EPL Talk - Latest Comments in Mike Ashley Got the Message

Re: Mike Ashley Got the Message

Lonnie — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:32:52 -0000

This is what the Premier League has come to...either empty your pockets at the door or the "fans" turn on you. You hear Manchester City and Chelsea being talked about as if they can draw on the total net worth of their ownership group...it's just stupid. Neither set of owners is going to pour money into something that cannot sustain itself in the long run. If Chelsea continue to hemorrage cash how long before Roman pulls up stakes?

I can't see who would buy the club or want to manage Newcastle. The fans expectations for Newcastle are unreal. They've not let a single competent manager settle into the job there since Robson had a bit of a run. And they are not alone in that mentality. Clubs like Arsenal and now Middlesbrough (who are admittedly copying the Arsenal model) are sensible clubs that spend within their means. Sunderland has spent something close to 50m just to stay in the league....it's really insane!

No one has learned a thing from the Leeds fiasco of a few years ago I guess.

Re: Mike Ashley Got the Message

Michael — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:17:41 -0000

Ace, I would agree with you on your serious comment there (and your humorous one too!). Ashley didn't have to do this, as I said, and I thought he showed some character by stepping up and explaining this decision. It doesn't make me think any more of him as an owner -- I think he's incompetent -- but I do respect him now more than I did.

Re: Mike Ashley Got the Message

AceCowboy — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:18:14 -0000

If I were a Newcastle supporter, I'd print out that letter, put it in a blender, pour it into a cup of beer and chug it in the stands. Ashley Style.

(On the serious, I think it was an extremely well-worded and reasoned letter to the people who have probably made disproportionately ridiculous threats on his person.)

Re: Mike Ashley Got the Message

Simon Burke. — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:26:05 -0000

I dont know, Newcastle has been a shambles of a club long before Ashley and used to pay some shocking fees for players, Luque at nearly 10 million, Owen at 16 when liverpool were only bidding 8-12 mill. Ashley bought the club with his own cash, its not like anyone actually came in and bought them. Up until this I thought he was a fool but the statement I think is something football fans should rad and understand. Not everyone ca nthrow 30 million at a player and to do so on top of the the wage demands would ruin a club. He doesnt say he wanted to turn them into Arsenal overnight but that was the model he was aiming for - Wenger has been there for years doing it and fans want instant success. Newcastle havent won anything in years other than the sack race, a lot so I dont see why their fans think they are entitled to anything that quickly. Ashley is selling so the fans got what they want but he may have left them better off than they were. By the way ask City fans about Keegan's great signings he made for them. I like Keegan but they were shocking and if its true he wanted Henry and other over the hill high price talents then where was the money coming from. Remember its Ashley's money, not yours. Its easy to spend other people's money.
The more billionaires that come to the league the harder it will get to turn daft money into success. Pressure and expectations will go up but there will still be 20 teams fighting for one title and 19 people who didnt win it.
This is the first time I have looked at Ashley with any sympathy and lets be honest it probably wasnt safe for his family to go to a game. Lovely.

Re: Mike Ashley Got the Message

thegaffer — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:04:38 -0000

My question for Mike Ashley would be why would he bother buying the club in the first place? Why not let somebody else buy it when he showed interest knowing that a different investor may have been able to pour in a lot more money?

Sure, United are/were a shamble but for Ashley to think that he could have turned the club into an Arsenal is ridiculous. To me, saying that he wanted to turn the club into an Arsenal is an excuse that he didn't want to invest even more massive sums of money.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

Re: Mike Ashley Got the Message

artist formerly Alex Hleb — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:18:54 -0000

ashley has made some strong points. i agree with him on all of them. you cant spend alot of money when you owe alot of money. its important to pay off those debts and set up a sustainable yearly budget in order to insure a stable business model. mike ashley has done that. he has kept newcastle united from tanking out of the premier league and he has began to build the team for the future. its important to look away from the likes of chelski and manure. those clubs have massive debts which they keep increasing by spending outrageous sums of money every transfer window. they have the highest pay rolls and the oldest average ages for starting 11's. they have very little youth coming through the ranks. to set up a good business model in the premier league, one that insure a club to be able to sustain itself without any constant investment, arsenal is a good example. under arsene wenger, we have been able to be virtually debtless until we built our new stadium. with our consice transfer and wage policy we have been able to consistently pay off the debt from the building of our stadium and are now one of the richest clubs in europe. by managing our budget with precision, we are able to sustain ourselves without asking any of our board members for investments. the team stays competitive year in and year out with good scouting and a strong tradition of raising young players into world class players that put the interests of the team first, not to mention also having the will to play fast paced attacking football. its in the tradition of our club to insure us fans of a product that will always play world-class football whether it is now or in the future.

so, mike ashley has very good points. i dont understand why everyone is so against him. fans rail on him for drinking at the place that he owns, ask for change, then are angry when he makes a change by firing kevin keegan, and then when he takes a trip to new york to blow off the major stresses at home, the fans want to take his head. he was always in a lose-lose situation. he had a business policy in place and if kevin keegan didnt agree with it by wanting to spend money, then it was a reasonable firing. for a business to be successful there has to be a shared philosophy throughout the company. its perfectly reasonable that ashley wanted to find someone that was willing to give the club time to develop. maybe he was looking for someone that had a better knowledge of bringing in youth and working with foreign players. i dont think its right that a fan should be afraid of being assualted by his fellow fans. this whole situation is lose lose for everyone.