Mike Ashley will leave Newcastle – are you HAPPY now?
Mike Ashley has, in his words, ‘listened to the fans’ and decided to put the club up for sale. He’s also committed to investing in the club until the time the club is sold.
He’s spot on about Newcastle’s financial situation, and while one may not agree with him, he has a fair point and Newcastle will need to keep their belt tight or seduce a sheikh or two, regardless of what happens in the future.
Overall, the only serious gripe against him so far has been his disagreement with Keegan, and in my book that’s not enough to drive him away.
Hope you guys are happy now.
Mike Ashley Statement:
I have enjoyed sport since I was a boy. I love football. I have followed England in every tournament since Mexico ’86. I was there to see Maradona and his hand of God. I know what it means to love football and to love a club. I know how important it is to other people because football is so important to me.
My life has been tied up with sport. It was the passion that I felt for sport that helped me to be successful with my business. That success allowed me to mix my passion and my business.
I bought Newcastle United in May 2007. Newcastle attracted me because everyone in England knows that it has the best fans in football. When the fans are behind the club at St James’ Park, it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It is magic.
Newcastle’s best asset has been, is and always will be the fans.
But like any business with assets the club has debts. I paid £134million out of my own pocket for the club. I then poured another £110million into the club not to pay off the debt, but just to reduce it.
The club is still in debt. Even worse than that, the club still owes millions of pounds in transfer fees.
I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.
But there was a double whammy. Commercial deals such as sponsorships and advertising had been front loaded.
The money had been paid up front and spent. I was left with a club that owed millions and part of whose future had been mortgaged.
Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived. It could have shared the fate of other clubs who have borrowed too heavily against their future. Before I had spent a penny on wages or buying players Newcastle United had cost me more than a quarter of a billion pounds.
Don’t get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle because I love football.
Newcastle does not generate the income of a Manchester United or a Real Madrid. I am Mike Ashley, not Mike Ashley a multi-billionaire with unlimited resources. Newcastle United and I can’t do what other clubs can. We can’t afford it.
I knew that the club would cost me money every year after I had bought it. I have backed the club with money.
You can see that from the fact that Newcastle has the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League.
I was always prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of £20million per year but no more. That was my bargain.
I would make the club solvent. I would make it a going concern. I would pour up to £20million a year into the club and not expect anything back.
It has to be realised that if I put £100million into the club year-in, year-out, then it would not be too long before I was cleaned out and a debt-ridden Newcastle United would find itself in the position that faced Leeds United.
That is the nightmare for every fan. To love a club that over-extends itself, that tries to spend what it can’t afford.
That will never happen to Newcastle when I am in charge. The truth is that Newcastle could not sustain buying the Shevchenkos, Robinhos or the Berbatovs.
These are recognised European footballers. They have played in the European leagues and everyone knows about them.
They can be brilliant signings. But everybody knows that they are brilliant and so they, and players like them, cost more than £30million to buy before you even take into account agent commissions and the multi-million pound wage deals.
My plan and my strategy for Newcastle is different. It has to be.
Arsenal is the shining example in England of a sustainable business model. It takes time. It can’t be done overnight.
Newcastle has therefore set up an extensive scouting system. We look for young players, for players in foreign leagues who everyone does not know about. We try and stay ahead of the competition. We search high and low looking for value, for potential that we can bring on and for players who will allow Newcastle to compete at the very highest level but who don’t cost the earth.
I am prepared to back large signings for millions of pounds but for a player who is young and has their career in front of them and not for established players at the other end of their careers.
There is no other workable way forward for Newcastle. It is in this regard that Dennis [Wise] and his team have done a first class job in scouting for talent to secure the future of the club.
You only need to look at some of our signings to see that it is working, slowly working.
Look at Jonas Guttierrez and Fabricio Collocini. These are world class players.
The plan is showing dividends with the signing of exceptional young talent such as Sebastein Bassong, Danny Guthrie and Xisco.
My investment in the club has extended to time, effort and yet again, money being poured into the Academy.
I want Newcastle to be able to create its own legends of the future to rival those of the past. This is a long-term plan. A long-term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish.
One person alone can’t manage a Premiership football club and scout the world looking for world class players and stars of the future. It needs a structure and it needs people who are dedicated to that task. It needs all members of the management team to share that vision for it to work.
Also one of the reasons that the club was so in debt when I took over was
due to transfer dealings caused by managers moving in and out of the club.
Every time there was a change in manager, millions would be spent on new players and millions would be lost as players were sold. It can’t keep on working like that. It is just madness.
I have put Newcastle on a sound financial footing. It is reducing its debt. It is spending within itself. It is recruiting exciting new players and bringing in players for the future.
The fans want this process to happen more quickly and they want huge amounts spent in the transfer market so that the club can compete at the top table of European football now.
I am not stupid and have listened to the fans. I have really loved taking my kids to the games, being next to them and all the fans. But I am now a dad who can’t take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted.
Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United. I am putting the club up for sale.
I hope that the fans get what they want and that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want.
This will not be a fire sale. Newcastle is now in a much stronger position than it was in 2007. It is planning for the future and it is sustainable.
I am still a fan of Newcastle United. We, my kids and I, have loved standing on the terraces with the fans, we have loved travelling with the away fans and we have met so many fans whose company we have enjoyed. We have absolutely loved it, but it is not safe any more for us as a family.
I am very conscious of the responsibility that I bear in owning Newcastle United. Tough decisions have to be made in business and I will not shy away from doing what I consider to be in the best interests of the club. This is not fantasy football.
I don’t want anyone to read my words and think that any of this is an attack on Kevin Keegan. It is not.
Kevin and I always got on. Everyone at the club, and I mean everyone, thinks that he has few equals in getting the best out of the players. He is a legend at the club and rightly so.
Clearly there are disagreements between Kevin and the board and we have both put that in the hands of our lawyers.
I hope that all the fans get to read this statement so that they understand what I am about. I would not expect all of the fans to agree with me.
But I have set out, clearly, my plan. If I can’t sell the club to someone who will give the fans what they want, then I shall continue to ensure that Newcastle is run on a business and football model that is sustainable.
I care too much about the club merely to abandon it.
I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do, but it won’t happen overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in.
You don’t need to demonstrate against me again because I have got the message.
Any further action will only have an adverse effect on the team. As fans of Newcastle United you need to spend your energy getting behind, not me, but the players who need your support.
I am determined that Newcastle United is not only here today, but that it is also there tomorrow for your children who stand beside you at St James’ Park.
Mike Ashley.
Sunday 14th September 2008
Topics: English Premier League, Newcastle United
Football News 24/7
Great article. Glad to see you are not a resident of the gold fish bowl.
September 14th, 2008 @ 19:53who do you think you are? “are you guys happy now?” what makes you more than anyone else? prat
September 14th, 2008 @ 19:54We are happy now. He knew when he signed Kevin Keegan that any and all actions taken against Kev would be viewed as treason against the club. He wanted to everyone to like him, I think he wanted to be our next King Kev or Wor Shearer or Sir Robinson. But he came into club football with a business mindset of a system of people who overrule other people like in a corporation. And that’s all well and good for the business side of the club; getting us recognized on a world stage, merchandising and that lot. But as far as dealing with the football side, you can’t, CAN NOT, in this day and age spend a net of 2 million pounds in the transfer window and expect your gaffer to be competitive.
I don’t think Mike Ashley is half as bad as people write him off to be. In the end we were probably 2 or 3 years away from Bankruptcy and we’re not today because Mike bought the club out from Fat Freddy. But it is clear Mike isn’t a football man, cause if he was a football man he would’ve bought Tottenham Hotspur, the club he supports. Not a club with a ready made Army.
Long Live the King,
Zero Cool
September 14th, 2008 @ 19:57YES!!
The ‘serious gripe’ as you have put it is the apparent lying to the manager and the supporters. This statement has some good points which no one should argue with – yes, what he has done to put the club on a sound financial footing should be commended… even the structure he has put in place is almost right with one small, but extremely important feature. Yes, no one man can manage the club, but that one man (whoever he is, it’s not just because it was Keegan!) should be able to decide who he wants in the squad he has to manage. What Ashley got wrong was the lines of responsibility – if Wise had reported to Keegan (or any manager) there would have been no problem.
The statements from the club (but attributed to no one in particular) were both at odds with previous comments from Wise, Ashley and Mort, and were also demeaning and insulting to all the supporters.
I would have been (and still would be) happy for Ashley to carry on if he had the balls to apologise to the fans and give the manager control of the transfer targets. No one expected 100s of millions to be spent every year on transfers and no one expected instant success. After the years of waiting for a trophy we supporters are not only very paitent, but also have no great expectations except for a team to give 100% and, as a bonus, entertain.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:02All of this fuss was unneccessary but it was caused by a serious LACK OF COMMUNICATION from Mike Ashley and his mates about what was going on at Newcastle.
It is the wall of silence from the heirarchy at Newcastle that has fuelled the anger at Newcastle and for that Mike Ashley is ultimately responsible. All he ever needed was a top class PR man and none of these problems would have arisen.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:05Yes we are happy. He wanted to follow the Arsenal mould. But does Wenger have to answer to a director of football? Why is Wise still in a job when it came between Wise and Keegan? Why did we make £2m in the transfer window? Why did he try to sell Owen on the last day of the transfer window when there is no one to replace him. And if there was anyone good enough to replace him, he wouldn’t of wanted to put his hand in his pocket to replace Owen. Why was he drinking in New York bars when our club was falling apart? why did he refuse to come back to deal with the situation?
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:06Why did he only release 2 statements during his entire reign? The statement he released is a very clever one, it makes idiots like you sympathise with him.
He failed to mention in his statement, that he sold James Milner for £12 million and failed to get a replacement (so what happenned to that money). He failed to get in much need players in key roles, everybody knows Newcastle has a very small squad and that should have been rectified in the transfer window. He failed to mention the players he tried to sell on Transfer Deadline day, to have a football team you need players, not sell them off. Yes I agree on what Ashley was trying to do, but he failed.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:10Very happy he’s gone. He lied about giving Kev the final word on players coming and going, both Ashley and Wise have been quoted on this. This statement is another piece of spin to curry favour with those that haven’t followed the details.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:14If Ashley truly wanted to stay he could have easily dumped the poison dwarf in favour of an honest manager.
Where did it go wrong for Ashley.Simple- Dennis Wise and Derek Lambias.His business plan is spot on and most fans can see that, but Dennis Wise selling players and recruiting players above Keegan-No.Could you see Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Roy Keane subscribing to that idea?.Had Mike Ashley worked in tandem with Keegan on the infrastructure and personnel to be brought into the club, then it could have been so different.I wish Mike Ashley well. but he must realise that Football Clubs are not commodities to be bought and sold and I believe many TOON fans thought he was only there to make a quick buck!!.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:21Wise days are numbered, he should do the honerable thing and resign
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:22Well well well, finally some words from the horses mouth, I think this statement has annoyed me more!
It has been well written, most likely by the same spin doctors that have done the last 20 statements, making the fans feel guilty for what we believe in, and wanting the best for our club.
It reads very much like a sob story….
- stating how much he has paid off and how it was in such dire financial straight and still is in some debt – we know this and are grateful, but he being the shrewd business man he is should have known about the debt before he bought the club. It is not the FANS fault that the club was in such dire straights, if anything we have kept the club just above water by filling the stadium week after week and spending a fortune on every kit and any other merchandise we can get our hands on, more than most clubs I bet.
- ‘I was always willing to bank up to £20million a year into the club’ er sorry Mike, but didn’t you state in your interview with the official programme that Keegan had UNLIMITED funds for players, HE tells you who HE WANTS and you will provide the funds?!?! there is one reason we have been protesting, the lies.
- stating the fans want instant success and millions upon millions spent on players – who has said that? we have waited 50 years for success and still turn up for games, Keegan was the only manager who would have been given the time to get it right, no pressure, just the funding to get a good size squad. Look at the trouble we have now with injuries and suspensions!!!
- look at the players the scouting team has brought in – yes, they are without a doubt excellent signings, but…
a) there are not enought in the right positions
b) you can’t sell players without a replacement and expect to do most transfer dealings on the last day of the transfer window
c) you and Wise stated that Keegan had the say on all transfers, then make a statement that he had NO say.
d) how is a manager expected to produce results and have his head on the line when he has no say on who is in his squad?!?!
Overall Ashley did a good job of reducing debt, setting up a good scouting structure, sigining young players and bringing back Keegan.
BUT your scouting team cannot have control over the first tean without the MANAGERS say so, as he is the one with his neck on the line. You have to have a good size squad, therefore you have to invest in the team a bit more when a new manager takes charge, then build for the future.
Bringing back Keegan was great, the fans had no problems with him, we looked forward to games, we had belief in you and the setup (except for the rumours that turned out to be true) and would wait patiently for a few seasons for Keegan to build us into a regular european side (not champions league, just uefa cup) and then when he had had enough, pass the reins on and maybe take a step back or retire, no one expected SILVERWARE.
OK, just wanted to get my point across not that anyone really cares what I think, but I hate the fact he has made the fans look guilty when it is HIMSELF, WISE and LLAMBIAS to blame, all they had to do was keep Keegan happy.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:22Written by Scott Rice and I wholeheartedly agree.
Sunday, 14 September 2008 17:35
Reply to Ashley
It has been ten days since the resignation of Kevin Keegan and this represents the first statement released from the club, with any official name attached. While the gesture, far too late to build bridges, is grudgingly appreciated it seems even now you do not understand the club, by which I mean the club’s main asset, its large bodies of fans. I take this opportunity to reply on behalf of those who share opinions similar to mine and who love the club like I do.
1.We the fans realize that the financial state of the club was precarious. We realized that before you bought the club (just not the extent you have subsequently revealed), We understand that this has come about due to the inept policies of the former owner and the ensuing managerial revolving door. This is why we are particularly disappointed that your board structure was such that it resulted in the departure of one of the few managers whom the fans identify as a success.
2.We the fans were happy with the mooted “Arsenal†model and contrary to your claims did not expect or demand vast sums to be lavished on the squad. We note, however , that Arsenal does not have a director of football and has appointed NOBODY who can overrule Arsene Wenger in contract or transfer decisions.
3.We the fans had two expectations for the transfer window. The Kevin would be given a reasonable transfer kitty (our net spend is close to zero) and that transfers would work as you yourself had described them. There is no evidence of the £20m investment, the TV windfall or the 3 year season ticket purchase taken up by many fans being invested in the first team squad. Initial investment was far more important than year on year contribution given the fragile state of the first team squad and the insufficient cover for key positions.
4.We the fans are disappointed that you did not take the one step that would have resulted in this situation being immediately resolved to everyone who matters at the club’s satisfaction. The removal of Dennis Wise and the introduction of a structure that answers to the manager in ALL football related matters.
This is why we are grateful that you have offered the club for sale and claim you will represent our best interests until that sale completes. It is our hope that this is more honest than previous statements about the club. It is our belief that you do not understand the club sufficiently, in light of the above, to lead us into a successful future.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:23Happy??
Ecstatic mate
))
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:30your all insane.
he lied about final words on players.. ?? keegan had final word on players that he wanted, we tried to get some but most of them didnt meet the clubs long term goals, the others turned us down.. so what did the club do wrong? they got in a young ( soon to be world class striker and a player to strengthen the squad in the shorter term, as keegans choices wouldnt come ). from when KK had issues i backed Mashley and im devestated because of the short sighted stupidity of those newcastle fans that have caused this, i love my club, im ashamed to be associated with the prats that have caused this. truelly i am. he had a vision and, apart from not being able to bank roll stupid signings, hes trusted other parts of his team to bring in what they could for the good of the club and for the future of the club both financially and long term success and stability.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:30Be careful what you wish for! The club is in even worse shape now Mike Ashley want to jump ship. Unless a real billionaire (and where were they when MA bought the club)comes in it will be impossible to attract top players or even half decent ones or a manager. Not long ago Freddie S was the bad guy, who’s to say the next owner will be any better than MA. KK could have stayed for the sake of the fans but he didn’t. I agree Wise should go though, nobody in football likes that guy.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:39JOPPADONI
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:39Perhaps you could expand on why players were being sold without Keegans knowledge and you were obviously happy with Dennis Wise calling the shots above Keegan???????????????
Pathetic Newcastle.
What a joke, the guys right “are you happy now?”
Stay up there, keep your mouths closed, and give the rest of the nation some peace.
Toon army, yeah that’s right!
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:45Newcastle fans make me laugh… you’re such a soppy bunch.
How and why did any of you think the appointment of Kevin Keegan was a good one? Really? Someone explain to me the logic behind appointing a man who has quit every single managerial post he has been given?
It was a sentimental appointment that never should have been made… and definitely the biggest mistake Ashley ever made. In appointing Keegan he pretty much signed he’s own death warrant… How can he compete with a Newcastle legend like Keegan? And with Keegan’s track record of quitting every manager’s job given to him, you lot were always going to revolt on the day he did finally quit – it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ rather ‘when’ – though i have to admit, even by Keegan’s standards, his reign this time round lasted less time than i thought it would.
I can totally understand Keegan’s argument and the argument of the fans, that a manager should be in charge of what players are bought and sold… but as Ashley rightly points out, the job of finding players to bring in cannot be overseen by one person, you need a whole network of scouts to facilitate this, and you need someone to head up this network, i.e Wise. Now I’m not saying Wise is the right or wrong person for this job, but someone has to do it. And whoever it is has to present players on the table for Keegan et al to consider taking on. If these players were being forced upon Keegan, I can understand his and the fans’ frustrations – and why he quit, but is there any actual conrete evidence of this happening?
Milner left and was not replaced, but come on, £12m for James Milner – that’s like paying gold for silver… the guy is good, but worth about half of that. I can understand the board accepting the offer. And they obviously felt there were other players, younger players, coming through who could fill the void. And you are a company in massive amounts of debt, so the sale made total sense.
Ashley is right when he talks about using Arsenal as the blueprint for English clubs, and it is clear to see that he is doing every thing he can to start moulding Newcastle like Arsenal… Yes, he’s probably made a few mistakes already trying to implement this, such as undermining Keegan in the transfer market, but you are always going to have teething problems when you try and restructure a business, especially one the size of Newcastle United. I think Keegan needed to be more patient in realising this, and not been so quick to jump ship (as he always does).
Ashley made a mistake – but he’s done a thousand good things for your club, and the way you are demonstrating against him is damn right obscene. He appointement ‘King’ Kev because of you lot… it was a bad appointment, but he did it for you. Everything he has tried to do for your club has been for the greater good – and in doing so, unfortunately he stepped on the toes of the one man in Newcastle that he shouldn’t have – and now he’s a figure of hate.
I think maybe you should think about what you’ve done, and what Mike Ashley has done, and maybe even find it within yourselves to realise he’s actually not done that bad a job for you.
And if you still genuinely feel that the guy has been so bad for you, then you as fans should release a statement of your own countering Ashley’s argument.
September 14th, 2008 @ 20:58“Hope you guys are happy now”?
Exactly WHO is it that you hope is happy?
And are you speaking as a ‘business consultant’, or as a football fan?
September 14th, 2008 @ 21:01JOPPADONI
September 14th, 2008 @ 21:03they got in a young ( soon to be world class striker and a player to strengthen the squad in the shorter term, as keegans choices wouldnt come ).Did you go to the game yesterday no world class striker to be seen.
Dear me, what a load of crap. He don’t understand this club at all, we the fans crave info on the club and that has been drip fed in the form of lie after lie. KK is an asset to this club not a puppet! You have tried to run the club as a business but unlike the rest of his businesses he hasn’t listened to his customers, if he has a sale at one of his jumble sales stores he lets people know, he didn’t let his customers know that the team were up for sale on transfer deadline day and that is unforgivable. I won’t mention the rest of the crew, I’m sure they had a job to do but that wasn’t picking the team as that is where this sorry episode has ended up as due to injuries, who else is the ‘manager’ supposed to select. Mr Ashley, I hope you get a return on your investment that will balance the bad business decision you made in the first place (Due diligence and all that) that will remove the bitter taste that I’m sure you have left all of your latest customers with in regards you saving our club. Keep the faith
September 14th, 2008 @ 21:08Im a Newcastle fan and totally agree with the article, I hope Mike Ashley stays, agree that he needs a PR man, other than that he’s done nothing wrong other than be naive about Keegan, personally I wouldn’t let Keegan near St James’ again, to walk out on a club once is unfortunate, twice is questionable, three times, theres something wrong with his character, four times?? need I go on?
September 14th, 2008 @ 21:10first of all it was KK’s fault (official club statement post KK resignation), now its the fans, when is he going to understand he could have stopped all of this crap had he been in touch with what his cronies were doing?
September 14th, 2008 @ 21:19No !! The sooner the fans realise we are NOT the same team That kevin took over last Time and we will NOT achieve this style of football over night the better to many fan’s are living in the past !! The sooner they get behind the team regardless of who is in charge the better. I am a season ticket holder who has signed up for 3 years but the way we treated Ashley is disgusting have we all forgotten that Shepard had us nearly bankrupt !! MIke if you ever read any of these comments thank you for giving me a club to support and Good luck for the Future !!
September 14th, 2008 @ 22:05No thanks,
September 14th, 2008 @ 22:49DUMB NEWCASTLE FANS THAT’S WHAT U ALL ARE. I’M SO ASHAMED TO BE ONE OF U LOT. MY NEW PRAYER EVERY NIGHT NOW IS TO WAKE UP LOVIN ANOTHER TEAM SO I CAN JUST MOVE ON…CUZ WIT FANS LIKE U NUFC WILL GET NOWHERE….GREAT ARTICLE BY THE WAY
September 14th, 2008 @ 22:52@Ribble
Is it our fault the media feel the need to focus on us so much? We’d be more than happy if they gave us some peace. They could easily concentrate on the similar situation at West Ham, or the laughable antics of the Liverpool owners, but for some reason they find what goes on at NUFC more important – why is that?
September 14th, 2008 @ 22:56Hello
Jude! your slip is showing (red & white one), you must be a closet mackem. I didn’t agree with all the demonstrations, but we are not living in an Iraq state are we?
It is fare paying peoples rights, for to protest as long as it is done peacefully and within the law, but the point has been made & enforced, so Ashley has got the message now and watch this space.
Howay the lads.
September 14th, 2008 @ 23:15I am convinced we would have been relegated last season as well as skint if Ashley had not come in, sacked Allardyce and paid off most of the debt.
September 14th, 2008 @ 23:37Remember Leeds,Forest,Sheff Wed,Wolves.
An Illustrious list of once great clubs.
Ashley has saved us from a similar fate and it is appalling the the hostile way he has been treated.
Fuly agree with the article and some of the comments, ridiculously short sighted by the fans, and Ashley’s biggest mistake was appointing Keegan in the first place. You complain about Keegan being undermined? If the reports of Keegans transfer targets were true then you should have been thanking high heaven for Ashleys intervention, not the other way round. I guess love is blind though.
September 15th, 2008 @ 00:36Surely even the most ardent anti Ashley NUFC fan should simply be saying, “we respectfully disagree, but thank you for hearing us.”
I can’t believe some people are still giving him more criticism.
September 15th, 2008 @ 07:49Two points:
1. Your article is a vehicle to reprint Ashley’s statement and in itself is condescending and poorly formulated. Your “Hope you guys are happy now” comment warrents a slap in the face with a small family car you prick.
2. Mike Ashley misses the point entirely. his reference to Arsenal’s style of management hi-lights this, when have Arsenal ever had such an under qualified “director of football” as Wise? And when have Arsenal as a business failed to back their manager?
September 15th, 2008 @ 09:30well let him just go because there is the best decission he should take ,staying in Newcastle is not the best for him, let him just go and start a new contract with another club ,thatis the best way.
September 15th, 2008 @ 10:57