Can you explain why you keep saying he has kept us in a decent financial positionOriginally Posted by ghostrider
Fans argue what we had under Hall and Shepherd. It's true, we had better times and bigger spends and more ease of purse strings. We did...I agree.
So why didn't Hall and Shepherd carry us into the so called big time?
Billionaire oligarch's?
Sheikh's?
Or the very fact that they weren't willing to gamble their own personal wealth on getting the club to run from within and to pay off the debts over time.
Take a bit of a back seat and let the club take a big deep breath and tread water till we could learn to swim steady again.
It was fine playing with the banks against the club.
Fans they may have been...and proper fans at that....but that was basically part of their problem.
You see, it's not as thick and thin as it appears, just like it isn't with 99.9% of us fans of any clubs. We like to think we all are but when having to take risks against your own well being and family wealth to take a massive risk on your club...things become more clear and that's when you either cut and run and live to fight another day in your personal life...but hope your club equally does so with whoever you left it with.
The only one's that understand the worry of that are those in charge of that potential.
A note to anyone. Don't run your business as a fan, because as a fan you want the best of everything and in the early days of borrowing, you go for it.
Unfortunately for every positive action there has to be a negative and equal reaction.
It just depends how it's viewed at the time or at a later time as to whether people think you can always get an equal positive reaction to action.
As fans, many of us didn't generally give a stuff as to how much was in the coffers or whether it was coming from the literal pockets of the Hall's and Shepherds, as long as we got potential in signings and the odd feel good factor name to carry us forward on a whim that we were living on each season.
None of us worried about the future and like toptoon mentioned, fans have always been against the board/owners. It's just a case of length of pacification with what's put out on the field and what they can do.
Do well with spends and it's all smiles and ("well, maybe we were too harsh on the board/owners.") joy...until the next time.
If Sir John Hall had been saturating Cameron/Hall adverts all over the stadium for nothing and in the same colours as sports direct.....nobody would be saying a thing....or very few would.
Why?
Because of a few reasons.
1. He's a Geordie.
2. He provided a messiah and funded him.
3. He helped us get players and managers in that we all wanted.
The build up of debt didn't matter. Why?
Because if Ashley didn't know about it, we sure as hell wouldn't...and also none of us gave a toss. Why would we?
You didn't worry about what was in your fathers wallet or mothers purse when you asked for sweets or whether they would struggle buying you new shoes or whatever. You generally just hoped you got them and didn't give anything else a thought....for most people.
Everything with Ashley is scrutinised whether that scrutiny is mere perception, speculation or half truth's with snippets of genuine bonafide reality.
He doesn't get the leeway with any real positives. It's all generally a negative stance, even though the negativity does not outweigh the positivity in my absolute honest opinion.
Ashley's issue is having the words "multi billionaire"
That is the major issue on him and everything from that is a case of spiralling from it.
If he had came in under the Multi millionaire guise, expectation would have been much less severe at the start and obviously much less severe as it stands.
Things wouldn't have become the massive monetary issues they've become against the elite club owners and those owners who took a gungho stance and are now suffering one by one because of it.
Under Ashley a lot has changed.
We aren't basically fighting for the top 6 anymore, like under Hall and Shepherd.
Our club like all other clubs have a choice to make, outside of that top 6.
Do we try for 7th or do we go careful and hope for the best while other clubs are all vying for that little higher spot and willing to have a Hall like bash at it, not quite understanding that playing poker, you must ensure you can match the poker funds or you end up throwing IOU's into the pot.
Ashley had a dream. He basically extinguished it himself with the Keegan risk.
Ashley then had a dilemma.
Have another go amid hatred or ensure the financial future of himself, the club and his business, SD.... and try to work them to his advantage but also ensure they do not fall flat over uncalculated risks.
His risks are calculated and that's why, amid relegations due to misplaced trust and maybe loyalty/naivety?....he suffers but always has a contingency plan....up to this point, anyway.
But seeing as he's the despised owner (and he knows it) as it stands, then his so called tat brand is a so called massive detriment to Newcastle United and the money he's supposedly saved would somehow have us performing footballing miracles if he ploughed it into the club...as if it's some kind of pot of gold.
And yet nobody wants to argue the interest he chooses not to add on from his own wealth against a business, because apparently that business is his.....but are up in arms with him having free advertising his business within in his business.
He has to pay because disgruntled fans say he has to pay.
All his stuff in his shops is apparently so bad and so badly set out that it becomes tat which makes his adverts become tatty. Nobody apparently buys for his shops and yet it appears very popular.
Luckily 99% of fans are well off enough to afford to pay high end prices at the quality footwear and leisure wear shops.
It becomes laughable.
If the man was a Geordie (argue it if you want) that owned north east leisure wear or something like that and saturated the club in it like Ashley the apparent FCB is doing right now and doing exactly like Ashley....there's wouldn't even be much of an issue.
Pockets of discontent maybe. A bit like when Shepherd and Douglas hall etc, slagged off the fans and the women.
Could you imagine what would have happened had Ashley done anything remotely like that?
I've went off on tangent with much of this compared to the overall topic but the whole thing basically does tie in for those bothering to read it.
It's like the naming rights.
Most people would go mental at changing the stadium name if it was for no gain and would cite heritage and all kinds of stuff.
If the naming rights paid a fortune that guaranteed a few top drawer players, then suddenly it would become much much more bearable and accepted....until something went wrong.
The reality is, we are all a bunch of mixed up souls that will pick and choose an issue depending on popularity gain of that issue.
A case of mountains out of molehills or the flip side, with mountains made into molehills.
It just depends at the time or the era....or the right type of person/people that suit.
Then explain why we don't have money to spend even though the club amassed £130m last year
That wasn't because of Ashleys input either
A little bit of building the squad rather than sell a few high buy a few cheap and hope it works
If he speculates now and let's the club have a go the rewards for both Newcastle United and Ashley could be immense
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