Mike Ashley -- Irrelevant Cunt

[trophyshy 7073]

Weird, it was just an open doc when I posted it.

 

He's opening MegaValue.com and MegaValueDirect.com to compete with general retail discount stores.

[The Fish 10779]

Weird, it was just an open doc when I posted it.

 

He's opening MegaValue.com and MegaValueDirect.com to compete with general retail discount stores.

 

Those names scream chav-fights for the last 10p dog lead

[Monkeys Fist 42132]

 

Those names scream chav-fights for the last 10p dog lead

Those names will be plastered over everything to do with NUFC within months.

[The Fish 10779]

Those names will be plastered over everything to do with NUFC within months.

 

They'll be turning out at the MegaValue.com stadium an all.

[trophyshy 7073]

http://www.megavaluedirect.com/

 

Their colours are black, white & red.

Edited June 1, 2015 by trophyshy

[Andrew 4722]

http://www.megavaluedirect.com/

 

Their colours are black, white & red.

 

It'd look better on the shirt than Wonga at least.

[Monkeys Fist 42132]

Wait, I can transform my garden into a chav's nest for less than £250?

 

Please, Mike, have all my money.

[The Fish 10779]

Am I alone in now imagining Bill Odie in a Hide watching as Nikki and Jason squabble over who's turn it is to tattoo the baby.

[Gemmill 44511]

CT is gonna be all up in that site, guaranteed.

[Monkeys Fist 42132]

Am I alone in now imagining Bill Odie in a Hide watching as Nikki and Jason squabble over who's turn it is to tattoo the baby.

This bloke?

[trophyshy 7073]

Am I alone in now imagining Bill Odie in a Hide watching as Nikki and Jason squabble over who's turn it is to tattoo the baby.

 

Beyond alone.

[The Fish 10779]

Course he is, it'll remind him of his sex life.

 

It's;

MEGA- very large/ huge

Value- Cheap/tawdry

Direct- fast

 

He's a very large man, he's cheap and tawdry and it's over fast.

[ewerk 30375]

It's hard to argue with a bubble sword for 59p.

[Alex 34917]

It's hard to argue with a bubble sword for 59p.

Bet J69 would have a go though.

[ewerk 30375]

[Gemmill 44511]

he'll be on to tell you you're the argumentative one shortly.

[toonotl 2964]

[Happy Face 29]

 

Points Per Game over the last 55 seasons. 2 entries in the top 30 for Ashley. 4 entries in the bottom 10.

[BLACKANDWHITEGEORDIE 0]

New director will be appointed following Ashley giving up his seat on the board.

[The Fish 10779]

Southampton are the fastest growing brand in the world. Their strategy isn't massively risky, is it? They had a long-term plan to play their style of football, focus on youth and aim for the Premier League. Of course their owners' wealth has helped, but it is comparable to Ashley's and they haven't spent an amazing amount, have they?

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/13319809.Southampton_are_fastest_growing_brand_in_world_football/

 

They've leapt from 30th to 18th, we've moved from 27th to 22nd, by the way.

http://www.brandfinance.com/images/upload/brand_finance_football_50_2015_the_world_s_most_valuable_football_brands.pdf

[Happy Face 29]

Southampton are the fastest growing brand in the world. Their strategy isn't massively risky, is it? They had a long-term plan to play their style of football, focus on youth and aim for the Premier League. Of course their owners' wealth has helped, but it is comparable to Ashley's and they haven't spent an amazing amount, have they?

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/13319809.Southampton_are_fastest_growing_brand_in_world_football/

 

They've leapt from 30th to 18th, we've moved from 27th to 22nd, by the way.

http://www.brandfinance.com/images/upload/brand_finance_football_50_2015_the_world_s_most_valuable_football_brands.pdf

 

Pardew told us we can't expect to compete with Southampton though.

 

Pipe dream to think otherwise.

[Bizza 105]

New director will be appointed following Ashley giving up his seat on the board.

Only 1? We could easily fit 2 or 3 into the space he'll leave at the board table.

[ewerk 30375]

So my understanding of the latest goings on from Ibrox is:

 

*Mike Ashley calls EGM to discuss repayment of his loan after having his stooges ousted from the board, knowing Rangers can't afford to repay

 

*Rangers reveal some details of the ridiculous commercial ties with SD and threaten to reveal all at the EGM

 

*Ashley takes Rangers to court to prevent this

 

*Ashley wins and slaps Rangers will a huge legal bill for his trouble

 

Looks like he isn't finished in Glasgow just yet.

Edited June 11, 2015 by ewerk

[The Fish 10779]

"You don't know how nasty we can be" springs to mind.

[ohhh_yeah 2952]

 

 

 

Long but good read penned by Tom Dart.

 

 

 

 

Back in 1996, about 15,000 Newcastle supporters turned up at St. James Park to see local hero Alan Shearer unveiled for a then world-record transfer fee of 15 million pounds.

 

The turnout to see Steve McClaren announced as the clubs new head coach yesterday was a bit lower: one fan, according to The Times of London. And the media presence wasnt much better, because the club didnt hold a press conference. Thats right: Newcastle, one of the English Premier Leagues biggest clubs, third in average attendance in the 2014-15 season with over 50,000, appointed a sought-after former England manager and locked out reporters it doesnt like. Which is almost all of them. Way to turn a good news story replacing John Carver with someone who might actually be competent into a public relations disaster.

 

McClaren spoke with Sky Sports, the EPLs main broadcast partner, and with the Daily Mirror, Newcastles preferred media partner.

 

As George Caulkin tells it in The Times:

 

McClaren was secreted in and out of the ground in a car bearing tinted windows. There was a forlorn conversation with a handful of reporters outside the ground. Journalist: Are we able to ask you one or two questions? McClaren: I cant. Im sorry guys. Journalist: Do you not want to speak to the independent press? McClaren: Sorry."

 

It sounds ridiculously overblown to call this kind of thing an assault on democracy; this is sport, after all, not politics. But the principle is exactly the same, regardless of the differences in scale and context: if theres a newsworthy event, its a fundamental principle of a free society that neutral media should have the unfettered right to report on it. Anything else is censorship, spin, evasion.

 

We cant say that a free press is essential to democracy, then asterisk that with yeah, but its only soccer, so who cares? If its a right, its an absolute right.

 

Its not even shrewd public relations on Newcastles part. Sure, it got friendly coverage in two places, but it also got criticism and resentment everywhere else. Instead of the story being Newcastle moving on from a bad season and facing the future with optimism, its become yet another tale of owner Mike Ashleys contemptuous and misconceived governance of one of English soccers most cherished and important institutions.

 

Then theres the short-sighted lack of solidarity among media outlets, whose desire to get an exclusive always overrides any sense of what might be best for everyone tomorrow. The Mirror and Sky Sports got their interviews bland as they were but at what cost? Maybe now another club will feel emboldened to try the same thing. Maybe next time itll be Sky Sports and the Mirrors rivals who get the exclusive.

 

In fact, the reporter who produced the Mirrors story yesterday headlined Steve McClaren exclusive: Newcastle is unique. With crowd and team together, opponents havent a chance tweeted last year about a tie-up between Newcastle and the Mirrors biggest rival, The Sun, after it published an article titled Why we should love Mike Ashley. (The paper and club denied any such deal.)

 

If youre one of the select few who have been specially approved by the club to conduct the interview, its because it thinks youre sympathetic to the regime. So is what you produce going to truly be journalism, or a stylishly-written variation on a press release?

 

Even FIFA under Sepp Blatter has only ever banned one reporter (Andrew Jennings). But Newcastle under Ashley have issued multiple bans, and even considered a scheme that would fundamentally transform the relationship between the club and the press.

 

In 2013, the local Chronicle reported A mooted plan to try to make papers pay for exclusive access rumored for a while now is gathering pace with talk from the club of a series of packages offering interviews for a fee.

 

This is ludicrously greedy considering how much money Newcastle is given each season from the EPLs immense pot of broadcasting rights cash (ultimately coming from fans pockets because of passions stoked by, ya know, the media). Blurring the lines between paid content and news isnt healthy for the integrity of any publication.

 

But theres a certain brutal honesty to Ashleys approach. On one level, player interviews are business transactions: the outlet gets access to a celebrity, helping it sell papers/get clicks; the club and player get publicity, helping them sell tickets/jerseys. At its most basic, interviewing Cheick Tiote before a match against Queens Park Rangers is no different than interviewing Will Smith before his latest film comes out.

 

Already, a great many player and manager interviews in United Kingdom publications are arranged through sponsors, who exert strict conditions and get mentions of their products in the text or through a photo of the player wearing branded gear. Gone are the days when a writer could hope to get an interview with a star just because hes got an interesting story to tell. For the piece to happen, someone, somewhere has to believe there is a valid business reason to green-light the meeting.

 

Also no doubt influencing Newcastles thinking is that, through their television channels and websites, clubs have become their own news outlets. Other than the prestige that being featured in a major newspaper still commands and the high circulations still enjoyed by a handful of big British media companies, theres little reason for clubs to want you to read about them anywhere else than via official channels. That way, clubs can control information and monetize it as well.

 

Ashleys relationship with the press is so badly damaged he probably doesnt see any value in getting his clubs name in the papers, figuring that most of the stories will be negative. But his attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Chronicle report points out that a visit by players to a childrens hospital received scant coverage, because so few journalists were able to attend.

 

Maybe fans dont care about all this, seeing it as private business between clubs and journalists that should be sorted out in private. Maybe a lot of supporters dont like or respect professional reporters and believe their work adds nothing useful to the sport. If they think the argument that papers are conduits to the fans is facile and dated, then theyre right.

 

But Do you care whether the guy from The Times gets to speak to Steve McClaren or not? is the wrong question to ask. The right one is, do you care about transparency, independence and choice?