Since then the world has changed dramatically with the removal racial discrimination laws in most countries, except for Australian Aborigines and Native Americans. And of course the Geordie Nation is still waiting for a major honour.
I had thought of rewriting that speech but decided not even I am that pompous and presumptuous. However it did get me thinking because one thing is clear, the vision of the owner for the future of this club is not apparent. We are all guessing. Some look at the lack of spending and assume that as long as we clear relegation he will be happy. Whilst others look at the starting 11 and conclude that with a bit of luck it’s at least as good as any outside of the top six. Our finances are the 7th biggest in England, admittedly only just, but in the top 20 in Europe. It seems to me that a bit of analysis could reveal a bit more.
My starting point was the 2012 annual report for Sports Direct. Since this is the source of our owners wealth it seemed logical to see how much control he has. And a masterpiece of an annual report it is. However I could not get everything I wanted out of that so I had to resort to the press which given Mike Ashley’s notoriously private lifestyle is highly unreliable. However it would appear that Mike’s role in the company as Executive Deputy Chairman would indicate that he is not hands on day to day. It would also appear that that role is unpaid. So where does he get his money from? Well there is a bonus scheme which if the company grows he receives extra shares, but that has been scuppered, and he would not have got them until 2018.
However he does still own 70+% of the company shares and the dividends paid per share are zero, so no money there. He did sell £86.8m worth of property to Sports Direct, hopefully that will be enough to live on. What all this leads me to believe is that although Mike Ashley’s current worth is valued at £1.5bn most of that is asset rich and the degree of liquidity is not clear. Obviously plenty to live off but unlikely that he has a couple of hundred million in the bank waiting to spend on new players. Similarly I think his influence at Sports Direct whilst obviously not the absolute leader he was before floatation is still significant. Whether he could persuade the board to sponsor NUFC to the tune of tens of millions is debatable especially as they seem to be getting lots of coverage for free.
The first vision is to compete with the best. Now to do that with a level playing field we would need squad expenditure that is comparable with them. In other words our wage bill would have to double to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs, or treble to compete with the Manchester clubs and Chelsea. This means our turnover as a club would need to grow to about £200m from the less than £100m that it is now. Then we would need to buy the players. This means that we would be looking to Mike to spend maybe £200m or £300m up front and then subsidise us to the tune of £100m per annum. Now that is not going to happen because firstly I doubt that he wants to do it and secondly I doubt that he could afford to do it himself or persuade Sports Direct that it benefits them enough to do it. Perhaps we can sell out to somebody else who does want to do that, It won’t be some robbing barsteward like some of our previous owners who used the club as a cash cow. Something you can’t accuse Mike Ashley of doing.
The next vision would be to be best of the rest, finishing top ten every season and getting good cup runs. From a financial viewpoint that is actually where we are. Bit of strengthening here and there running the club soundly that is the reality for NUFC. Whether that is being achieved or not is open to debate. Our Manager may not be good enough for a top six club but he has proven himself to be a competent Premier League manager although some don’t like him. Our DoF is not up to the job as he proved this window. And our club structure could be improved. The danger with this vision is that there is not much margin for error. Last season QPR out spent us on every front, with wages at £86m (to our £68) and were still relegated. Realistically nobody outside the top six is safe.
The final vision, for which there is is no evidence in the accounts whatsoever, is to asset strip and sell. This means selling off our best players and highest earners and replacing with cheap imports and hoping to stay in the gravy train of the Premier League. The problem with this vision is that there are no monies disappearing from the club in to the owners’ pockets, unlike previous owners.
Also the disaster of relegation is so real that no businessman would risk it, especially having been burned once already. Those who believe in this vision will point to the January window as evidence of an owner desperate to avoid relegation as justification of this attitude. But the accounts don’t reflect that. Also despite reoccurring rumours which appear to be based more on optimism than reality, there do not appear to be any buyers. Why do you think that is, Surely NUFC must be the best option for any billionaire to buy? No it’s not, it’s just about the worst.
Why is that? Well there is no room for growth and no room to play. Any billionaire will want his team to play in the Champions League. Now the league is already stuffed with six clubs chasing four places and the cost of breaking into that and regularly snaffling a place is horrendous. See above. They are more likely to move to a league where there is room for a big club to move to the top. We have seen this already across Europe.
Alternatively they may see the prospects of a Championship club winning promotion as several have already. Southampton for example. Ah, but there is big money in the Premier League you say, massive profits, great return on investment. That’s not really the case either. The average out of town supermarket turns over £150m (More than NUFC) and makes significantly more profit. So buying a football club is not for profitable investment reasons. No the idea that some multi billionaire is going to ride to our rescue is highly unlikely.
So what sort of vision do I have. Taking the positives I would hope that Ashley and Sports Direct sort out their compensation plan so that Mike knows where he stands. Also I would hope that they recognise the benefits to themselves of having a vibrant NUFC. To that end I would like to see our finances improved so that we can move clear of the pack and consolidate our position as the best of the rest. I would also like to explore an idea whereby instead of having players not playing we utilise them as a worldwide touring team raising the Newcastle profile. This to me would be the ideal scenario as a better owner is unlikely. A dispirited hated owner is not going to invest and the hate poured in his direction is likely to stem any support he is minded to give. However, the fans have spoken. They hate him, his regime and everything about him. Mediocrity beckons.
The world may have moved on since 1963 but NUFC appears to be no nearer a major trophy.
Deb@370-I think that’s a much better idea tbh. I’d chuck in a few bob if we had a chance of getting the Sultan on board. Maybe get one of his sons to buy us. Or if he has a fetching sister I am more than willing to bite the bullet on behalf of all toon fans and use my vast inherited wealth to finally win us a trophy. 😎
Newkie(Quote)
What I expect in return Aussie is ambition, respect and hope. Being a football fan is about the pride you have in your team and your city and the hope that one day we will win something. Currently there is no ambition no respect and no hope that things will get better. For me I can’t trust Ashley to make good decisions when the thing he has to make those decisions on seem a burden to him.
Albert’sTash(Quote)
@Albert’s Tash “So for me the team now is a lot stronger than then.”
So what you’re saying is – Ashley has made the team stronger, and done it in a financially safe way? 😯
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
And that is the way of things Albert… it is not ideal and not what we want but it’s the current state of play until another billionaire comes in to sweep us off our feet..
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
@Albert
“For me the point is protesting before and after the game against Ashley regime helps people to get the message across to him that they are not happy with how the club is being ran.”
Do you really think he doesn’t know that already?
“but protests would give Ashley bad press and he is the face of sports direct and Newcastle United his flag ship for advertising”
They would give Newcastle way more bad press than Sports Direct.
“We as fans keep giving him money hand over fist and get nothing back but contempt.”
No we give the club money mainly to pay wages. You really think Mike will go into his own pocket again? again we are only hurting ourselves.
Mike Ashley and SD have only grown bigger whilst he has owned Newcastle so I don’t see how a little more negativity will harm him or SD.
“I also agree with people that when we protested at the Hull game (and I was there) it did have a negative affect but then again I do not think it caused our relegation that season.”
It was a contributer to it though and all the negativity from the fans that year had a massive part in the relegation.
I don’t think anyone can say he hasn’t made bad decisions in his time at Newcastle but he has made some very good decisions as well (people will always argue the balance of good v bad).
Santii(Quote)
Albert, you hand over money and you get to watch the team play..so you do get something in return other than contempt.
Ahh silly me I should be grateful I get to watch football as the money people pay to go and watch grows on trees and people don’t have to work **** hard to get this. We should all just be grateful to Ashley we have a starting 11 to watch. Never mind the no ambition, no communication, I’m happy to tread water in the premier league and will remember my place. 🙄
Albert’sTash(Quote)
Santi, Aussie
Just a quick question.
Where do you see us in 3 years time under Ashley?
Albert’sTash(Quote)
Can anyone on here please tell me what Mike Ashley wants from Newcastle???
For me that is the main thing. I do agree with things he has done but currently we are a rudderless ship If he came out and explained this I would be a lot happier and I will put my bed sheets back on my bed, though they would have looked lovely in a protest as they are all flowery and I really think they would have brightened up any march. 😯
Albert’sTash(Quote)
Albert, stop being so melodramatic mate, you are acting like the money you are paying is going directly to Ashleys slush fund and not toward the team..
Where are we in 3 years time.. who knows, going from our history.. mediocrity ….
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
http://www.newcastleunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/ben_arfa_in_no_rush_to_sign_new_deal_806274/index.shtml
I’ll bet he’s not 🙄
KIMTOON(Quote)
kim @ 372 – that’s the trouble with ashley.
he seems to have the attitude – i own the club & what i do has nothing to do with anybody – i suppose that’s a good enough reason to say nowt like.
but the thing is with him being a shopkeeper he should know better & try keeping his customers informed & reasonably satisfied.
the arrogant *******!
roy cropper(Quote)
football mad is the worst football website out there Kim I wouldn’t believe anything they put up.
Santii(Quote)
Aussie we could argue about this all day but we should all be sticking together I respect your opinion and I hope you respect the decisions of the people who want to make their feelings known in the correct and appropriate way. 🙂
Albert’sTash(Quote)
Why should anyone have to respect it Albert if they believe it will only do harm to the club?
Santii(Quote)
When I first went to SJP I had no idea who the owner was, barely knew who the manager was and just enjoyed the football. If we won I was elated if not I took the hump. Everything in between was what it is now. Ill informed speculation. 3 points on Saturday?
georgio(Quote)
When I first went to SJP I had no idea who the owner was, barely knew who the manager was and the football was feckin woeful…but I was hooked and loved every minute of it, happy days!!
richietoon(Quote)
Richie – seems like you and me are the only football fans on this thread!
“and the football was feckin woeful” – I was definitely there.
georgio(Quote)
My mate supports the Toon and he’s from the Isle of wight, he’s been to about 12 games and still hasn’t seen us score a goal. Try that for ***** football 😆
Newkie(Quote)
That s why pardew critcise hba on press conference… ❗
He never talking about hba like that …however hba scores .give 2 assist (cisse and goufy) but so mr .perdu prefere to retains some action when hba keep the ball and lost much time to reserch a good pass for ghosty cisse ❗ alan is a little bit shocked me…
After hatem secure 3 crucial fucking points and score a fucking goal at home since an eternity ❗ (and save dirty *** s pards 👿 )
Pathetics fucking man…shame on u pardew ❗
djebs9(Quote)
@394 to ➡ @385…
djebs9(Quote)
Georgio 😉
richietoon(Quote)
I’ll answer that as well AS @382. We’ll be where we are today. In no man’s land, several of our best players sold, some new young players in, sitting at mid table or lower. We’ll have a mediocre English manager of some sort and Joe will be trying to decide whether or not to make another lowball bid on a player who will end up going elsewhere. On the bright side Ashley will have most or all of his loan back and finally be getting serious about selling for a competitive price (150-175M).
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 ,Tbh ,I think even after the loans paid back I can see him staying as he’ll enjoy pocketing any future tv deal money after 3 years.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I hope not Kimtoon mate. I’m counting on him leaving so we can build a decent squad and win something. I hope I don’t have to outlive him to see it. 😆 Maybe he will move on to greener pastures (or so he thinks) with Rangers. If so good luck to Rangers’ supporters learning to put up with him.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@382
If the last few years are anything to go on we will have a stronger squad hopefully a better manager and will be pushing the top 5 (7) teams.
and of course we will be much better of financially.
Though 3 years in football is a very long time so anything could happen…
Santii(Quote)
@kim
Ashley has not taken any money out of Newcastle apart from loan repayments owed to him. Doesn’t even take a wage……
Santii(Quote)
Santi I know ,he’s just taking back bits of the loan ,but he can hardly skim off any other than that ..Yet.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Well if that ever happens then we will see it in the accounts when they come out… Though i highly doubt he would embezzle money from the club
Santii(Quote)
Kim I thought he was skimming of 10s of millions of pounds in lost revenue that SD are gaining from and apart from Jabba none of the SD share holders should be making money out of us while our club is losing out.
I do think there is some fans that would except anything that Jabba would do, I think they would even try to give us positives if we played in SD colours
Big Dave(Quote)
so does Mike ever disclose what he’s gaining with his free SD adverts around St James. What does he do with this money? pay his debts off?
Also the shop at St Jame’s had SD labels on them. so does that go into SD coffers or NUFC coffers?
mark(Quote)
I would think he will have had far more than a wage out of the club with all the free SD advertising Big Dave and Kimtoon. No need to embezzle the club when you can fill the ground with free advertising. He’s smart enough not to do anything illegal (I think) other than lying which wasn’t done under oath. The advertising is probably worth 8-10 M pounds a year. Not a bad wage in my opinion. If we can’t re-sign Ben Arfa and end up selling him on it will be another example of lack of ambition. The word is Ben Arfa won’t sign a contract until he sees whether we’re back in Europe. A perfect excuse for Ashley to sell him.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Sorry to have to be cynical about our owner but he’s earned the distrust of the supporters over and over again. Lied about the sale of Carroll, lied to his own manager (Keegan), constantly avoids justifying ludicrous decisions (the hiring of Kinnear). Hides in his castle and sulks when justifiably criticized.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
has anyone seen Joe since the window closed. his silence is deafening 😛
mark(Quote)
Mark I dont think he needs to disclose that simply because there isnt enough pressure on him to do so because most off the fans are happy to sit back and watch it happen without asking questions, whilst telling us that he is giving us an interest free loan because he needed to to cover his **** up of not doing due diligence, paying off BSA , the KK fiasco then relegation on top of all that, and we should be grateful for that
Big Dave(Quote)
“The word is Ben Arfa won’t sign a contract until he sees whether we’re back in Europe. A perfect excuse for Ashley to sell him.”
A story from football mad wow that site writes the biggest load of **** ever. cmon G2 you must know that they fabricate every story they write you cant be that gullible.
“He’s smart enough not to do anything illegal (I think) other than lying which wasn’t done under oath.”
Wait telling lies is illegal? 😳 😆
Santii(Quote)
Telling lies under oath is illegal Santii mate. I pointed that out I think. As for believing the story about Ben Arfa, I would say let’s wait and see how it goes. If he has a good season with us I think he’ll be gone for a better wage and European competition. It doesn’t really matter what the story says, I think most of us were already speculating that we’re going to lose him. A lot of that comes down to Ashley’s lack of ambition.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
well what’s 10mil a season Bdave. The guy saved us from oblivion and has us in fine shape. in 10yrs time under Ashley we might have paid off his loan and could be ready to challenge the top 8.. its worth the wait..
mark(Quote)
so does that mean in Jan we’ll have even more money to spent? was it 10mil off wonga DL said would get us a player?
mark(Quote)
Good discussion again as usual today.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-articles/newcastle-united-projected-to-finish-top-8-in-premier-league/
look something positive…
Santii(Quote)
Mark your right alls fine under the Regime ,
Yeah the wonga deal would get us a top player every yr. But he never mentioned what the SD money would get us that must be another top player at least after all the get the most advertisment.
Big Dave(Quote)
Santi ,Jabba is all about the money you must realise that .Mark my words the minute that loan is paid back he’ll start pocketing the next lot of TV money .Oh I’m sure his fancy accountants will find a way of legitimising it and like prize mugs we’ll have to swallow it ,who knows perhaps he’ll decide he wants interest on his loan after all ,if he stays in bed with Wonga long enough.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Santi @415 ,Yep entirely possible if we stay injury free get some luck and Pards learns how to attack , but realistically if we get 12th and safety I’ll settle for that .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Aussie Magpie Fan says:
September 10, 2013 at 13:54
Albert, you hand over money and you get to watch the team play..so you do get something in return other than contempt.. this goes back to my earlier comment regarding this fixation with Ashley.. it seemingly has become more important than the football we play..
———————————
I know. It’s a shame people are so obsessed with him. I miss the football talk. I rather like our club this year.
MDS(Quote)
MDS with the international break there isn’t really been that much footie to talk about, but I guess that will change when we start back again.
Big Dave(Quote)
That prediction table claims an error rate of +/- 3 places. So we could finish anywhere from 5th to 11th by their reckoning. The safer bet would be around 11th I would say as we’ll never get through a season without injuries to key players. They seem a little confused as to who our key players are as well. I like the optimism though.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Hope so Dave
MDS(Quote)
Shola is off the mark for Nigeria in a 4-1 win 😀
@G2 other teams can have key injuries as well 🙄
Santii(Quote)
G2 if we keep our best players free of injuries top 10 for me but we will get injuries like all teams but I think it depends where the injuries are MF we’ll be ok but front line or back line and we could be in trouble
Big Dave(Quote)
@Trumpet
I wish you would read posts prior to you posing questions.
The fact Ashley hasn’t spent money during this transfer window is the straw that’s broke the camels back for many.
There is a huge list of disgraceful actions and lack of spending is just one of them.
It really shouldn’t require me to spell it out but you’ve forced me into it 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
If there is any truth about HBA leaving then it’s certainly not to play in the Europa League, so who cares?
No point moaning about something we all know, HBA wants to play CL football at some point, wow – groundbreaking stuff
It would take an enormous amount of investment, to get us to properly challenge for that (which we rarely have in our past anyway, though Pardew managed it… 😉 )
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
“We’re Not Brazil We’re Northern Ireland”
😆 😆 😛 😎 Deal with it
Santii(Quote)
@Troy
Not spending isn’t “disgraceful”, it’s annoying.
Spending later than we want is also annoying. We spent our last summers budget in Jan, maybe we’ll do the same this year ❓
Let me pose this question to you:
If we conducted the same level of activity this Jan as last year, would you say it was worth it?
The fact is – Europa doesn’t bring in much money, we need a number of decent faces through the door to even think about CL. Maybe they are just consigning this year to midtable and looking further ahead.***
We got a number of good signings cheaper in January last year, if we do the same this year we will be looking very decent (even better with a top manager).
I wouldn’t be against that.
***Of course, I doubt Ashley follows any sort of logic.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Do people actually want a messy, forced, mid-season takeover? Seriously?
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
i couldnt give a **** about Europe not bringing in money. Its NUFC being in Europe I love to see.
Some of my best memories are traveling al over Europe watching the footy…
mark(Quote)
ST you say that Europa doesn’t bring much money in, but do you think our best players will stick around if we arnt going to be fighting for the European footie spots ?
As I don’t think they will, if I can remember right when Pards was asked how he managed to get Cabaye etc to come to us he said it was with the promise of a real chance of European footie, so for me weither it brings much money or not quality players want to be playing in Europe yeah they would prefer CL but if not the EL is the next best thing
Big Dave(Quote)
@BD some of our fans think like Ashley now. its all about the income and the savings 🙄 😆
mark(Quote)
European football means **** all to the modern day footballer. The richest teams are in Europe and money is the reason any player moves these days.
Cabaye left a champions league team to play for us who at the time were not in Europe so i doubt he was convinced by wanting to play in Europe lol.
Its all about the money money money 😆 😆 😆 😆
Santii(Quote)
Mark @ 430 spot on a fan that doesn’t want their team in Europe doesn’t really have much ambition
Big Dave(Quote)
Santii@272 😆
(sorry, just catching up…)
Rodzilla(Quote)
@Santii
“European football means **** all to the modern day footballer.”
which serve did you see that info in?
mark(Quote)
What? 🙄
Santii(Quote)
How many times has Wilshire given the ball away tonight 👿
KIMTOON(Quote)
sorry.. survey 😆
mark(Quote)
…ouch, 😯
theanswer@333 currently being followed by the FBI 😆
(sorry, slow reader) 🙄
Rodzilla(Quote)
They do like to hug these Ukrainians don’t they
KIMTOON(Quote)
Think Santii wins the European argument there.
@Dave – answer 429?
Also,since when do we believe a word Pardew says 😉 😆
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
…Dave@342…
(sorry can’t be arsed reading that much more after that)
…”Troy it amazes me that some fans think that Jabba is going to try to change while they sit back and just except all the **** he throws at them”
Davey, I think you’ve missed the point there mate. I can’t speak for everyone but I know that’s far from my own stance. Exactly the opposite. I’m not expecting Fatty to change. Full stop. I just think protests will only heap more negativity upon us. ‘Time For Change’….come on, we’re not talking fucking black panthers or suffragettes here.
We are an under-achieving northern football club with disgruntled fans. Fans with an owner who does what he wants when he wants. Protests don’t cut the mustard with me. We ain’t Man Utd.
What’s there to change through a protest? What message will that give out to potential owners? It smacks of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…
“I want a party with room-fulls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don’t get the things I am after
I’m going to scream”
👿 👿 👿
…get a fucking grip. 😉
Rodzilla(Quote)
Rod thats entirely your choice, but I do know from experience that protests can work and at the very lest can get people to sit up and take notice.
So what point is it I have missed ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Rod meant to add > ” What’s there to change through a protest? What message will that give out to potential owners?”
what message does it send out when the fans sit back and take all the **** that Jabba throws at them without saying a word ?? I would guess that sends out the message that you can do what you want and no one will challenge you because they will just take being treated like ***** 😯
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave 😆 you missed ‘my’ point of protests only ever working under particular circumstances. I just don’t think a protest will support our ’cause’ in the cut-throat world of business. Let the big money boys do their dealings outside the game. I just think it’s a bad time of the season to kick up a stink, especially given our stubborn fat c*nt of an owner’s history. He just shuts his eyes and fiddles.
HE’LL SELL WHEN HE WANTS
HE’LL SELL WHEN HE WAAAAA-ANTS
THE FAT COCKNEY *******
WILL SELL WHEN HE WANTS
Just my opinion. 😎
Rodzilla(Quote)
…everyone knows about NUFC and how great a football club we are, Geordie passion etc. We don’t need to self inflict more harm through negative press. Think about the players on the pitch FFS. We need the heat OFF.
Rodzilla(Quote)
…you’ll be calling me a conscientious objector next. 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
Rod as I said earlier sitting back and doing fuk all has made a big difference up to now.
Big Dave(Quote)
@Rodz
Your stance is as equally annoying to me as mine is to you. 😉
I can’t stand apathy and inaction.
Get the lads on the streets and chant our hearts out I say. 😐
It beats sitting there doing nothing and giving Ashley an easy time.
Troy Stavers(Quote)