Article: Newcastle United - Kevin Keegan, Should we listen to him more?

I'm not sure what it was, but when Keegan decided enough was enough and departed for the second time in 2008... I blamed him for it. Then when he decided to take the club to court, I couldn't help but feel less of him.

More recently however, I've been reflecting upon the whole situation and can't help but feel sorry for the guy considering the way he's been treated. Yes, he may have made a few bob from the whole ordeal, but it seems to me that he really has tried to warn us from the start that Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias are a bunch of deceitful cockney bastards... and we're simply being taken for a ride.

Now that I start to really delve into things, Mike Ashley's grand plan has become obvious. Put simply, he wants to recoup the losses acquired when buying the club due to the lack of due diligence and then offload us to whoever is willing to match his asking price.

Firstly, let's go back to December... Chris Hughton was treated appallingly by the club and his hard work and tremendous effort were rewarded by being given the sack. What was the thinking behind such a move? After all, Chris Hughton was the most loved manager since the days of Sir Bobby and he'd managed to generate a team spirit that no other manager had been able to match.

Perhaps Mike Ashley feared that the players and fans would form too strong of a bond with Chris, something which would later threaten any questionable actions i.e. the sale of Andy Carroll and the lack of investment in the following transfer window?

So... what happened next? Did the club install a manager with more experience? They sure did, but perhaps not the top-class manager that we'd all been hoping for. Instead of a proven manager like Martin O'neill, we were given another Cockney, a move which left us thinking "He's hardly much of an improvement?" Maybe that's because he was hired for one sole reason, because Mike knew he'd be the perfect puppet... and also perhaps because his wage demands weren't too high.

Anyway, enough of that... the next controversial move by Ashley was the sale of Andy Carroll. Personally I don't question the move, £35m was one hell of a deal... but he promised that we'd be given it to spend at the end of season.

My question now is... where is it?

Here's Kevin Keegan's thoughts on the £35m... back in February. Don't say he didn't warn us!

[video=youtube;mC6ItAqdDz4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC6ItAqdDz4[/video]

Whilst it may be true that the £35m from the sale of Andy Carroll will go back into the club, where does our revenue go? What about the money that we would have normally spent on players? Mike's obviously letting it flow into his pocket, he's paying off our debts to him and has no intention of letting us spend anywhere near £35m on transfers.

On to the next questionable action by Mike Ashley. L7!

It's quite obvious what he's doing, he's trying to unsettle those who have the most power to question his actions. First of all he sacked Hughton in fear that the players and supporters would give him the power to question his actions. Now he's split up Level 7 of the Leazes corner, the section with the biggest vocal clout and perhaps even the best ability to once again question his actions.

And so, once again, I'm going to leave you with Kevin Keegan. Here's what he had to say about Mike Ashley and Llambias, about their lies and the fact that we can't trust them... after all, he worked for them:

[video=youtube;Ifpb55bXkrg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifpb55bXkrg&feature=feedrec_grec_index[/video]

Let's face it... we're not going to see a penny of that £35m. Even if we spend £10m, that money would have been available from our revenue stream anyway! We're being misled and taken for fools... and Mike Ashley has gone to special lengths to make sure we're powerless to do anything about it.

 

Kind of disagree at this point. We won't spend it all but we will spend some money. However at the moment we have spent nothing. So I still think we should sign N'Zogbia and a striker at around £10 million. That will be £20 million spent and I'd be very happy with that.

 

When I said 'at this point' that means I will judge it on 1st September. It's too early to judge yet.

 

Keegan's comments make him sound like an estranged wife.

 

This!!! ;D

 

I'm just going to answer to the title before reading the whole arrticle-No

 

As fans we are powerless to do anything about it.

We won't boycott in vast enough numbers that would hurt his pocket because we all care about the club too much.

If we want him out or voice our disaffection then we'd have to have home attendances in the region of 10/12,000 consistently through the season.
We'd have to stop purchasing annual season tickets as well as those on on long term deals cancelling.
We'd have to stop buying merchandise.
Those at the match would have to stop buying drinks and snacks at the ground.

We'd have to do this until he's gone but there are set backs to these actions:

1) The performance of the players will drop and points will be lost
2) The revenues of the club drop and Mike can just let the debts accumulate; putting the club in a worse financial position.
3) To stop the financial rot; players are sold.
4) The club could be relegated further destroying the clubs financial position.

I don't know enough people who would accept this as a viable action.

 

**** sake. These type of fans boil my piss. Quit your whining.

 

Look, we can piss and whine as much as we want about the owners.

I don't like Ashley and Lambias. BUT i do think that (to my basic knowledge) the club is in a better financial state now then it ever has been in my lifetime (26 years). And that is something to celebrate.

And if Ashley is going to do what you say - sell players, not give back until he has made back his debt and then sell the club - what is bad about that?

As long as we don't get relegated (which is not in his interest) we all get what we want - Ashley gets his money and then he ****s off.

We just have to hope that somebody who loves the club takes over - but lets face it, how many owners love their clubs? Not many in the premiership thats for sure. Or hope that a Super-rich owner comes in and we pay over the odds for players a la Chelsea and Man City and pay for success.

Personally, while i'm not his biggest fan - we're pretty stable and we've strengthed well so far this transfer window. I'm happy, and if Ashley keeps this up I would be happy for him to stay as the owner (although the L7 situation is a shambles...)

 

Keegan is far from having an unbiased opinion on this. Yes he has personal experience to draw upon but he also has issues. So yes listen to him but take everything he says as an opinion and not fact.

As for the £35m that is being discussed at length on another thread and I've already stated my opinions there so I won't repeat myself.

 

I've been saying this all along. The worrying thing is though, why should he stop when he breaks even? A year ago (roughly) I think he'd put about £120m into the club (about £40m was through his own mismanagement, and about £80m was the debt when he arrived). Lets say in three years time he clawed all his money back, that's £30m a year the club is able to turn in excess profit and still maintain Premier League status. Why on Earth would he sell? The club will never move forward while he's in charge, any revenue the club will generate won't be reinvested unless we look like getting relegated. As long as we can stay in the Premier League and he can trade players, sell season tickets, and claim money from sponsors and TV he'll be happy to hang around and cream the profits off.

A worrying amount of people have buried their heads in the sand since we were promoted, to such a shocking extent that Llambias can appear in the media, slag us all off, and no one really bats an eyelid.

 

Sorry AG your figures are way out. The latest show that he is owed £285m, £150m from NUFC and £135m from the holding company. Also where do you get this £30m profit figure from that we are suddenly going to get in a few years time?

 

This

 

I ****ing hate Llambias

 

Me and you both but a lot of fans have been sucked in my him and Ashley.

 

I fear that we have become like a battered wife, where the beating becomes a fact of life, and we lose all fight, but realise the utter helplessness of our situation.

I have no problem with a sensible business plan. I just don't like to be lied to, at every hands turn, and treated like an idiot.

 

Much as I am not a Mike Ashley fan, the concept that he is creaming off profits is factually incorrect.

It is possible that in the last few months he may have had the club repay a few million of the amount he has leant the club. If so, he is a lying t***. But he is not making money off the club and has probably given up hope of ever breaking even on the whole misguided project.

 

Where to start! I've got loads of time for Keegan but I firmly believe his brutally honest approach and almost idealistic view of the football world is an ill fit with modern day footballs reality. The game has been swamped by leeches and businessmen who have little knowledge of football, but plenty knowledge of money. I'll always listen to a football man like Keegan talk. However his views on Newcastle and Ashley have been soured by a very low point in our history. Keegan wanted to hold Ashley to his word, like he had done previously with John Hall. The big difference being John Hall had a genuine love of Newcastle and really wanted the club to get back to the higher echelons of the game. (and he saw an opportunity to make money in the process with the advent of the PL) Ashley couldn't give two hoots what happens to Newcastle the football club after he's gone, it's his investment he is bothered about. This is natural for any businessman, you have to be brutal. The bonus is for his investment to do well, he needs the football side operating positively.

I loathe Mike Ashley. The fecker couldn't lie straight in bed. Same for Lambiarse. But the reality is we're stuck with it for the foreseeable future and there is nothing we can do. It's not about being sucked in by Ashley/Derek, it's about accepting the reality of the situation and making the best of it. The situation is he is in charge and he'll do as he pleases. I have firmly believed for a long time that all dealings since the wedge was driven between him and the fans are part of a long term exit strategy. (wedge being some fans sending death threats etc) That is tied to an upturn in the economy barring a massive unexpected offer. (unlikely for a variety of reasons) I just cannot see any point in whining about transfer, money etc. Don't get me wrong, the dishonesty and lack of transparency gets to me and annoys me. But like some have said above I've been conditioned to it. I couldn't give two hoots if the squad stays as it is now. Obviously we desperately need more to progress, but as long as there is 11 trying on a Saturday I'm fine with it. There really is no point in complaining about things that are not going to change.

And as I said earlier, the bonus is we might get some decent players along the way (they need players they can make a profit on), and we should be in a better financial state when he leaves. Overseas makes the most salient point. If we did what was necessary to try and force him out it probably wouldn't work and result in us being in an even worse position. Sometimes in life you just can't win and have to sit it out!

 

Of course we should listen to the man and hear what he's got to say!

To many of us Kevin Keegan is, and will always be a Real Toon Hero, and also an honestly decent fellow in my humble opinion.

What he said about the dreaded twosome I would think is absolutely accurate.

For those of our fans who are too young to understand the impact Kevin Keegan has had on our club, well they've missed out on possibly the most entertaining years that we're ever likely to see repeated, but parts of KK's effect is still there see - though Mike Ashley wants to sell its name.

To Ashley's credit, he's running the club similarly to Sir John Hall, in that we're probably profitable presently and not haemorrhaging money like under FFS. But the cost of this financial plan could be that we are destined to operate seemingly by aiming just to avoid relegation every year - by 6 to 12 points maybe. That looks to be our goal - and get knocked out of the cups nice and early by playing reserve sides, to keep focused on just surviving in the Premiership.

It's all about business now - fans are really only a concept to Mike Ashley, and we are maybe simply a customer-base that just won't go away ...

If we sell our top scorers (one of them being a local lad) and not try to replace them, the goal must be plain and simple to just be in the numbers but not one of the best teams that can challenge for things.

Kevin Keegan is spot on, but we'll keep the faith and endure the unendurable. That's how we are.

Ashley might bring in a top player signing, but I doubt it.

 

Well said, and welcome to Not606