The Sunday Mirror reported yesterday that Newcastle United players are facing major wage-cuts if they want to stay at the Tyneside club.
Mike Ashley - wants to trim the wage bill
The Sunday paper even goes so far as to say the wage cap Mike wants to introduce is £40K/week which is different to the rumor a few weeks back, when it was £80K/week. Sorry to spoil things and introduce one or two facts into this debate.
But with this statement, of course, the Sunday Mirror then goes on to say that all of Newcastle’s best players like Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Damien Duff and Geremi will have to go.
What nonsense.
The Sunday Mirror claims that a Newcastle insider (the proverbial mystery man) has revealed that Ashley is determined to trim a wage bill that has shot up by nearly a third in the last two years.
That insider has apparently said:
“The days of crazy salaries here are over. Ashley wants value for money and all future salary negotiations are going to reflect that.”
“Alan Smith cost Newcastle £6M and is on £3M a year, but didn’t manage a single competitive goal last season. He has another four years on that deal.”
“Joey Barton is on the same money and also has four years left on his contract, and is in jail.”
“Michael Owen cost £16M and £15M in wages over three seasons and has scored 20 goals.” “That works out at £1.5M a goal.”
“At the other end of the scale England Under-21 skipper Steven Taylor earns less than £10K/week and Ashley is determined that the wage scale becomes fairer and more manageable.”
“He knows that Everton made Europe last season with none of their players earning over £50,000 a week and that is the sort of salary level he wants.”
“So the big earners at Newcastle will have a simple choice - they either take a pay cut or they go elsewhere.”
“It will be a difficult balancing act but one that Ashley believes is necessary.”
We must admit that we’d also done the maths on Michael Owen, and how much each goal has cost the club, but that’s a special case with his injuries, and he has come on big time under Kevin Keegan.
This isn’t even supported by some of the facts we know, where apparently our wage offer to Luka Modric was way better than Tottenham offered him.
Also Arda Turan of Galatasaray has already said Newcastle have offered him £2M/year in wages, and he’s just 21 years old.
If we were honest, a lot of our players aren’t worth the money we pay them, and it seems like the new regime is bringing some equality into the wage structure - what a concept!
We don’t think it’s disastrous that Newcastle trim the wage bill, but if they make it £40K/week it just will not work, and Mike Ashley didn’t get to be a Billionaire, by being stupid.
We should take this story with a large pinch of salt, and if anything, the only truth we see is that Newcastle are trimming their wage bill.
The club will allow those players who have not performed well, like Rozehnal, Ameobi, Carr, Duff and Emre, but are on huge wages, to leave the club.
We can just see the top players saying - don’t go to Newcastle, you can only make £2M/year there, boy that must be tough. 
Finally, before everybody comes up with the obvious - Alan Smith must also go.
Comments welcome.
93 responses so far ↓
1 Ericles // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:01
Another load of pig swill from the Mirror group. Again, they rely on the non-existent but always quotable “insider”. The only insider NUFC has got is Joey Barton, and he should not be on the wage bill at all. Gossip says Nobby may go to Portsmouth. Wish we could have him back at NUFC. How good
is this Guthrie that the scousers want to unload?
2 moza // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:02
Anther red top printing crap about us, however, with no statement of intent coming from the club it just adds fuel to the fire, easy way to deal with it start making decent signings and give the fans a proper reason to renew season tickets
3 tommyy // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:02
Joke right? 80k per week is fair enough, but 40k? we will get NOONE in of any ability for that and our players WILL leave. We can kiss everything goodbye and probably be relegated.
No way is that true.
4 ToonKing // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:08
no way is this true, you can’t get a decent player for 40k..
5 Nev // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:15
i rekon £60k may be a reasonable wage cap … £80k for a player like owen , record signings and the like.
guthrie isnt that bad … if we sign him he may be a squad player that can evolve into a first teamer in 2-3 years time … hes kind of a mix between parker and nolan
6 GM // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:16
the hacks are getting frustraited because unlike the previous regime this one is not spouting the clubs business all over the place. So they have to write “make up” something.
Although the clubs silence stance is annoying and like others on here I wish we would get a true statment of intent, I also agree with the concept of not talking to these arseholes as it does the club no favours what so ever.
When there are players signed that is the time to make a noise.
7 Gunnar/Iceland // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:20
A wage cap is nothing but positive but it i’m sure that it’s not 40k per week.
8 cooldj // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:24
alan smith one of newcastles best players??? contraversial Ed!
9 clinta // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:27
You’ve got to admit though, there’s a point in all this, and if you can’t get a decent player on £40,000 a week, well than you can on £50,000 a week as this article proves where everton are concerned -arteta and cahill at least worth every penny.
fat wages and under performing superstars are what newcastle have been about for a while now, I for one is glad it’s changing.
But please give young steve a decent deal, he has his critics -especially for some reason on this site? but has always done well for us and all on a fraction of what everyone else gets paid, including the other young lads in zog and milner.
I know i’d struggle with motivation in that situation at my work!
10 Ericles // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:28
I think a wage cap is fair and 80k seems a reasonable figure. It does tackle the obscene wage levels of some players and clubs. Does anybody really know what NUFC players actually get paid?
Checked on Guthrie and he said last week he would not mind the chance to move permanently to Bolton after his loan spell. Well that is ambition! To us he would be a squad make weight in a Milner deal. Ring up Portsmouth and Spurs and get their opinions shall we?
11 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:28
the offer for modric says it all there is no truth in this story at all theres money to spend and with the sales we have made it’s increasing all the time there will be some big signings coming in arshavin,turan,guthrie,larsson and shorey are all done deals imo and i also think bids for a big striker to replace viduka and a centre back will be coming soon
12 Julio Geordio // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:32
Two words as to why I’m taking this story with a pinch of salt, and those are “Sunday” and “Mirror”.
13 Len // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:34
Personally I am v happy the club arent saying anything much to the press. Journalism is dead and has been replaced by vegetables recycling anything they can get their hands on simply to fill space. So to recycle an old phrase we now have lies / damn lies / statistics and sports articles.
14 danuneek // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:35
Our best players: “Smith, Duff and Geremi” lol. Yeh, what a load of bollocks. Anyway, I think to a certain degree it makes sense, Spurs and Everton have much better sides and they have wage caps. £40 000 is too low though, but its a load of crap anyway. I think we just need to be more sensible in the future when signing players and what wage we offer them.
15 Tom_Toon // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:36
Spurs and Everton both have caps of 50k.
16 Graeme // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:40
We will only see what MA intends when the first signing is actually made. If its someone like Gomez, Gomis, Van Der Vaart etc, a quality oplayer, all well and good.
If its not, God help us. Another relegation fight, or chasing Europe - all down to you Mr Ashley!!!!
17 toon steve // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:43
80k limit? Are you having a laugh! I haven’t seen a player at SJP worth even half of that since the great man hung his boots up.
Injuries or not I would happily see the very large majority of our current crop of wasters shipped out and at 80k a week I would include Owen inthat category. As for the likes of Duff on an alleged 60 - 80k, what a disgrace.
I am mystified why so many toon fans consistently want the board to chase after big name players on daft money when it is a policy that has paptently failed.
We need to cut the wage bill and bring in young talent that really wants to play for the toon rather than stuffing their bank accounts. Yes, we will lose some players later to bigger clubs but it a price we will have to pay to see the best young talent at SJP, and heaven forbid, we might actually manage to sell a player at a profit every now and again!
I am 100% behind what Ashley is trying to do in order to create something that is sustainable and enables us to compete at the higher end of the table year after year; the notion that he is tight, which seems to keep cropping up on this site, is simply infantile given what he has invested to date to dig us out of the sh1t FFS had us in.
18 Julio Geordio // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:43
I think Len has struck on something there.
Because of, some might say, a more professional stance the hierarchy of the club are taking, there is less and less showboating from club seniors and therefore less stories to write from them.
So because of that, journo’s simply make stories up, and more so than usual because they know for a fact a NUFC story has got a fervent following wanting to know every little bit the club are doing.
19 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:43
@tom toon - if spurs have a cap of 50k what were they offering etto and how much did they offer modric
20 ToonKing // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:44
yeah they do TT Everton have 2 good players while Spurs have 1, plus i’m pretty sure Spurs wll increase it or scrape it this year. i don’t want us to be on 50k wage cap…..have a cap, yes, agree but don’t limit it to a measly
50k .
21 Tom_Toon // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:45
Modric is getting 35k a week at spurs!
22 jack // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:45
I think 80 would be fair enough. That should attract enough players. Newcastle have a tendancy to pay huge wages on players who weren’t even getting their game at their last club. Duff, Smith, Barton among others. They were all out of favour and we snapped them up for good deals, but then spent far too much on their wages.
Does anyone think that, with the money they’d earnt over their career up to the point we bought them, with the offer of first team football on the table, they’d not accept something like 40k a week?
That’s the problem to me. We signed decent players but gave them contracts worthy of great players.
Can I also say that Steven Taylor earning less than 1/6th of Joey Barton is absolutely ridiculous….
23 Tom_Toon // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:45
I think a reasonable wage cap is about 70k/80k p/w
24 Archie Brand // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:46
At least the new Toon regime are consistent in so much as they don’t comment about anything. Unfortunately the press and some of the fans at times interpret that to their advantage.
Just once I would like to see Ashley issue a statement directly to a newspaper along the lines of “where do you get this garbage from?”
Anyone found leaking information to the press should be sacked.
As for the wage cap - there was talk 5 years ago that Man U were capping players salaries and we all know that didn’t happen.
Spot on Ed, Ashley didn’t get to where he is now by being stupid.
He has to pay competitive wages at least until we get into Europe and can then attract the better players for that reason, rather than the daft cash.
Personally I’d rather see Mel Smith and Dolly Barton out there running around rather than the 2 worthless “entertainers” we have at the moment.
25 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:47
they must have offered big money for etto or suppose it could have been a ffs trick to sell season tickets
26 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:51
we all know for certain that there is no truth in this story what so ever the club aint said nowt they know as little as we do but lies sell
27 SuperJoe // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:53
Don’t they get tired of writing this shite?
We all know this story is pretty much made up. Sure, MA wants to trim the wage bill but he also wants to win things sooner or later and some players are worth more than others.
Anyway….I just can’t wait for or transfers to start coming in. That will show where our ambition lies with MA. I’d be happy with some solid players with good reputation or good potential in some cases like Turan or Arshavin or that lad from ManUre … whatshisname….Ronaldo or something
28 ToonKing // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:54
anyone heard that Arshavin was given until the 20th of June to complete a transfer or he’s staying at Zenit ?? they want 12mil for him and he want’s 50k/week, i say that is more than reasonable!!! Everton bid 10Mil but don’t wanna pay any more and want a lower wage, GET IN WISE AND MA!!!! We have 4 days left !!!!
29 Gooderz // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:54
It’s hard to believe we get accused of being ‘delusional’ when others get to write such tripe and get paid for it.
But we should have a wage cap and for it to be based on a player’s position within the squad. Squad players would level off at about 40k, but the special players who play most weeks and make a significant contribution to the team can earn more.
30 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 11:58
yeah arshavin will be a quality signing and we need to act quick so massive chance of this lad being our first signing.
also on reading the guthrie story on nufc.com it says that bolton officials have said that it looks like he is coming to nufc it shows how quietly we are going about our business theres been no talk in the media about it prior to that
31 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:06
i wonder if each paper has a special story telling section dedicated to filling any space left with utter crap and vindictive storys about nufc
32 Leo // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:09
bull sh1t this story is
why do the journo’s waste so much paper with this rubbish one minute it was an 80k wage cap now it is 40k…
get real dudes
33 Leo // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:10
yes as ed wud put it, what noncense….
ALAN SMITH A TOP PLAYER THAT IS
34 Hammy // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:13
I was talking to a senior guy at St James’ last week about the suits business, it was absolutely true as is the players’ now picking up there own phone bill which currently costs the club over a million £ a season, I was told a lot of the foreign players are on the phone all the time and that it had to stop. I also think that the papers are getting nothing out of St James’ hence the crap they are printing…….the only stories transfer wise are coming from abroad, I kind of like the way things look to be going, next year’s balance sheet is going to make interesting reading…..
I also think there will be some major signings to be announced as soon as the Euro’s are finished.
35 Faustino // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:16
“bull sh1t this story is”
Yoda?!?
36 Leo // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:17
oh and by the way lads, i only took the option of renewing 2 of ma 4 season tickets this year because it is way to expensive to get 4
hopefully it will be worth spending money on too
37 Hammy // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:18
Leo,
You lie down to watch the games then?
38 craig chisholm // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:24
i think a wage cap of 200 quid a week is fair - after tax of course!!
Seriously though, Mike Ashley has the power to stop this nonsense right now by making a statement. Now i know that many of you may think its bowing to media etc but all this bull shit in the papers right on transfer window and ticket renewal is not looking good or doing us any favors.
All he has to do is go with one of the major tabloids and tell them he will talk to them exclusivley all the time in return for acurate press. why not go with the Sun or something like that and let them print acurate interviews with named sources etc. that would be the end of it. We would be happy, the dirvel in the press would come to a grinding halt and i am sure the club, players, staff and potential players would enjoy reading some positive info for a change - we really do need some word from our owner, its just too quiet. Its almost like we are giving the stories legs by not saying something.
39 geordiegraham // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:27
any1 heard anything about pre season matches. Its a load of bull. get rid of smith
40 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:38
i think ma should come on here and tell us exactly what the crack is
41 Ross G // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:38
Its true lets sell everyone and buy no-one we are trying to beat Derbys record of least points I hear Keegan will be playing next year but only if he accepts his old playing salary at Newcastle of £500 per week. Aaron spear will be our star player on £90p/w. and news on the grapevine is we are offer Beckenbauer, Van Basten, Klinsman, Charlton, and Law a chance to come out of Retirement. My favourite is our bid to sign Neville Southall from his welsh club rumour has it that although we cant offer him European football, we can offer him a lifetime supply of Ginsters Steak and Kidneys as well as a new sheep each month which would obviously prove value for money and not outweigh our strict wage cap
42 Spyro // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:39
lol @ faustino
43 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:43
ross g you should be working for the papers
44 Taiwantoon // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:48
Don’t know if it is true or false, but wage cap is a bad idea anyway IMO.
It restrict nothing but yourself.
You basically define your self as a selling club with a wage cap that is too low. A high wage cap, on the other hand, would just be meaningless to have.
Club don’t decide how much a player is worth unless they are superior to anyone else economically, and I don’t see NUFC in that position. Thus, who are we restricting here?
Can Mr. Wise convince a player who was offered 45k by other clubs by telling him “sorry, mate but we have a cap of 40k…”? What the club need to do is to make sure we identify right players at right value in the future. We’ve signed many cxxps below 40k a week anyway…
No, I don’t think it is true, but I will lose all my confidence in MA if it is.
45 James // Jun 16, 2008 at 12:49
The media are quick to forget it was this current board that put Smith and Barton on £60K a week.
So there is no £40K wage limit. Otherwise it would have been offered LAST season
46 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:01
Keegan delighted as Blackburn drop interest in Faye.
anal oliver reported this but theres only quotes from kk from the end of last season so how does he know kk is delighted and why would we sell or why would faye want to go there. just contunues on the crap that is made up by the press and oliver ur a tit the storys u run with are nothing but fiction and every quote is old face facts you wouldnt know an exclusive if it pinned you down and farted in your face
47 seetow // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:04
this got me really head over heels in laughter. we should really buy this paper for the good jokes it provides..
48 geoffo // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:05
It’s about time this club started to behave with a little dignity. If we are to model ourselves on any club then Arsenal are the ones, they don’t pay over the odds, have a brilliant scouting system, great PR department and are consistent challengers at the top. The likes of Man Utd and Chelsea won’t always be where they currently are as they are built on a foundation of huge debt, I for one think our new prudent new owners are on the right track and short termism has been kicked into touch. Huge signings are just around the corner, Keegan has always maintained that if you get it right on the pitch everything else follows, so don’t be surprised by the level of signings over the coming months!
49 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:13
Keegan was on his way back from a holiday in the US today, but Terry Mac was an admirable stand-in for one of the most positive men in football.
this is in the chronicle oliver wrote it though so could be crapbut looks like kk is nearly back
50 Davies // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:16
Load of SH1TE again.
51 Luke // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:21
“guthrie isnt that bad … if we sign him he may be a squad player that can evolve into a first teamer in 2-3 years time … hes kind of a mix between parker and nolan”
well that’s something to get excited about!
52 Jim // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:28
What a mental world we live in when we consider £60,000 a week a sensible amount of money to pay someone to kick a football!
I bet you can count on one hand the amount of people reading this that get that much in one year!
Unbeeleevabul.
53 Anthony // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:31
That’s bull…I personally think 80k cap is fair
Woodgate is earning 60k a week at spurs
if rumours is true, they will offer Berbatov 70k new contract
54 irish_al // Jun 16, 2008 at 13:49
The wage cap doesn’t have to be rigid, a wage cap of 80k would have little effect as the wages we have had little return on are about 60k a week, ie emre, smith, barton
what we need to do is be more resilient in negotiations, be it for a player on 1k a week or 100k a week, every bit we can trim can then be used elsewhere
like toom toon said modric agreed term on 35k a week, when he signs his next deal it will likely be for more though
what we need is not so much a wage cap asmuch as be more frugal
55 HeronMag // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:01
This is just more drivel printed by the southern press who aren’t used to Newcastle United being sensibly quiet about their business.
The amount of crazy stories being written about us at the minute is ridiculous.
56 Punk Skunk // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:05
YAWN!..
…Not even gonna dignify that with a response!..
57 chuck // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:07
Wage caps imposed by clubs result in mediocre teams, MAN. U. tried it, did`nt work. In the EPL you get what you pay for, simple!
The present top four clubs are the leagues largest spenders, what does that tell you?
The only way to impose a salary cap is through a joint agreement with both the players association and the owners, resulting in an agreed amount being allocated by each team to be used as wages.
The result, more parity between clubs If moneys spent on buying and paying players is not regulated then the same wealthy clubs will dominate the game.
Anyone think this is unworkable , check out the system successfully employed by the NBA in the U.S. for over a decade.
58 Nick Dryden // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:07
Can you imagine having to live on only 40k a week, only 2 million a year. How can it be done!!!!
I’m all for this wage cap. We have been the EPL’s gravy train for way too long, attacting lazy idle has beens like Luque, Duff, Emre etc who just sit in the treatment room every week taking the proverbial !!! If Geremi is one of our best players then god hep us. We have a whole legion of hangers on who need a massive kick up the backside. Smith on 60k a week - I’d rather keep Shola. We need a huge clear out of egos (Smith. Barton, Duff et al). Go for the kids. Edgar, kadar, Tozer, Lua won’t be asking for 80K a week. We still have enough older players like Beye. As someone said Modric is on 35K a week.
59 Spyro // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:10
good news guys, lol!
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=738724
60 Punk Skunk // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:13
Can’t really compere the NBA with english football, as no-one gets relagated in the US!..
61 oioi // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:29
this story loses credibility in the first 4 words ‘The Sunday Mirror reported’
i take it magic mushrooms are out early in london due to global warming.
62 Faustino // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:40
Spyro - bad news but this cracked me up from the writer:
“Arda, the lesser known but so far more impressive of the two…”
Mwa hahahahahahahahah…yes mate you really either no f all about football or haven’t really been watching the tournament!
63 Faustino // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:42
Spyro - it is bad news mate
64 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 14:59
Having a wage cap isnt a good idea, otherwise it may put off players who are good offering themselves to our club, what happens of a player thinks he is worth £90k per week misses out our team and eventually gets talked down to £75k elsewhere?? We didnt even get a bite.
It is still possible to buy crap players on £40k per week as it is on £60k upwards, best that Ashley kept his wage cap to himself, looked at all players and refused the ones that were poor or too expensive he would have the same outcome, only a complete muppet would say when they went to buy something what their top price is before any discussions.
If this is all true then the man has lost his edge, wisen up Ashley you should know better.
65 Hadrian // Jun 16, 2008 at 15:08
Right dont shoot the messanger! , but ! .
couple of people who give me decent news now and then,have backed this wage structure story up they are close to the club somewhere down the line , and they reckon Oba’s asked for a new deal so will be moved on along with owen who wont accept less than his current deal .
the aim really is to have players on the 40-50k mark apparenly .
what nobody seems tobe mentioning tho is the fact it was allredyce and mort who sanctioned these deals like smith and barton .
66 Leo // Jun 16, 2008 at 15:11
hammy lol. took me a while to work that one out lol. yes i used to lie down and watch the footy lol. nah i take ma family but now they are going to have to scwabble over the other seat…
been a while since ive seen you post on hear, where ya been?
67 Beezeri // Jun 16, 2008 at 15:28
Oba’s getting 90K per week at the moment and he’s asking for more? He’s not even worth the current wage! Not to mention about Owen’s salary
40K per week is good enough for regular first team players but absolute key and star players migh be allowed 60-80 IMO. No player is worth over 100K per week…maybe Ronaldo & Kaka goes close but none of our players is worth even half of that considering the recent league positions and general performances. Arshavin, Arda Turan, Van der Vaart etc who we’ve been linked are not even thinking about getting 50K a week I think…
Everton are a perfect example that a good team can be build with a lower budget and that’s the way we should be going for as well. Maybe when we’re back in the TOP4-6 we should think about the wage structure again
68 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 15:45
What you are forgetting about is the transfer value take Gomis for instance £10 million transfer fee then his wages on top, it all adds up to a price, Cisse could have £5 million pounds more in wages over three years and still cost the same, Owen and Martins have been bought and paid for, we dont have a transfer fee to pay.
Ashley needs to get his calculator out, if everyone we have leaves and he has to pay transfer fees for everyone who comes in, even though they earn less he gets a bigger bill.
I really am starting to think that the bloke is a bit thick, ego gone to his head or something, if this all is true then he is going to wind himself up in a mess.
69 Beezeri // Jun 16, 2008 at 15:52
Well…that’s not quite true as we’d get decent money for selling Oba(at least 13millions), Owen(I’d be happy with 10-12), both Smith and Duff(3-5). So that’s not a big loss…
70 Hadrian // Jun 16, 2008 at 15:53
no , oba’s on 40k pw atm or something , he wants the 80-90k pw deal he was fishing for midseason .
71 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:08
Owen is free to go in January so there will be no decent transfer fee from any sale with him, Martins is working through his contract too, I do not think we would get the same quality player for less than £13m or to work on his current wages, top quality gets top pay, it doesnt matter how overpaid we think they are it depends what others will pay for that quality of player.
72 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:10
Beezeri-Cisse earns £74k per week to give you an idea of French wages.
73 craig chisholm // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:26
it really is a two sided coin here what ashley is doing. i think he is gambling with newcastle united - he is a tough arse and he thinks he knows best. maybe he does. what is very very clear is that he realy is going to reduce the wages down to less than 50 k a week for even the highest paid erners and he is prepared to let all of the stars walk. that is mega clear. thats why we could not get modric, we were offering 40K a week against spurs 35K - in europe and in london -we had no chance. its why owen is not signing, its why martins deal goes unsigned and harper too i expect. he is going to take a gamble on the kids and potential stars ofthe future keeping us treading water in the PREM whilst being on lower wages. All the time he is making a massive profit out of ever increasing tv rights etc etc. he is hoping that his young guns will turn out to be like manures did with scholes, becks, giggsy, the nevilles etc. Its going to be a massive gamble but i can tell you now thats exactly what he is not going to do, but what he is doing. its happening right now. so its just a case of if you think the young ens on pennies in comparison will do us proud or will there at the end ofthe day be no substitute for proven class??? i think we will get relegated next season. Just look at the stats, every season three come up and at least one goes down again, often two. These are the teams that are full of very hungry seasoned pros who want to prove themselves in the prem and give it everything, always though, at the end of the day, they are down in the basement, quality will always out and rise to the top. thats a fact. guts and spirit will only get a player and in this case Ashley and us so far. I think this man will be the undoing of us in the prem.
74 Faustino // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:41
You [Chisholm] my friend are the most negative ‘fan’ I have ever had the mis-fortune to read.
Its a full two months til the season starts and you have us going down. Have a word.
If Owen and Martins we’re being offered 50k or nowt do you think they have the kind of agents who would be being quiet about it? Answer, No!
Ashley made 45 odd million euros in 8 weeks buying and selling shares in adidas - if he wanted quick profit he would NOT buy a football club. Chelsea and Man U have collective debts of close to £1,200,000,000 for gods sake. Plus, just how much money do you think there is in creating an sh)t team with no decent players?
Calm down, have a rusk and have faith.
75 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:44
Craig I think you are exactly right, no-one would tolerate all of this press speculation about cutting wages going in to a transfer window if it wasnt true, anyone with half an ounce would release a statement saying it isnt true otherwise it could jeapodise transfer targets.
Other teams have adopted these strategies over a period of time, not just woken up one morning and said right, out with everyone over this wage and in with cheap labour.
He thinks he is buying shirts from china to sell in England.
Euro 2008 showed what the youngsters are made of, fooled the press, fooled the coaches of foreign teams and the oldies who everyone wanted to write off looked best, if all of those teams had no-one but youngsters they would have been even worse, oh dear down we go next season, I wonder if he will sell any season tickets, anyone bought theirs yet? I would wait i think there will be some bargain pay as you goes with an empty stadium.
I wonder where Owen will be going in January?
76 Hadji // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:53
Craig Crisholm…I said in my previous post that next season we will be either in top 6 or we’ll get relegated.When he introduced the 80k per week i was really glad about that,but now with this 40k is becoming absolutely ridiculous.That means even if we sign a top player somehow for lets say 35k per week,we wont be able to have him for more than 2 season cause for sure he’ll ask for improved contract which will excede the wage cap.So basicaly we will never as long as MA is on board,win anything and i’m really really afraid that we are flirting with relegation.
I think MA chose the wrong league,with his style he would be perfect for Bundes and Calcio league but not the EPL.
77 craig chisholm // Jun 16, 2008 at 16:58
hey fuastino…. you go on living in a bubble and keep telling yourself ‘it will be ok, he’s a smart man’. i think that there are far more points leading me to this conclusion than the route you are going. the only argument anyone in support of ashley can say is, ‘do you think he would have paid off all this debt if he had wanted to see us fail’? there are two answers here, first, he will have paid the debt off for one reason only - it made money sesnse to do so, no ther reason. the interest on the huge loans etc would have been outweighing the cash sitting in another one of his accounts somewhere - so he made the buisiness decision to pay it off. secondly, if you take the time to read what i said faustino, you will see that i not once say that i think he wants to fcuk us up as a club. i have said he is has made a choice to go with cheap youth and any other good player that will come for the reduced wages that we are now offering. i think he still wants us to do well, just that he wants the money more. If he can reduce our wages from 72 million to 30 million in one hit plus the increased revenue in tv rights etc, he will have recouped the 100 million in debt he paid off in just over a yea!! do you see my point? do you not even acknowledge this possible route faustino. All the time he only wants us to tread water in the prem while he hopes for the young ens to bare fruit - cumon, he is a buisiness man first and foremost, forget newcastle and us for a minute - he is not one of us nad he does not even support us as a club- its another company and thats it. end of story.
78 Spuggy // Jun 16, 2008 at 17:06
This could however be with reference to an average wage bill - 40k may be about right, with some on less than 10k and others on 80k+
79 craig chisholm // Jun 16, 2008 at 17:07
faustino..just one more thought that just came to me…….sigmund freud said i really famous and clever quote which i truly believe……”there is no such thing as paranoia, only acute awareness”.
80 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 17:08
spuggy i think that would make more sence have we not been offering owen 90,000 and talks are ongoing
81 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 17:09
Agree craig, and i also think he has underestimated how difficult it is just to stay in the premiership without actually moving up.
keegan will stay and take the money, it makes no difference if he stays or leaves the end result will be the same.
The simple answer to all of this is do not buy season tickets until you know who is signed and what type of player he is thinking of signing, that way the fans will force his hand. I cant see the TV buying up the games next season if there arent any star players.
If we start falling it will be worse in January as Owen can go for free and there arent usually many decent players worth buying, all managers say they pay over the top in January.
82 geordiekk // Jun 16, 2008 at 17:20
i think there is alot of money to spend and this wage cap is a made up story by the london press because nobody’s telling them anything from the club it could be to try and get a reaction. if all this was true theres no chance that kk will stay quiet about it he’s a winner and he would have been informed of this plan in that meeting at the end of the season.
83 Ian // Jun 16, 2008 at 17:44
geordieKK according to some reports Kegan needs the money, that circus thing he was doing allegedly didnt pay, so I wouldnt be so sure if KK is any sort of gauge this time.
If they were spending on the other hand and KK thought this might put off players who wanted to join he probably would have asked Ashley if he could speak out.
The whole thing is looking messy to me. I hope we are wrong.
84 Dillon // Jun 16, 2008 at 18:03
Please will someone from the Newcastle camp come out and speak about all this we are hearing about capping wages because i’m sick of the london press telling a load of different tales and loving it. Hopefully when KK dose get back to his desk an interview or even press con will be 1st on the to do list, 2nd buy buy buy………..
85 Faustino // Jun 16, 2008 at 18:21
Craig…I do see what your saying mate and undertsand the logic fully…but what I’m not doing is making a sweeping assumption based on nothing. If the theory your running with ever gains gravitas then fine but I prefer to address what I know and if that puts me in a bubble then so be it. I’d rather be there than in the nigthmare of a world you obviously enjoy.
To my misery, I did read all you wrote - and no you don’t say the exact words ‘Ashley will wreck the club’ But I fail to see how the body of your text doesn’t amount to as much? Our crop of youngsters don’t have a hope in hell of doing anything without experienced ’star’ players. Do you remember who was at Man United when that corp of kids came through? So imo this coupled with the words ‘we are going to be relegated’ as a ‘we’re f*ck*d’ statement.
For now [perhaps], your conjecture is based on the most heinous of press specualtion as is most. If you read what I’ve said carefully I don’t have a go at you for being wrong, I merely point out that your being ridiculously negative based on what we know and then raise two theoretical points equally as relevant as any of your theoretical points. Either/any COULD be true.
If on august 1st the club is devoid of quality and people on +40k wages then I will elect you head of the lynching party, but to be honest I think it’s a bit dramatic and [dare I say it] female to be that negative just yet.
Also if your that familiar with Freud I’m sure you know he links excessive paranoia with mass exageration and laetent homosexuality too?
86 geoffo // Jun 16, 2008 at 18:37
Faustino your talking absolute sense. Chisolm your one of the many hordes who buy into the tabloid nonsense that paints NUFC as a joke club in perpetual turmoil. As i’ve said previously, Ashley is a far better ‘owner’ than Shepherd and the invisible man (Dougie Hall) yes he is being prudent, one of the best run clubs in the land (Arsenal) conduct themselves in this way, and it works!! Still convinced we are on the brink of some top signings, for gods sake keep the faith!!!
87 daiv // Jun 16, 2008 at 19:09
MA is tight.
What owner of a company asks its employees to pay for the company uniform? How tight is that and how stupid is that? What sort of signal does that send out to the best players? Nobody is rushing to come to NUFC. Bids have been made but players are sitting tight because they don’t want to come here and are waiting for something better. Get the cheque book out and stop penny pinching.
88 Gallowgate31 // Jun 16, 2008 at 19:29
Here’s hoping all of this is just trash…………
for the moment at least I am still clinging to the dream that MA is going to spend big on 3-4 players and also spend a fair bit of cash on the next generation of stars,
I am still convinced that KK returned to the toon with one hell of a promise from MA, don’t think he would have risked his status among us just for the “wage”. Will find out sooner or later,
89 Punk Skunk // Jun 16, 2008 at 19:48
Lol!..
90 toonoot // Jun 17, 2008 at 1:49
This blog is getting too intelligent for it’s own good
91 stk // Jun 17, 2008 at 2:46
all this talk of even 40k a week is making me sick, more than 50000 people that turn up to st james earn in a year ffs. arsenal have a wage cap at 60k i believe so there’s no reason why we cant just do that, or even 50k. martins and owen are exceptions since they are world class players.
im not gonna make 40k in a year in my life, one of the reasons im slowly becoming disinterested in these premiership footballers.
its gone mad, absolutely bonkers, i say bring in a premiership cap of 2 mill a year, surely no one ever needs more than that?!
if they do, they’re being greedy. sick of it!
92 stk // Jun 17, 2008 at 2:55
as for barton not taking a pay cut, whilst he’s probably the lad in the best position from the lowest background, and he doesn’t appreciate what he’s got. try being nice to these twits and they spit in your face.
dump him, rip his contract up, he’ll go back to loitering outside spar coz he’s a dumbass.
again…. sick of it
93 normski1930z // Jun 17, 2008 at 11:46
facts of the matter……1 in every walk of life whether your buying a new car or a new pair of kegs “YOU GET WOT U PAY FOR” the more u pay the better the quality. 2 if ma goes to oba or micheal owen and asks them to take a pay cut the bottom line is they will leave, lets make no bones about this,these guys are global stars, i have just come back from thailand and every where u look there are newcastle united micheal owen shirts(probably fake) but u get my point. 3 ma is not a stupid guy otherwise he wud not be a billonaire this is all speculation and shoyte dished up by the papers coz they do not have any concrete stories to write……..
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