Ashley's last season

I think this will be his last season as our owner in the premier league. We all know what he is and what he has done but i just cant see the reasoning behind it this time. Last season we finished 10th, a remarkable achievement but it could have easily been 17th (8 pionts fewer) if not for a nice little winning run towards the end of the season.

It was obvious that we played to survive and we did it well, we needed more improvement and a better quality of playing staff to take us to the next step of being confortable but he only sanctioned like for like or worse players. He has actually weakened the squad with his tightness and i reckon we are 5 players short in the first team set up as a result.

He wont get a buyer at his wanted price and he wont spend again in January, he must be up to something because
if we are in the relegation zone at Christmas he will have to spend to protect his investment . Lets be honest if we are in danger of relegation on Christmas day, then we are down because the fixtures are a nightmare again from then on and we will be well and truly fecked
Liverpool, Man Yoo, Chelsea, Man Citeh, Tottenham between Boxing day and Feb 2nd , 6 weeks of likely defeats to start the year off and the fans will want blood.
A potential buyer will want the same provisions as Stavely (relegation clause etc)

If we go down, Rafa will walk (he will anyway) and fatty wont put his hand in his pocket a third time to get us back up.
If we go down, there will be thousands of fans not renewing, i can see him asset stripping and then selling


Mikel Merino------------>Ki Sung-yueng equal quality
Jack Colback
Chancel Mbemba ------->Federico Fernandez equal quality
Matz Sels
Aleksandar Mitrovic----->Yoshinori Muto poorer replacement
Adam Armstrong
Dwight Gayle
Henri Saivet
Rolando Aarons
Slimani----------------->Salomon Rondon injured like for like
------------------------>Fabian Schar improvement



the future looks bleak, hope we get some points on the board soon

I still think he's happy enough owning a yo-yo club. What might change his mind is when (not if) we fail to get promoted after one of 'his' relegations.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kal

I still think he's happy enough owning a yo-yo club. What might change his mind is when (not if) we fail to get promoted after one of 'his' relegations.

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This would shake him rigid. Each time he's relegated us he's seen a rapid return and he's obviously become complacent thinking it's an automatic easy thing.

If he took us down for a record third time and we didn't return while the parachute payments were coming in to help I think then panic would set in and it would be a question of how quickly he could off load at the best price he could get.

All it takes is him to appoint a McClaren/Uncle Joe type and we won't win promotion, no matter how much he spends.

If we get relegated I guarantee ash won't be gutted for the same reasons as the fans

I think if we go down we'll stay down.

You said asset stripping, not sure it'll be that but i agree on principle, our squad will be gutted as anybody half-decent will leave. Unlike last few times we won't have a strong nucleus to come back up.