Ashley's Modus Operandi

[Jammy89]

Didn't we get this before when we supposedly had money and we needed to spend.

There was suddenly all this press talk about a take over so all business ground to a half for a month then when it was clear nothing was coming from it we were suddenly told we had to sell first then by the time we sold it was "to late" to "get them over the line"?

I could be remembering wrong but i'm sure this is the 2nd or 3rd time it's happened?

[Zippity]

I've just seen on FB that our net spend in the time Ashley's been here is £22 mil....:O

[Nufc24Mag]

I've just seen on FB that our net spend in the time Ashley's been here is £22 mil....:O

Says it all he is bleeding this club dry and some people like pboro and pundits are to blind to see it!!!

[toonviking]

I bought a house, not an old castle. I could afford both, but the castle is way too expensive to run...

Ashley however bought an old castle, and hes letting it fall to pieces - as he can't afford to fix it.

They say hes good with money and investments... I think hes sh!t!!

[kingstonbob]

Lets face facts. He couldn't care less if we are relegated. £100 million pound in the bank, the club generates its own cash (as he says he wants) Rafa leaves out of frustration and being lied to and Ashley is pleased because he doesn't like anyone standing up against him, especially not in the press and he will then employ a monkey yes man. Sell any major assets and worry about the season after around January time if we don't look like going up. The man is a fcuktard of the highest order.

[ghostrider]

I bought a house, not an old castle. I could afford both, but the castle is way too expensive to run...

Ashley however bought an old castle, and hes letting it fall to pieces - as he can't afford to fix it.

They say hes good with money and investments... I think hes sh!t!!Not quite true to be fair.

He bought a reasonable but badly looked after castle and made sure it didn't crumble into non-existence.
The problem is, he refused to furnish it with the quality that we all believe it deserved.

The man is and has been, naive and has played the prince and the pauper in his decade of tenure, as well as Mr pork pie seller in between playing a small Santa Claus role.
Basically a mixture of everything right and wrong that any football club owner could possibly achieve, in terms of a club of this stature and following.

The real issue is very simple in what we feel he can provide and what his goal was and is.


1.10 years he's been here and we are back in the premier league.
As bad as that appears, as in 2 relegations, the reality is, it's far from being run into the ground.
Amid all anger, I'm sure people can see that.

2.He has his own interests on top of the club, as we all know, but he's letting those who know about it all, run it whilst taking the few spoils he can from the use of his club for advertising his other interests.
Nobody has to like it and I'm not asking anyone to...but the reality is, it's not going to destroy this club and nor is having his adverts covered up for others going to aid in us adding any quality to the squad in this transfer madness.

3.He's not the best owner for the job but he's certainly not the worst, either...by a long way...but he is as far as throwing away good money is concerned on players, because he will not be ripped off, whether we want that or not.

Some say he's bleeding the club dry but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

He's royally messed up in his time, no doubt about it but I honestly do not think he did it deliberately. I seriously believed he could do what he thought he could do in building this club on a long term plan but basically didn't bank on the reactions to his extreme mistakes in hiring and firing and telling porkies.

What we have to ask ourselves from this point on is, what do we all actually want from any owner of this club, should Ashley vacate?

I'm unsure what I really want, seriously.
What I mean is, I'd love to compete in the champions league and push hard for the title and also the cups. This would be my dream and in a way it would excite me no end in one respect, but in order for this to happen we would have to get in a PSG like owner, because no amount of sensible ownership of this club will achieve anything like what I've just said.
It means that I also have to discard my real morals of being a fan of Newcastle United football CLUB and basically just jump on the giddy train to wonderland, until that giddy train derails and leaves me sitting among crowds or a few thousand in a near empty stadium, watching rough and tumble football.

Or I could just keep watching us try to compete against the teams that are trying to compete against the teams that are already in the position that I wonder about, whilst bemoaning the bad days and smiling at the good days, in a never ending circle of life as a Newcastle United fan, who's unconditional love for his club will only remain whilst the club remains just that.

I dread the day we lose it, regardless of the dislike of Ashley.

[TheBigSausage]

Lets face facts. He couldn't care less if we are relegated. £100 million pound in the bank, the club generates its own cash (as he says he wants) Rafa leaves out of frustration and being lied to and Ashley is pleased because he doesn't like anyone standing up against him, especially not in the press and he will then employ a monkey yes man. Sell any major assets and worry about the season after around January time if we don't look like going up. The man is a fcuktard of the highest order.

I dont get this Benitez walking out or leaving assumption. Yeah he has been ****ed over by Ashley and co but i would be surprised if he walked and having to pay £5 million compensation , which would fund the next manager.
Wouldnt it be better to stay and be sacked and pay nowt. This wouldnt have any negative impact on his standing in the game cos everyone and their dog knows NUFC are ran by fnkcwits .
Even Stevie Wonder on a galloping horse at midnight can see Ashley is forcing the issue and no doubt has a yes man in mind .Rafa allegedly has been told to shut up whinging to the press etc etc so its a matter of time before the knives are out.
Rafa just needs to bide his time for the inevitable bad run and he will be bulletted with a pay off rather than a compen claim.

It seems extraordinary that after a year in the chimps Ashley would gamble on returning quickly. Maybe he is starving Benitez of cash and options to get rid , after all nobody is bigger than the owner (not even rafa) and a new guy will come in with some funds for January.
If i was Rafa i would be thinking "do your worst you fat cokcney w@nker .. sack me or am staying"

[ghostrider]

I dont get this Benitez walking out or leaving assumption. Yeah he has been ****ed over by Ashley and co but i would be surprised if he walked and having to pay £5 million compensation , which would fund the next manager.
Wouldnt it be better to stay and be sacked and pay nowt. This wouldnt have any negative impact on his standing in the game cos everyone and their dog knows NUFC are ran by fnkcwits .
Even Stevie Wonder on a galloping horse at midnight can see Ashley is forcing the issue and no doubt has a yes man in mind .Rafa allegedly has been told to shut up whinging to the press etc etc so its a matter of time before the knives are out.
Rafa just needs to bide his time for the inevitable bad run and he will be bulletted with a pay off rather than a compen claim.

It seems extraordinary that after a year in the chimps Ashley would gamble on returning quickly. Maybe he is starving Benitez of cash and options to get rid , after all nobody is bigger than the owner (not even rafa) and a new guy will come in with some funds for January.
If i was Rafa i would be thinking "do your worst you fat cokcney w@nker .. sack me or am staying"

Rafa has control of player ins and outs if we go by what's been said.
If Rafa does not have any of that then he can walk when he likes and still be paid up because the club would be in breach of his contract, assuming it was written in, which I'm pretty sure everything would have been when you consider the time it took for him to stay on and sign it.

So what's really gone on?
Is it just a case of players being far too expensive and greedy or is it that the money in the pot and players already here waiting to be shipped out being pooled into a kitty that was left too late?

Rafa is no fool. He must know what he's up against, so he has two options.

1. He can walk away right now and cite that he was effed over and do it with his head held high.

2. He can stay and get on with the job of building a squad that he can be proud of and proving himself to be an astute manager and top coach operating and building on what's available.

[TheBigSausage]

Rafa has control of player ins and outs if we go by what's been said.
If Rafa does not have any of that then he can walk when he likes and still be paid up because the club would be in breach of his contract, assuming it was written in, which I'm pretty sure everything would have been when you consider the time it took for him to stay on and sign it.

So what's really gone on?
Is it just a case of players being far too expensive and greedy or is it that the money in the pot and players already here waiting to be shipped out being pooled into a kitty that was left too late?

Rafa is no fool. He must know what he's up against, so he has two options.

1. He can walk away right now and cite that he was effed over and do it with his head held high.

2. He can stay and get on with the job of building a squad that he can be proud of and proving himself to be an astute manager and top coach operating and building on what's available.

Rafa has 3 options ... the last being what i just said .. sit it out , and with this squad a bad run is inevitable and get sacked for free and compen coming his way.

Your comment about greedy players etc ... THATS FOOTBALL .. wtf did Ashley buy a team for if he isnt prepared to play the game?
Its like me buying a Ferrari then refusing to pay the ridiculous insurance and running costs... unless i park it outside my house and plaster it with adverts to get publicity for my cheap sock stall on the quayside of course.

[ghostrider]

Rafa has 3 options ... the last being what i just said .. sit it out , and with this squad a bad run is inevitable and get sacked for free and compen coming his way.
Sit what out?
This is mostly Rafa's squad, so he either does something with it and waits to add to it as time goes on or he leaves right now.
He does not have any option to sit anything out and come away with any credit if the camp becomes disillusioned because they sense him going through the motions.

I want him to succeed here but we've also got to know the full facts of everything before we can be pointing any real blame on any particular person.
As I said before, he was promised what the club generates. He has jurisdiction over the players coming in and out and Charnley answers to Rafa on these issues.
This is what was said from the horses mouth.
If this is the case then Rafa will have that in black and white (pardon the pun) and anything different to this means he is entitled to walk RIGHT NOW...not next week or next month, citing wrong doings. RIGHT NOW...or he gets on with doing the job he's noted for doing with no in betweens.


Your comment about greedy players etc ... THATS FOOTBALL .. wtf did Ashley buy a team for if he isnt prepared to play the game?
Yes that's football but it doesn't mean clubs have to bow to it.
Ashley is prepared to play the game. We see a team that plays the game, like all other teams that play the game.
If you mean that he's not playing with the big boys, then ok, you're right...but tell me something?....How much money does Ashley need to put in to play the game at the level that's its gone to?
What is required to play the game?
Which clubs are playing the game in the way you believe we should?


Its like me buying a Ferrari then refusing to pay the ridiculous insurance and running costs...
He didn't buy a Ferrari.
He's not refusing to pay costs to keep what he has bought, running.
What he is doing is refusing to use his own credit card to fill it up when the car comes with a company fuel card and runs solely on that.



unless i park it outside my house and plaster it with adverts to get publicity for my cheap sock stall on the quayside of course.Bitterness is all this is.
Nobody uses sports direct because it's tat and yet everyone uses sports direct.

See what I'm saying?
Yes his adverts look tacky.
Fun 88 on a shirt looks tacky.
Wonga looked tacky.
Many clubs advertising looks tacky whether it brings in super revenue or piddly revenue.
Many clubs have this issue but it's nothing more than small fry in the grand scheme of things, regardless.

Let me put it simply.
If Chinese owners came in and bought us a team full of greed and plastered the stadium with adverts for bright coloured chinese noodles from the Chinese noddles-r-ours factory, all would be great.
It would brighten the stadium up and no one would be that bothered on the whole.

Let them mess it all up and the advertising becomes tacky and lowers the tone of the place, as well as them only using the club for their own ends.

See what I'm saying?
Because this is how it all works out because fans of all clubs are fickle...we all are in all kinds of ways, if we don't get what we believe we are owed or are entitled to.

[toptoon]

Says it all he is bleeding this club dry and some people like pboro and pundits are to blind to see it!!!

He's not bleeding it dry because that means he is taking money out. The problem is that he is not allowing the club to invest.

[ex_pat_magpie]

He's not bleeding it dry because that means he is taking money out. The problem is that he is not allowing the club to invest.

That may be true TopToon but he is bleeding the club dry as far as potential is concerned. And potential achievable ambition.

[TheBigSausage]

Telegraph reporting Ashley is taking £33m out of the club ... so Rafa can have all the money generated except this £33m .... explains the lack of transfers (in) in the last 2 weeks

[ghostrider]

That may be true TopToon but he is bleeding the club dry as far as potential is concerned. And potential achievable ambition.

But what is potential achievable ambition?
What money would this club have to hand out in transfer fees and wages to achieve this ambition?
What is the ambition of all clubs in our position?

Which clubs in the premier league have achievable ambition in terms of not having to worry about any implications of missing out on attempting whatever the ambition is?

Most teams appear to have an ambition of basically staying in the premier league, no matter what and then basically trying to finish as high as they can.

Most clubs in the premier league right now are going to suffer the consequences of punching well above their weight. It's going to happen, because most of them will not achieve any real ambition other than to say they had a good old bash at it but couldn't sustain the come down.

As fans, our real hope for ambition is to win the FA cup or get into the champions league.
Our real expectations are a mixture beating relegation to finishing in the top 10.

As for the first one. What can the club give out to achieve that?
What transfer pot would give us a better than average chance of achieving that?

As for the second one, I'd say it's literally achievable in short order. maybe even this season if there's no discontent.
But first things first.
Avoiding relegation is the main issue most fans seem to have, so on that note, I'd say we have a squad that is equipped enough to easily avoid it.

[ex_pat_magpie]

But what is potential achievable ambition?
What money would this club have to hand out in transfer fees and wages to achieve this ambition?
What is the ambition of all clubs in our position?

Which clubs in the premier league have achievable ambition in terms of not having to worry about any implications of missing out on attempting whatever the ambition is?

Most teams appear to have an ambition of basically staying in the premier league, no matter what and then basically trying to finish as high as they can.

Most clubs in the premier league right now are going to suffer the consequences of punching well above their weight. It's going to happen, because most of them will not achieve any real ambition other than to say they had a good old bash at it but couldn't sustain the come down.

As fans, our real hope for ambition is to win the FA cup or get into the champions league.
Our real expectations are a mixture beating relegation to finishing in the top 10.

As for the first one. What can the club give out to achieve that?
What transfer pot would give us a better than average chance of achieving that?

As for the second one, I'd say it's literally achievable in short order. maybe even this season if there's no discontent.
But first things first.
Avoiding relegation is the main issue most fans seem to have, so on that note, I'd say we have a squad that is equipped enough to easily avoid it.

Last time we were relegated we had a squad who shouldn't have gone down but we did, having beaten, no thrashed Spurs, the runners up last game of the season.

We can't be complacent and think our squad is good enough. Leicester won the Prem season before last with a squad just above average, so a squad as ours was, relegation year not one of the poorest in the division, never the less got relegated.

Therefore we need a squad stronger than average to be sure we aren't sucked into a relegation fight.

It's no good for the club, the players or the supporters. Only Ashley seems to derive some satisfaction from it with no doubt some hidden agenda.

[ghostrider]

Last time we were relegated we had a squad who shouldn't have gone down but we did, having beaten, no thrashed Spurs, the runners up last game of the season.
We got relegated because the club hired a man who couldn't get the best out of the players he had at his disposal and replaced him just a tad too late.
We have a manager than is more than capable of getting the best out of most of what he has at his disposal, this season and remember that this man, Rafa was the reason why we beat Spurs by that score.
A mere two games earlier and we wouldn't have been relegated in my opinion...BUT.... well, we did.


We can't be complacent and think our squad is good enough.
I'm not saying the club should be complacent and think it's good enough but the fact is we have bought some very good quality and potential to go with what we have.
We're also only 3 games into the season where none of us know the true strength of what we really have.
Most teams in the premier league will be attempting to avoid relegation before they think about anything else.
Nothing is rubberstamped no matter what buys teams bring in.


Leicester won the Prem season before last with a squad just above average,
My most hated team.
It used to be Man Utd.
If you think this Leicester team won the league with average players then fine...no problem.
I don't believe it for one minute.
This basically shows how we're being played like fiddles.



so a squad as ours was, relegation year not one of the poorest in the division, never the less got relegated.
Correct, it wasn't poor at all to be fair. It had all the hallmarks of a mid table team but you only achieve it all if you have committed players who work as a team and for the right manager.



Therefore we need a squad stronger than average to be sure we aren't sucked into a relegation fight.
It's no good for the club, the players or the supporters. Only Ashley seems to derive some satisfaction from it with no doubt some hidden agenda. I believe we have a team that is way stronger than average in terms of staying away from a relegation place, quite comfortably.

[Nufc24Mag]

He's not bleeding it dry because that means he is taking money out. The problem is that he is not allowing the club to invest.

Where did the Andy Carrol money go then???? Where did the money go when we didn't sign a player for 4 transfer windows??????

[ghostrider]

Where did the Andy Carrol money go then???? Where did the money go when we didn't sign a player for 4 transfer windows??????

4 transfer windows?

Do you mean 4 last minute transfer windows?
It's easy to make things look worse than they are.