Time for an Ashley olive branch?

Methinks he's in love.........that's usually what it takes to get people back on track.....that or being called a fat **** by 40k-50k every other week!!!!!!!!

 

Average calories per a pint of lager: 250
Calories per a pint of Guiness: 165

I swapped lager for Guiness, gave up snacking at work and lost about 50lbs in 9 weeks.

 

I love the way we keep making surprise signings nowadays. As for Ashley i think he is definately running things the right way financially which to be honest was desperately needed and sometimes this involves some pain first (Carroll sale and no replacement) before getting the right players in at the right price. The policy of signing young hungry players with potential at the right price instead of expensive always "injured" has beens with no sell on price is the right way to do things even if this means sometimes they get sold on (at a huge profit) later to help finance the club and future signings.
Like anyone Ashley has made mistakes but no one can argue at where we are now as a team or financially as a club compared to his arrival. Still holding my breath that we dont sell anyone good in this window but if we dont i agree some credit needs to go to Ashley at last. I dont believe anyone doesnt mind being hated by everyone and agree that if we could get onside with him he could well take us to success. He really does need to break his silence though to get the fans support.

 

Tbf it was in the gossip pages not so long a go that he's getting back with his ex. You could be on to something here!

 

Sports Direct doing olive branches at 70% off this week

 

You have to be kidding, right?! The Carroll money is what allowed us to sign a bunch of class players, and renew a few contracts, and all of the on *long deals* - look at the last few contracts we've heard about, all 5 years +. The Carroll money is what allowed us to do that, because it gives us the financial stability to commit.

I have to say, that while in the past I wasn't a great fan of Mike, he has won me over. Having looked at the way the club is running, our conduct in the markets, and the way we're playing I would say that Mike has cleverly (and cheaply) got us back on the path to Europe and fighting at the right end of the table.

Ok, so renaming the stadium was a flop. But, you know what, I can almost forgive him that - as long as the council don't fold and change the signs in the toon...

 

Really? Does anyone have pictoral evidence?

Cue 'Greggs going into administration' jokes etc etc

 

No Olive branch from me I'm afraid, I think Ashley is indifferent to the feeling of the fans, any decisions he makes are purely business.
Perhaps that's where he made a mistake in the first place, trying to be one of the boys, sitting with the fans.

If he is sporting a new slim figure, maybe it was those awful party photos (was it Christmas) that shook him into action!

 

my major problem with ashley is having that dickwad derek lamearse at the club

 

Stockholm Syndrome.

 

They had no trouble pulling the wool over your eyes then?

I'm glad you're happy - 'The Sports Direct Arena' must be a great place to go these days.

Tragic.

 

I think it is time.

If you look at what he inherited (loads of debt with an ageing squad and Allardyce in charge) and where we are now I don't think anyone could argue that we are anything but better off .

He's been in charge when some ugly decisions have been made, mainly the Keegan one in my eyes as we wouldn't have been relegated had Keegan stayed but in the main I think most of his decisions have worked out well whether we liked them or not at the time (Carroll, Hughton, Barton etc).

If you were to put yourself in his position would you really want to release funds to improve the team when supporters abuse you / your family and boycott your businesses? Fans spending less with the club / Ashley's other business interests yet expecting this to motivate him to increase his investment the income in to the club?

Yes he's made some mistakes but who doesn't when new in to a particular field of business?

He's more likely to buy the players you want if you support what he's doing, it's not rocket science!

 

This was definitely where I was coming from – in no way a propaganda mission or 'love in' for Ashley as I can completely understand that some decisions are still tough to forgive.
If not now, there must surely be a point though where majority opinion changes and some begrudging credit is given – it's only fair and helps us feel better about the club rather than hanging on the negativity.

Again, I just don't buy this idea that the guy doesn't care about what we think. He's a businessman that has been successful by making unpopular, unemotional decisions to succeed but that doesn't make him inhuman.
This detachment from too much sentiment for the club is actually healthy as most of us installed as chairman would run it into the ground in pursuit of the most popular decision. That problem was proven with Shepherd in charge and much as those times of big signings were exciting, they've taken time to recover from.

God knows we've hardly had our deserved lot of triumph and times to be happy – perhaps we're so used to it that we're keen to dwell on the bad rather than being optimistic for the future?