I happen to think otherwise and believe that it’s a very important thing, and I hope you agree. Anyway, here goes.
In a nutshell it’s about attendances. The figures show that just 46,894 turned up at St James’ Park for the opening fixture of the Premier League season. It was still the biggest crowd in England over the weekend, but it’s some 5,400ish short of what we can achieve. Is it a sign of the times? What could cause this sudden drop in attendances?
Obviously the place where most people will point the finger is towards Mike Ashley. I’ve read a few comments now asking why people should bother going if the owner of the club can’t be bothered to invest in players. This is of course up to the person in question, although it’s worth pointing out now my belief that the only way to get rid of Ashley should you desire to do so is not give him a penny of your hard-earned cash. It will hurt, but if people really feel that strongly then perhaps actions would speak louder than words?
There is undoubtedly an element of unrest within the fanbase, but is that the only reason? In my opinion, no. We were riding on the crest of a wave last season having just earned promotion back to the Premier League, yet in the first home game of last season we only managed to get 43,546 through the gate for our 6-0 win over Aston Villa. If you look it comparatively, attendances are up.
Not that it replaces the missing 5,000 or so souls that are usually at St James’ Park of course. There has to be more reasons for it.
How about personal finances? Look at any financial newspaper or website, look at the recent decline in the stock market and the price of oil, inflation is high, unemployment figures are high, people are on pay freezes, bills are going up. The economy is not a pretty place at the moment.
Naturally when this happens people tend to look at their own scenario and think that they are alright so everybody else must be alright. Wrong. People are struggling out there and when you have bills to pay, mouths to feed, homes to heat and so on you need to re-adjust your priorities. Would you spend £40 on a match ticket? Or keep it aside in case something happens or to help with a bill? Confidence is shot at the moment and to me that is another factor behind the drop in attendances.
For those who are feeling flush it’s worth pointing out that this is peak holiday time so a proportion of the missing fans will be in various places around the globe sunning themselves. Off the top of my head I know of seven season ticket holders who are away on their jollies at the moment which will affect attendances. Yes it’s only seven, but if I know a few and you know a few and so on it soon mounts up. Thanks to those fancy card reader things on the turnstiles at St James’ Park, NUFC count actual attendances on the day and not tickets sold.
This new seating plan also has something to do with it in my opinion. We heard stories over the weekend how some of those that have been displaced from Level 7 caused problems for stewards and other fellow fans around the ground at the weekend, but there will also be fans who are so pissed off with having to move that they just haven’t bothered going back. The new extended away end is said to be 4,000 seats but not even Arsenal filled that so I reckon other clubs may struggle aswell.
In conclusion I believe that all of these reasons combined are playing a part in our drop in attendances. It’s worth remembering that crowds are down everywhere at the moment and even teams like Manchester United are struggling to shift all of their season tickets. In fact last season was the first season in something like 20 years that they had failed to sell out their season tickets.
It’s all too early to tell to be honest. I mean we still nearly hit a 50,000 average last season despite the first game having nearly 10,000 empty seats. I expect that we’ll see steady growth throughout the season in terms of attendances as that is how it’s happened over the last few years – even in the relegation season.
If that doesn’t happen then we may a problem.
I know this might sound (almost) too simple to be worth mentioning but…
It’s still school holidays.
Parents only really go away during these weeks, and even the most diehard fans will miss the odd game (especially when its one you’d almost expect to lose) so it’s not surprising that a few (many, even) might have scheduled holidays for that time.
TK(Quote)
More importantly than NUFC have I missed how Zoe got on with her A levels
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Also, I know the game was televised here in the US. Was it on any of the channels in England?
AndrewT(Quote)
Ba or Shola to start as the lone striker? I know Shola has the history and drive, but Ba has the consistent quality in his career.
Ah, hell. Shola to start!
AndrewT(Quote)
beginning of the end,falling gates,poor results,feeling the owner couldnt care less, relegation.
steve(Quote)
Just seen a bloke in a white trilby, white linen suit & white plimsoles on ‘Riots Caught on Camera’ on BBC1….South of France my @rse
witters(Quote)
Pardew always maintained he’d like to be judged by his performance (or lack there of) in this transfer window.
However good a start we made in getting in some pretty decent, although largely injury prone, players he has massively under-delivered in the areas we really need strengthening.
To be in the same position yet again at the end of transfer window and embarrasingly scrambling for bargain buys?
It all just smacks of Ashley’s control and has left Pardew looking a complete fool.
To get £5.5 million for Enrique and baulk at paying £6 million for Pieters is just embarrassing and we will be ridiculously under-equipped to take on the Scum on Saturday.
Don’t you just know Ryan Taylor will be our “emergency” left again?
If it wasn’t so exasperating/embarrasing it would be comical !
Just going to pray both Ameobi’s get on and do their family name proud yet again.
Can even take solace in the fact that even with half a team we’re twice the team they’ll ever be.
HWTL!
GeordieDan(Quote)
I think the attendance will rise over the season, especially if we get a good run of winning games & start to climb the table, that normally gets those who’re in the pubs clammering to feel the real atmosphere of the stadium,,, just wish I was closer, I’d be there every week 😀
Toon69(Quote)
Looking out from the Leazes on Saturday, it appeared to me that the bulk of empty seats were in the, shall we say, expensive sections. Suggests to me that the club is less appealing to the prawn sandwich brigade at the moment, but the bread and butter fans are still loyal and die hard. Keep the faith people, and remember that whoever plays they need OUR support
Durhammag(Quote)
I’ve got a hunch (nothing more than that) that the whole Ashley thing is going to explode quite soon. Its like a pressure cooker that’s simmering, and the heat’s being turned up. The fans have had too many lies and false promises to put up with. Results on the pitch might well be the catalyst. Half decent team performances are the only thing that has kept a lid on it. Also, I don’t think Ashley’s got the patience to stick with it. Expecting some big news.
Crowds are always down by a few thousand in August because people are on holiday.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Its often a low attendance week. Wasn’t news really imo – everyones on holidays or committed.
Funny how a normal occurrence is span into news!
Stardust(Quote)
Probably both the summer vacation and people voting with their feet.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Money , fokers on holiday , folk staying away because of fat ash , It all adds up
hello(Quote)
I believe Steve that its the beginning of the end for football as a whole. Not in the sense where there is no game just that no one will pay to watch it. Prices keep going up for everything and eventually ordinary fans have to reassess their priorities financially. Sooner or later the TV bubble will burst and I know many many people who have jacked in Sky cos they can no longer afford it. Many of those people only had Sky for the football.So eventially when sky stop making the necessary profit they will ditch the game and the premier league like a bad smell. Billionaires will no longer see clubs as fashionable to own and the game will pretty much go bankrupt. You have players running around unable to control a football or themselves in most cases on obscene salaries who give not a jot about the fans they play in front of and they don’t care about the game. Money will never everbe a problem for these people again yet it is us the fans who will be left to pick up the ruins of our once great clubs. Football armageddon approaches faster than we think.
stevey c(Quote)
By the way, Lee Ryder tweeted earlier that AP said Harps will be on the bench, Shola will start and Raylor will very likely play LB tomorrow, for those in doubt.
lee_ryder Lee Ryder
#nufc AP “Harps will be on bench on Sat, Shola will start”
6 hours ago
lee_ryder Lee Ryder
#nufc AP “There’s a good chance Ryan Taylor plays, clubs know we need LB and makes it hard, we have to be diligent”
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Attendance still biggest of the day.It was live on the telly ESPN
Oh,and we sold our best player 48hrs before KO. nuff said.
Brian C(Quote)
The main reason I watched the game in a pub was the fact that I was quoted £58 for one ticket on friday before the game.On the day of the game the same ticket had gone up to £61.absolutley appalled.
CAROL KAV(Quote)
Stevey c (14)
You put up some very sensible and valid points there. There is a theory that the PL is similar to a pack of cards all stacked up , balanced on eachother, all owing eachother countless millions. It will only take one to default on it’s debt (go bust) and the house of cards will tumble.
With this in mind, Cashly’s financial strategy is fiscaly sound. It’s just a great pitty yhat he’s such a dipshit when it comes to the world of football and it’s lifeblood, the supporters.
Jachin the columnist(Quote)
For God sakes the game was on TV who else except Man United gets a full house when the match is televised ?.
It is starting to irritate me reading the comments from fans paranoid about Mike Ashley. The guy, bigger fool him knows he bought a pup investing in Newcastle United not realising his predecessor did not give a **** about whether the club remained solvent as long as he kept the fans on board paying ridiculous fees and offering ruinous salaries to big time charlies like Michael Owen, Alan Smith and so many others who have failed to deliver. To quote Alan Sugar after giving up his chairmanship of Spurs ” the fans weren’t content with me pi..ing up £10million against the wall they wanted me to p..s another £10 million”
Ashley isn’t going to do it. When you are insolvent you are insolvent. Banks don’t lend money to insolvent companies. He is a very succeesful businessman. His aim is to stop the mindless spend spend spend policy of the past which only lined the pockets of the players.
For the largely youthful and clearly economically illiterate fans who despise Ashley for not acting like good old completely unsuccessful Freddy our lack of success goes back 45 years. Ashley is not to blame for that.
I accept he is not committed long term to our club but he has brought in 5 new player this season and the likelihood is we will have more before the transfer window closes. Hopefully we will have one to replace Shola meobi who if any one rembers was a future star in Bobby Robsons eyes, s
Long in the tooth geordie boy(Quote)
Stevey c (14)
You put up some very sensible and valid points there. There is a theory that the PL is similar to a pack of cards all stacked up , balanced on eachother, all owing eachother countless millions. It will only take one to default on it’s debt (go bust) and the house of cards will tumble.
With this in mind, Cashly’s financial strategy is fiscaly sound. It’s just a great pity that he’s such a dipshit when it comes to the world of football and it’s lifeblood, the supporters.
Jachin the columnist(Quote)
Been out of the loop for a few days but I assume we still havent signed the players we need?
On the actual thread, I actually people peoples patience is running out. Why should they invest in a season ticket if the club wont invest?
Although only time will tell.
Stuart79(Quote)
Holidays mate ? Should probs chill out before writing a whole article about 4,000 under capacity . Don’t think its a sign of mass un rest at all just people going on holiday in august
Droz(Quote)
There’ll always be unrest at SJP, as long as we’re not playing in Europe. 🙂
….ahhh, the ‘delusions of grandeur’ the Geordie faithful build their hopes upon.
Rodzilla(Quote)
The attendances are always down historically at start of the season because so many people are on holiday. It’s factory fortnight
Andy(Quote)
Long in the tooth geordie boy
Good points well made.
I don’t blame ashley at all for what he inherited and its his club if he does’nt want to spend ridiculous amounts on players its his choice. My beef has never been about that with Ashley its his unwillingness to communicate his real plans for the club that pain me. Does he just want to keep the club in the PL or have we ambitions of returning to the heady heights of the 90’s and early noughties. I would love to see 11 home produced youngsters take this club back to the top 6 but, if thats not what he wants or if that costs too much then why not dispense with the senior players altogether and stick with the youth whatever happens. I would quite happily watch 11 youth players giving their all for my club in the conference and I mean that. Mike Ashley is trying to sign players on a budget and I agree with that policy wholeheartedly but people who pay extortionate amounts of money to that club expect better than mediocrity and whilst some of them are stupid and young many are lifelong season ticket holders who have gone to the matches for 10’s of years so I think its a bit harsh that you tar those people with the same brush. As regards his actual spending he is willing to fund 5 million for the likes of xisco who because of his silly wages cannot secure a permanent move anywhere meaning some of the money going to him can’t be spenton another couple of genuine prospects.An inconsistent approach by MA regarding transfers is proved by that point. Shola Ameobi gets a contract extension taking him to the end of his career almost. Kevin Nolan is kicked out the club for wanting a similar deal. Joey Barton next? Nothing with him makes any sense and there is no consistency in everything he does at NUFC. You can guage from these things why I dislike the Guy and none of it has anything to do with buying micheal Owen type superstars
stevey c(Quote)
the buzz has gone.why would the fans stump up there hard earned when they see owner wont..
hitman(Quote)
Jachin the columnist
Blackburn being a case in point. They sell their best player to MAN U for 20 mil that Jones kid. They have very rich owners who will put very little of that money back into the team much less any of their own. Premier league clubs outside of the top four or five are cash machines for rich people to get richer and its truly sick that it is mostly working class people funding the feeding frenzy. I love NUFC with all my being but the money stuff makes me feel physically sick!!!
stevey c(Quote)
Anyone know where they’ll be showing the match on Sat? I was kind of hoping Shearers or sonewhere like that.
Stuart79(Quote)
@b&b
I wholeheartedly agree. Tensions are building to the point of snapping.
It’s not something that may happen, it will happen if this continues.
I’ve maintained since Ashley took over, but no more apparent than now, we are in the same position as the seymour and Mckeag era’s .
There is obviously more money in football now which disguises it but in football terms we are thought of as we were in the 70’s and 80’s.
Ashley is Mckeag and Pards is Gordon Lee.
Carroll is Supermac and the fans are starting to dwindle from the 70s era to the 80’s.
For those too young to remember and haven’t seen it happen, believe me, it’s on it’s way with Ashley!
Troy Stavers(Quote)
the unrest at the club is an easy fix.all ashley has to do is show some ambition,FFS he has knowing for months we need a LB and a striker but what happens he fks about,its a fkin disgrace..
hitman(Quote)
Troy Stavers
I was around 18 when the Mckeag stuff was going on and it was awful people standing outside of the west stand shouting sack the board then rioting through the town. Bad days and don’t want to see a repeat of that ***** like!
Even if he sells the club thogh who buys it? will they be any better? careful what you wish for comes to mind with that mate!
stevey c(Quote)
@rodzilla
Nowhere near right fella. All we ask is we aren’t lied to and we fight to our full potential.
Can you not see it?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Stevey C, There’s a pattern forming with Ashley’s “5 year Plan” cited in 2008….
“My investment in the club has extended to time, effort and yet again, money being poured into the Academy. I want Newcastle to be able to create its own legends of the future to rival those of the past. This is a long term plan. A long term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish”.
…unfortunately for us this roughly translates into “build up the resources to train and churn out young players, until their sell-on value is too much to resist. Sell the fkers and then buy some more promising fledgelings”.
…hey, at least we aren’t as much in debt as some of our rivals. Yeah, and I could give 2 fks. B0ll0cks to club/company finances. I just want to see a capable squad that doesn’t gamble with relegation every season. Ashley needs to listen to the voice of reason, but time and time again sticks to his specially-designed fatty-finger guns, and ignores specialist ‘football’ advice. The bloke is a ****.
Rodzilla(Quote)
ashley will suck this club dry over the coming years then dump us when theres nowt left..its time to wake up and force this bloke out…
hitman(Quote)
Troy@32, I was being ironic at 23.
Rodzilla(Quote)
@steveC
To buy NUFC at it’s Market value they must have the wealth to outlay IRO £150m.
That takes some serious investor.
All I ask is he tries to sell for the Market value instead of trying to rip the eyes out of potential investors who won’t tolerate his previous attempts.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@rod
Fair do’s but having read many of your posts i find you are intolerant of the anti Ashley crew.
You are far more interesting when you are pissed. !
Many won’t get you but i find it hilarious when I’m pissed ! 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@rodz
Clearly you’ve jumped on my reality train having read your last post., 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Rodzilla :
I partially agree with you but like I said mate cash machines we should’nt really expect to be different to Blackburn etc in that sense even though there are massive differences in size, crowd etc we are just seen as a way of making money as are they and the type of people buying football clubs are all after the same thing. Look at Liverpool spending 100’s of millions to bolster their squad and it may not be good enough to qualify for the champions league. How much would we have to spend? Almost all of the money they have spent over the torres 50 mil will be debt and if they fail to qualify for the champs league 2-3 years running they will not be able to sustain the wage bill and will be in real finacial danger.Man City are alone in the market place now but if the game continues on its currrent coarse the arabs will get bored and walk away. Man City will cease to exist when they can’t pay their bills same as chelsea and now liverpool. I f*ckin hate Arsenal but they are right in how they do it.. I just don’t believe Ashley has any of Arsenals intentions. I believe he is here purely tomake money!
stevey c(Quote)
the geordie nation is just simmering now when it comes to ashley,if we get stuffed off the scum it will explode 😆
hitman(Quote)
And I’ll bet that all ashley wants is the repayment of his loans aswell as the market value of the club.
So we are looking for someone with approx £300M under his mattress.
Good luck with that.
Troy will you please explain to me WHY ashley has to lie to us?
Just a straight forward answer please, no need for any quips, its a genuine question.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
@BB
that’s exactly why I struggle with you.
£300m Market value?
No that’s Ashleys value.
The Market value will be what he originally thought it was worth when he bought it. £135m.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Yeah we’ll never agree on that, so best just move on.
Can you answer my question tho ❓
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Troy Stavers
Do you think he would ask a realistic price for NUFC Troy?Look Enrique left because he said they had no ambition. I believe Carroll left for the same reason even if finacially he was well rewarded for going.
He is here to make a guaranteed 90 mil a season in tv money alone if he stays in the PL. I know many sucessful businessmen who would love a piece of that action with little or no investment.
stevey c(Quote)
If you don’t know why he has reason to lie to us then I suggest you take 6 months out and read the previous 6 months posts .
Troy Stavers(Quote)
BB – Both he and Llambias have both said Ashley will not take or is not taking money out ofthe club. Look at the accounts its says he will take money back to replay the loans from transfer fees recieved and tv money.
Stuart79(Quote)
Troy@37, Anti-Ashley-wise, I’m not up for all the fan protests that just tend to coagulate in a bloody scabby mess around the club for the media vultures to gorge on, ultimately resulting in player unrest and table decline.
But I do tend to be intolerant of most things ‘anti’ when I’ve had a few, and would probably chin myself in an empty lift for not wanting a drink after 7 pints.
I guess it’s just the devil’s advocaat in me.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Troy + Hitman sorry to dissapoint you’s but there’s no way the fatman will be forced to sell up so you’s may get use to the idea.
Fan apathy is at an all time high and will continue to rise year on year because people in general dont have as much get up and go, so they will just keep accepting what is happening and the hand their dealt.
Big Dave(Quote)
@steveyC
I’ve posted my opinions on this blog dozens of times why I believe morally he should cut his losses and I am sorry but I’m not going over them again.
But to answer whether he will, I would say no but morally IMO it gives me the right to slag him off and if I meet him face to face speak my mind.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Mike Ashley is a Business person with a record of success in his Business dealings, he made a financial mistake when he purchased Newcastle U.F.C. after some of the deals that Mr Shepard had made. This was obvious when he tried to sell the Club and get his money back, there were no big buyers.
Having accepted this as fact we as Fans have shown our support for the playing team with large attendance numbers. We have always lived and cried with the lads and I suspect always will do. We will be there long after Mr Ashley and his friends move on. Some day we may give credit to Mr Ashley for his business skill. Even Man Utd are admitting financial difficulties Let us just enjoy the game.
Jordy Canuck(Quote)
Stuart…TV money yes, transfer money no
well according to those clauses in the accounts that a thread was based on
witters(Quote)
Stuart was just thinking about you the other day, do you still think it was a good idea to sell the naming rights of SJP to bring money in for players etc ??
Big Dave(Quote)
bobby face too face if only 😕
batty(Quote)
Stuart79
By taking the money from TV revenue and outgoing transfers to pay off the loans he is taking money out of the club and our pockets at the same time. It is us who pay Sky, It is us who pay the club via tickets and Shirts. It is us who pay for the players incoming tranfer fees signing bonuses and salaries. Not Mike Ashley. How much is Spekky Dekky gettung paid in that managing Director role? I bet its millions and what may I ask does he do other than looking totally moronic on a permanent basis. He certainly only communicates to the fans to peddle more pro Ashley ***** thru the match programme. We’ll spend the whole 35mil it will all go back into the club!!! you what? you spent most of it on drainage at the training ground so you could train outdoors in winter. Are you f*cking serious you replaced Andy Carroll with a f*cking underground radiator seriously!!
stevey c(Quote)
Just changing the topic slightly I see Pieters turned out for PSV tonight
paolo rossi(Quote)
this club can not move forward under ashley,so the sooner the fans get UNITED and oust this **** the better the club will be..
hitman(Quote)
@Big Dave
Totally disagree with fans acceptance of the situation . I would have thought, with respect fella, your age being similar to mine, that history tells you that fans with no outlook lose interest.
You can see it before your eyes. For 14 yrs we had full houses unquestioned. There were ups and downs but generally there was hope.
Ashley is the replica of Mckeag and when I first started going in 1979 aged 11, I would stand with as few as 11k !
5 years earlier in supremac’s era we were in the 40k bracket.
Don’t be surprised to see a sudden drop in attendances if results don’t go well this season. We are not immune.
If it was not for the 10 yr deal this season I’m quite certain we would be touching on the 40k mark.
The biggest threat the club have to attendance fall out this season is lack of season tickets sold. There is an ever increasing number of pay at the door supporters and they will have no reason to turn up on a rainy winters Wednesday night when it’s on tv and we are playing badly.
I say this to the younger bloggers, I guarantee if the results go wrong this season we will not only be competing with them for top north east team but also attendances.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
😳 sorry aboot the swearing just boils the urine does this subject
stevey c(Quote)
Competing with Sunderland I meant
Troy Stavers(Quote)
apart from the fact we have no left back and will likely end up no left backs 1st sept do the people running our club not realise if you do not score goals you will not win games. We have the most woeful set of strikers I can remember seeing out our club even stefan guivarch was better than the current lot. Ashley seems unwilling to spend even 8million on one, it is all very well saying someone will come in but if he was going to spend he would have done already. He has had 7 months to find one.
beznbarton(Quote)
@steveC
It’s going to go pear shaped soon.
Unless the players we have bought surpass all expectations then there is going to be a huge backlash from the fans and that means staying away.
Inevitable in my eyes.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I would like to add to my last comment. Newcastle United are my club have been for 50 years and I would love to see them compete with the best teams knowing that we have the best support in the world. I say this on the basis that no other unsuccessful club would be supported in the manner that ours is. Every football fan in the UK knows this.
I enjoyed the days after John Hall gave us a wonderful stadium a nearly successful team until he chose to take his money and run leaving the club in the hands of less scrupulous men.
We were failed by them not by Ashley.
Ashley is a director of not just newcastle united but of a massive business empire. He only need to f,,ck up financially in the way he handles one of his companies to be disqualified from being a company director. Being financially reckless at Newcastle could bring him down completely. Believe me he in the current economic climate he is not going to risk that just to be popular with Newcastle fans. Having bailed us out by lending money to help us pay off the clubs debts he has decided he isn’t going to try competing currently with the Liverpools of this world until there is financial stability.
I have waited over 45 years for success and have been as sick as any fan that we have not had it. Pardew is the man we need to worry about . A **** appointment in my view and Ii doubt he will deliver when he can agree a further two year contract to Ameobi and yet deny a similar one to Barton.
Long in the tooth geordie boy(Quote)
wheres the pro ashley mob defending this mans actions…………..
hitman(Quote)
Troy 😯 > history tells you that fans with no outlook lose interest.
Thats basically what im saying they lose interest because they dont have the get up and go to do owt about it and they know that most other fans are the same.
As I touched on people in general will accept almost anything because we have hed spirit and fight bred out of us, actually in a way people are to lazy to do owt that might put them out 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
Bobbs, what is worrying is that you have no concept of how much damage it would do our club if it were the fans who so p issed MA off that he left and sold up .. if he wants, he could seriously screw us over + saddle us with so much debt in a much bigger way than you perceive him to be doing today. This makes me even more certain that you are a mackem. You are trying to fight a guy who is far smarter than you and holds all the aces. If people are encouraged by the likes of you to not support the club – we will be well and truly f ucked. You should be ashamed.
TOONPIPES(Quote)
Stuart – You, like the rest of us, know nothing of the accounts for this year.
But you have your conspiracy theories running, that he is trousering the cash. As of last years accounts he had taken NO money back from the club, we also made another loss of £35M. Its pointless speculating what he is or isn’t doing, until this yrs accounts are published, next June.
I knew I wouldn’t get a sensible answer from you Troy.
Its simple I guess, he has to lie/mislead whatever in order to get us to keep paying our season tkt money. And we do. A simple 10 yr special price deal, and most of us had signed up before last season ended.
He’s not as stoopid as you make him out to be. He is playing us for the fools that we are. Believe me, if he sells up by xmas say, the 10 yr deal will be out the window, quick as a flash.
He clearly needs to show the size of the fan base to any potential buyer. That box has now been ticked.
Next he needs to reduce the size of the wage bill as a percentage of turnover, to convince the buyer he is getting a good deal. Job nearly done.
Lastly he needs to recoup his loan to the club at the same time reducing the level of debt. He is doing this by selling off players and replacing with cheaper ones. At a guess I would say thats about 40% done. So more sales expected.
The only thing he has to do then is find a buyer who will pay the market value. Where he is with that is anyones guess.
Where all that leaves us tho is a moot point. Probably still supporting the Lads on the pitch home and away. Bacausde that is what we do. 😡
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Hitman, i dont think there are many who would say that they should be defined as pro-Ashley, i think there are a lot more who would be happy to be defined as anti-bedsheets and brickwallers. People who have such anger and frustration inside them that football has changed and clubs are not just spending cash like it is going out of fashion – which sadly includes us. If people were able to recognise the reality of the situation, there would be more ustanding about how the current owners are behaving. The attitude the current owners are taking is quite commonplace + widely ustood.
TOONPIPES(Quote)
@Bez Barton
Totally agree.
My only consolation is that I couldn’t see where the goals were going to come from last season but up stood AC and Nolan to surprise me.
However, that Arsenal game should be ringing alarm bells all over SJP.
Having learnt from experience I will guarantee we will not get a worthwhile striker in this window. My **** is dying to be aired in Fenwicks window but there is no chance.
Left back maybe but no one more than £3m and defo not Petiers.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Take those rose tinted glasses off Toonsy, we’re in a declining spiral, interest lost, money lost, revenues decreasing yearly… The only people left are the die hards, and many of us are finding it tough to find any motivation to spend anything towards the team. 12th highest revenue football club in the world a few years ago with plans to keep expanding the stadium because we sold out each and every weekend. Look at us now, bunch of bloggers trying to make everything seem pretty as the club disintegrates around us. If we have less than 50k for the follow up to last years incredible Arsenal 4-4, in August no less, what will January be like…And how much more will our revenues have declined by next summer, meaning less money to spend, lower wage cap, less overall outlay because we need to keep those magic books balanced instead of growing…yay.
makingitup(Quote)
Troy @55
(55% percent pure Orange Juice, Troy@55 – 100% sparkle!)
(?)
….I think you’ve pretty much highlighted the cause of decline in that post. TV, (don’t forget internet, and illegal broadcasts) and gate price increases.
Not only are games becoming more and more easy to watch (you don’t even need a Sky subscription nowadays FFS, wit tinterweb) but football clubs continue to bring in masses of revenue, and football players’ wages continue to increase, whilst game admission prices climb.
Alongside this, we have a recession. It’s all a trifle odd (or fkn ****, depending on your persuasion).
Rodzilla(Quote)
Long in the tooth geordie boy SJH has to carry blame aswell and he made a tidy sum out of it when he sold out to MA.
As for Pards not giving a contract extension to Joey but at the sametime giving one to Strolla, do you think that was his choice
Big Dave(Quote)
one of reasons for poor attendance is that all spare seats in levels 2 &4 of leazes end have been allocated to newcastle foundation & who didnt turn up. As a season ticket holder in this area it is now impossible to get extra tickets for friends as none available, although club says will be some on sale periodically!!
Stewards targeted standings fans ( on back row) and threatened eviction if they didnt sit down on orders from the top!
brian(Quote)
@BB. “The world is not fair, and often fools, cowards, liars and the selfish hide in high places.” Joey Barton 18.8.2011
Some people lie and don’t even realise they are doing it. Some just don’t care. Why do you think he lies?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
MAKINGITUP .. sadly you are correct and the situation you define so well is the case in may businesses in the developed countries – mainly ‘Western’ countries but also Japan and Australia .. sad state of affairs – probably incorrect to lay the blame at MA door, but when the club means so much + represents most geordies room for dreaming, you can ustand why people might decide to say it is his fault – despite that being preposterous.
TOONPIPES(Quote)
toonpipes,blow it out your other end.we sold jose for 5.5mil.pieters was avalible for 6 mill and on less wages,and guess what your owner pulls a fast one
hitman(Quote)