I know but Ashley has provided all the club funds to play with in recent years. McClaren/Charnley blew 70m plus on players, Rafa/Charnley has spent 104m in two season. Whatever we have he's given them. I don't think he'd intentionally want someone wasting it as it is not of benefit to him.
That’s not correct. The club did. He didn’t spend any of his own money. He is owed every penny that he has ever put in. He will get it back. So there is no good grace when it comes to him spending. The club has spent poorly out of its own coffers.
Terrible owner, doesn’t pay his way commercially, doesn’t allow the club to speculate or lend elsewhere, too interested in cost cutting CEO is a waste of oxygen. Rafa is probably the wrong manager because he’s **** in the transfer market and what we need is the most connected wheeler dealer in the world.
He is in charge of the club. The accusation is often he is taking money. I think he has been true to his word in releasing everything the club has. He seems to be finally doing his bit as an owner, running us responsibly but allowing the club to spend all it can. Sadly those who he has handed the money too have spent it poorly.
Well, not really. SD do not pay a fair share. The money made from sale of land did not go to the club. The 'loans' to Mike could have been avoided - if we'd borrowed to speculate instead of borrowing to plug holes, we'd be far healthier. Also I'm not entirely sure it's ever been any different in terms of a model. Are you saying he used to take money from the club, and now doesn't? That's simply untrue, unless you can prove otherwise? The only difference I can see, which he had changed, is in the cronies - they're finally gone. But as recently as the Summer, Barnes was still there and it has been alleged he was also there for the first two weeks of Jan vetoing moves. So hard to know how Ashley's "doing his bit"? Rafa has control over football, Charnley everything else - except when he's dancing to someone else's tune. We won the Championship, we're now just clear of the relegation zone with a Championship team - you have to say Rafa, for the most part, is doing his bit. It's then pretty clear where the operational failure is. I think the difference is a lot more fans are understanding it and it will be interesting to see what happens if anger turns on Penfold.
No I don't think he used to take money. I think the accusation was he did. We seemed to not to spend the money we had, but perhaps we just didn't have the money as he was dealing with financial mess when he took over. The Barnes stuff etc is just hearsay so I don't really put much credence in it. Rafa is doing his bit (albeit he is making a fair few mistakes), Mike is doing his bit, Charnley however... Being honest he is making Llambias look like a master negotiator. Our current scouting team are making Carr look like a genius. Maybe SD should pay. However he made it clear from the outset to Hall etc that this was his intention. He has never hidden it. As the owner and the guy who has had to fund the clubs shortfalls, its not a massive payback. Yes he will get it back at sale time but he has propped us up financially at times and there is nothing for free in this world.
A lot of ill-informed accused him perhaps, but a good few haven't. The point here is there are ways of creatively moving money around to allow for more expenditure on transfers, higher wage bill, to give you a better chance at PL stability and the odd cup run. He's not done any of that - he's cut corners, employed mates, done it on the cheap and - this is the important bit - continues to do so. I cannot fathom how this is the owner "doing his bit"? Of course SD should pay. He never stated his intention was to shortchange the club - all he was clear about was he intended to use the club as a vehicle for SD advertising. The extent to which he has done that is beyond belief. Fair enough on Barnes, unproven, though if you look through his history he has a lot of experience with asset stripping and preparing business for sale. He was undeniably brought in with something in mind. Charnley seems to be the key issue, but I just don't get the feeling Rafa sees it that way. So it's still a bit odd.
Ok he has probably stretched it the SD stuff, but like I say he has put his own money in to keep us running. When we went down he had to. When he joined he paid off the debt. Obviously it is levelled at him he is the reason we went down, and to a certain extent he is. He appointed the various buffoons who have wasted the money. The only one so far who has managed to make it work is Pardew. Rafa looks like he might too. Personally I think he is within his rights to get free advertising. I just don't like that tat plastered all over the place. For us to jump though in terms of structure, personnel behind the scenes and so on, we need investment. The club as it stands does not generate enough money to compete. We've been a yoyo club now for a few years because of this. The problem is you then get trapped in that cycle. The only thing I can accuse Ashley of is he is not willing to speculate to accumulate. I think we have to largely accept that and blame the likes McClaren. If you pump in 70m on transfers in one season, spend more than just about everybody, you expect some sort of return. To get relegated is going to make you gun shy. I can't think Ashley is not being as creative as possible money wise as he needs us in this division. So he will do whatever he can within the confines of the budgets. Its just the budgets are so ****ing tight. He has spunked on Rafa in an attempt to get more football knowledge for example.
