Profit v Ambition – Can the two ever work together?

What to do with the money?
What to do with the money?
So Newcastle have released their latest accounts and to be fair they don’t make for bad reading if you’re interested in that kind of thing.

The headline figures are that turnover is up, wages are down, commercial income is up and the bottom line profit is just shy of £10 million which isn’t bad at all.

These figures are from last season where we finished 16th in the league and had the Europa League to contend with. In actual fact the figures did show that participation in Europe really wasn’t worth it in terms of finance as the dip in our league form and league position (assuming the Europa League was at least partly to blame for it) failed to be offset by the cash brought in by being in the ugly sister of European competition.

As has been said before, balance sheets can’t be celebrated by football fans so where does this leave us? A lack of incoming transfer activity this season with only two loan deals and the acquisition of a player for the future has been painted by fans as a lack of ambition from the club which is hard to argue with when combined with some baffling statements (cups not important/finish 10th minimum) coming from the club itself. Then you have the cash from the sale of Yohan Cabaye to consider.

The figures for this season (to be released this time next year) should make for interesting reading. If you use our latest accounts as a guide then add on an increase in TV revenue, a likely increase in Premier League prize money, a further increase in commercial revenue and no significant outlay on platers (compared to last season where we signed six players on permanent deals) you can see which way profit is heading. It doesn’t take an accountant to work out it should go up.

But it is what is done with that profit that interests us more than anything. It needs reinvesting in the team. From players to coaches, everything needs improving. If the club do that and show that they are trying they might find that more fans get off their back.

This is where there needs to be a balance between profit and ambition – or investment – but at the moment it’s not clear where the dividing line is. My own opinion is that if there are no shareholders to keep happy with a dividend, and Ashley’s camp is quick to point out he takes no money from the club directly, then what is the point in profit when we still have building to do?

It’s boring for some but please feel free to add your comments below.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

97 thoughts on “Profit v Ambition – Can the two ever work together?

  1. Haa! You got me with that one Sharpy. 😆 If we do sell Tiote the problems in midfield will be huge. Sitting Livermore deeper might work but he’s no Tiote. So frustrating to realize we’re constantly in danger of losing our best players. Tiote has just recovered form and should be at his peak for the next few seasons. He is one of the players we should build around but I don’t think Ashley has any intention of actually building anything except a huge profit for himself if possible. He is his own worst enemy in my opinion.

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  2. If it takes a steady sale of our best players to keep us in the black how can we progress? We can’t in football terms. And some of the incoming will be flops like Obertan and suck significant wages out of the club. What about players like Cisse and Ben Arfa who have probably declined steeply in value and will continue to decline if their play doesn’t improve? We’ve got to find an answer for a lot of these player problems and soon or next season will be worse, not better.

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  3. I think the club should have a huge overview of where we are now this summer. Bring everyone together, assess performances, develop a plan of action. Surely that’s not too much to ask from a brilliant business man?

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  4. G2 @ 72/73 – I’m not sure how the role of “Director of Player Development” would interact with the club’s Football Development Manager.

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  5. But who is the Football Development Manager Welly mate? If we have one why don’t we hear more about what he does? Sorry for my ignorance on this. Has he done a good job in your opinion?

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  6. I hear Mike puts a nice smorgasbord on for the staff once a year. But they have to bring their own food. And booze. And there’s an entrance fee of course.

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  7. G2 @ 84 – Before we start – he hasn’t done an obviously bad job. So sacking Beardsley would cause significant outrage.

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  8. But has he done an obviously good job Welly? I don’t think we should have people in the club simply because they haven’t done an obviously bad job. And maybe he has done a terrible job. What kind of measure do we have of his competence for the job other than the state of our young players? Is it poor, average, outstanding? If it’s not outstanding we should be looking for someone better in order to get into the top six in the future.

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  9. I’m not trying to be nasty to old Beardo and he was a great player for us but is he any good at the particular role he plays with us now? Or is that the kind of question you just don’t ask under Mike the Magnificent?

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  10. Eight people is the entire coaching staff. Eight people for a Prem team? Are you sure you can afford that many Mike? Couldn’t Pardew just handle it all by himself? Maybe I had better not ask that question. I might not like the answer.

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  11. G2 – so you’re saying that nobody would mind if Beardsley got sacked without proof of incompetence? If that’s your starting position, then I don’t think we can have a serious discussion.

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  12. Not at all Welly. I’m saying how does he rate? And who keeps track of his performance? And is that person good at his job? What is the hierarchy and what is the performance review process? Do we have one? A performance review process I mean. We had Joe as DoF. Was he vetted by a knowledgeable football person before he was hired? What about Peter? He deserves a fair evaluation but does he undergo any evaluation at all with the club?

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  13. G2 – Oh, I see. You’re not saying that Beardsley is bad, you’re just saying that he can’t be considered any better than Kinnear. 🙄

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  14. G2 – Thanks. 🙂 I’ve been doing a lot of travelling and it hasn’t entirely agreed with me. Less said about that the better.

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  15. Hmmm. No we’re not clear here at all Welly. I’m asking how do the coaching staff get evaluated at the club and by whom? What is the evaluation process? What goals are set? Does Pardew review the entire staff each year? For example at the end of the 5th place season and the 16th place season what did the performance reviews look like and how were changes implemented to make sure we get better as a team? Is Mike directly involved? Is it possible to be a more consistent team from year to year? Is this kind of process underway at the club?

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  16. I think I’ll just go back to saying I hope our young players are managed well in their careers. I don’t see a lot of evidence of it as I spoke about in earlier posts. I also don’t see a consistent transfer policy to improve the club. It seem to be run mainly to ensure we stay in the black by selling good players for high fees without replacing them. Not an ideal approach to keep us competitive.

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