Is Ashley finally getting it right?

The "Half price season ticket" offer started me thinking about where the club currently stands under Ashley's ownership.

We all know his history with buying the club and then proceeding to make one cock up after another, and most of us couldn't understand how such a successful businessman could make such a pig's ear of running a football club. Some of his decisions in those first couple of seasons were increadibly poor even though he is obviously far from stupid. I won't bother listing them all because we all know the mistakes he made but they beggared belief.

However, looking at what he has done in the last couple of years it seems like he has learn't from these mistakes and realises what is needed to run a Premiership football club.

For the record, I think that it is true that he bought NUFC to expand sportsdirect and increase sales in the far east. He certainly does not have the fans best interests at heart, but in order to achieve his ambitions he has to get NUFC performing well both on and off the pitch.

A sound financial structure has been put in place to enable NUFC to trade on a financially stable basis. With the forthcoming financial rules coming in, this has had to be done and I for one, would hate to return to the days of reckless spending and gambling with the club's future that we saw under FFS.

When he first bought the club Ashley said that he wanted to copy the Arsenal blueprint of buying inexpensive up and coming talented players that wanted to prove themselves rather than continue to pay top dollar for established stars who may or may not be here just for the money. Our squad now echoes this policy with many young exciting players competing for places in the starting eleven. Any new additions are now judged on how they will fit in with the rest of the lads and also on their own ambitions, rather than just their footballing ability or their name.

We have a sensible wage structure in place, and by looking at the Kevin Nolan saga, the board are not prepared to be stuck with ageing players on huge wages that cannot hold a regular place in the team. Barton being let go for free has shown Ashley's ruthless side, anyone deemed to be rocking the boat will be shown the door, and whilst at the time many fans had doubts about the wisdom of letting him go so soon after losing Nolan, the fact is that the squad seems a lot more harmoniuos and relaxed since he left. Jonas has been offered, and has accepted, a contract extension proves that Ashley does not want to just fill the squad with cheap youngsters.

Our brilliant start to the season has certainly helped develop this air of positivity, and although very few of us expect to continue challenging for 4th place, the evidence is there that the team has progressed from last year and a top 10 finish is not an unreasonable expectation. Add a few more decent signings to strengthen the squad coupled with the fact that several of our younger players will also have improved, and we could be challenging the top 6 next season.

A few months ago I would have worried that Ashley would be looking to sell some of our better players in January, but I do not honestly think that this fits with his ambition. He needs the team to be competing in Europe to really benefit from the added exposure that this would provide. So at the moment, he needs to continue building rather than asset strip, and the fact that he has put sensible recruitment and financial structures in place shows that he is looking at the long-term development of the club.

This week's decision to allow existing season ticket holders to buy additional half price season tickets was, in my opinion, a great idea. This should ensure that the ground is virtually full for most games in a time when many fans could not afford to go as often. With Christmas on the way, it is fair to say that we could have experienced a further fall in attendances, but this should ensure that they now remain relatively high. It is also good PR (I never thought I would ever say that regarding this regime).

So, even though I fully expect us to face a tough time over the next 6-7 matches, I am optimistic that we are going in the right direction with both playing matters and the general running of the club.

Don't get me wrong, I don't suddenly think that Ashley is a saint, but I do think that he is finally beginning to marry his ambitions and ideas with the realities of running a Premiership club.

 

I totally agree.

5 stars.

 

ask me on Feb 1st

 

If the question is: does the half price season ticket seem like a good idea ?, the answer is yes.

If the question is: has Ashley done well since the close of last season ?, I'd say okay but not brilliantly.

If the question is: has he left his bad ways behind ?, I would love to think so but it will take a lot longer than 6 months before I beleive it

 

Feel bad that I have nothing more to add after the effort here, I'd just be repeating what you have said as you've hit the nail right on the head. Fingers crossed for a good January window to prove that we aren't imagining things here.

 

Dont know what to think. I dont really trust him to not sell our best players but Gutierrez and Williamson have both got extended new deals than take them into their thirties and hopefully Colo will too so obviously Nolan and Barton tried to hold us to ransom with wages etc.

 

Good article mate, I'd like to see how your attitude changes if we sell Cabaye or Tiote though. Gonna be like this for a couple of years I reckon but I think we're through the worst of it.

 

I wouldn't say he's got it right, it's just recent decisions have gone his way instead of against him like they did in the past.

 

I don't believe that we will sell either of these two. OK, if someone offered stupid money like the £35 million for Carroll I am sure that they would be sold, but realistically I cannot see them going anywhere.

 

It's not too unrealistic to imagine someone offering £20 million for either of them if they keep this form up, I reckon Ca$hley wouldn't be able to resist.

 

Lets not forget he turned down 30 mil for Carroll before the greedy git handed in a transfer request.

 

As long as we get at least 2 or 3 seasons out of players like Tiote and Cabaye, if we sold them for stupid money and were able to rinse/repeat the foreign purchases but with an increase in quality and price we'd have a great model for climbing the table.

 

Wikth us doing so well clubs will be watching our stars thinking they will sell anyone.

 

Never been his biggest fan nor have I been his biggest critic.

The club overall seems to have improved in the last 18 months when we ended our Championship campaign. Yes; there have been a few "WTF" moments along the way but overall a far more reasonable and responsible approach to the clubs future has begun to emanate from the board room.

We have a much improved squad this season than last, even without some of the important old brigade like Noland and Barton.

Let's get more points on the board, keep getting behind the team and keep fingers crossed that bids are not accepted in January but some added depth and quality is brought in instead to bolster the squad and keep the club pushing in the right direction.

 

good article

pardew said it for me in his interview when he said he's (ashley) made mistakes in the past and been ill-advised by the people around him but now he has people around him who know what they are doing.So yes i'd say he's learnt from his mistakes and seems to be steering us in the right direction but would i trust him not to **** up the answer would be yes as much as i'd trust a fat kid to keep his hands in his pockets at a all you can eat sweet shop.

 

Nothing to add to this.....sums up my thoughts perfectly. Nice article.

 

Lets re-open this topic after the jan transfer window.

If he rejects all bid for Tiote and shows he knows that we need to keep our best players, then I'll agree with what you're saying.

However, i think there's a very high chance he could just be trying to make a massive profit by helping develop players here.

He can prove me wrong in 3 months time.

 

and i'm sure you will then in February then March then April then May then June twice in July then August and so on [NSFW]lanky streak of piss[/NSFW]