Mike Ashley -- Irrelevant Cunt

[Alex 35079]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/football-fans-offered-free-sports-7181774

 

:lol:

 

Look what we've become.

CT will be all over that. It'll go with his 80% off Lonsdale hoodie.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

CT will be all over that. It'll go with his 80% off Lonsdale hoodie.

Better than a lasses coat

[Happy Face 29]

[ohhh_yeah 2964]

 

 

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

Leicester are now bookie's title favourites.

 

Been reading the mackem forum and there's a Leicester fan that gets on there. According to him their owners said they had a plan after promotion to get into the Champions League within 5 years. Refreshing attitude and ambition, given our owners and managers have been claiming it's impenetrable because of oligarchs and whatnot. Hope they win the league to show the cunts what can happen if you don't admit defeat before a ball is kicked. Even if they don't win it they're probably going to be Champions League. That'll give them finances to build on this season. Remember when we were challenging for top 4 in the season we finished 5th? They were shitting themselves in case it happened and it raised our expectations, going so far as to state that we wouldn't change our transfer policy if we did finish top 4. No wonder we sign good players and still lose. There's a losing mentality filtering down from the topm so deeply engrained that a couple of decent windows can't rectify it.

 

Have we been spending our own money in the last window or has the FCB invested? How much more is there to come? Or will this flurry be followed by a few seasons of under investment?

[Alex 35079]

Leicester are now bookie's title favourites.

 

Been reading the mackem forum and there's a Leicester fan that gets on there. According to him their owners said they had a plan after promotion to get into the Champions League within 5 years. Refreshing attitude and ambition, given our owners and managers have been claiming it's impenetrable because of oligarchs and whatnot. Hope they win the league to show the cunts what can happen if you don't admit defeat before a ball is kicked. Even if they don't win it they're probably going to be Champions League. That'll give them finances to build on this season. Remember when we were challenging for top 4 in the season we finished 5th? They were shitting themselves in case it happened and it raised our expectations, going so far as to state that we wouldn't change our transfer policy if we did finish top 4. No wonder we sign good players and still lose. There's a losing mentality filtering down from the topm so deeply engrained that a couple of decent windows can't rectify it.

 

Have we been spending our own money in the last window or has the FCB invested? How much more is there to come? Or will this flurry be followed by a few seasons of under investment?

Well said

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

Is there not a Top Gear repeat on?

[trooper 940]

http://www.themag.co.uk/2016/02/reason-mike-ashley-not-raising-newcastle-united-ticket-prices-must-read/

14 months since SJP was sold out the only guarantee of a sell out is "the derby" game

Edited February 10, 2016 by trooper

[ohhh_yeah 2964]

 

He's the sort of cunt that would sell to Vincent Tan at a 50% discount to wind us up.

He just came out with some corkers.

 

(WHAT CARDIFF CITY REALLY MEANS TO HIM)

 

Tan: I got involved in 2007 so its fair to say it has been a seven-year rollercoaster. Weve had good times, plenty of bad times, a lot of water has gone under the bridge. Its been difficult, but I felt responsible to try to make this work. I still do.

 

Only the other week I read about the Bolton owner who invested £180million into the club, but who was throwing in the towel.

 

Weve made mistakes, some bad ones. People I relied upon gave me terrible advice. I was far too trusting, have lost a lot of money.

 

But my commitment is still full. Were in much better shape today. Im still very involved, speak daily on the phone to Ken Choo (chief executive) and Mehmet Dalman (chairman).

 

Ive not been coming to games because Im very busy and time constraints dont permit, but my spirit is always here with the team.

 

I watch every minute of every game. If its a 3pm kick-off over here on a Saturday, that means its 11pm back home in Malaysia. So the game doesnt finish until 1am, then Im involved in talks about whats happened. So I dont get to bed until well gone two in the morning. If its a Tuesday night game at 7.45pm, back in Malaysia I have to set my alarm clock to get up in time for a 3.45am kick-off.

 

Im 64 years old, older than most peoplein this room, but Ive got the stamina to do this because thats what Cardiff City means to me.

 

Already over the last two years Ive converted some loans to equity. Ive previously written off £13m of my debt. Ive decided to convert a further £60m of my shares to equity. That shows my commitment to Cardiff City. I want to be responsible, try to leave this business in a good shape.

 

(ON SAM HAMMAM AND LANGSTON)

 

Tan: I have resolved the issue of the outstanding creditor... and hes the luckiest man in the world that Vincent Tan came to Cardiff. Frankly, I dont think he deserves it. I believe Ive been far too nice, too generous. Im not even going to mention his name, it spoils my day if I do so.

 

I could have walked away from this football club, but I feel I have a sense of responsibility. To Cardiff City and to my countrys name. I dont want people saying this guy from Malaysia came here, made the club bankrupt and walked away. There will be a day when I do leave, but I hope I leave the club in good hands.

 

If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, those close to me will at least be happy I wont be putting any more money into Cardiff City. They keep asking Why are you doing this? I do it because of my commitment to the club.

 

(HIS AMBITION FOR THE BLUEBIRDS)

 

Tan: We have stabilised this season, tried to curtail the huge overheads we had. The two previous managers (Malky Mackay and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) brought in so many players, paid them far too big a salary and called it a project.

 

Worst of the lot, we brought in a £10million striker from Denmark who didnt even play 90 minutes for us and never scored a single goal. Andreas Cornelius was on £45,000 a week, too.

 

Then, when I questioned the manager about it, Im told Its a project. At 45,000 a week. This is the great manager that the Welsh fans seem to love. I will never have managers like that again. Sometimes I dont understand it. £10m, £45,000 a week, no goals... and you love the manager. Maybe the fans get conned a little.

 

Jordan Rhodes has just joined Middlesbrough... for less than £10m. Thats a good signing, a striker who does score lots of goals. And I bet hes not on as much as £45,000 a week, either.

 

I have made mistakes, agreed to bad recommendations from people I trusted, but Ive learned lesssons and understand better how to run this football business.

 

Im convinced we can still get promotion and were still ambitious. We could have sold David Marshall for £7million, played Simon Moore in goal, got someone else in as back up. Why didnt we take the money? Because we want to go to the Premier League and Davids a big part of that.

 

He was disappointed. Arsenal and another Premier League club wanted him to go there. His salary would have gone up, people around the world would have seen him play at the highest level. Yet we had to tell him Sorry, were not letting you go. We were literally begging him to stay. Is that not ambition?

 

(ON UNDER-FIRE RUSSELL SLADE)

 

Tan: Russell has been excellent, a lot better than the last two managers who I paid seven or eight times a higher salary to. Did they do a seven to eight times better job? No, they did much worse, lost me tons of money with some of those signings.

 

If I listen to the so called experts in Wales, and I deliberately use apostrophes there with the word experts, then I just hear Russell is terrible, Russell is this, Russell is that. They forget he came in at a time when I told him to clean up the mess. Wed just had two very well paid managers who spent an awful lot of money, but in my opinion didnt always do very well.

 

Everybody seemed to condemn me when I brought in Russell, saying Oh hes only from the lower leagues. But if you always adopted that view, nobody would be given a chance. I gave him a chance and Im glad I have done. He is totally trustworthy and I believe hes done very well.

 

When Cardiff City got promoted I put £20m in to buy players that season for that great manager. The fans love the previous manager (Mackay), but sometimes football fans get emotional, not logical.

 

Please be reasonable, dont always hammer Russell. Okay, hes not Tony Pulis, who would have cost us an awful lot of money. Okay, hes not one of these big brand name managers. Well, they get sacked too. Who would have thought Jose Mourinho would be out of a job this season?

 

Sometimes you need to be given a chance and Ive given Russell one. Dont worry about whether we will renew his contract or not. We will do whats right for the club. We do business on a handshake. We trust each other.

 

(HIS BE REASONABLE MESSAGE TO THE FANS)

 

Tan: Some of them dont come any more, they think were not playing attractive football.

 

Let me go back a little bit in recent history. When we came up into the Premier League, I put £20m in to buy the players. I asked Can I change the colour to red? The Supporters Trust and others agreed. Not at first, but the management here tell me finally people accepted it, provided I put in money.

 

Well, I did put in money, we were promoted and no-one said red was lousy. Red was great. Then they moan about the red, so I changed back to blue. I did what would make them happy.

 

Next they are not happy with Russell Slade. Not with him, nor his style of football. Maybe some of them should come and play themselves? You know what, as an owner from a foreign country I feel some of the fans should be more supportive. To some, everything we do seems to be wrong. Some people out there seem to have a real attitude problem.

 

If I let these people affect me, I would throw in the towel like the Bolton owner did. But I carry on. I spent £12m putting in 5,000 extra seats, expanding a stadium which enabled Wales to play World Cup matches there. But no-one says its nice.

 

My message would be just tell your friends and fellow fans to be reasonable. Then we can co-exist and be successful together. Lets encourage Russell... and that includes the media. Fulham and QPR are great clubs, but Russell is doing better than their managers have.

 

Am I being unreasonable to ask the fans to be reasonable? Maybe the club is lucky youve got an idiot like me who has come from far away and put in so much money!

 

(HIS PEP TALK WITH A DIFFERENCE TO SLADES PLAYERS)

 

Tan: I went to see them at the training base and gave them a pep talk, said they have GOT to start shooting more. I told them we have kept David Marshall here and he is keeping clean sheets, yet look at the stats. There are more draws than wins. David is doing his bit of the bargain, I told them, so clearly you guys are not scoring enough.

 

In every match I want to see 30 or 40 attempts on goal. Just shoot from 25, 30 yards, I told them. Whats the point of passing, passing, passing and hoping to get in the box that way. Unless youre Lionel Messi looking for a tap in, its not going to work.

 

I watch every Cardiff match and I told them You guys have no confidence. Peter Whittingham is capable of shooting and scoring score goals from 30 yards, so have a go, I said. Yet they get the ball and it seems to be like a hot potato. Pass it to somebody else straight away. As fans, you must see that, because I do.

 

The law of averages says the more you shoot, the more youll score. If you shoot 30 times youll get three goals, 40 times will be four goals, 50 times and youll get five goals.

 

Dont respond by saying I know nothing about football. Ive learned an awful lot, I see players regularly scoring in the Premier League from distance and we have to do that.

 

Its very well passing, passing, passing, but do you get points for possession in football? No. When they change the rules, then pass the ball and keep passing the ball if you want. But right at this moment the rules are you have to get the ball in the net. And you only do that by shooting.

 

You know when you see ugly men walking around with a very beautiful wife? Well, thats because theyve asked 30, 40, 50 times before getting a yes from her. They try, try and try again, even if they fail. The law of averages.

 

On the other hand, youll see a handsome man ask once, get a no in response and thats it. He doesnt try again. So the more you try, the more success youll have. We need a lot more goal attempts, well score more and win games.

 

Not only that, the fans will love it, too. I believe we can still make the play-offs, but we have to have more goal attempts.

 

(THE TRANSFER EMBARGO)

 

Tan: It came as a surprise to me. In the Premier League you have so many expenses, but when come down most of those expenses still stay. That leads to this sort of problem, but I think we were quite creative in the January transfer window.

 

Bringing in Tom Lawrence was a really good deal, hell score goals. Wolves offered £3.5m for Joe Mason, some were disappointed he left, but we think its good business.

 

Okay, it wasnt ideal Mason left after we also lost Kenwyne Jones. But we were paying Kenwyne £35,000 a week and thats a lot of money for a Championship club.

 

Anyhow, if Joe hadnt gone we would never have known Anthony Pilkington could be a good striker. But weve been forced to play him up front and hes done really well.

[Rayvin 5223]

He's clearly hurt that he doesn't have the unequivocal backing of his fans. Knacker that he is.

[Dr Gloom 21921]

The crowds are still pretty decent all things considered. 49/50k most weeks innit? Still reckon we'd fill a 60k stadium easy if were a half decent side.

[Howmanheyman 33196]

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Nine years of Mike Ashley

Relegations, two.

[ohhh_yeah 2964]

 

Spot on article by Seb Stafford-Bloor, a Tottenham fan.

 

Imagine a world without aspiration.

 

The skies are grey and dull, the rain falls in a lazy drizzle and the streets are deserted. Abandoned cars lie rusting by the side of the road, ply sheets line shop windows and the wind rattles through the vacant buildings.

 

The trains havent stopped here for years.

 

This was a thriving town once, a proud place; the industry boomed and the nightlife pulsed. But something happened here, something terrible. Someone reached into this citys gut and ripped its soul from within.

 

Welcome to Newcastle.

 

The resistance against modern football has never been stronger than it is now. As the seasons pass, the game moves further away from its public and the realisation grows that, like a thief in the night, modernity has snuck through our bedroom window, stolen something we love, and replaced it with a superficial imitation.

 

And nowhere is that more apparent than at St James Park.

 

Mike Ashleys ownership of Newcastle United has been well covered and the business model from which he operates is pretty much understood. We know that players are bought to be sold, that ambition never extends beyond lucrative inertia, and that a team is fielded almost out of commercial obligation.

 

Whilst the club still maintain the pretence of a future objective and hide, with that odd hubris, behind quasi-impressive financial results, the supporters know the truth and are able to see between the lines and appreciate that, really, the reality could only be more stark if the ownership were drilling for oil in the centre-circle.

 

The tragedy isnt in the detail, though. It isnt in the recruitment strategy, the Wonga association or even in the Sports Direct hoardings, spreading as they are like aggressive melanoma. No, the true evil is in the principle.

 

English football has its rich and its poor. Between the Oligarch-funded aristocracy at the top and the penny-pinchers at the bottom of the professional pyramid, there is an enormous disparity in wealth. Supporters accept that, though, because the affection that the game breeds has a wonderful ability to soften hard truths.

 

Your football club is your football club and thats really all the matters. Whether sat in a hospitality box watching the Champions League, or stood under a leaking roof for an FA Cup qualifier, the life of a fan is almost identical. Some may have it better, and they may get to see more famous players at bigger grounds and in more comfortable surroundings, but the set of accompanying emotionssupporter-to-supporterare identical.

Goals are celebrated; referees are hated; poor team selections are lamented.

 

Its all the same, its the common quality that binds fans up and down the country and it exists because, irrespective of their circumstances, all clubs share the ambition of moving from a Point A to a Point B. In some cases, that may represent an incidental distance, in others it may be a chasm, but in every instance its a forward motion and the achievement of that objective carries the same emotional significance.

 

That hope is right at the heart of fan culture. Realism isnt relevant, because most supporters are hopelessly optimistic and they will believe, until its absolutely impossible, that their team will eventually have their day and that a brighter tomorrow is always in reach.

 

Mike Ashley deserves to be judged within that context. He has sabotaged that dynamic; he has removed the sense of aspiration from a Saturday afternoon and replaced it with a set of self- serving mechanics that inspire nothing in anybody.

 

Thats a heinous crime. Football, superficially, is just balls, corner-flags, painted lines and goal posts, but when stripped back solely to those components, and when its wonderful intangibles are replaced with a cynical money-making doctrine, joy can be hard to find.

 

When a club reaches that point, it stops filling its traditional role in supporters lives and becomes little more than a vehicle for a wealthy individuals business interests.

 

Picking through Newcastle Uniteds accounts and making depressing conclusions about financial intent is relevant, sighing at their eagerness to sell players to the detriment of their side is rational, and castigating the club for their current John Carver-themed malaise is very fair, but all of those points miss a bigger, darker truth: Ashley has taken the joy out of fandom.

 

He is a footballing vandal. He is entitled to run his club as a business and to make prudent decisions to protect his investment, but he has a moral obligation to preserve the very relationship that he is destroying.

 

Fans make unreasonable demands all the time: they always want more money to be spent, better players to be bought, and for more games to be won. This isnt that, though; this isnt the same. Newcastle United fans arent being disenfranchised by their own unrealistic expectations, but by the relentlessly reinforced understanding that their club is wilfully stagnant.

 

What a terrible thing to know.

 

On the seasons final day, well be treated to stock images of what is supposedly the worst fate to befall any fan. Fully grown men, tear-stained cheeks reddened by the May sunshine, will clap stoically as they look relegation in the face.

 

That, apparently, is as low as it gets.

 

But imagine having to almost wish for that? In Newcastles case, thats probably not too far from the truth. A temporary exit from the Premier League would deny Mike Ashley the broadcasting revenue that he covets above all else, would limit the commercial revenue and lower marketing platform that have become the clubs focus, and would apply the necessary external pressure to possibly force a sale.

 

Simplification though that may be, theres a hint of realism to it. Ashley is the swollen leech who needs to be burnt away, and relegation is the only flame hot enough for the task.

 

The football community and its legislators need to care more about this. Modernity is a creeping force which has taken a lot from the game and which, more often than not, has to be grudgingly tolerated. The current situation at Newcastle should never have occurred, though, because not only has it eroded the bedrock relationship between the supporters and their team, but it has set a precedent which will inevitably be followed elsewhere.

 

It has been an act of sporting terrorism.

[Monkeys Fist 42440]

My little lad, who's 5 years old, has been asking to go the match these last few weeks.

I'll take him, there's no doubt about that, my principles have take second place to the fact that he's a future supporter, and hopefully Ashley will have fucked off/ died horribly by the time he's old enough to go on his own.

But fuck me, it's going to be difficult pretending to be enthusiastic about it.

That's what Ashley has done to this club.

[Graing 15]

Spot on article by Seb Stafford-Bloor, a Tottenham fan.

 

 

Good article. For a brief period a week back or so, I thought to myself that Ashley shouldn't take as much heat as he continues to take now that he has shown his willingness to spend over the last two windows. But the reality is, he set this horror show in motion - and the current culprits for the continued spiraling are all his to own. Sure he is spending now in desperation, but he placed Charnley and Carr and likely McClaren. If he doesn't cut this disease out at the root, he is not attempting to salvage the situation. Maybe he made this realization too late, but that's on his shoulders. The attitudes are plain on the face and in the words of the 'manager', and in the pace and determination of the players. Nothing short of a gutting - from Charnley to McClaren to almost all of the players and everything in between - will burn the cancer out of this club. Short of that, football in Newcastle is doomed. Sad realization.

[Alex 35079]

That article is depressingly well-observed on the whole.

 

My little lad, who's 5 years old, has been asking to go the match these last few weeks.
I'll take him, there's no doubt about that, my principles have take second place to the fact that he's a future supporter, and hopefully Ashley will have fucked off/ died horribly by the time he's old enough to go on his own.
But fuck me, it's going to be difficult pretending to be enthusiastic about it.
That's what Ashley has done to this club.

 

Aye, pretty much sums up how I feel.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Thing is with kids, you'll get the excitement and enthusiasm from their reaction to events. The build up, the throngs of people trudging, the grub, their dropped jaw as they first set eyes on the inside of the stadium.

 

Then 10 minutes into the match they'll be asking for your phone or other electronic entertainment you've sensibly brought along.

 

At least bairns of today are starting at a fairly low ebb and will one day get the sort of ride we got under Keegan.

 

Let's face it, most Newcastle fans were introduced to it when the team was shit and had despised boards.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Christmas Tree

[Alex 35079]

Trudging through the 80s gives you that kind of perspective

[Monkeys Fist 42440]

I'm going to piss on the back of his legs- give him some "authenticity".

[PaddockLad 17257]

I'm going to piss on the back of his legs- give him some "authenticity".

Make him drink a gallon of McEwwans Best Scotch then run the fucker over with an Armstrong Galley bus

[Alex 35079]

Only time CT got on one of those in the 80s it was for 10 nights in Estartit

[Christmas Tree 4725]

I'm going to piss on the back of his legs- give him some "authenticity".

[McFaul 35]

Thing is with kids, you'll get the excitement and enthusiasm from their reaction to events. The build up, the throngs of people trudging, the grub, their dropped jaw as they first set eyes on the inside of the stadium.

 

Then 10 minutes into the match they'll be asking for your phone or other electronic entertainment you've sensibly brought along.

 

At least bairns of today are starting at a fairly low ebb and will one day get the sort of ride we got under Keegan.

 

Let's face it, most Newcastle fans were introduced to it when the team was shit and had despised boards.

My first game there was massive anti-board sentiment because we'd just sold Waddle. However, we beat Liverpool 1-0, so everyone forgot about it for a week at least afterwards.

[Monkeys Fist 42440]

Only time CT got on one of those in the 80s it was for 10 nights in Estartit

Can you imagine if you'd got the seat next to him?

I'd be getting off at Gateshead.

[scoobos 298]

Great article that. I need a Happy Face graph to show if we have actually "spent" anything though , in terms of Ashley investment.

 

I bleated on in the McLaren thread about this, but 80mil is not the same buying power as it was even 2 years ago . I don't see 80 mil in two windows, with the increased tv rights money as "putting the wheels on the cart" or whatever. It buys you nowt really.

 

Wasn't it the aussies who put a law in saying that you can't own a football club unless you have a direct attachment or show by proof of investment? something needs to be done, the council are opposed, the public are opposed and no one likes to see this sort of ownership.