Basically it’s Alan Pardew talking a bit more in depth about his relationship with Mike Ashley.
Given that the relationship between manager and owner is kind of key to our fortunes it kind of automatically makes it important to us, as fans, as we all want to see NUFC doing well and a decent working relationship between the guys at the top and the guys tasked with the football side of things is a must if Newcastle are to become a more stable, more competitive outfit.
However Pardew has revealed that the relationship has been tense at times, especially at the back end of last season when Newcastle managed to let slip a three goal lead against West Brom on the final day of the season, although he did later reveal that he is now able to discuss things with the owner, and that the owner will actually listen. Yes, I was shocked aswell!
Here, in full, is what Alan Pardew said to Sportsmail
“Our football club, I have to tell Newcastle fans, is run in an incredibly efficient way,” said Pardew. “Everything we do is calculated and budgeted for because that’s how Mike is. He drives success.”
“He drives Sports Direct to be the biggest company it can be and, believe you me, he’s driving me to make this club as great as it can be within the financial structure that we have.”
“I’ll give you an example of that. We were 3-0 up at half- time against West Brom. I’ve done a decent job, my staff and players have done a fantastic job in my opinion. But we let West Brom back into the game and we dropped down two places.”
“I didn’t see Mike for two months, because he wasn’t happy. I don’t think the money was paramount. I’m talking about the emotion of the game. People have this image of him drinking that pint of lager at Arsenal, but that’s not him — trust me.”
“Not when he’s got his business head on. He didn’t even say, “Well done, great season”. I didn’t see him! He wants better than that. I’ll hold my hands up for what happened on that last day and that’s what he is. He won’t accept anything else.”
“Some people talk about this London mafia thing and I don’t really know what that means,’ he said. ‘But I guess because our owner is from London and I’m from London, and because of the situation in the past with Dennis Wise, that might have put me at a disadvantage.”
“Because I’m from London maybe I get on with Mike better than a manager from abroad or a different area. If anybody is going to get one more penny out of him for investment in the team, then it’s going to be me.”
“I can look him in the eye and have an argument with him. I can disagree with him and get a balanced argument back about what he wants because he’s the owner. I give him my advice, I tell him what I think and then he’ll make the decision. Sometimes he’ll come with me, sometimes he won’t.”
“But financially the club have done a good job, you have to say that. Whatever the Newcastle fans feel about Mike and Derek Llambias’s management of the club, you have to say that their fiscal approach has brought some stability to the club. And when I look at Derek and Mike I think they’re enjoying it more.”
Personally I think not speaking to the manager on the basis of one result is a bit, well, a bit huffy. Sure he was probably annoyed, but he wouldn’t have been the only one. Still it seems as though it’s all in the past now and that they all get along just fine for the moment.
In truth it’s hard to be too critical of anything at the moment. Even that new “mission statement”, you know the one that contained exactly what we all knew anyway, has failed to put a dampener on things. Sure things are far from perfect at the club and there area million things that could be better, but there could also be a million things that could be worse.
Personally I’m happy that Pardew and Ashley seem able to get along. To me it’s important and will hopefully lead us towards a period of stability within the financial boundaries that we are apparently working in.
What do you make of it though? Good? Bad?
A hearts and minds piece, no doubt. Though it is time to back the whole club 100% and not be precious about a couple of fooking signs. The bigger picture is very positive, even if there has been mistakes along the way.
Shearers Receeding Hairline(Quote)
Interesting read. I agree it’s a bit childish to not talk to him for two months. Good to hear though that they can have a debate and that at times mike is reasonable enough to see the merits of Parsees argument and change his position on the matter
Dubtoon(Quote)
Its a well known, if not somewhat overlooked in the past, fact, that instability behind the front line of a football club rocks the boat and transmits on the pitch. That was an issue that affected the team last season. Otherwise we had the quality to do a bit more damage. This year the stability is showing on the pitch. With smiles all round. You don’t need to have the best players to have the best team. I think this year we have a much better team! So on and up. If we keep this up for a few more years we may get a european spot or a cup win. It’s more likely to not happen but who knows what a team can do with the right guidance and a good work ethic like we have!
Craggles(Quote)
I think its a plus they get on , Im sure we have all had people we have worked with that we dont get on with and it just makes things easier when you get on with the person you work with or work for imo.
I like the fact Ashley was pissed off we threw away that lead as I know I was. It sets the standard. And if a company wants high standards it must be shown from the top and its the same for a club. It wasnt the end of the world we didnt get those extra 2 points but nice to see Ashley cares , becasue Ahsley will get on at Pardew and Pardew will get onto the players that those sort of results aren’t good enough
Johno Toon(Quote)
thats not mike at all that image at Arsenal, he’s normally ****-naked in a restaurant pissed out of his heed..
was he huffed because we lost money v West Brom or the fact we dropped 2 places? money I reckon…which is fair enough but 2 months!!…jeezus thats one long period
mark(Quote)
Two months that includes the summer break? Whether it’s money or points AP needed to chewed out over that and it looks like he was.
By the way what’s with the mission statement dig. You have not reported it on this blog, it says nowt that you can disagree with. You want communications from the board and then get sniffy when it happens. What dis you expect “were buying Beckham” 😈
Premandup(Quote)
Maiga deal is “virtually done” according to this:
Scottwilsonecho Scott Wilson
Plenty of French reports this morning claiming #NUFC are close to tying up January deal for Maiga. Have to admire their persistence.
57 minutes ago
»
Jamie Dalton
JamieDalton82 Jamie Dalton
Surprised Sochaux have backed down on Maiga after reporting #NUFC to FIFA twice. L’Equipe say deal to take Maiga to SJP “virtually done”
1 hour ago
3hourswasted(Quote)
That’s nowt… wor lass didn’t talk to me for 2 month because i forgot to do the dishes 😉
I’m really starting to see a glimmer of hope with out club now. It seems to be slowly but surely progressing forward on and off the pitch. The pessimist in me is waiting for a **** up but, if come the end of the season, and things are still looking rosie – I’ll have to take my hat off to the board and i’ll be the first to say ‘well done!’
HWTL
Nobby(Quote)
I am delighted with the statement, I also think that the fans should start chanting our managers name and the owners name, in a good way. It is also a bit childish that our fans do not forget about the past and look at what is being done by the club, and start from here.
Ashley
Ashley
Ashley
Think about it if you owned the club would you want to spend money if all the fans gave you a hard time all the time, to be honest he has given more than our previous owners, they just borrowed from the bank, and got us into debt. Ashley has paid it off, ok so he balances the books with the Carroll money, well would you put the sort of money into the club he has. With all the **** he gets from us I’m surprised he still spends money at all, but thankful he does .
And who cares that he is from London, some owners are from further afield do you think they supported those clubs as children.
Actually we should write a song about how good Ashley and Pardew have been good for the club. The only problem is I’m not that musical.
Here’s to Ashley and Pardew, and if you don’t like it then lump it.
Ed(Quote)
@ ED
There’s only one Mike Ashley
one Mike Ashley
He got some things wrong
But we now get along
Walking in an Ashley wonderland
😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉
Nobby(Quote)
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
3hourswasted(Quote)
I’m off to the match this weekend… i’ll have to get smashed to start singing that as someone is bound to chin me ❗
Nobby(Quote)
not knocking pardew as a manager ,but all 3 of them **** in the same pot .
batty(Quote)
…A big pot full of gold
Moreno(Quote)
Nobby – Brilliant!
Batts – see your favourite clown Taylor did it again. I didn’t even have to post a comment about it – it was so blunderingly obvious!
Speaking of favourite clowns – where’s Big Dave 😆 Probably scrubbing the I love Saylor tattoo from his knob. 😆
Glad Icedog and myself can tell a good player from a bad one. 😆
Stardust(Quote)
Stardy – at least he redeemed himself with that block from Defoe towards the end.
Toon Chicken(Quote)
@Nobby
you should sing it show yourself as a leader amongst men 💡 😆
Edward Trotter(Quote)
TC aye ya right saved a defo goal ,but stardust had already left the ground by that time 😉
batty(Quote)
😯 ****. def don’t have the gonads for that. if i was in the east stand i might as they’re all too old to swing a punch (and they’re all deaf) but i’m in the middle of the gallowgate. 😯
Nobby(Quote)
TC – though that flying kamikaze tackle worked on that occassion he uses it as a normal course of defending. Even juniors know ‘stay on your feet’.
Off to get my mind scrubbed of a horrible image I have of Big Dave scrubbing.
Stardust(Quote)
“TC – though that flying kamikaze tackle worked on that occassion he uses it as a normal course of defending. Even juniors know ‘stay on your feet’.”
The lad is ever present in the defence with the best record in the league…
Moreno(Quote)
stardust are you still rubbing fat ashes pile cream on for him 😆
batty(Quote)
Batty – you’re a horrible man… i just started to reach 😳
Nobby(Quote)
Out of curiosity to those who still hate Ashley…what would it take for you to forgive him and accept him as chairman?
I notice that Batty mentioned Pardew, Llambias and Ashley all ‘**** in the same pot’ – well surely that’s just a negative way of saying they’re all signing from the same hymn sheet.
Are we saying it would be better if Pardew was constantly griping about the owner in the papers, saying he’ll never be able to bring success to the club with Ashley’s budget constraints etc etc?
Before you start, I’m aware that this is extremely unlikely to happen, but imagine for a moment we win the Carling Cup this season and come 7th in the league. We’re in Europe, the club is back in the black financially and we’ve won a domestic trophy for the first time in 55 years.
Ashley walks out on the pitch after the last home game of the season to clap the lads as they do their lap of honour holding the cup.
Do we start chanting “You fat cockney b****rd, get out of our club!”, or do we give him a round of applause?
I suspect it would be the former, and that makes me a bit depressed for the mentality of some of our fans.
John T(Quote)
Stardust if they’re such calamitous errors you should never have to post a comment and they’d all be that obvious. Staying on your feet only applies when u risk unnecessarily exposing the goal, the defence was already breached and diving in to block was the right thing to do 🙄
Yes he makes mistakes but better than Williamson and at least he makes up for them
Dubtoon(Quote)
On the one side, not talking for two months about that result screams of childishness, and yet on the other side, don’t we want Ashley to keep as much outside the sphere of football (apart from giving us funds) as possible?
Anyway there’s no doubting that Pardew has the best relationship with Ashley of all our previous managers, and no I’m not talking about being a yes man, rather they both seem to have a reasonable amount of respect for one another, or rather Ashley hasn’t shat all over pards yet.
Newkie(Quote)
Dubtoon – I said normal course of defending. I acknowledged in that statement it worked on that occasion – and there will be other times it works – but generally speaking its poor mans defending. You get one chance only if you go to ground..
Stardust(Quote)
…well CTRL-Vd Toonsy, I think you have to some times. How old is that interview? Do you know? I think we all know Ashley is tight, even his lovers do (mrs), but I’m sure frugality must play a major part in setting a business up on a sound financial footing. I still don’t think he invests quite as much in his ‘workforce’ as he should though. I’m waiting until January to see what happens there. I’m still on the wrong side of neutral at the moment, just.
He sounds like a moody fker too mind, but I suppose his job is far from stress-free. It would be very interesting to know what ‘financial outlay’ effects all the FCB chanting had on him, but I guess we’ll never know the answer to that.
Keep all of our best players (including Saylor), buy a couple more in January, and take the team forward from there. You never know, Fatty might just make my Christmas card list next year.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Toonsy, couple of questions for you. Is our financial year end December 31? And do you have any idea if player trading counts as operating activities for football clubs? If so, then surely we should more than break even this year given the Carroll sale if there are efficiency improvements and loss this year was only 4.7m. I know wages have gone up etc but surely not by as much as the difference in our net spend. I’m not one who gets overly worried by when the money is invested but if we did invest in January (the remainder from Carroll, even if it only say 7m for maiga) then with a positive spend we’d make a loss again the following year unless there are continuous improvements elsewhere (which it would appear have stagnated if we’re still making a loss this year).
Sorry if that’s hard to read or doesn’t make sense. Written on and off over about 15minutes on my phone
Dubtoon(Quote)
Sorry to numb ur head toonsy with all the hours ur working 😕
Aye steady but in that situation is it not the right thing to do every time, given that the player is already through and started to shoot. Yes Defoe could pull it back but it makes it harder for him and gives other defenders time to get back. I agree that the real problem was elsewhere (ant remember if he broke the offside trap or what) and that’s where the fault lies I think, but given that had already happened, going in off his feet was the right thing to do in order to get the block in on time
Dubtoon(Quote)
😆 * stardy. **** autocorrect
Dubtoon(Quote)
Premandup @ 6 – It wasn’t a dig at that mission statement, beyond saying it was pretty much pointless as it’s something us fans have known for a good ooooooh, two, maybe three, years 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Dubtoon – The accounts will be out March/April/May time so we’ll have to see. What I will say is to remember the debt 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Didn’t Saylor’s mis-timed tackle come as the result of a blunder by Cabaye? I could be wrong, I only watched it once, and pissed.
I know Dwight Yorke was saying everyone knows you should tackle with your right foot in that situation, but from my recollection I don’t think he could’ve got there with his right, and it probably still would’ve been a penalty anyway. I suppose the best thing Saylor could’ve done was stay on his feet, but his heart tends to overrule his head sometimes. You could see how much of a **** he felt in the post-match interview, and credit to him for admitting. He knew he fkd up, and why and how. You can only ever learn by recognising your mistakes. I still rate Saylor.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Not too worried about that tbh. Better interest free than not. I know it’ll make selling harder but no realistic prospects of that at the moment anyway
Dubtoon(Quote)
Rodz, yeah, acknowledged that mistake, just arguing with stardy writing off Taylor’s block on Defoe in the last minute as luck
Dubtoon(Quote)
Dub – No I mean the level of debt. If it’s gone down etc etc 😉
toonsy(Quote)
It’s just operating at the moment not taking into account player ‘trades’ so will be in profit.
Rorycn (Bottoms up)(Quote)
Ah, OK Dub, ‘steady’ did throw me a bit.
Rodzilla(Quote)
A good read from Simon Bird
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/simon-bird/State-of-the-Toon-Simon-Bird-takes-a-detailed-look-at-Newcastle-s-long-awaited-mission-statement-article814371.html
Halftimebovril(Quote)
Cheers rorycn 😉
Dubtoon(Quote)
nobby @23 thanks 🙂 john t @24 even if the fat c unt handed over his own personal fortune too me i wouldnt forgive him 👿
batty(Quote)
The Carroll money isn’t included in the £4.7 m estimated loss apparently so there is still money to spend. In the last accounts Ashley was due to take back £41 million in total (made up of monies from TV rights last season and this season and money still owed on players we have sold (excluding Carroll). He may well take back some of the £35 million Carroll money and reduce the debt to him further. Looks like we might get Maiga for £8 million and I would like a left footed left back. With that we should have a great season.
Interesting article on the strategy at Olympique Lyonnaise – sounds very familiar and seems to be working for them though French League isn’t as competitive as the Premier League. Worth a read though:
http://www.espnstar.com/editorial/news/detail/item692008/Chhan:-Lyon,-the-envy-of-Europe/
3hourswasted(Quote)
There will come a time when NUFC reach a ceiling, possibly a glass ceiling under the spending restrictions in place. How do we break through that ceiling? That’s the big question, although lets just enjoy getting to that ceiling for now.
As for credit, I give Carr, Pardew, his staff and the players all the credit in the world. As for Ashley – ha! He’s let the manager spend £500k since January, now that’s a joke!
Well done Pardew, your staff and the players.
Stuart79(Quote)
This is part of the article concerning their views on transfers:
Aulas’ rules to avoid transfer market disasters
* A new manager wastes money on transfers; don’t let him.
* Use the wisdom of crowds, not just one person’s view.
* Stars of recent World Cups and Euro Championships are overvalued; ignore them.
* Certain nationalities are overvalued.
* Older players are overvalued.
* Centre forwards are overvalued; goalkeepers are undervalued.
* The best time to buy a player is when he is in his early 20s.
* Sell any player when a club offers more than he is worth.
* Replace your best players even before you sell them.
* Buy players with personal problems, and then help them deal with their problems.
* Help your players relocate by eliminating home-sickness
3hourswasted(Quote)
Yeah Bovril, good read that. I agree with everything he says. Not bad for a c*nt! 😛
Rodzilla(Quote)
Batty @ 42 – I hope you’re joking! So there are no circumstances at all in which you’d forgive him? Let’s be stupid and pretend we finish 4th this season – even then you’d still want him out?!
John T(Quote)
good points 3hrs, I think the one we need to pay a little more attention to is the ….”Replace your best players even before you sell them.” ….one.
….”buy players with personal problems” :lol:….not sure about that one.
Don’t understand the last one. How do you “eliminate home-sickness”? I suppose we could serve frogs legs in the canteen, and change Pardew’s training kit to a blue and white horizontally-striped shirt, complete with onion necklace.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Batty @ 42 If he handed his fortune over to me i’d put his pile cream on with my tongue 😮
Nobby(Quote)
Hah – Rodzilla @ 48, I thought that about homesickness.
I doubt it’ll be a problem for the French lads anyway. I’ve flown from Newcastle to Paris a couple of times, and it only takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes or something. We should worry more about Pardew feeling homesick for London. If he goes by train it’ll take him more than twice as long to get to Kings Cross than it would take ‘Dreamboat’ to land at Charles De Gaulle
John T(Quote)
I’m sure Pardew will just take a ride on Ashley’s chopper 😛
toonsy(Quote)
Aye Rodzilla@48. I agree we should ideally replace players before selling . The homesickness one is being addressed at the Toon I think – a core of French players who get support finding homes, language lessons and are well looked after when injured (Ben Arfa). Our reputation for the way we treat players is sky high in France apparently. Failing that your suggestion is a good one 😆 😆
3hourswasted(Quote)
That famous bloody chopper! Never brought us anything but misery. From flying Carroll away to failing to pick up Ruiz in London. And don’t get me started on Mickie Owen’s chopper.
Have we had a good helicopter moment since KK took off after retiring? I know Sir Les used to fly the lads about in his during the Entertainers days.
I think he gave a few local ladies a ride on his chopper too…
John T(Quote)
Yeah John. I think that point could’ve been worded better. Dunno if it means helping them to re-locate to their new club, or aiding home-sickness by allowing them to re-re-locate back to where they’ve come from, or just making them feel more at home. Must admit, although it’s not far I wouldn’t fancy commuting from France to Newcastle every day.
I doubt home-sickness comes into the equation for most players anyway, although the North East weather would certainly put a dampener on players from sunnier climes.
….maybe that’s one of the reasons we’re targetting French players, and not bringing in ones from La Liga?
Rodzilla(Quote)
3hrs@52, yeah we do seem to have a very good reputation in France.
(apart from that nob from Sochaux who can’t make his mind up whether to throw the book at us or meet for a coffee)
Rodzilla(Quote)
Toonsy, bad image mate 😳
Rodzilla(Quote)
any thought of a song for Cabaye yet?
To the tune of “cay sarrar” (I appreciate that’s not how you spell it but I honestly have no idea… so it’s done phonetically)
Yohan Cabaye Cabaye
I’m not gay but I can’t lie
He’s gorgeous and has nice eyes
Oh Cabaye Cabaye
😛 😛 😛
Nobby(Quote)
Yeah Rodzilla I wasn’t suggesting they should commute for training, a la Mickey Owen, but just if they do start to miss their mams frogs legs, garlic and horsemeat pie (stereotyping? me?) they can hop on a flight from Newcastle and be enjoying said mams delicacy within a few hours.
John T(Quote)
john t ile never ever ever ever forgive the fat c unt .
batty(Quote)
Indeed John.
Nobby, I’m sure Zoe would like that one. Can’t see it catching on with 20 odd thousand pot-bellied Geordies though. 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
…speaking of that nob from Sochaux, looks like there’s a new thread up……..
Rodzilla(Quote)
I’d have more bottle singing my cabaye one than my ashley one 😉
Nobby(Quote)
Haha rorycn retweet 😉
Dubtoon(Quote)
I’m at a crossroads with Ashley. I still hate the things he’s done in the past, but I respect the way the club is being run. I still think we’ll finish mid table which is still good, but I think people are getting a little bit carried away at the minute.
For the club to be in the black is a massive thing for me, as that is a foundation to build on, and I think its great. Why didn’t they just bloody say that though after the Carroll money was brought in? Why not just say this will go into the club and will help make us secure?
It’s the PR side of it thats always got on my man boobs, and also the way they have soiled the name of some Toon Legends as well.
I’m happy to give credit where its due, and there is no way I’m complaining about the season so far. Unfortunately I’m waiting for the next major PR disaster, and I pray that there won’t be one.
At the moment I guess I’m neutral with Ashley, and I will congratulate him on a job well done this season so far. I can’t believe I just said that haha!
NorthernPaul(Quote)
Yeh its great they get on well ! i would like to hear one example of ashleys “sometimes hell come with me ” why should anyone forgive or forget any of the awfull decitions and apointments they have made in the past lets just hope they have learned from there mistakes and dont make the same ones again and lets hope the rigid transfer policy isnt to much not all the young lads we bring in will make it and when we have sold all the high value players were do we go then !But happy days while it lasts im really enjoying it.
keith(Quote)
John T…..I said the other day that no matter how well the team does I won’t forgive Ashley, I also said I don’t let my dislike of him blind me to some of the good he has done at the club and he has done some.
I dislike him because he’s a liar and he’s **** on Toon legends and if you’re going to lie then at least have the balls to apologise when you get caught.
As for “makes me a bit depressed for the mentality of some of our fans.” I could say the same thing if you think forgiveness should be based on how well the team is doing. My foregiveness is based on doing the right thing after doing wrong and for me that has to start with an apology.
I don’t sing anti Ashley songs and he certainly isn’t the worst chairmen we’ve had in my time, but my focus is supporting the team and that is all I’m really bothered about. I love my team but dislike Ashley and there’s nowt wrong with my mental state 😉 ………reet time for my medication 😆
richietoon(Quote)
here here richie its the old cliche that you dont love the toon if you wont forgive ashley and wont say how utterly wonderfull he is what a load of bollocks most of his cockups and lies are unforgivabe and we would be mad if we dident prepare ourselves for more **** at some point and i think most fans are level headed to a certain degree theres not to many bed sheet brigade idiots out there even tho we are all painted like that at times .
keith(Quote)
Keith exactly, though on the other hand there’s some people who are so anti ashley(not on this blog) who refuse to see any good and who think everyone on here is pro Ashley just because they’re not constantly slagging him and Pardew down.I think there’s a good mix on here and people are “usually” civilised to each other even if they have differing views. As I said, don’t like Ashley and unlikely I ever will, he has got some things wrong and some right but you don’t learn from the present, you learn from the past and the past has taught me to await a kick in the nuts. My hope is that he has also learnt from the past and hence my nuts will go on unbruised 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
richietoon
October 18, 2011 at 15:12
“Keith exactly, though on the other hand there’s some people who are so anti ashley(not on this blog) who refuse to see any good and who think everyone on here is pro Ashley just because they’re not constantly slagging him and Pardew down.”
😯 😯 😆
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy….bet you don’t know who I mean though 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Rich – Haven’t a clue 😆
toonsy(Quote)
rich the same reasons as me 😉 must be an age thing 😆
batty(Quote)
Batty….I prefer to call it wisdom 😉
richietoon(Quote)
very strange rich, sometimes i wonder if your my long lost twin 😆 😆
batty(Quote)
Batty……stranger things have happened 😆
richietoon(Quote)