Mike Ashley- Fear and Greed

A good article I thought I'd share..

http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-articles/mike-ashley-fear-greed/?

The frenetic activity in the transfer market this summer is, we are now being told, down to the direct, hands-on involvement of our glorious owner.

After making a complete Horlicks of the club’s manoeuvres in the transfer market (engaging Joe Kinnear, not giving Pardew any decisive say in the sale and purchase of players, only buying Anita and nobody else after our fifth-placed finish, annoying Graham Carr by not buying anyone for eighteen months) Mike Ashley has at last acted.

mike ashleyHe has acted with characteristic flair and in a typically eye- catching manner. He has apparently told Lee Charnley what needed to be done, and Charnley has pretty much done it.

And Ashley has taken this leading role, in my view, for precisely three reasons:

a) He genuinely feared we would be relegated if, in particular, we failed to sign a decent play-maker and a competent goal-scorer;

b) He genuinely feared Graham Carr would resign;

c) He genuinely feared nothing would happen in the transfer market once again if he didn’t tell his staff clearly what he wanted them to do.

There are only two primary motivators of the most competitive people – fear and greed. When Ashley behaves like he has this summer, spending a bit of money (although once again his expenditure is confined to profits he has made on recently sold players, and makes no dent at all in the television money), he is doing it purely out of fear.

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Season ticket sales are still a bit of a mystery, especially as the club’s official statements (‘six per cent non-renewals, it’s nothing out of the ordinary’) cannot possibly be true. Why extend the deadline for renewals twice if it was nothing unusual? But it’s not been season ticket sales that have put the heat on Ashley. He knows we’ve needed a strengthened squad for ages. It has been the prospect of relegation that has forced his hand.

Same old same old. But what’s interesting is that apparently we are still in the hunt for Remy and/or Lacazette. These players would each cost more than ten million, a barrier Ashley has been reluctant to breach. Selling good forwards such as Ba and Carroll for big fees is of course no problem at all. But Ashley seems continually surprised that we then need to buy replacements. If the likes of Armstrong and Campbell had stepped up to the plate and looked as though they were going to make the grade, I genuinely believe Ashley would be taking a punt on them and not buying anyone.

Of course the frequently recurring tales of hunting Carroll, seeking the signature of Remy, and being on the trail of Lasogga or Lacazette, may just be encouragements to fans to renew their season tickets.

But I don’t think so. I think we are genuinely, for once, and at last, seriously considering lashing out an eight-figure sum. For a striker of quality. And not for a bargain basement hacker.

There is an optimistic way of looking at this, which is that we are becoming a bit more ambitious. I am fairly sure we are not, sadly.

Ashley is above all supremely obstinate. He will stamp his foot until things are done his way.

Which brings me to the pessimistic way of looking at this, which is that doing things his way is making him money but might well lead the club to disaster. He’s not thick.

Ashley might already have realised, or been told, that our new signings, Riviere and Ferreyra, are limited. Pardew doesn’t seem that excited about them – not in the same way he is clearly excited about Cabella and de Jong. He will never pick these new strikers in the same team, because they couldn’t both be effective together in front of de Jong while being served by Cabella from the wing. In my opinion neither Riviere nor Ferreyra can play with our new playmakers as effectively as a traditional centre forward.

My conclusion is that, when all is said and done, and giving full credit for buying a well-chosen bunch of first-teamers and squad players, it is Ashley being cheap all over again. Only this time, in the service of being cheap, he might be persuaded to spend properly on a proven striker.

He should, of course, buy Andy Carroll (if he ever gets fit…) and play him up front on his own. Perhaps Lee Charnley has been told to get the big lad over the line!

But spend money he should. He knows it. I can’t quite believe he will. But he might!

 

I don't get the whinge about "maybe if the likes of Campbell or Armstrong made the grade then Ashley would of took a punt on them"
Why wouldn't you? If either of them had proved to be good enough why wouldn't you go with them as a genuine option rather than buying someone?
For example, if Aarons continues to progress then I won't moan about not signing another winger.

Would love to see Carroll or Benteke and then a really solid CB come in.

 

"He should of course, buy Andy Carroll" wow what drugs is the author of this article on, seriously in hindsight selling Carroll for £35 million was the best bit of business in a long time in the PL, even West Ham's owners admit that if they knew what was gonna happen with his fitness and injuries they would not have splashed the cash on him.

 

So, according to this article we have an owner who:

1: Doesn't want us to get relegated
2: Doesn't want our best scout, and one of the best in the game, to leave
3: Believes in giving clear guidance to make sure that points 1 and 2 don't happen

**** me, what a ****, I'm off to make a banner...


I don't get why its a bad thing if we're not spending more than we earn. I don't understand why some people wont be happy till they see the debt increase. It's been **** in the transfer market for a long time, and the biggest contributing factor to that was Mike Ashley appointing Joe Kinnear. He has now sacked Kinnear and we're signing players and getting them over that previously impossible line. The article sounds to me like someone trying too hard to find muck to fling at Ashley. There has been enough genuine reasons out there without making up pointless ones.

 

The Mag has to be one of the most miserable club fanzines out there today. Clearly things aren't completely as they should be, behind the scenes. But the contributing writers hardly need any excuse to get their knives out. I rarely bother reading new articles by The Mag, as it's just so tiresomely negative. They actually make Mr T look somewhat positive.

 

We all know that mike ashley puts into the club as little as he can get away with,every thing is to make him as MUCH money as possible.So if he can keep the spending down keep us around 10th he's happy. The finishing 5th and only buying anita backs this up.Speculate to accumulate is totally alien to him ,the other teams in the top 6 would push on and spend

 

No doubt about it, Newcastle dodged a bullet. Nothing to do with good sense though - just Ashley's greed.

 

Ain't lack of censorship just a bitch? Typical of the nouveau fan though - can't let any realism interfere with their happy-clappy views.

 

I don't know how many times it's been said, but the transfer activity has left the Newcastle United squad pretty much the same as last season in terms of numbers.

The quality of the new signings is yet to be properly assessed. Another season of mid-table mediocrity awaits and that suits Mike Ashley just fine.

Hopefully the team will start well as they did last season but i'm really not going to hold my breath for a major investment in the striking department.

How I would love to be wrong

 

I think our quality has improved.
Don't forget Shola has ****ed off.

 

Not sure what you're getting at? A little bit of balance is all that's required. Ashley/Pardew out, lack of spending, Wonga blah, blah, blah. It becomes incredibly tedious.

I am a realist. I know the shortcomings. I just don't need it all continuously regurgitated at me by various different bloggers.

 

It is utter garbage.