Straight talking by the Toon's tycoon

ron lambert wrote...

That's all very well Lee, but hasn't he left it a tiny bit late to say he can't afford to splash big money on big players cos he's not a " multi-billionaire ". Actually, had he said this a few weeks ago before the ticket renewals dropped through the fans' letterboxes, there may have been a lot less positive response. Okay, so now we know he doesn't have a bottomless pit of cash, in his opinion, to lavish on an untried area of business than what he's accustomed to. This information would have been understood and accepted by all of the fans bar none, if he'd put his cards on the table straight off, instead of talking about 50 million war-chests for Sam, which we all assumed would carry through to a much greater manager in KK. A great deal of anger and frustration vented on your blog alone could and would have been avoided if we'd known the score. As a body of the greatest long-suffering fans on earth since day one, we will all ride with this situation, happy in the knowledge that new investors will provide the big spending neccessary to take this club to the top where we're all expecting it to be after such a promising fanfare from Big Mike's bombastic entrance. He must realise by now that the fanbase will never diminish, he must now realise that he can trust us implicitly after the patience we showed during and after the Big Sam fiasco, apart from the righteous indignation we were entitled to. Which takes us back to square one of our paper-thin squad. We still desperately need 2 more defenders, 2 more midfielders and another striker to supplement our walking wounded, whom I add must not be allowed to leave. Tie them up now, with rope if neccessary, but do not let Owen and/or Martins get discouraged on a quickly running down contract and leave. This will truly sicken the fans. MA should really speculate a bit now to show potential investors what this club can do ' this season.'

Posted by: ron lambert  | July 11, 2008 6:35 PM

Jinky Jim wrote...

Ron Lamberts comments are "Bang on the Money".Standing with the fans in the Away End and buying a few "Bevvies" for the "Lads" in the Bigg Market are nothing more than gimmicks!!.Keegan stated that an indication of Ashleys ambitions would be matched by the tansfer kitty he would be given.At this moment in time I'm begining to think that all he wants to do is use the TOON as a conduit to make money for his business empire.There is no ambition, the appointment of SPECIAL K is a canny ploy by Mike Ashley.He knew the fans would back Keegan and likewise Keegan would give his all for the fans.He won't walk away this time, but he must wonder about how serious Mike Ashley is about getting NUFC back up there amongst the top tier of the table.If one serious bid comes in for the club, Ashley will accept and move on.I hope it happens sooner, rather than later!.

Posted by: Jinky Jim  | July 11, 2008 7:28 PM

PeterDawson wrote...

totally agree with ronnie..he summed up exactly how i feel about the whole thing..all MA had to do was be honest from the outset and all the speculation and garbage the long suffering newcastle fans have endured recently would not have happened. less gimmicks more honesty. Cut the wage bill all you want but remember that every player we sell now needs to be replaced before the kick off. I understand that we need to be patient for signings (guthrie signing is good news) but ashley has to realise that we are not stupid and we wont rest easy until the squad is strenghtened sufficiently. How that happens we dont care.

Posted by: PeterDawson  | July 11, 2008 9:45 PM

Ben wrote...

What a joke!!! totally agree with the other comments! Just as recently as the last transfer window he was giving it the biggin about how well backed KK would be and now thats all changing! he still has time 2 pull it round yet and I so hope I am proved wrong!! but I can hardly see it! Especially with that great signing we have all been waiting for Danny Guthrie!! how is he any better than Emre?? we would have paid less and he will be on less as well, good bit of business for the clubs account! And we are now being strongely linked with sum big name Romanian centre half! my a**e!?!? it all looks like a total lack of ambition at boardroom level!!

You can see now why he was so P`d of with KK when he stated we would never get back in the top 4, obviously Mike didn`t want KK to speak the truth and shatter the illusion we were all under that Ashley had the same ambitions as he stated he did when he took over!! KK can only do the best with what he has got, but it looks like we are miles behind the likes of pompey and Villa now! What a total SHAM!!!

Posted by: Ben  | July 12, 2008 2:05 AM

Kisuke wrote...

I think all the criticisms on Mike Ashley has been unfair. He has done so much for the club till date and it seems that some of the fans are still not contented.

I think we can all see that Mike is gradually trying to build NUFC up instead of throwing in millions into transfers like Thaksin and expecting instant success. Fans must be patient and not expect instant success. The club will benefit and grow in the long run instead of having debts that will take an eternity to repay.

Posted by: Kisuke  | July 12, 2008 4:35 AM

stingy wrote...

i get fed up of hearing buy this player and buy that player i would rather we got a good base and bring the kids threw as i feel theres enough talent in north east to match any part of the country and we would get 11 footballers on the field that wear there heart on there shirts . we aint going to get top people here as its to far from glamour so lets built a team og english guys ive supported newcastle for 55 years and still feel same as first day i became a geordie supporter

Posted by: stingy  | July 12, 2008 8:19 AM

STEVE wrote...

I totally agree with the above posts,but i think what he has said is what most of us already feared.....its all well and good not signing megabucks players,but come on ash,theres teams in the championship that will spend more than you this summer......i feel cheated.invest in our tiny squad,tie oba and owen down...or skedaddle and sell the toon to someone who is interested in us doing well.by the way ash.....exemplary timing

Posted by: STEVE  | July 12, 2008 9:44 AM

Rusty Griswald wrote...

Ashleys not the only 1 with an 'expensive seat' but unlike him the rest of us dont have billions in the bank. Money doesnt go very far these days, season tickets are a luxury in life not a necessity. The prices go up but the same dull team remains, lighter by a few players. If KK thinks guthrie is a good signing then great but it wont inspire fans to pay the prices asked for the season tickets. He maybe ok for the future, still rather him than barton!
Ashley knows NUFC has the best support, which means more pounds for him. If he goes out and buys us a couple of proven quality players and keeps the likes of owen then that will help to appease fans. If not then he could find his expensive seat becomes uncomfortable aswell.
Just like ashley I want value for money and that doesnt include watching smith/geremi and butt again.
How can ashley complain hes got an expensive seat - hes got **** loads in the bank, surely he could've asked his mate at spurs the usual costs incured by a football club?

Posted by: Rusty Griswald  | July 12, 2008 11:11 AM

Sy wrote...

I can't disagree with Ron, either.

It annoys me that Ashley came in with promises of marquee signings, major world stars and as Ron mentioned, various promises of war chests. Stories that we enquired about Ronaldinho & Deco last summer got our hopes up, he even mentioned Kaka. But now the time has come to back this up, we're spending about £2m on unproven youngsters who can't get on the bench at clubs who should be our immediate rivals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not so blinkered that I expect us to spend £15-20m on one player this summer, and I'll be happy to give Guthrie a chance to show what he can do as I do with any signing we make. My point is that this type of signing isn't going to excite the fans, sell shirts and season tickets or send any messages of intent around the Premier League.

While I agree that we should no longer throw massive wages at any Tom, Dick or Harry who wants a last pay day, I'm worried that any top player over 25 or so who becomes available is being painted with this same brush. We need experienced players as well as youthful exuberance.

Just look at the influence Nicky Butt had during the second half of last season, or the positive effect having Shay Given or Steve Harper has in our line up. Perhaps the best way to prove my point is the fact that our player of the season last year was 30 year-old new signing Habib Beye.

Here's hoping for a busy few weeks, as I think we need a good 6 or 7 players in before the season kicks off at Old Trafford.

Posted by: Sy  | July 12, 2008 3:01 PM

Ray Wilson wrote...

Hi lee-- Well now we know-the new owner is not going to spend big bucks Kev must be truly hacked off with that statement. Is MA for real ? did no one ever tell him that whist we all know money does not buy success-lack of money and a suitable squad leads only one way -down hill-is that what he really wants-Kev should not have to grovel to buy signings-why on earth did he bring Kev back for ? if MA is going to run the club like this -then fine -but eventually there will be no watching fans --first rule in business MA -surely you should know it by now --you never get a second chance to create a good first impression. The customer will only buy what the customer likes and ignore the customer at your peril.

Posted by: Ray Wilson  | July 13, 2008 10:11 PM

Jammy wrote...

It seems some people are never happy. They complain at the likes of Luque, Duff, Kluivert etc who are just here for the money etc, then they complain when we aren't signing big name players.

When Ashley came in he never promised anything like big names players etc, it was all rumoured by the press. Rich owner=lot of money=big names=big salaries etc.

I for one am pleased that NUFC is finally being ran properly, with aims and objectives, long term thinking, a management structure and with fan involvement.

In the past we have been easy pickings for the press (Shepherd and Douggie Hall, Bowyer and Dyer, London Hotel etc etc). Now we are running a tight ship they are resorting to trying to destablise the club in order to create stories.

The Gutierrez and Guthrie signings were closely guarded secrets, and although they may not be Arshavin, David Villa or any other big name, they will be hungry to impress. Here is hoping Guthrie makes the same impression Rob Lee did.

Its been a lot worse than this folks, getting stuffed 4-1 of Wolves, 6-2 by Oxford etc.

Give Ashley, Wise et al a chance, don't be so cynical, and support the lads.

Posted by: Jammy  | July 14, 2008 2:11 PM

ron lambert wrote...

Sy, it's unbelievable, we should be bloody demanding that he spends 15mil on one and 20mil on another. I can't afford a season ticket like last year, I had to go whenever I could get or afford a ticket but I've spent thousands at St. James' in the past and am furious the way we just buckle under the mighty hand of owners who just take the piss. At least Freddy would've panicked at our unrest and bought any old Joe to appease us....Boumsong e.g. I just hope this guy bottles it before he takes his " expensive seat " and grabs a couple of the less known but equally as exciting players out there in Aimar....even Aaron Hughes, who only me and Paul Patterson appear to rate. He can't be so dumb to expect that next season in the Strawberry will be so back-slappingly mirthful if he doesn't pull his finger out.

Posted by: ron lambert  | July 15, 2008 2:05 AM

al_the_mag wrote...

ron

i also agree with you on hughes - never understood why we let such an honest, versatile defender go in the first place

would be a handy defender to have on the bench as could capably cover all positions across the back four

Posted by: al_the_mag  | July 15, 2008 10:26 PM