It is now almost 3 weeks since the side was relegated and almost 2 weeks since Mike Ashley put the Tyneside club up for sale.
So it seems a decent time to see what has been achieved at the club, since we were relegated at around 6:00pm on 24th May
- All players in the first team squad have been put up for sale
- 9 of these players have been identified as high priority but any bids received that meet Newcastle’s asking price will result in the player leaving the club – whoever they are
- Not one player has yet been sold
- Not one player has yet been brought into the club
- On June 30th the contracts of Owen, Viduka, Cacapa and Edgar will end, and their wages will be off the club’s books. That will reduce the Newcastle wage bill by around £245K/week – rough estimate
- That’s just under £13M a year, but we hasten to add this is only the case because Newcastle management had nothing to actually do – to accomplish this
- We currently have no manager managing the club.
- We don’t know who the new owners will be – but we are told there are four consortia interested in buying the club:
- A local one headed by former Chairman Freddy Shepherd
- The Sultan of Oman led consortium
- One from South Africa
- The Profitable Group based in Singapore
- We are told two of the above – presumably the one headed by Shepherd and the one from South Africa are in advanced talks, and it looks like the phantom bid this morning, from five local businessmen, was simply a hoax
- Season tickets have been mailed out this week, but we wonder if Ashley and LLambias expect anybody to actually sign up, since we don’t know who the new manager or new owners will be
- Maybe they do – and at least that would be consistent with the rest of their rather suspect judgements of the last three weeks
- Alan Shearer and Iain Dowie are still up in the air regarding a decison from Ashley on becoming Newcastle manager and assistant manager, which Ashley promised Alan at the end of the first week after relegation, and following intensive talks with Ashley and Llambias. Like all poor businessmen, Mike is sitting on the fence and will not make a decision
- Alan is still (rather patiently) waiting for an answer – positive or negative
- We have no idea, nor have we been told, who will be taking the training on July 1st, which is two weeks come next Wednesday, when players (those who are still with us and haven’t been able to get out of the Newcastle mad house) report back for pre-season training.
Is this a complete mess – or is this a complete mess?
In the real world outside of football, if this company had been managed like this – believe us – heads would have rolled by now.
The leadership of Newcastle in the last three weeks has been a complete disgrace, with absolutely no information being relayed to the fans – or the players for that matter – who don’t know if they are coming or going – literally.
These are shades of the bunker mentality Ashley and his cohorts took after Kevin Keegan left the club, and which they kept going for four months, before finally apologizing.
And this lot call themselves businessmen? I’ve had some experience in big business when I was in at IBM, and we would call this lot incompetents of the very highest order, and we cannot wait for them to get out of Toon.
Comments welcome.
277 comments so far
AndyT
Jun 12, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Comment #41Kevin, judging by some comments I’ve seen, i’d say definitely not.
just go ahead and post the thing.
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Comment #42Utd111, hitman, why do you put “LOL” at the end of your own attempts at “humour”?
Big Dave
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:01 PM
Comment #43Rodzilla the good old blue rinse mate lol
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Comment #44I doubt there’s a limit Kev, you can always copy and paste the rest in if it doesn’t all fit.
Stardust’s legendary ‘Red Bus’ epic made it through.
Now there’s some competition for you! Although Stardust’s highly entertaining and creative piece was built around metaphors and analogies.
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Comment #45It’s just another way of saying “I’m a prick”.
hitman
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Comment #46why because im funning mister serious
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Comment #47Dave, mi Nana went through more hair dye than John Lydon! 😀
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Comment #48Correction. It’s another way of saying “I’m an arrogant prick”
KevinHann
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:08 PM
Comment #49I’m still typing :S
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Comment #50Ed’s just posted a new story lads….
‘Fellow supporter from Bulgaria bares all’
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Comment #51Jeez, this is a mammoth, Kev. I hope you’re hitting save (or selecting all and copying) at frequent intervals
hitman
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Comment #52worky i didn’t know you were so senstive i apoligise m8
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Comment #53btw, and totally irrelevant, can’t fkn believe I changed mi mind about backing Chile against France at 5/2 in the U20 Toulon Tournament Final, coz France were such massive favourites. Another 25 quid down the drain. Well done Chile. They’re looking like a good up and coming side – through all age levels.
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Comment #54Hitman, it’s no suprise that people can get wound up quite easily on here mate – we’ve all probably been a bit twitchy for the last year!
Part and parcel mate.
NorthernPaul
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Comment #55RODZILLA:
I’m glad somebody else remembers the ‘RED BUS’ epic.
I actually agreed with most of, but I said the bus needed a lick of paint to get it to it’s destination.
How right I was.
Come on Kevin, post up your stuff!!
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Comment #56HAHAHA, I bet Kevin Hann has just gone out to the pub for a few hours, leaving us all hitting REFRESH 😀
GatesheadMag
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Comment #57No doubt we will be reading your masterpiece 2morrow kev? and by the way do you have to keep refreshing to see new posts? its doin my head in
KevinHann
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Comment #58Rodzilla – very funny 🙁
I have already developed the information in 4 basic points, moving on to connecting it into a sound theory now.
GatesheadMag
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:24 PM
Comment #59LOL a theory! You want to watch, if it that good it may be on the back of the sun tomorrow, never mind ed’s blog
NorthernPaul
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Comment #60You sound like a drunk man hard at work Kevin!!! 😉
AndyT
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Comment #61killing us!
Could you give us the broad theory, or at least the beginning of it? Something to chew on?
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Comment #62Indeed NorthernPaul,
There’s a song in the charts at the moment called “Red” by Daniel Merriweather – it keeps on getting played on Radio 2 and everytime I hear it I think of Stardust’s Fable.
The lyrics go….
And I can’t do this by myself
All of these problems, they’re all in your head
And I can’t be somebody else
You took something perfect
And painted it red
🙂
….you’ll hear it soon if you ain’t already. I’m sure it’ll be a hit.
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Comment #63hitman, I apologise. This thing about me and Stardust being the same person is becoming really boring now though.
GatesheadMag
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:31 PM
Comment #64So have many of you’s got your season ticket renewals through yet?
hitman
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Comment #65worky i know your not stardust m8, stardust still thinks ashley has did nowt wrong, i hope you dont think like that …..anymore
Toon Graeme
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Comment #66Has Kevin still not shared his pearls!!!???
Howay man big brother is on.
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Comment #67Worky, I must admit mate, I did wonder myself in my earlier days on the blog. You do both have a comparable ‘style’, so to speak. And both play Devil’s Advocate in a similarly eloquent fashion
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:40 PM
Comment #68Graeme, fk Big Butt Hair, Isle of Wight Festival coverage on ITV2 in 20 mins
NorthernPaul
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:40 PM
Comment #69RODZILLA:
I’ll keep an ear out for it, haha!
KevinHann
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:42 PM
Comment #70I’m now going through Ashley’s reign, currently at Keegan’s dismissal.
AndyT
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:46 PM
Comment #71Oh gosh, this is going to take forever then, isn’t it Kevin. You’ve only just started
hitman
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:47 PM
Comment #72kevin hann do1 you no nowt,you are on here for a pi55 take,if anyone on here believes him you need a major ar5e kicking.
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:47 PM
Comment #73hitman,
I never said that Ashley wasn’t doing anything wrong, I said that many of the things that people were accusing him of were wrong. Do you get my drift?
Even Stardust wasn’t entirely in agreement with him, but like myself, he knew that his alot of these problems were actually the fault of Fat Freddy, and that Ashley was only trying to put things right financially.
Two of Ashley’s worst decisions were too put the club up for sale at the worst possible times, which set in motion a whole load of other calamities, like having five managerial changes in one year. Any team with five different managers in one year is going to be sh*te in the Premiership! – but then again, this is what many of the fans wanted (for Ashley to sling his hook) so it was a “controversial” opinion.
hitman
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Comment #74worky / stardust you decide
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:54 PM
Comment #75Hitman, I need my @rse kicking then – that goes without saying anyway.
I’m still intrigued by this post though, and given by KH’s running pointers I believe he IS writing sumik. Bull5hit or not.
…call me gullible 🙂
Rodzilla
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:57 PM
Comment #76http://www.facebook.com/people/Kevin-Hann/571235252
…you on yer 10th bottle yet Kev?
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:58 PM
Comment #77Rodzilla // Jun 12, 2009 at 9:38 PM
“Worky, I must admit mate, I did wonder myself in my earlier days on the blog. You do both have a comparable ’style’, so to speak. And both play Devil’s Advocate in a similarly eloquent fashion”
Rod, I don’t write like Stardust. He’s a drama queen! 🙂
KevinHann
Jun 12, 2009 at 9:59 PM
Comment #78That’s not my facebook mate 🙂 I use my real name there.
I am currently at why Ashley had to announce the first attempt to sell the club.
Toon Graeme
Jun 12, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Comment #79Rodzilla – got Isle of white on now mate
workyticket
Jun 12, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Comment #80Who’s getting the movie rights, Kevin? 🙂