Paphos People

It seems the fans protest have worled & Mike Ashley has put the TOON up for sale

He said he paid a 134m for the club, another 110m to reduce the debt but we're still in debt to transfers made by the last owners

No price at what he's willing to accept but says if someone comes in with an offer, he'll consider it, if not he'll support the TOON until they do, as he doesn't want it to go the same way as Leeds did but won't spend silly money doing it, 20m a year was all he was willing to back the club with

Read the 'Official statement' here:

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1392670,00.html

The guy appears to have saved the club but the fans protest to get him out because King Kev walked out ..... seems well "unfair" on Ashley considering he is the one bankrolling the lot an King Kev was presumably taking a decent salary.

The statement shows a long term vision to have the club running financially sound but without relying on buying big established names but still existing in the top flight, now are there any football fans that wouldn't want such sensible handling of their football club ?

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My opinion; worth price charged.

That's pretty much what he wants you to think, so to a certain extent this belated attempt at communication with the fans has been a success for him.

Problem is, he's talking cr@p.

- KK only walked because he was lied to when appointed about having final say in transfers, and then placed in a management structure he couldn't work in - players were sold behind his back and others brought in he had never heard of. Besides, what on earth qualifies the universally hated Dennis Wise to be a Director of Football??

- Ashley totally disregarded the wishes of the fans in this, and it's only now, when he realises he massively underestimated the strength of feeling that he's actualy bothering to talk to us - none of him or his "management structure" have bothered to speak to fans in the 10 days or so since this kicked off, apart from the ridiculous attempt to smear KK, in a statement which was proven to be littered with lies.

- He got landed with a load of unexpected debt when buying the club, but this is entirely his own fault for not completing proper due diligence - don't try build a reputation on being a maverick then start to whine when it all goes wrong. He was basically playing games with something he didn't understand and then acts all hurt when it bites him on the bum.

- He keeps harping on about following the "Arsenal model", which is an admirable ambition, but totally ignores the fact that Arsenal only works so well because they have Arsene Wenger, an absolute genius in the transfer market, and he also started from a far stronger position. Also, can you imagine Wenger accepting interference from unqualified lackeys (or anyone for that matter) in his transfer dealings? He would be out the door in far less time than KK stuck it out for.

- Ashely's net transfer spend in 3 transfer windows since taking over is close to zero, despite record TV money being available, and thousands of fans being duped into shelling out for season tickets for the next 3 years in advance. We started Saturday's match without a recognised full back and Shola Ameobi and a Spanish kid no-one has heard of leading the line - how on earth can we hope to begin to compete like that?

Well there are a number of phases to the whole thing. First up is Keegan leaving and why, I saw Harry Rednapp speaking shortly after Keegan walked and he said that he wasn't interested in the Newcastle job because of the structure proposed to him during his discussion ... presumably Keegan would have had the same information available at his initial discussion so you could say about Keegan "entirely his own fault for not completing proper due diligence" !?!? Perhaps he just doesn't get on with Wise, which has been reported a few times as well, i mean having to work with someone you don't get on with is often impossible.

Then you have the reaction from Newcastle board to Keegan going ... it has been handled badly. If they had come out on day 1 and said "keegan has left as he now doesn't want to operate under the terms of his contract" then would that have satisfied the toon army ?

Yes Arsene(l) have a different setup with different staff but they have been developing that club within, seemingly, the same criteria for many many years, they had to start somewhere, and no doubt that did invole an initial period where things weren't running as good as the fans wanted.

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My opinion; worth price charged.

The structure wasn't the problem, it was the reporting lines - at the time of his appointment, Keegan, Ashley and Wise all publicy stated that KK would have the final say in all transfer dealings and that Wise reported to him - when push came to shove this wasn't the case, so he walked, as would most people if placed in that situation.

Ashley now is just trying to muddy the waters and garner sympathy - simple fact is, all he had to do was stick to the initial agreement and everything would be OK. As late as Friday, KK was still willing to come back if he received the assurances he was looking for.

My point about Wenger stands - he has publicly stated several times he would not be prepared to work under a Director of Football as he likes to have full control - the success of the Arsenal board has been in backing him to get on with it.

Can you imagine Alex Ferguson having someone else tell him who he could and couldn't buy and sell?

Of course i cant see Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson having people decide who to sign instead of them, but they are established for many many years in a system that the respective boards evidently trust in, they would no doubt leave if the new owner came in and appointed people in the player management position. The traditional british way where the manager makes the football decisions is what we all expect i guess.

The question i`m asking is not whether we agree with the Mike Ashley structure, just whether if Keegan didn't understand fully the original "specification" and once Wise had clearly made some major decisions (good or bad) Keegan realised what was involved and understandably didn't like it. However are you suggesting he was told one thing at his "interview" and then in reality it was different ? If so is there any unbiased proof to back that up ?

You know me and know that i`m not an avid football follower, but the Newcastle story is hard to miss and the impression from the mainstream sports media is that nothing changed in the backroom but Keegan's understanding of how things will work, that is why he left.

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My opinion; worth price charged.

I read the statement in the Daily Mail and a lot of what Ashley says makes sense. His plan for the future of the club makes sense too, what I can't understand is why he has not spoke this sense much much earlier.
He has been dismissive of the fans by not communicating at all. His plans on recruitment seem sound but his mistake was choosing his mates to carry out the jobs, men who were not properly qualified, I mean if you were asked to choose someone to scour Europe for young talent would Dennis Wise be top of the list?
I suspect there was no communication between KK and Wise as well. For that arrangement to work, communication and honesty is a must.
By stating that he is still paying monies from transfers that took place before he arrived surely, Ashley will be putting off some people from taking over.
Shearer has been relieved of his post as has Beresford so at least Ashley is getting somethings right. That's Keegone, Terry Mac, Shearer and Beresford ! He now needs to get rid of the gurning champion Beardsley !
I can't see anyone wanting to manage Newcastle until this fiasco is over and that could result in a struggle this season. Geordies everywhere must be hoping this is sorted and the sooner the better.
Mackems, on the other hand, are enjoying the entertainment and long may it continue !
Gary

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So close yet so far away

Well all the crap-loids are saying today that no one in Saudi or anywhere else wants to buy the TOON especially the way it is at present, no matter how much debt Ashley has paid off as they don't think we're worth £481m whihc is what Ashley is asking for us

Looks like we could be in for a rough ride until/if someone decides to buy the TOON

Yep.

Gary

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So close yet so far away