We simply didn't want to win

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I haven't checked them all, but our figures appear to be correct.

 

This is the problem though isn't it? The statistics are horrible for fans and demanding ambition, but they vindicate this odious regime.

You're either forced to admit that OR hail Pardew as a genius manager working well with an undoubtedly good scouting network.

Now the only thing I like to admit is that last bit but yeah, those stats don't really help our case.

On the basis of a comparison with those clubs, we're not only doing great on the balance sheet but equally as well ON THE PITCH...

I don't know how to feel!

 

I agree, but it doesn't really endorse the level of tightfistedness to which we are constantly treated. It does serve to show that we don't need to spend a fortune and that Carr really knows his stuff. But just imagine if we could start to show a little ambition, if money was released by MA to actually make the most of this amazing scout that we are lucky enough to have. It's not even that we would have to start spending crazily. If we'd just spent half of the extra money from the new TV deal this January then we could have signed Grenier and one other. In the summer we could do the same again and get the strikeforce sorted and use some of the Cabaye money to replace Colo. It's not really vast over extravagant spending that we need to see or that anyone is crying out for. Just sensible spending - less than the club makes in profits per annum. Also, with Carr doing the scouting it's a pretty solid bet that any players signed would be worth more in a year or two anyway so why is our owner seemingly constipated with fear when it comes to sanctioning a few much required transfers?

 

It makes you wonder where the money does go. They have said they aren't repaying the loan so where is it and what is it doing??

 

Hopefully we will find out. This is the first season where we were due to make a sizeable profit due to the TV deal, even before we add the Cabaye transfer into the mix.

Seeing as we are almost certainly not going to see spending next season eclipse that years income thanks again to the TV money I guess we've all got to hope the £50-60million from this year is put against the loan. It would wipe out half of it in one go and instantly make the club more saleable... Or bring us closer to the point where all this extra money can go back into the squad (if it turns out Ashley does have a grand scheme after all).

 

He has said the loan will not be paid until the club is sold, so I see no reason why it can't go into the squad!

 

Yeah and I understand your frustration, I believe sensible investment is the only way we'll improve and achieve anything.

However, in comparison to those clubs like Sunderland, West Brom, Stoke, Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff etc we are faring far better at this point – that's just fact isn't it?

Spending money isn't working for those clubs, clubs I might add that would give ANYTHING to get into Europe as we did on a shoestring season before last.

We're sitting pretty in the league and by all accounts guaranteed PL safety even if we limp to it until May. Those other clubs would LOVE to swap places with us, make no mistake.

I want more, much more but this stuff is problematic when it comes to criticising the board and it's the kind of thing they would counter with.

Doesn't help us today whatsoever, but still...

 

It was spineless, gutless & effortless... and anything else that ends in ...less!

There goes my weekend!

 

Ok, so just pouring over figures to try and understand where we are, in a vague attempt to rationalise our situation and perhaps even offer comfort somewhere:

Mike Ashley paid £134m for Newcastle. He then had to spend a further £140m bailing out the debt. This is interest free. To date, Mike has taken back around £12m (last Summer) with a figure of £18m said to be the last amount of money he is looking to take back before he sells the club.

Now, I am trying to understand where this figure comes from, why it is important that the club can owe him £110m and not need to pay him back until the day it is sold. If we look at recent Forbes' figures for Newcastle, following finishing 5th we re-entered the top 20 rich list of clubs with a value of £168m. Given the recent massive increase in televised (broadcast) revenues, we can now take that value up somewhere near £190m or even £200m (the new deal was an addition £30-40m per season, as I understand it). But that's just the commercial valuation of the club, it doesn't include such things as prestige, playing squad, profitability and so on. All in all, an asking price in excess of £275m ($400m) is quite likely. If you look at the Abu Dhabi's purchase of Man City, they paid £220m for that club, whose face valuation was significantly lower than Newcastle's current valuations. Aside from the negative impact of geography, the area still has development potential, growth potential and the captive audience is still significant. But aside from all that, we are looking at - as has been rightly pointed out - being able to post profits in excess of £50m this year; last year, when our profits were around £12.4m, Ashley took £12m. I reckon this year he's going to take back the other £18m that leaves us in a position of being "for sale". The timing is bang on - Rangers are about to be promoted to the Scottish Championship at a canter and will saunter their way to that title next season, the great return is almost on. Given the period between Newcastle being sold on and Ashley currently holding around 5.2% of shares in Rangers - a token amount often seen before takeovers commence (please correct me if misinformed)

But that's not all. The playing staff also have been trimmed down, all the villainy and infamy is sitting with Mike Ashley and Joe Kinnear. They care not a jot for the opinion polls right now and have a ready-made PR campaign for any would-be owner; the lure of being the white knight cannot be underestimated. In Pardew simply sleepwalking through his assignment, the opportunity it great to sweep through the club without any need for massive investment; this is a time when owners can maximise commercial revenue (i.e. fck off Sports Direct, please) and utilise the broadcasting deal to invest great swathes in the playing squad - a really decent pop at something every year is well within this clubs reach.

I don't fully understand why Ashley simply can't be bothered. Maybe it's because he can't be bothered. But the only rational explanation for any of this is that it's for sale.

There is one other explanation.....in paying off the £18m, which we will do, Ashley's no longer interested in making any money off the club and will instead simply recycle every penny made back into the playing squad. Laughable, though. So which theory do you subscribe to?!

 

Well it seems more likely that he would be lining up a sale. Considering how high this years profits are going to be there seems no good reason not to have offered a more acceptable sum for Grenier - if he really had been identified as the ideal replacement. But again, if he's only going to take £18million towards the loan why are we saving £50m+? Surely pushing for as high a league placing as possible without breaking the bank would make NUFC an even more attractive proposition to potential buyers?

The idea of MA begin to strengthen the squad in earnest does seem laughable based on his track record but it would make sense from a business point of view. If Carr's good work carried on but with greater financial backing we could, as you say, begin to seriously challenge for things. If we could get back into Europe most years and be pushing towards a top 4 spot then MA gets a much wider audience for all of his horrible Sports Direct signage - massive free advertising.

Hopefully something like one of these scenarios will begin to unfold before too much longer - they would both represent a massive upturn from what we have grown accustomed to.

 

One thing that does point towards a potential sale is the statement that the £110 million wont be repaid until the club is sold. If its a genuine loan this seems like a strange statement without some sort of timetable in place for a sale. However, along with statements about the loan being paid he also stated that there were no plans to sell the club and that it was not for sale. As we are no longer listed on the stock exchange I don't think there is any legal reason not to say we might be sold at some point. So it looks to me like he is keeping his options open.

As for Rangers, I was also convinced that he would end up buying them. They would offer guaranteed European football each year (with a minimal investment compared to England) and an easy opportunity to regularly challenge for trophies. They would also offer bigger marketing possibilities due to the sheer number of Scottish people who support either Rangers or Celtic, and a large worldwide fanbase. However, he has shown little interest in qualifying for European football with us, and it would be no more profitable for Rangers. He also seems far more concerned with the balance sheet, and even Scottish champions cannot compete with the financial rewards of a championship team, never mind a premier league team. Since his first investment in Rangers the situation has changed too. The situation up there is toxic and they seem to be lurching from civil war to civil war. I suspect his interest in them may well have cooled. He got his fingers burned with us learning what a demanding and (to him) impatient fan base was like. We were not the fun glory trip I think he initially expected and wanted. Events of the last 12 months will have shown him that even after going bust, the Rangers fan base makes us look easy to please.

I have no idea what he wants to do. It makes no sense. I sometimes wonder if he wants to pay us back for the abuse he has received through the years, but he's too canny a businessman to do that i think. He has treated the club, and through it the fans, with what seems like a complete lack of indifference. However, the thing that makes least sense of all is that your last paragraph makes sense. Let's just hope that he sees that it makes sense too!

 

Our net spend in the last five years is very little to be fair..So this is a pile of poop..

 

These are official figures: Your net spend in the last 5 years is £46,930,000. They are not our figures

 

So basically when the accounts for the current tax year are published we will see one of the following:

1. A £50-£60million profit nestling in the clubs bank account.
2. The above profit minus an £18million loan repayment.
3. A larger £50-£60million loan repayment.
4. Mike Ashley taking a large wage.