old quotes and attempts at hair splitting?

 

A truly pointless fucking thread this has turned out to be.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

That's a great first post by the way, and probably just about spot on.

 

As much as I am pretty anti-Ashley, I have no problem if that is the plan. The problem I have is the lies and bullshit. If the club had come out in January and said 'there is no money, the Carroll sale is clearing debt, we will only have money to buy in the summer from any one extra we sell' then that would be fair enough. I could then have made a decision on whether I wanted to renew or not. Thing is, they know that, and the truth would probably lose a fair few season ticket sales.

[Happy Face 29]

I could be wrong but is this thread now devoted to Team Delusional having a go at LeazesMag because he was right about Ashley, the only point in question seems to be exactly when he was right. Well before any other fucker it would appear; is that what is causing the outpourings of old quotes and attempts at hair splitting?

 

A truly pointless fucking thread this has turned out to be.

 

You've got to keep Leazes in check tbf.

 

One minute you can say Ashley deserved a chance upon arrival and the next he'll tell everyone you said "Anyone but Shepherd, I hated the 90's at NUFC".

[David Kelly 1260]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

I think the missing out on Modric was the first real indicator for a lot of people. Before then most probably thought that it was just a case of Fat Sam not being his man so he wasn't prepared to splash out on his targets. Bringing in Keegan also seemed to be a clear indicator that his intentions were to have fun and try and repeat what KK had done with the Halls. As it turned out it seems he just wanted Keegan to pacify the fans and hadn't understood the type of person Keegan is (ie he wasn't prepared to feed us the shite that Pardew is).

[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.

 

I'd call that cautiously optimistic rather than pointing out Ashley's obvious intentions from day one.

 

I'm sure no-one would disagree with that cautious optimism at the time or deny that you weren't 100% sure about him. But you're over egging the pudding with your "I knew from day one" claims.

 

I could equally say I was right from ay one when i said in the week of the buyout...

 

Ashley needs a stooge to take a fall if it all goes tits up.

 

First sign of trouble, Shepherd will be the scapegoat.

 

...but we didn't know anything....we were being cautious.

 

you're one of the more sensible posters on here though.......the vast majority just wanted "Fred out" etc etc, and didn't really care who replaced "him" [see Halls and Shepherd], the same as the vast majority of posters on Newcastle Online. They basically thought anybody would be better, in terms of they thought "anybody" else would tap the resources, maintain the revenues, retain the ambitions but cut down or cut out the PR gaffes, dividends [however small in relative terms], the renting of the warehouse [however small in relative terms], despite the obvious scenario that this would not necessarily being the case. When myself and a few others, ie HTL for one, said this, we were shouted down, given flak and eventually I was banned from Newcastle Online for it.

 

I don't really want to trawl through my old posts, I can't be bothered, to find posts on here, and as I'm banned from NO by options are limited, I can't do it on there anyway [most of them are on there though]. You could look for posts by people like Mick, if you can be bothered, but Alex and PP have re-iterated that I made these points early on/in the first summer of Mike Ashley's ownership.

 

But I expect a handful of morons [they know who they are] to still disagree

[Monroe Transfer 0]

I could be wrong but is this thread now devoted to Team Delusional having a go at LeazesMag because he was right about Ashley, the only point in question seems to be exactly when he was right. Well before any other fucker it would appear; is that what is causing the outpourings of old quotes and attempts at hair splitting?

 

A truly pointless fucking thread this has turned out to be.

 

You're like Robin to his Batman.

[LeazesMag 0]

I could be wrong but is this thread now devoted to Team Delusional having a go at LeazesMag because he was right about Ashley, the only point in question seems to be exactly when he was right. Well before any other fucker it would appear; is that what is causing the outpourings of old quotes and attempts at hair splitting ?

 

A truly pointless fucking thread this has turned out to be.

 

 

bitter posts from the clever lads like mancmag, and Gloomy etc, who can't accept someone else proves them wrong [although, as they know absolutely nothing about me at all, have no basis for thinking such thoughts].

[LeazesMag 0]

I could be wrong but is this thread now devoted to Team Delusional having a go at LeazesMag because he was right about Ashley, the only point in question seems to be exactly when he was right. Well before any other fucker it would appear; is that what is causing the outpourings of old quotes and attempts at hair splitting?

 

A truly pointless fucking thread this has turned out to be.

 

You're like Robin to his Batman.

 

you're [almost] a more depressing version of Gloomy.

[Guest alex]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

I think the missing out on Modric was the first real indicator for a lot of people. Before then most probably thought that it was just a case of Fat Sam not being his man so he wasn't prepared to splash out on his targets. Bringing in Keegan also seemed to be a clear indicator that his intentions were to have fun and try and repeat what KK had done with the Halls. As it turned out it seems he just wanted Keegan to pacify the fans and hadn't understood the type of person Keegan is (ie he wasn't prepared to feed us the shite that Pardew is).

Promised KK as much money as he wanted from what I heard like. I'm not quite sure if that was an outright lie (assuming the info is correct) or whether he started having 2nd thoughts after losing all that lolly on the stock markets (pre-crash, spread betting on HBOS shares, was it?). The Dennis Wise appointment threw a real spanner in the works too as there was never a very good relationship between him and the manager. Still utterly ridiculous that Ashley sided with Wise then got rid of him soon afterwards anyway.

[LeazesMag 0]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

 

ah, the clever boy strikes again, bet he won't admit that either

[Guest alex]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

 

ah, the clever boy strikes again, bet he won't admit that either

It was sitting on the fence a bit I suppose. He was blatantly just taking the piss though, is he is apt to do.

[David Kelly 1260]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

I think the missing out on Modric was the first real indicator for a lot of people. Before then most probably thought that it was just a case of Fat Sam not being his man so he wasn't prepared to splash out on his targets. Bringing in Keegan also seemed to be a clear indicator that his intentions were to have fun and try and repeat what KK had done with the Halls. As it turned out it seems he just wanted Keegan to pacify the fans and hadn't understood the type of person Keegan is (ie he wasn't prepared to feed us the shite that Pardew is).

Promised KK as much money as he wanted from what I heard like. I'm not quite sure if that was an outright lie (assuming the info is correct) or whether he started having 2nd thoughts after losing all that lolly on the stock markets (pre-crash, spread betting on HBOS shares, was it?). The Dennis Wise appointment threw a real spanner in the works too as there was never a very good relationship between him and the manager. Still utterly ridiculous that Ashley sided with Wise then got rid of him soon afterwards anyway.

It may well be that he just changed his mind based on losing money and/or discovering exactly how much it would entail. It could even be the case that now or in the future he may have more disposable money that he could have spent on us but I would imagine that we've burnt our bridges with him now and he's never going to spend any of his own money on us now.

[Guest alex]

Manc-mag gave me grief for sitting on the fence when I said a new owner wouldn't necessarily be better than Shepherd iirc. Forgot about that That was more just me being cynical than being Nostradamus though. I also got some ITK about KK being well pissed off because Modric wasn't signed (he trained with us but Ashley wouldn't pay up). Tbh I brushed it off though and even that summer I thought all would be well. I also remember Craig Burley (in the build up to Arsenal away - KK's last game in charge, I think) saying that all was clearly not well at NUFC. I thought he was just being biased against us and (along with the rest of the press) was playing a guessing game / being mischievous. He was spot on though.

I think the missing out on Modric was the first real indicator for a lot of people. Before then most probably thought that it was just a case of Fat Sam not being his man so he wasn't prepared to splash out on his targets. Bringing in Keegan also seemed to be a clear indicator that his intentions were to have fun and try and repeat what KK had done with the Halls. As it turned out it seems he just wanted Keegan to pacify the fans and hadn't understood the type of person Keegan is (ie he wasn't prepared to feed us the shite that Pardew is).

Promised KK as much money as he wanted from what I heard like. I'm not quite sure if that was an outright lie (assuming the info is correct) or whether he started having 2nd thoughts after losing all that lolly on the stock markets (pre-crash, spread betting on HBOS shares, was it?). The Dennis Wise appointment threw a real spanner in the works too as there was never a very good relationship between him and the manager. Still utterly ridiculous that Ashley sided with Wise then got rid of him soon afterwards anyway.

It may well be that he just changed his mind based on losing money and/or discovering exactly how much it would entail. It could even be the case that now or in the future he may have more disposable money that he could have spent on us but I would imagine that we've burnt our bridges with him now and he's never going to spend any of his own money on us now.

Aye, a combiantion of both is probably about the size of it.

[Happy Face 29]

you're one of the more sensible posters on here though.......the vast majority just wanted "Fred out" etc etc, and didn't really care who replaced "him" [see Halls and Shepherd], the same as the vast majority of posters on Newcastle Online. They basically thought anybody would be better, in terms of they thought "anybody" else would tap the resources, maintain the revenues, retain the ambitions but cut down or cut out the PR gaffes, dividends [however small in relative terms], the renting of the warehouse [however small in relative terms], despite the obvious scenario that this would not necessarily being the case. When myself and a few others, ie HTL for one, said this, we were shouted down, given flak and eventually I was banned from Newcastle Online for it.

 

I don't really want to trawl through my old posts, I can't be bothered, to find posts on here, and as I'm banned from NO by options are limited, I can't do it on there anyway [most of them are on there though]. You could look for posts by people like Mick, if you can be bothered, but Alex and PP have re-iterated that I made these points early on/in the first summer of Mike Ashley's ownership.

 

But I expect a handful of morons [they know who they are] to still disagree

 

Again, phrases like "vast majority" are where you over egg the pudding. The vast majority did indeed want Fred out, me included. If anyone said it, it must have been a tiny minority who said they "didn't really care who replaced "him"" though.

 

It's getting on for a majority of fans wanting Arsene Wenger out at Arsenal these days.....I'm sure most of them wouldn't be happier with Joe Kinnear, and they aren't saying Wenger hasn't had an overall positive effect on the club.

[Dr Gloom 22185]

you're one of the more sensible posters on here though.......the vast majority just wanted "Fred out" etc etc, and didn't really care who replaced "him" [see Halls and Shepherd], the same as the vast majority of posters on Newcastle Online. They basically thought anybody would be better, in terms of they thought "anybody" else would tap the resources, maintain the revenues, retain the ambitions but cut down or cut out the PR gaffes, dividends [however small in relative terms], the renting of the warehouse [however small in relative terms], despite the obvious scenario that this would not necessarily being the case. When myself and a few others, ie HTL for one, said this, we were shouted down, given flak and eventually I was banned from Newcastle Online for it.

 

I don't really want to trawl through my old posts, I can't be bothered, to find posts on here, and as I'm banned from NO by options are limited, I can't do it on there anyway [most of them are on there though]. You could look for posts by people like Mick, if you can be bothered, but Alex and PP have re-iterated that I made these points early on/in the first summer of Mike Ashley's ownership.

 

But I expect a handful of morons [they know who they are] to still disagree

 

Again, phrases like "vast majority" are where you over egg the pudding. The vast majority did indeed want Fred out, me included. If anyone said it, it must have been a tiny minority who said they "didn't really care who replaced "him"" though.

 

It's getting on for a majority of fans wanting Arsene Wenger out at Arsenal these days.....I'm sure most of them wouldn't be happier with Joe Kinnear, and they aren't saying Wenger hasn't had an overall positive effect on the club.

 

fucking hell. just reading what you've quoted there supports everything i said in my last post. he's such a bizarre character.

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

Promised KK as much money as he wanted from what I heard like. I'm not quite sure if that was an outright lie (assuming the info is correct) or whether he started having 2nd thoughts after losing all that lolly on the stock markets (pre-crash, spread betting on HBOS shares, was it?). The Dennis Wise appointment threw a real spanner in the works too as there was never a very good relationship between him and the manager. Still utterly ridiculous that Ashley sided with Wise then got rid of him soon afterwards anyway.

 

I'd be over 90% sure it was an outright lie. The board are proven liars, and they have lied to Shearer, Nolan and others, even going so far as shaking hands on deals and then reneging.

[Guest alex]

Promised KK as much money as he wanted from what I heard like. I'm not quite sure if that was an outright lie (assuming the info is correct) or whether he started having 2nd thoughts after losing all that lolly on the stock markets (pre-crash, spread betting on HBOS shares, was it?). The Dennis Wise appointment threw a real spanner in the works too as there was never a very good relationship between him and the manager. Still utterly ridiculous that Ashley sided with Wise then got rid of him soon afterwards anyway.

 

I'd be over 90% sure it was an outright lie. The board are proven liars, and they have lied to Shearer, Nolan and others, even going so far as shaking hands on deals and then reneging.

Their track record does speak for itself like. Btw, is there a transcript online of those infamous programme notes / open letter to the fans from FMA (first home game of the relegation season I think - Bolton, was it?)? As some of the shit in that was fucking outrageous in retrospect.

[Happy Face 29]

Promised KK as much money as he wanted from what I heard like. I'm not quite sure if that was an outright lie (assuming the info is correct) or whether he started having 2nd thoughts after losing all that lolly on the stock markets (pre-crash, spread betting on HBOS shares, was it?). The Dennis Wise appointment threw a real spanner in the works too as there was never a very good relationship between him and the manager. Still utterly ridiculous that Ashley sided with Wise then got rid of him soon afterwards anyway.

 

I'd be over 90% sure it was an outright lie. The board are proven liars, and they have lied to Shearer, Nolan and others, even going so far as shaking hands on deals and then reneging.

Their track record does speak for itself like. Btw, is there a transcript online of those infamous programme notes / open letter to the fans from FMA (first home game of the relegation season I think - Bolton, was it?)? As some of the shit in that was fucking outrageous in retrospect.

 

 

The Hull Game after it kicked off?

 

I have enjoyed sport since I was a boy. I love football. I have followed England in every tournament since Mexico '86. I was there to see Maradona and his hand of God. I know what it means to love football and to love a club. I know how important it is to other people because football is so important to me. My life has been tied up with sport. It was the passion that I felt for sport that helped me to be successful with my business. That success allowed me to mix my passion and my business. I am not stupid and have listened to the fans. I have really loved taking my kids to the games, being next to them and all the fans. But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. I bought Newcastle United in May 2007. Newcastle attracted me because everyone in England knows that it has the best fans in football. When the fans are behind the club at St James' Park it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It is magic. Newcastle's best asset has been, is and always will be the fans. But like any business with assets the club has debts. I paid £134 million out of my own pocket for the club. I then poured another £110 million into the club not to pay off the debt but just to reduce it. The club is still in debt. Even worse than that, the club still owes millions of pounds in transfer fees. I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived. But there was a double whammy. Commercial deals such as sponsorships and advertising had been front loaded. The money had been paid upfront and spent. I was left with a club that owed millions and part of whose future had been mortgaged. Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived. It could have shared the fate of other clubs who have borrowed too heavily against their future. Before I had spent a penny on wages or buying players Newcastle United had cost me more than a quarter of a billion pounds. Don't get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle because I love football. Newcastle does not generate the income of a Manchester United or a Real Madrid. I am Mike Ashley, not Mike Ashley a multi-billionaire with unlimited resources. Newcastle United and I can't do what other clubs can. We can't afford it. I knew that the club would cost me money every year after I had bought it. I have backed the club with money. You can see that from the fact that Newcastle has the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League. I was always prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of £20 million per year but no more. That was my bargain. I would make the club solvent. I would make it a going concern. I would pour up to £20 million a year into the club and not expect anything back. It has to be realised that if I put £100 million into the club year in year out then it would not be too long before I was cleaned out and a debt ridden Newcastle United would find itself in the position that faced Leeds United. That is the nightmare for every fan. To love a club that overextends itself, that tries to spend what it can't afford. That will never happen to Newcastle when I am in charge. The truth is that Newcastle could not sustain buying the Shevchenko's, Robinho's or the Berbatov's. These are recognised European footballers. They have played in the European leagues and everyone knows about them. They can be brilliant signings. But everybody knows that they are brilliant and so they, and players like them, cost more than £30 million to buy before you even take into account agent commissions and the multi-million pound wage deals. My plan and my strategy for Newcastle is different. It has to be. Arsenal is the shining example in England of a sustainable business model. It takes time. It can't be done overnight. Newcastle has therefore set up an extensive scouting system. We look for young players, for players in foreign leagues who everyone does not know about. We try and stay ahead of the competition. We search high and low looking for value, for potential that we can bring on and for players who will allow Newcastle to compete at the very highest level but who don't cost the earth. I am prepared to back large signings for millions of pounds but for a player who is young and has their career in front of them and not for established players at the other end of their careers. There is no other workable way forward for Newcastle. It is in this regard that Dennis (Wise) and his team have done a first class job in scouting for talent to secure the future of the club. You only need to look at some of our signings to see that it is working, slowly working. Look at Jonas Guttierrez and Fabricio Collocini. These are world class players. The plan is showing dividends with the signing of exceptional young talent such as Sebastien Bassong, Danny Guthrie and Xisco. My investment in the club has extended to time, effort and yet again, money being poured into the Academy. I want Newcastle to be able to create its own legends of the future to rival those of the past. This is a long term plan. A long term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish. One person alone can't manage a Premiership football club and scout the world looking for world class players and stars of the future. It needs a structure and it needs people who are dedicated to that task. It needs all members of the management team to share that vision for it to work. Also one of the reasons that the club was so in debt when I took over was due to transfer dealings caused by managers moving in and out of the club. Every time there was a change in manager millions would be spent on new players and millions would be lost as players were sold. It can't keep on working like that. It is just madness. I hope that all the fans get to read this statement so that they understand what I am about. I would not expect all of the fans to agree with me. But I have set out, clearly, my plan. I have put Newcastle on a sound financial footing. It is reducing its debt. It is spending within itself. It is recruiting exciting new players and bringing in players for the future. The fans want this process to happen more quickly and they want huge amounts spent in the transfer market so that the club can compete at the top table of European football now. I am not stupid and have listened to the fans. I have really loved taking my kids to the games, being next to them and all the fans. But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United. I am putting the club up for sale. I hope that the fans get what they want and that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want. This will not be a fire sale. Newcastle is now in a much stronger position than it was in 2007. It is planning for the future and it is sustainable. I am still a fan of Newcastle United. We, my kids and I, have loved standing on the terraces with the fans, we have loved travelling with the away fans and we have met so many fans whose company we have enjoyed. We have absolutely loved it but it is not safe anymore for us as a family. I am very conscious of the responsibility that I bear in owning Newcastle United. Tough decisions have to be made in business and I will not shy away from doing what I consider to be in the best interests of the club. This is not fantasy football. Newcastle fans reacted angrily after Kevin Keegan left the club I don't want anyone to read my words and think that any of this is an attack on Kevin Keegan. It is not. Kevin and I always got on. Everyone at the club, and I mean everyone, thinks that he has few equals in getting the best out of the players. He is a legend at the club and rightly so. Clearly there are disagreements between Kevin and the Board and we have both put that in the hands of our lawyers. I hope that all the fans get to read this statement so that they understand what I am about. I would not expect all of the fans to agree with me. But I have set out, clearly, my plan. If I can't sell the club to someone who will give the fans what they want then I shall continue to ensure that Newcastle is run on a business and football model that is sustainable. I care too much about the club merely to abandon it. I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do but it won't happen overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in. You don't need to demonstrate against me again because I have got the message. Any further action will only have an adverse effect on the team. As fans of Newcastle United you need to spend your energy getting behind, not me, but the players who need your support. I am determined that Newcastle United is not only here today, but that it is also there tomorrow for your children who stand beside you at St James' Park. Mike Ashley.

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

I dunno. I know they offered Shearer a deal as manager, looked through all his transfer targets, agreed the budget and so on, shook hands on it and that was the last he saw of them. That's from Shearer. Nolan spoke of a similar story with regard to his contract negotiations. Cunt's trick really, why not just be honest? Lying gets you nowhere, end off.

[Guest alex]

Also, re: the notion of the Carroll money off-setting relegation which cost 20-odd million. What happened to the fees received for Bassong, Martins, Duff etc.?

[Tom 14013]

£22m right there!

 

Good point!

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

That went on Smith's wages.