If Mike Ashley wanted to buy the club?

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

5 minutes ago, Duncan Edwards said:

 

What will that have to do with Mike Ashley? You said earlier on the thread that he’d be far better than what we have. He has delivered two relegations and was headed for a third and, currently, having been sold, Newcastle sit at the end of his tenure, one point and one place above us.

What you’ve actually intimated is that if we were second from bottom on 11 points instead of being bottom with 10, that would be “much better”. Happy clapper. 🙂

If your point is that Ashley is better because he sold up to the Saudi’s, you’ll have to be able to tell me who it is he is going to sell us to after he has bought us and how long we’ll have to suffer under him before he sells in order for me to decide if it’s worth the stagnation. 😉

FFS! He is a dodgy ****er but I’m not enamoured with our owners either. Is this an moral crusade regarding who can run a club or who delivers slightly less success? Personally I find our owners racist and Ashley the better business man. 

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Midlands, you'd probably be best starting with Janet and John then take it from there🤓

[Duncan Edwards 2,220]

Just now, Midlands Yellow said:

FFS! He is a dodgy ****er but I’m not enamoured with our owners either. Is this an moral crusade regarding who can run a club or who delivers slightly less success? Personally I find our owners racist and Ashley the better business man. 

The fact you are not enamoured by our owners is perfectly evident. Ashley’s success as a businessman, if judged by his personal wealth, also can’t be questioned. However, this is a discussion about him as an owner of a football club.

You asserted that he would be much better than what we have now. Given that he has had 14 years at Newcastle, suffered two relegations and being bang on target for a third when he sold up, along with the fact they sit one position and one point above us now, I think it’s reasonable to ask why he would be much better? 14 years and all that business acumen and it’s worth one point and one place? Doesn’t sound much better to me. Especially given that they’ve had more years in the Premier League and subsequently more money than us. It seems to me that they’ve been more wasteful. So why would he be much better?

You’ll have to expand on the racism. 

[WD40 720]

Well he would match at least the £0 investment from Delia and Michael. I would seriously look at it. I think I would take it actually. 

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

1 minute ago, Duncan Edwards said:

The fact you are not enamoured by our owners is perfectly evident. Ashley’s success as a businessman, if judged by his personal wealth, also can’t be questioned. However, this is a discussion about him as an owner of a football club.

You asserted that he would be much better than what we have now. Given that he has had 14 years at Newcastle, suffered two relegations and being bang on target for a third when he sold up, along with the fact they sit one position and one point above us now, I think it’s reasonable to ask why he would be much better? 14 years and all that business acumen and it’s worth one point and one place? Doesn’t sound much better to me. Especially given that they’ve had more years in the Premier League and subsequently more money than us. It seems to me that they’ve been more wasteful. So why would he be much better?

You’ll have to expand on the racism. 

Let’s turn a blind eye on the racism again!!! It’s well documented and here’s a snippet. Let me know what you think, don’t sit on the fence. 
 

 

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

25 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Nothing, but you'd made his point look a little silly 😅

Here comes the Kenny McLean fan club wading in. 

[Duncan Edwards 2,220]

3 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Let’s turn a blind eye on the racism again!!! It’s well documented and here’s a snippet. Let me know what you think, don’t sit on the fence. 
 

 

You’ll have to explain what this has to do with Mike Ashley? Which bit are you claiming is racist? 

In the meantime, if you could answer the questions regarding Ashley? 

[Yobocop 1,096]

Unreal toy pram throwing incident 

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

Well if I have to explain that to you I give in. (racist comment) You stay with daddy and let the love in with our current owners continue forever. 

[Duncan Edwards 2,220]

19 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Well if I have to explain that to you I give in. (racist comment) You stay with daddy and let the love in with our current owners continue forever. 

I mean, I credit you for your evasiveness, but I didn’t find anything in the interview offensive. We all have different levels of sensitivity though and more importantly it isn’t for me to decide what others find offensive. I’ve no idea how many complaints were made.

Anyway, the interview is absolutely irrelevant to this thread as Mike Ashley was born in Walsall. So if you could answer the questions about why he’d be much better?

I also intimated earlier in another thread that if there was a viable alternative with commitments to investing in infrastructure and playing talent, that I thought it would be almost universally supported as long as the club wasn’t put at risk. So your last sentence is, firstly, nonsense and secondly just another unnecessary dig.

You’ve stated that Mike Ashley would be far better than what we have, I’ve just provided some context and asked you to clarify why you feel that way. All I’ve had in response are straw men and digs about my Father. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edited January 15, 2022 by Duncan Edwards
It was on the fooking hate Delia thread

[Gibbo 131]

I'd say look at what used to be LA Fitness in Lincoln... It was taken over by Sports Direct, then a few years later once all money possible sucked out, it's left to rot.

https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2021/12/urban-explorers-take-a-dip-in-abandoned-lincoln-swimming-pool-and-find-goldfish/

[yellow_belly 226]

We could do a lot worse. He would be an upgrade on Delia in terms of ambition and money. Ashley has done well at Newcastle.

Let’s get him in.

Job one. Remove Webber? Arrogant toad.

[yellow_belly 226]

6 hours ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Let’s turn a blind eye on the racism again!!! It’s well documented and here’s a snippet. Let me know what you think, don’t sit on the fence. 
 

 

One could allege that Delia was speaking like a bigoted racist. Is she? Time to topple her statue? 

[Dr Greenthumb 746]

I wouldn’t object to him giving it a go. He hasn’t got to invest much to be streets ahead of our current owners!

[Jambomo 215]

1 hour ago, yellow_belly said:

We could do a lot worse. He would be an upgrade on Delia in terms of ambition and money. Ashley has done well at Newcastle.

Let’s get him in.

Job one. Remove Webber? Arrogant toad.

Mike Ashley is the one investor who showed with Newcastle he has absolutely no ambition for his clubs and actually doesn’t invest a lot of money, it’s why they have such a terrible defence - because they haven’t had the money to replace players since they last came up from the Championship.

That for me is the most relevant point Duncan Edwards is making,  he was happy for Newcastle to do nothing and go nowhere under his leadership and reluctant to spend. 

He's basically  a richer version of Delia but one that cares less for the clubs he takes over.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Jambomo

[Indy 3,283]

8 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

 

What will that have to do with Mike Ashley? You said earlier on the thread that he’d be far better than what we have. He has delivered two relegations and was headed for a third and, currently, having been sold, Newcastle sit at the end of his tenure, one point and one place above us.

What you’ve actually intimated is that if we were second from bottom on 11 points instead of being bottom with 10, that would be “much better”. Happy clapper. 🙂

Indeed, very much like those who rave about Dean Smith, as a massive improvement, he too wasn’t an improvement and as he took a 230 million pound squad to three places and just four points ahead of us when he was sacked by them! But he’s made it here.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Indy

[Herman 9,717]

9 hours ago, Helsinki canary said:

We are currently in too good a financial position for him to swoop in, he would only  have a sniff when we were desperate for cash at a knock down price, even then I doubt Smith & Jones would let him through the door

Aye, that's his business model and it works for him. But he doesn't ever improve his acquired businesses. He just fills them up with stuff from his warehouses and turns everything into a version of Sports Direct. Newcastle under his tenure haven't done anything spectacular and a club with their wealth,size and fanbase should have really been regularly challenging for European places, but are more likely scrapping with Delia's Norwich.

The grass isn't greener on this one.

[Worthy Nigelton 1,037]

Sell sell sell! And let him sell all the Lonsdale gear he wants in the club shop.

[Virtual reality 706]

We know exactly what we’re getting with Delia and experience has proven under her we can’t compete at this level. If he were interested it’s a yes from me. It’s long gone time that someone else had the opportunity to see what can be achieved with the club 

[Herman 9,717]

10 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

Let’s be honest, Ashley wouldn’t be the guy, would he?

It’s not very ambitious to want him either. He’s had 14 years at Newcastle, suffered two relegations, on target for a third when he finally went and they currently sit one place and one point ahead of us in the pyramid.

If what he have now isn’t good enough, then neither is Ashley. 

Listen to Duncan. Look at the man's record rather than looking at his wallet. He's achieved very little in his time at Newcastle, maybe a few steps ahead of us but no great leaps and bounds, considering his wealth compared to Delia's. Don't sell your soul for a cheap pair of Dunlops.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I do not know enough about his reign at Newcastle other than what I have seen in the media. Obviously a portion of the fans at Newcastle wanted him out. Same as our club I suppose. And his ownership was in some ways similar to ours.

He rescued the club from failing owners who had run up over £100M debt. He came in and said he wanted to bring in youngsters cheap and sell on for a big profit. And he made the club financially sound making profits most seasons. And when he sacked failing managers he brought in club legends and supporters choices such as Keegan and Shearer to try and bring success.

Maybe he was too much of a businessman for a club with Newcastle supporters expectations. For some reason, their fans assumed they should be able to mix it with the top clubs. But before Ashley, they weren't setting the EPL alight any more than we did finishing runners up twice. At least we finished third once.

They were a top club especially in the days when the FA Cup was seen as a greater achievement than winning the league. But apart from Championship success they haven't threatened the big clubs apart from two seasons.

So it appears to me that Ashley made them financially secure but couldn't get them out of the mediocre position they were in on the pitch, even though they had no recent history of being anything other than a mid to bottom of the table EPL club.

If Ashley bought us he would be starting from a different position. No debt although ground improvements are needed.

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

The potential argument for Ashley is that he'd essentially try to keep debt relatively low as apart from the odd signing here and there he wasn't a big bankroller after clearing Newcastle's debts, but have considerable financial clout of his own to finance a risk or two. If the comments about Newcastle's training facilities are true, then he seemed to let them go to rack and ruin somewhat, and that would be a poor move for us as a club that tries to focus hard on youth.

As others have said though, and I really have to keep pointing out @Parma Ham's gone mouldy's post - the football finance paradox is that we have little debt and are in a comparatively strong position financially, we can't be bought at a cheap rate, ergo - we're a less attractive purchase.

[TheBaldOne66 681]

9 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

I mean, I credit you for your evasiveness, but I didn’t find anything in the interview offensive. We all have different levels of sensitivity though and more importantly it isn’t for me to decide what others find offensive. I’ve no idea how many complaints were made.

Anyway, the interview is absolutely irrelevant to this thread as Mike Ashley was born in Walsall. So if you could answer the questions about why he’d be much better?

I also intimated earlier in another thread that if there was a viable alternative with commitments to investing in infrastructure and playing talent, that I thought it would be almost universally supported as long as the club wasn’t put at risk. So your last sentence is, firstly, nonsense and secondly just another unnecessary dig.

You’ve stated that Mike Ashley would be far better than what we have, I’ve just provided some context and asked you to clarify why you feel that way. All I’ve had in response are straw men and digs about my Father. 🤷🏻‍♂️

So you don’t find calling people from the Middle East camels, offensive or racist? 
 

Maybe I shall ask my colleagues here in Oman, where I am currently working, how they feel about being referred to as camels? 

Edited January 15, 2022 by TheBaldOne66

[Duncan Edwards 2,220]

9 minutes ago, TheBaldOne66 said:

So you don’t find calling people from the Middle East camels, offensive or racist? 
 

Maybe I shall ask my colleagues here in Oman, where I am currently working, how they feel about being referred to as camels? 

Well, if she was talking about your colleagues, you’d probably be better served trying to get them to turn up at Carrow Road and buy the club, wouldn’t you? 

[Capt. Pants 4,201]

1 hour ago, Worthy Nigelton said:

Sell sell sell! And let him sell all the Lonsdale gear he wants in the club shop.

Better quality that that Jona tat to be fair.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 hours ago, yellow_belly said:

One could allege that Delia was speaking like a bigoted racist. Is she? Time to topple her statue? 

I'm not convinced she was bigoted but I'm certainly convinced that it was a stupid thing to say. If she really wants the absolute best for the club and most importantly, the supporters, all of them, then nothing is off the table.

[Indy 3,283]

4 hours ago, yellow_belly said:

One could allege that Delia was speaking like a bigoted racist. Is she? Time to topple her statue? 

What I don’t like about that comment is that if someone inside the ground made a similar comment aimed at our opposition players they would be subject to making a racist comment and probably ejected from the ground, in the current environment rightly so. So for our owners to say they joke about it at board meetings sets the bar in terms of their apparent bigotry to any future ownership. It’s not great is it! 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Indy

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

6 minutes ago, Indy said:

What I don’t like about that comment is that if someone inside the ground made a similar comment aimed at our opposition players they would be subject to making a racist comment and probably ejected from the ground, in the current environment rightly so. So for our owners to say they joke about it at board meetings sets the bar in terms of their apparent bigotry to any future ownership. It’s not great is it! 

So she might really be a Tory

[Virtual reality 706]

10 hours ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Let’s turn a blind eye on the racism again!!! It’s well documented and here’s a snippet. Let me know what you think, don’t sit on the fence. 
 

 

Yeah I’d say that’s pretty poor to be honest. Had that been another person saying that there would be quite the agenda against them.

Edit: After listening again it’s actually worse. Clearly owners that a living in another time and are completely out of touch 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Virtual reality

[duke63 541]

Mike Ashley? - NO!