***Official Mike Ashley Euro express thread***

[LoveTheBobby 1]

He's been saying 'it' for years

He's been saying 'it' for years

Not explaining 'it' again but . .

Will go on for more years

[jaythesouthernmag 0]

Level on points with Chelsea who are 5th, certainly pushing for the Champions League spot, playing good,attacking football with one of the best front 3 in the league. If that's not progress then I'm not sure what's expected.

[donaldstott 0]

But that front three didn't cost as much as Owen, viduka and martins so they can't be as good. We're going backwards chum!

[JawD 99]

The mindset of the club is in place, it is what I have said for years. They want a premiership club to promote the Sports Company at the minimum expenditure possible, if they don't make a profit they will sell a player to do it which is an easier profit than speculating on trying to reach the Champions League etc and the money in that way. This season has been very good for a club with such minimal aspirations, once in a while a club with these aspirations comes along and performs like this, but it doesn't last for ALL the reasons I've stated for many years.

 

If that was indeed the case then why did they purchase Papiss Cisse for 9M pounds?

 

That turned out to be the most expensive piece of business by an English club in that window, and we were in no danger of being relegated at the time.

 

There's a strong element of cross promotion involved, but apart from the visual eyesore I don't think it has a large bearing on the footballing operations.

 

so where is the other 25m quid ?

 

After the first transfer window in 5 years where we bought a decent player and sold nobody, lets see what happens in the summer and see if we see the rest of that cash and nobody is sold, to reinforce your utter delusion.

 

ps Bolton also bought Anelka for 8m quid when they were [temporarily] in the UEFA Cup.

 

pps. I don't care about the advertising either, if the team is doing well and the owner backs his managers, but it DOES emphasise the points I've made that the 2 forum clowns have said are "rubbish".

 

LM, in the past FFS and the Halls took million out of this club and used it to feed their other business (I assume you know about the fleet of cars etc). But you know what? I dont give a fuck because the Halls had us doing well in the league which is what matters. They sold players I didnt want to see go (Ferdinand, Hamman, Domi, Robert, Ginola, Tino, Woodgate etc) in many case the player didnt want to leave (Ferdinand) and in many they did want to leave for "bigger and better" (Hamman, Woodgate) and in some it was just the manager who didnt want the player. Again, while pissed of at the time I didnt mind in the end because what mattered was that we progressed. Ok, until we didnt. The latter years of the Halls the wheels started to come off, but overall what happened on the pitch was positive so we ignored the off the field stuff (though some did rumble about it).

 

To me, same applied here. All sorts of shite he does off the pitch. Yes I was pissed off at selling AC but now I look back and think "fair enough". Remember, Halls sold Cole. Should we not have kept him and added? They asked us to be patient and see what followed. It worked on the pitch in the end so everyone was happy. For all I hate MA and the way he has abused the name of the club, it is difficult to not see the sense in the way the finances have been restructured.

 

Yes I hate the Sports Direct tat, but when we are doing well on the pitch who cares? Yes I hate the fact we sold AC, but look what AC is doing now and look as Cisse alone never mind the rest of the players that came in.

 

Fact is, when MA came in he took us backwards. but now I feel we are in a place further ahead than when he took over. But he's still a cunt, but then so was FFS.

[Happy Face 29]

Leazes, imagine your daughter is marrying a penny pinching twat who's quite well off but never gets a round in and has bought her a crappy ring. Do you give him the benefit of the doubt for her sake and enjoy the wedding or during your father of the bride speech do you tell everyone the couple will never be happy long term as he is a prick and time will show that you were right?

 

 

....and repeat this to her every single day for the rest of her life as they produce fine grandchildren. Texting her when she's not about to tell face to face.

[Asprilla 96]

Leazes, imagine your daughter is marrying a penny pinching twat who's quite well off but never gets a round in and has bought her a crappy ring. Do you give him the benefit of the doubt for her sake and enjoy the wedding or during your father of the bride speech do you tell everyone the couple will never be happy long term as he is a prick and time will show that you were right?

 

 

....and repeat this to her every single day for the rest of her life as they produce fine grandchildren. Texting her when she's not about to tell face to face.

[Gemmill 46093]

She would have lamped this lad when he gave her the shit ring tbf.

 

Is this fella Muslim btw?

[LeazesMag 0]

LeazesMag - you are like a stuck record, going over the same bizarre points over and over again. I don't think I've heard anyone liken our strategy and mindset to bliddy Bolton Wanderers. You're either a visionary genius who sees things that others are incapable of, or a deluded, opinionated, attention-seeking fool. I know which option I'd put my money on.

 

There is plenty of sensible discussion on here and in real life that serves as a better use of my time, so, with regret, I will not be responding to or reading any more of your posts.

 

shame.

 

You're losing the opportunity to listen to common sense and what is right in front of your nose. People ask me to tell things that are based on knowledge of following the club for nearly 50 years, and that is precisely what I am doing.

[LeazesMag 0]

If that was indeed the case then why did they purchase Papiss Cisse for 9M pounds?

 

That turned out to be the most expensive piece of business by an English club in that window, and we were in no danger of being relegated at the time.

 

There's a strong element of cross promotion involved, but apart from the visual eyesore I don't think it has a large bearing on the footballing operations.

 

so where is the other 25m quid ?

 

After the first transfer window in 5 years where we bought a decent player and sold nobody, lets see what happens in the summer and see if we see the rest of that cash and nobody is sold, to reinforce your utter delusion.

 

ps Bolton also bought Anelka for 8m quid when they were [temporarily] in the UEFA Cup.

 

pps. I don't care about the advertising either, if the team is doing well and the owner backs his managers, but it DOES emphasise the points I've made that the 2 forum clowns have said are "rubbish".

 

LM, in the past FFS and the Halls took million out of this club and used it to feed their other business (I assume you know about the fleet of cars etc). But you know what? I dont give a fuck because the Halls had us doing well in the league which is what matters. They sold players I didnt want to see go (Ferdinand, Hamman, Domi, Robert, Ginola, Tino, Woodgate etc) in many case the player didnt want to leave (Ferdinand) and in many they did want to leave for "bigger and better" (Hamman, Woodgate) and in some it was just the manager who didnt want the player. Again, while pissed of at the time I didnt mind in the end because what mattered was that we progressed. Ok, until we didnt. The latter years of the Halls the wheels started to come off, but overall what happened on the pitch was positive so we ignored the off the field stuff (though some did rumble about it).

 

To me, same applied here. All sorts of shite he does off the pitch. Yes I was pissed off at selling AC but now I look back and think "fair enough". Remember, Halls sold Cole. Should we not have kept him and added? They asked us to be patient and see what followed. It worked on the pitch in the end so everyone was happy. For all I hate MA and the way he has abused the name of the club, it is difficult to not see the sense in the way the finances have been restructured.

 

Yes I hate the Sports Direct tat, but when we are doing well on the pitch who cares? Yes I hate the fact we sold AC, but look what AC is doing now and look as Cisse alone never mind the rest of the players that came in.

 

Fact is, when MA came in he took us backwards. but now I feel we are in a place further ahead than when he took over. But he's still a cunt, but then so was FFS.

 

Sometimes, JawD, I think you are the only one on here with any sense, which isn't true actually there is a small number of others who also have some sense but you are certainly the only person apart from HF who has replied to me and contributed sensibly to this thread lately.

 

From a footballing angle, and it IS a football club we are talking about, Cole being sold is entirely different to Carroll. Firstly, it was the managers decision. Secondly, they gave him ALL the money and more to do what he wanted to do with the team as a whole. Enough said.

 

I've said a thousand times, I don't care either what people take out of the club, the old regime did well and they earned it because they gave us the best team and the best years in the last 5 decades. If Mike Ashley matches that, he can do the same, he can put Sports Direct logos all over Northumberland Street for all I care, but my view is that he won't and the signs are crystal clear what he wants from the club, what the limited ambitions are [which I've explained AGAIN or where the limited policies will get us] and they have been obvious for years.

Edited April 3, 2012 by LeazesMag

[Tom 14013]

Surely though - if Ashley is aiming for brand synergy then the more succesful the football club the better the advertising will be for his brand?

[JawD 99]

Yes but LM, would you say that Shearer replaced Cole? Or Tino? Or Ferdinand? Cole was our main forward (with Beardsley feeding him), who in your opinion was the player that was the master plan to replace Cole?

[LeazesMag 0]

Surely though - if Ashley is aiming for brand synergy then the more succesful the football club the better the advertising will be for his brand?

 

in that case Tom, where is the rest of the Carroll money, which could have made the difference between 6th, 5th [certain europe] or even 4th or a springboard to go for 4th ?

[LeazesMag 0]

Yes but LM, would you say that Shearer replaced Cole? Or Tino? Or Ferdinand? Cole was our main forward (with Beardsley feeding him), who in your opinion was the player that was the master plan to replace Cole?

 

Keegan made it quite clear he wanted to adjust the style of the team which mean't selling Cole and re-shaping the attacking style and strategy. Whatever Cole did at ManU, it was the managers decision, he thought Ferdinand was the man he wanted and it was possible to get him to do that, and the board backed their manager.

 

End of story. It really stops there. This is how good football clubs operate.

[Tom 14013]

Surely though - if Ashley is aiming for brand synergy then the more succesful the football club the better the advertising will be for his brand?

 

in that case Tom, where is the rest of the Carroll money, which could have made the difference between 6th, 5th [certain europe] or even 4th or a springboard to go for 4th ?

 

The club will be saying it's gone into all the signings i.e Ba & his agents payments etc etc, but for me our best signings have been scouted over a long period of time such as Tiote, Cisse & Cabaye rather than say a Liverpool style reactionary signing, it's not as easy as just spending lump sums because the money is there - look at the satisfaction of the 'RAWK Poster' in the Liverpool match thread - he's gutted about the manner in which they've gone about signing players.

 

We haven't been perfect - we needed a centre half in January for instance - but I'm quite happy with our new number 9 & signings in general.

[Gemmill 46093]

 

SHOW ME THE CARROLL MONEY.

[JawD 99]

So, Cole was sold in Jan 95 and Ferdinand brought in what was it, 6 months later or something? Then we got Ginola. So the fans were up in arms because we sold our top scorer to our main rival and only after 6 months did we maybe start to see the bigger picture?

 

AC was sold in Jan 11. 6 months later or whatever we brought in Ba (12 months for Cisse). Both out performing AC. So, with that in mind, can you see why some fans are now starting to see the bigger picture?

[Guest CabayeAye]

Surely though - if Ashley is aiming for brand synergy then the more succesful the football club the better the advertising will be for his brand?

 

in that case Tom, where is the rest of the Carroll money, which could have made the difference between 6th, 5th [certain europe] or even 4th or a springboard to go for 4th ?

 

The club will be saying it's gone into all the signings i.e Ba & his agents payments etc etc, but for me our best signings have been scouted over a long period of time such as Tiote, Cisse & Cabaye rather than say a Liverpool style reactionary signing, it's not as easy as just spending lump sums because the money is there - look at the satisfaction of the 'RAWK Poster' in the Liverpool match thread - he's gutted about the manner in which they've gone about signing players.

 

We haven't been perfect - we needed a centre half in January for instance - but I'm quite happy with our new number 9 & signings in general.

 

I agree, Tom. I think the 'Carroll money' will mainefest itself over the next 3-4 seasons.

 

Although, it's not like Ashley has a seperate pot labelled 'Scouse stupidity money for transfers'. I imagine he hill just see the £35M as a windfall for MA holdings.

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

I like what you did there, a satirical twist to the word 'manifest', nice.

 

MAINEFEST

[Guest CabayeAye]

I like what you did there, a satirical twist to the word 'manifest', nice.

 

MAINEFEST

 

Doh!

[LeazesMag 0]

So, Cole was sold in Jan 95 and Ferdinand brought in what was it, 6 months later or something? Then we got Ginola. So the fans were up in arms because we sold our top scorer to our main rival and only after 6 months did we maybe start to see the bigger picture?

 

AC was sold in Jan 11. 6 months later or whatever we brought in Ba (12 months for Cisse). Both out performing AC. So, with that in mind, can you see why some fans are now starting to see the bigger picture?

 

You're using hindsight, anybody can use hindsight. Certain other posters do it all the time. At the time, they backed their manager, and tried to get Ferdinand and it took 6 months to get him [not 18 and we still haven't seen the money, don't you think that we are not going to see it now and it was never the intention accordingly ?

 

This is the bigger picture. A progressive club would have bought a centre half in January for starters with a european place on the horizon and cash in the bank waiting to be spent, even a small amount on a short term deal while waiting for the guy they want [which incidentally was done after the sale of Cole ie Kitson].

 

And we still haven't replaced Enrique btw.

Edited April 3, 2012 by LeazesMag

[Guest CabayeAye]

So, Cole was sold in Jan 95 and Ferdinand brought in what was it, 6 months later or something? Then we got Ginola. So the fans were up in arms because we sold our top scorer to our main rival and only after 6 months did we maybe start to see the bigger picture?

 

AC was sold in Jan 11. 6 months later or whatever we brought in Ba (12 months for Cisse). Both out performing AC. So, with that in mind, can you see why some fans are now starting to see the bigger picture?

 

You're using hindsight, anybody can use hindsight. Certain other posters do it all the time. At the time, they backed their manager, and tried to get Ferdinand and it took 6 months to get him [not 18 and we still haven't seen the money, don't you think that we are not going to see it now and it was never the intention accordingly ?

 

This is the bigger picture. A progressive club would have bought a centre half in January for starters with a european place on the horizon and cash in the bank waiting to be spent, even a small amount on a short term deal while waiting for the guy they want [which incidentally was done after the sale of Cole ie Kitson].

 

Right, Leazes. Answer me this with either an "A" or a "B", nothing else.

 

Completely ignoring transfer fees, who would you rather have wearing the number 9 shirt right now assuming we could do a free swap?

 

A - Andy Carroll

 

B - Papiss Demba Cissé

[trophyshy 7084]

Fucking hell, it's probably worth going into politics to escape this.

[TicTacWoe 0]

As long as the players we buy are better than the ones we sell I couldn't give a fuck what they cost. At the moment this is what we are doing and the players that have left (apart from Enrique) have not been missed.

 

In terms of us not buying a defender in January, we tried but didn't get who we wanted apparently. This happens, Man City and to some extent Man U desperately needed a CB around that time too and also didn't add any new faces. Clubs can't always buy the players they need for a myriad of reasons.

[LeazesMag 0]

So, Cole was sold in Jan 95 and Ferdinand brought in what was it, 6 months later or something? Then we got Ginola. So the fans were up in arms because we sold our top scorer to our main rival and only after 6 months did we maybe start to see the bigger picture?

 

AC was sold in Jan 11. 6 months later or whatever we brought in Ba (12 months for Cisse). Both out performing AC. So, with that in mind, can you see why some fans are now starting to see the bigger picture?

 

You're using hindsight, anybody can use hindsight. Certain other posters do it all the time. At the time, they backed their manager, and tried to get Ferdinand and it took 6 months to get him [not 18 and we still haven't seen the money, don't you think that we are not going to see it now and it was never the intention accordingly ?

 

This is the bigger picture. A progressive club would have bought a centre half in January for starters with a european place on the horizon and cash in the bank waiting to be spent, even a small amount on a short term deal while waiting for the guy they want [which incidentally was done after the sale of Cole ie Kitson].

 

Right, Leazes. Answer me this with either an "A" or a "B", nothing else.

 

Completely ignoring transfer fees, who would you rather have wearing the number 9 shirt right now assuming we could do a free swap?

 

A - Andy Carroll

 

B - Papiss Demba Cissé

 

in view of everything I've tried to explain, this is a pointless question which only proves you haven't tried to understand a single word. Why not have both ?

 

And who would you rather have at left back, Jose Enrique or Jonas Guittierez ?

[OTF 7496]

Everyone here can acknowledge the bad things that the club have done, but is seems that you LeazesMag can't acknowledge any positive moves that are made.

 

Noone wanted Enrique to go, everyone would love him to still be here.

 

I too am of the opinion that they should have been more proactive in using the Carroll money to improve the squad. What I think we have to be realistic about is the way in which Ashley does business - on his terms. He always wants a bargain, or to know undoubtedly that the signing is required. It's not optimal, but Pardew would have to have earnt some respect and therefore influence so hopefully he can get a few vital signings across the line.

 

It's far from black and white (no pining intended) there's plenty of grey out there as well.