Living in an Ashley wonderland?

Mike Ashley

Mike Ashley
Getting it right, slowly?
Of course as it is the transfer window, all fan chat is currently based around who will sign and who will be shown the door.

This inevitably leads to discussion on transfer policy and opinions of the Ashley regime. I would like to explore whether there is a light at the end of the tunnel? Where are we heading? And question if we can ever be truly happy with our owner and club?

First of all, I would like to say, where Mike Ashley is concerned, I am well and truly sitting on the fence. I am more than happy to give my full support if we continue to move in the right direction, however I am obviously pretty cautious about declaring full support. It is very clear that there is a divide amongst the fans. Those who despise Mike Ashley and those appreciate what he has done and are desperately hoping he comes through in the end.

From here I will try to explain where we could be headed and how one day we will be united in all aspects of support. Since bouncing back from relegation I can honestly say that it has been one of the easiest periods to support Newcastle since Sir Bobby. The plan, in my mind, is sustained success like Man United/Arsenal as opposed to throwing money at players (which clearly hasn’t worked in the past).

Before we can reach the heights of the aforementioned clubs there is a massive infrastructure that needs to be put in place, which is money spent that the fans cannot see such as training facilities, youth development and scouting networks. Some fans should appreciate that this aspect has increased enormously since relegation. Also, although not out of debt thanks to Ashley it is worth pointing out that it is now manageable in the sense that there are no repayments or interest charges hinging on it.

So by putting our experienced and higher earning players on shorter, incentivised contracts (Giggs and Scholes), promoting from within (Tavernier and Ferguson), and by signing Europe’s top talent on the cheap such as Tiote and Ben Arfa surely we can achieve some minor success?

As the world gets smaller the footballing world gets bigger and bigger and there are many more good players out there. It’s up to us to find them.

Now success breeds success, and a journey into the Europa League will net more TV income and sponsorship deals which makes it easier to keep your top players and adds to wage and transfer budgets, which in time will produce bigger name signings. With sustained and continued improvement, could we not win the league in 7-10 years? Who knows, we could be a force to be reckoned with in the 2030s 😉

To close, no-one can deny Mike Ashley has committed sin in his time at Newcastle however I like to look at it as pre and post-relegation. Would you be willing to forgive a man if he delivers long-term success and occasional cup runs in the meantime?

It seems that Ashley is asking for a lot of faith, too much for some, but for now he has mine. And I would love it, LOVE IT if we could all support NUFC in the same way once again.

Note from Toonsy: Thanks to Welshpie for submitting this effort. Well done. I’m sure it will get a few responses 😉

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.

109 thoughts on “Living in an Ashley wonderland?

  1. when you really think about it you can count on one hand how many football owners say owt to fans or press,we were used to it with fat freddy,most clubs have a chairman that do that and do know a little about,footy our problem is we are stuck with owl heed 👿

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  2. He got 35M for our last No9.

    The least he can do is spend 15-20M on a replacement No9.

    Sturridge seems to fit the bill.

    I call for it because it’s criminal if he doesn’t replace Carroll with a quality forward from the 35M.

    52,000 fans deserve to see a good quality centre forward in the No9 shirt.

    Beardsleys Boots your toenails are stained brown your so far up Ashley’s ****.

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  3. I also want to see more money spent, but not on sturridge. My choice would as stated on the previous thread be Matudi, Barnetta & Seleznyov. all proven internationals and all cheaper that sturridge.

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  4. @premandup

    What do you care about his attitude?

    Chances are you’ll never meet him.

    Pardew & Carver no how to deal with egos.

    Hell Carver watched SBR deal with Bellamy.

    Give our coaches some credit & leave attitudes to them.

    We just need to demand the highest standards and not let the owner off the hook.

    Set the bar high … support the team and not the owners wallet like I see so many fans doing on these blogs.

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  5. Personally I think the players named is setting the bar far higher than Sturridge my complaint is that we can do better.

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  6. After nearly 55 years of supporting the Toon, there have been so many false dawns and these are nearly always followed by very little daylight. Will Ashley get it right and how long will it take. ?
    I don’t want to appear to be anything other than positive regarding the upcoming season, but when someone says to me, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, with Newcastle United involved, it’s generally a train coming the other way. HWTL

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  7. @premandup I could not agree more with you. Sturrige is way over priced. We laugh at Liverpool for paying 20 Mil for Henderson. Well guess everyone else would laugh if we fork out 15+ for Strurrige. Rather spent that diffently.

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  8. KK – “You can never have to many players”

    Stop trying to be accountants.

    Put pressure on the board to buy.

    52,000 fans and we’re in danger of seeing Shola & Lovenkrands for another season.

    (Actually I think Lovenkrands could be a goal machine with a fast ground game and incisive passing … but not paired with Shola)

    Don’t accept ****. Get angry before August 31st if he hasn’t bought us a decent forward to fill the No9 shirt.

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  9. HITMAN i think a lot of fans dont relise how important P.L. players are m8 you got to have some in your team or your only going one way,its alright haveing these so called great imports in the team,but imo your basic lads that have done the biz in the P.L. i can remember many “great”players that came into top clubs hear and died a death,there are many too name just two,crespo best striker in europe at the time looked a right loser at chelsea,veron best mid/f in europe done dog **** at m/u could go on.of coarse there are them that have made it,but are normally eased in,ime just a bit worried about how are we going to settle so many at one time 😕

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  10. @premandup what you think would it be worth a a shot to go for Gignac. We were after him last year and everyone agreed that it would be a great signing but he went to Marseille instead.

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  11. The end of this window is when we can judge him or when we see the team that runs out against the Gooners.I will always have an uneasy feeling about the way he can destroy past heros like KK Alan Shearer and to some degree Carroll and Houghton.

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  12. With the conflicting statements that have came from the club and Pardew and Ashley’s past sins that were mentioned by Toonsy I for one don’t trust him and it is up to Ashley to earn my trust. My problem with the current situation is that Pardew is stating that he is hoping we can maybes get an additional 2 players yet we have not spent any of the Carroll/Nolan money yet. Surely we need another left back and if Enrique goes we will need 2 unless they are going to use ferguson as second left back. We definitely need a right back Simpson has been ok this season but what cover do we have for him Perch? Ryan Taylor? They are not good enough at right back. We need one more quality striker at least and cover for Tiote as defensive midfielder. This is just my opinion of course

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  13. flash @89
    Gignac would be a great signing, but only been at OM for one season and they do not want to sell. Unlikely

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  14. KK was right. What was it he said? ‘Don’t kid ya self, Alan, you aint getting the Carroll money’.

    He knows more than most what a set of twats run the club.

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  15. Daverism
    Posted June 30, 2011 at 9:45 PM
    Lol.

    62 days remain, Stuart. Patience doom monger.

    We’ll see.

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  16. @103…some say doom munger sow say negatives or realists etc
    I call it being realistic based on history of Ashley and his bull ****. Anyone who says otherwise and calls a person a negative fan for baically saying the truth could also be accused of being a dreamer and living in fantasy land. We will all see that cum the end of the window that once again we have been stuffed. I also think we will be relegated next season. Based on this team if we dont add to our ranks properly, not just numbers because they are free.

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  17. i hate reading these blogs, where our fans are constantly negative about things, i think mike ashley has made some big mistakes in his time, however i believe the club is now going in the right direction, bringing in top talent like tiote, ben arfa for next to nothing, bringing in players who are mobile and have a lot of flair is what we need to get back to playing good attacking football, with a few more signings theres no reason why we cant challenge in the top half of the table for the europa league, when shepherd was in charge he was putting the club into massive debt paying ridiculous prices and wages for players who were total flops, e.g luque, and michael owen, now under ashley were financially stable and bringing in the right players on good wages stop living in the past

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  18. Don’t trust the man. Don’t like the man. Will probably never trust him. Or his offsider. And probably not the manager either.

    But I’m not going to predict doom and gloom, and, unlike many on here, I don’t have the ability to read somebody’s mind so I don’t know what his true thoughts on the club are.

    And, again unlike many fans, I like my reality to stick to facts rather than be a creation of my own fears.

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  19. Looked at the transfer table and wonders where Man U would be without the sale of C.Ronaldo?

    Man U does spend big, very big, it is just they also play hardballs when their players are leaving.

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