Press’n our buttons

Aussie Magpie Fan

Just a quick post to keep things ticking over. I guess most of the conversations on here at the moment revolves around what the press has to speculate about on any given day. So please feel free to join in the melee and see what comes out of it once things become a little clearer (We actually sign someone)

Those new players are around here somewhere!
Those new players are around here somewhere!

Aussie Magpie Fan

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316 thoughts on “Press’n our buttons”

  1. They’ve all gone to Ibiza, man. There’s nobody there to do the deals that’s why nothing is happening. Charnley and Moncur will be shining their glow sticks as we speak with Carr probably scouting around for the best club night tonight.

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  3. Papers even amaze me with the names of players that Newcastle are interested in. Most of them players we have sold on and because we can’t attract top players they peddle the usual diatribe.
    Lets speculate on defenders, god knows we need at least 4, one that I’ve always admired was Virgil Van Dijk. Watched him play up front when Celtic were in Europa Cup and his technique was outstanding. He could defend, attack he was head and shoulders above any centre-half I’ve seen in England.
    Fair enough he plays in the Scottish league but this was against European opposition. For £10m, so I’m led to believe is peanuts for this guy. He reminds me of Philippe Albert, if we don’t get him and other top players, then it’s GROUNDHOG season all again.
    Fed up hearing the papers on about our interests in LOAN players, do not think the fans will accept this as going forward.
    Will be interested to read any views of defenders that could play for the toon.

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  4. Player’s are to expensive for us these day’s. There not cheap enough. Still you should renew your season ticket and support Sports Direct. No wait I mean Newcastle sorry.

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  5. Aussie, great article title that. It’s hard to tell what’s press BS, club leaks/lies to encourage season ticket sales and the truth anymore 🙄 In the end Ashley HAS to back up his statement of intent , we’re watching Michael so tell Lee to get a shift on.

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  7. It is hard not to be a cynic. But when you look at the banner pictures at the top of here – Shearer, Keegan, McDonald, Robson – it gives you hope.

    I have lived in Chicago for 25 years and there is a great American term – “blowhards”. We have had a few too many of them recently. What we need is some action, less talk and excuses, action.

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  8. Man U have been linked with Fabinho. They have to get him, it might make watching them fun. The only footballer’s name to surpass that is, da da ta dah – Kuntz.

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  12. Steve Mc is happy with progress. He’s going to say that isn’t he? I can’t see him coming out saying its a joke – two weeks until training and I have a smaller squad than the one that lost 13 games on the bounce and should have been relegated but we will be ok!

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  13. If we blow £10m on Troy Deeney (who?) and don’t get a proven striker and CB in I’ll be seriously p**s*d off!

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  14. I read a comment by Schteve the other day that worried me. He said he was getting to know how the club works and sitting with the new board and hoped to have a plan in ace by the start of July. I hoped he actually meant he would have a plan executed by July, but now I’m not so sure.If that’s the case, we can kiss any top targets goodbye surely.

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  15. Shamrock’
    His plan is to give a clean slate to the players on 1 july and then assess them in training and pre season games,
    He will then try to offload those he does not rate, count the meagre amount he will receive from any sales and use that cash to get some bodies ‘over the line’ before 5pm on 1 september.
    Really looking forward to next season 🙁

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  16. We are penny pinching already nothing has changed. Quibbling over the 15 million for Austin yet ludicrously expect to get 10 million for cisse and 17 million for sissoko, nufc board want it all their own way won’t pay the asking price for a player yet expect over inflated transfer fees for players they want too cash in on.

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  17. Ashley wants to pay the same for players in this market as he was 8 years ago, yet is failing to take into consideration the huge rise in tv revenue clubs are receiving.INFLATION Mike that’s what it’s called has the prices in your tatty shop not rose in the last 7 years?of course they have so transfer fees and player wages have too.Every other premeir league club seems to be able to deal with this without problems but we as one of the best support probably top 6 richest clubs in the league are struggling too keep up.

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  21. Ha ha ha – NEXT
    It’d getting funny now.
    I think I’m really gonna enjoy watching the Muppet show this summer.
    Eventually they will start to panic and we’ll end up with more players like Riv and Cabella.
    YCMIU 😆

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  22. Zenden pulled the plug on assistant job too. Clear that there’s problems all over the club.

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  23. Kimtoon @20: I am slapping a 22 mil transfer fee on my dog. At least he didn’t get sent to prison like Deeney, although he did growl at the postman once.

    You almost feel sorry for NUFC but then remember the debacle of the last 2 seasons and think that they have brought it on themselves.

    Stevie Mac better be one hell of a coach to be able to coach NO PLAYERS!

    Seriously, it looks like the transfer market has moved quickly to overprice English players and that will spoil our dream of having a core of them. I now expect more Frenchies and Dutchies. It is not a bad thing if Carr has already identified the players he wants. This Deeney stuff is just silly season and you just have to think it will continue as everybody knows how much money there is now. I honestly had never even heard of him before a couple of days ago.

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  24. There has to be a plan right? They sacked Carvs and Stoner so that was a good move but then appoint the sacked manager of Derby f-ing County. Fatty thinks he can bully people like he did with Tat Direct but I am not sure if that is true in football now. We are on the previously mythical level playing field along with the 13 other PL teams that are not in the top 6. We should get used to it, and get used to f-ing Swansea and Stoke out-bidding us. As I said, it will be more of the same and Carr has to get lucky with his Frogs and Cloggies otherwise we will struggle mightily.

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  25. So, we barely survive relegation and what do our lot do? Sit on their hands. There are reports of us being after players but nothing concrete. Supposedly we have been turned down by the uglier Neville brother and by Zenden.

    Should we trust ANY of this speculation? The club don’t talk and the local paper has a bunch of fools masquerading as reporters.

    And now Troy Deeney (who he)? Maybe Carr and McClaren should be watching Copa America instead of playing with their balls? Give Nobby Salano a call, he’s coaching for Peru tonight.

    If Troy Deeney is now our level then I fear for our future (plus he has a **** name).

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  26. sports direct made over 100 million in profits mainly from the ground advertising i bet, and how much is fatboy willing to spend ?

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  28. TAE, are you serious about all that profit coming from our ground advertising? 😯
    so it hasn’t come from online media campaigns and sales and his expansion into Europe and the Middle East?
    Wow there are a lot of sport equipment consumers watching our home games! 😆 😆

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  30. AUSSIE MAGPIE FAN
    guess you missed the words i wont sell newcastle at any price from fatboy i wonder why 😯 ,you seriously think most of that profit aint come from the ground advertising 😯

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  31. no I don’t think that most of the profit came from the ground advertising!
    He is making money from it because it is free but it is hardly his only advertising revenue stream… How do you explain the growth in Europe and the middle east. Do you think the average German or Saudi person, tunes into a Toon game on a Saturday evening!!
    Please mate, not everything revolves around Ashley ripping the club off! 😉

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  32. AUSSIE MAGPIE FAN
    guess you missed the reports we the most screened prem team outside the top 6 ( world wide ) and if thats what ya think ya aint got a clue about bussiness bud

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  33. AUSSIE MAGPIE FAN
    maybe he just dont want to sell cause he enjoys all the grief he gets from owning the toon 😯

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  35. AUSSIE MAGPIE FAN
    you do under stand what world wide means, dont ya bud 😆

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  39. What about the voice of Geddy Lee, how did it get so high, I wonder if he talks like an ordinary guy…

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  40. I know plenty about business mate…trust me…. it is an advertising vehicle for him, that is not in doubt..

    2014 financials….
    For the year we increased Group revenue by 23.8% to £2,706.0m. This was primarily
    due to the Retail division, where we grew revenues by 25.9%, including a 24.1%
    increase in Sports Retail revenue partly due to the acquisition of EAG in Austria and
    SIG in the Baltic region. Premium Lifestyle revenue also grew by 49.4%, due largely to
    the acquisition of Republic in February 2013.
    Group gross margin in the year increased by 180 basis points from 40.9% to 42.7%.
    Sports Retail division gross margin increased by 260 basis points to 42.9% (FY13:
    40.3%), while Brands division gross margin decreased to 43.1% (FY13: 44.9%).
    Group operating costs increased 35.9% to £826.1m (FY13: £607.9m). Sports Retail and
    Brands division operating costs were £656.3m (FY13: £479.6m) (1) and £63.1m (FY13:
    £66.6m), respectively. The increase in Group operating costs is mainly attributable
    to our recent acquisitions in Austria and the Baltics. Excluding the impact of these
    acquisitions, Group operating costs increased by 19.7%. Operating costs increased
    slightly as a percentage of sales from 27.8% in FY13 to 29.7% in FY14, excluding the
    impact of acquisitions, due to provision reversals in the prior year and the impact of a
    full year of costs within Republic.

    Wow no mention of the Toon advertising!! 😆

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  42. AUSSIE MAGPIE FAN
    all to places the prem is beamed to so whats that prove bud 😯

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  43. so why aren’t companies clambering to sign on with us then mate! We got Wonga ffs… for what, 8 -10m per season!!
    They must be racking in the huge profits all from the advertising as well 😆

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  44. AUSSIE MAGPIE FAN
    and you say you know about bussiness so would ya really expect it to say profits from toon advertiseing, and if you think the answer is yes then ya stupider than i thought 😯

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  46. Of course it doesn’t say Toon advertising, I was taking the ****, but it does explain where most of the growth came from! 😳
    Never mind 😛

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  47. Dear God! Aussie doesn’t think the fact that the PL is the biggest and most watched Football League in the world with TV deals worth billions has a big impact on Sports Direct. YRCMTSU (You real couldn’t make this **** up) 😯

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  48. I think Ashley explicitly said to John Hall that he was looking at NUFC as an advertising vehicle for Tat Direct when he handed over the cash. Now he has the bonus of the extra millions from the new TV deals. The problem is that the Agents and Players want their share and Ashley is notoriously stubborn and tight-fisted. We shall see – please prove me wrong.

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  49. Now McClaren is coming out with the “It’s a fresh start” ****. That’s code for I need all the players whether you’re good enough or not because I will still need you next season as I won’t get what I want in new signings!

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  51. Aye STUART Bamford says no Zenden says no to be number two oh what a grand start,how far has jabba reduced the toon to 3rd rate club Gateshead players would think twice about joining us at this rate ffs

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  52. Aussie @40

    That extract from the SD financials was quite interesting but I think the NUFC accounts provided even more interesting reading – especially the bits about the cash balances and bank interest received (or more to the point, bank interest NOT received).

    I don’t know if you’ve had reason to look at the club’s published accounts, but there are copies which can be viewed online if you want to check them out:

    Year ended 30 June 2014 http://www.nufcblog.org/nufc-accounts-2013-14.pdf
    Year ended 30 June 2012 http://www.nufcblog.org/nufc-accounts-2011-12.pdf

    As far as cash at bank is concerned, the total figure reported in the 2014 financials was held in separate bank accounts as follows:

    £mil
    11.5 Newcastle United Limited (the holding company)
    22.5 Newcastle United Football Company Ltd (the trading company)
    34.0 Group total

    It’s worth pointing out that the £11.5mil in the holding company’s bank account has been sitting there doing nothing for several years (which can be verified by looking at the COMPANY balance sheets which are shown in both sets of accounts. They show that the bank figure has remained virtually unchanged during all that period). It’s not really surprising because the holding company doesn’t engage in any form of trading – the entire turnover of the group is accounted for in the books of the trading company (which can be verified by looking at the separate published accounts of that company as well). The holding company doesn’t spend any money either because any small costs that it does incur (like the audit fee, for example) are paid by the trading company and recharged via its inter-company account.

    What I found most curious, when looking at the club’s accounts, was that the £11.5mil doesn’t appear to have been kept in an interest-bearing account, because the financial statements for the last few years have only reported a minimal amount of bank interest received – certainly not the amount you’d expect from a deposit of that size.

    In view of all that, I’ve contacted one of the Fans Forum representatives and suggested that the following questions be asked at the next meeting:

    1) What is the reason for having all that money tucked away in the holding company’s bank account when it serves no practical purpose? Wouldn’t it be better to have it in the trading company’s account as part of the club’s working capital, where it could be put to some good use (to boost the transfer kitty, for example)?

    2) In view of the size of the sum of money involved, why hasn’t it been held in an interest-bearing account – or if it was, what’s happened to all the interest?

    Those are the only questions I’ve submitted so far, but I’m tempted to add another one:

    3) The Finance Director – did he jump or was he pushed?

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  53. fresh start, same approach by Fatty….

    Head coach Steve McClaren hopes to have named his coaching team at Newcastle United before the players return for pre-season training on 1 July. 😯

    tick tock

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  54. Gashley – He wanted to have them all sorted by last Monday. My guess is that they’re all turning them down due to wages being **** poor.

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  55. So Northern Echo are saying that Ashley still won’t pay over the odds for players… Well unfortunately for him the prices of players have gone up over the last 15 years. I would agree that £15m for Austin is paying over the odds – if you’re basing it on prices of 1995!

    We will wait and wait and wait and then come Sept 1st we will be in a similar place to normal. Up the creek without a paddle! Wonder what Ashley will say in his next interview when we’re on the verge of relegation?

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  56. Stuart: do you remember them getting desperate and trying to hijack the Fulham deal for Brian Ruiz? There should be a plan but unfortunately Fatty likes to fly by the seat of his pants where football is concerned. If Deeney is our signature signing I will give up. BUT, the only way is up surely, I have never seen the sentiment this low, not even after Pards’ 7 game losing streak and Carvs’ 1 point from 30. We are in a situation where they are giving us no hope and they can’t be stupid enough to not have something going on in the background. They can’t just repeat the same mistakes, can they?

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  57. They’ve done it for the last 6 years, Eric. Even thousands of not renewed season tickets isn’t making them think.

    The club don’t appear to be able to organise a **** up in a brewery!

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  58. aye Stu. unfortunately big promises from Fatty live on Sky were like his SD stock…cheap..

    There isnt much trading being done just a lot of strong rumors, we need to be quick though, I suspect we’re trying to offload before buying

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  59. Stuart: do you ever read Ed’s blog? I think there are some that are suicidal on there. This place is a bundle of laughs in comparison 🙂 The only way is up because the football cannot get any more shyte than it was under Carver and Stoner.

    And here’s me driving up 100 miles to Milwaukee and getting a hotel to watch us play a glorified training match. I am an idiot.

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  60. McClaren on his coaches: “I want the best and it can be difficult because the best are often in jobs.”

    What he means is the best cost decent wedge and we don’t pay decent wedges.

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  61. We have sold/released HBA, Mbwia, Santon, R . Taylor, and Jonas since January and haven’t brought one player in. That’s 5 first team players we need to bring in just to be were we were this time last season.

    It will take Harry Potter like powers to make good here.

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  62. There is one positive – I don’t think McClaren is an idiot as Carver so clearly proved to be in everything he said and did.

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  63. I hate to say it, but we’d of been better off going down if he’s not going to seriously invest in new players and coaches. The thought of another season like the last couple fills me with dread and frankly I don’t know if I got the stomach for it.

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  65. Chris G
    Thanks for that. A couple of articles would not go amiss. I would be better from you than me who is a complete amateur in these matters

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  67. So McLaren has confirmed again that we will not start to see movement within the club until July- and that’s only staff. They are cutting is close yet again. Not Gona panic yet, but if we don’t have a competitive squad filled with good quality signings by the start of at then I am switching off this seasons and I hope the stadium is fecking empty every week. No point in having a local football club if it does not serve the community and is just an advertising vehicle for a greedy cu*t that does not care about football or the people that support the club. He has already failed in that he said he won’t make the same mistakes again – yet here we are still waiting. Fingers crossed, but not hopeful. It’s draining following this club these days, if NUFC does not give us hope then what’s the point?

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  68. Mark: I didn’t like him, I think I made that clear 🙂 For me to move on something actually has to happen and not just a meeting with “club ambassador”, Chronicle BSer and sycophant Bobby Moncur. I am glad McClaren had a productive week, but can we see results now?

    And I doubt very much if I can go a day without thinking about what a hash Ugly John made of his job and put me through 5 months of torture. So I won’t be taking you up on your bet 🙂

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  69. Stuart Says

    Dear God! Aussie doesn’t think the fact that the PL is the biggest and most watched Football League in the world with TV deals worth billions has a big impact on Sports Direct. YRCMTSU (You real couldn’t make this **** up) 😯

    My goodness, I show you where most of the SD profit growth has come from and still you live in wonderland! I simply questioned the belief that the 100m growth was directly from the ground advertising and you go off on one of your silly rants.. YRAMSU (You really are making **** up) 😳 😳

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  70. Yep, not panicking about the lack of player movements and no doubt there is a lot going on behind the scenes but it is not nice watching and waiting helplessly for a player transfer to happen… 😕

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  72. Aussie – You said SD had grown in the Middle East and Europe. He hasn’t done that by posting leaflets through the doors of the residents. He hasn’t done it either by advertising is the local papers. His biggest, best and most valuable advertising tool is the one involving NUFC and the PL. If you can’t see that I just pity you, nothing else just pity.

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  73. So nothing happening today and a whole weekend of nothing to look forward to.
    Thank God for the cricket at Chester le Street. Should be a cracking match.

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  74. Please….. so buying an established profitable brand that has no association with football and using that profitable business to drive SD shares and growth has nothing to do with it? I know you have never been wrong in your reality but….you are feckin wrong.., sorry, you don’t have a leg to stand on…
    ive never stated that the free advertising hasnt helped, I just said it’s not all down to the advertising. I actually feel embarrassed for you!

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