Sky Sports News is reporting today that former Tottenham, Rangers and Chelsea player, Graham Roberts, has revealed who the mystery consortium is trying to buy the club.
We’ve heard all this before and he says that they would provide Alan Shearer with £20-25 million to spend at Newcastle per year.
Ashley’s plan was to put £20M of his own money into the club each year, and that didn’t seem to work too well.
Roberts was speaking on Soccer Extra ahead of what he termed a big meeting at Newcastle tonight, and he thinks the consortium and he rated the consortium’s chances as about 75 percent for success.
Sky Sports reports the plan is to set up a Barcelona-style hierarchy at Newcastle, with fans electing their own president and generating their own cash. Well we’ve heard that one before too – many times.
So far Roberts admits the Newcastle board have been sceptical of his plans – we’re not surprised.
Roberts told Soccer Extra:
“There’s a few people who have put some money together, we went to meet the Newcastle board but they didn’t turn up. [Derek] Llambias didn’t show up, we had the financial director and the club secretary,”
“They think we’re just wasting their time but let me assure them… we’re not.”
“We want to do a Barcelona. You get the supporters to buy into the football club, they have six or seven proper members on the board, you have a chairman who is voted as President, and the supporters who invest get financial gain back out of it.”
“We’re not sure how much they would have to invest, maybe between £10,000 and £20,000, but you can do it through your pension scheme and the supporters who have invested gain a dividend each year – plus they get a season ticket out of it.”
“The Supporters’ Trust is on board, they think it’s a wonderful idea, I’ve got 2,500 members who are all going to join up to this, one fella phoned us on Friday night and gave us a £1 million donation.”
“We’ve got some money already [among the founders of the consortium], it’s not the £100 million but we’ve got somewhere near that.”
“And the way this works is, under our plan, the club becomes very very rich.”
Who is the Supporters Trust ? Is that the NUSC?
Hey this sounds like a plan that has no chance at all of being successful – we’re just glad this is not the American deal, who we are told have the money – I mean how long will it take to collect close to £100M in £10K increments? Come on – let’s get real.
It appears these are the kinds of airy fairy deals that have been annoying the Board as they want to sell the club to viable bidders, and potentially quickly too.
Roberts is well aware of the Newcastle debt, but he says the figure is different to the one being released to the public – but he doesn’t say if it’s smaller or bigger than the £20M outstanding of the £39M overdraft facility in place.
He claims his consortium would allow Newcastle to compete among England’s elite.
“I can’t divulge the club’s current debt, it’s not massive, but there are other things that the football club are not letting out.”
“The overdraft is what has been released into public domain, but we’ve got accountants working on it, doing due diligence on it, and they’re coming up with other things.”
“I would say there’s a 75 percent chance we could do this. I’ve got a big meeting on Monday, and it’s a chance for the football club to be a wealthy football club.”
“All we would do is set it up, the fans would then pick their president. They’re talking about Barry Moat taking over but he can’t get the money.”
“If he wants to have a meeting with us maybe we could all get together and he can be the chairman.” “Alan Shearer would be manager because the fans want that.”
“The money generated by this system would clear anything the club has got. It would give Alan Shearer £20-25 million to spend on players every year.”
We really don’t find this too convincing – and we’re pleased this is not the American-backed deal.
To us it’s too much like the Profitable Group bid (it’s everything we would ever want – too good to be true), which seemed to us in retrospect like propaganda, and we’re not sure how much of that was true. Maybe none of it.
Maybe they should have added that Tony Blair would be the new Newcastle Chairman.
When will all this end?
Hey – something a little more real, important and probable – we need those 3 points tonight – Howay The Lads!!
110 comments so far
magpie6699
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Comment #1To quote the annoying Smileys on this website:-
“Oh my God! No way!”
Bill F
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Comment #2More Flying Pig sightings!!!
Tino 11
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Comment #3So why have they waited until the last moment to do a deal? They should have been doing due dilligence weeks ago when other bidders did. This is either a wind up or someone looking for attention/publicity IMO.
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:10 PM
Comment #41st team
harper
simpson s.taylor colo enrique
barton smith nolan jonas
ameobi carroll
2nd choice
krul
r.taylor tozer kadar adeji
geremi butt guthrie donaldson
lua lua
ranger
then theres froster, the potentially excelent vuckic & inman, den ferguson, godsmark
TrinidadToon
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Comment #5Realistically I think that any chance (if MA ever intended to sell) has now gone of us being taken over before the transfer deadline closes.
What we will see between now and 5pm tomorrow is the stripping down of as much of the wage bill as possible by the fat one to try and make the club as little financial burden as he can through to January. Xisco going is the start of a few heading out reckon. Remember the oan deadline isn’t for another month so i expect to see a few more go out – the MA will look again at finances etc and sanction a couple of low cost loan signings to increase squad size.
I may be wrong but Im fairly sure that under MA newcastle have always closed transfer windows having brought in more money than we’ve spent. I dont see why when the club is so publicly for sale he will do anything different in this window to the ones before.
Being honest hes so stupid that our good start to the season has probably blinkered him into thinking promotion is a definite for us when it clearly isn’t.
The only hope we can have is that once the windows slams shut, our finances are essentially fixed bar loan signing til January. This should allow any one left who wants to buy us to be able to get a handle on our accounts rather than grasping at water. How a club valued at £100m in June can still be worth £100m less Martins, Bassong, Beye etc I have no idea. Any takeover will wait til after the window then maybe buy club and then sanction loan signings- thus limiting immediate outay and still caryying favour with toon fans who can blame MA again for a wasted summer.
Stardust
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Comment #6oh yes – and Mr Roberts part owns the Bubba Gump Shrimp fleet too………….
do us a favour Roberts…..keep running
Rangerman
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Comment #7Who in their right mind would invest their pension in a football club that has lost £100 million in the past decade?
NUSC are backing this?
Rangerman
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:19 PM
Comment #8I may be wrong but Im fairly sure that under MA newcastle have always closed transfer windows having brought in more money than we’ve spent.
….
Yes, you are wrong.
The only window we made a profit was in January, would be about break even if you include what we paid out for Jonas around then.
Dan4Toon
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Comment #9Fostino // Aug 31, 2009 at 3:10 PM
1st team
harper
simpson s.taylor colo enrique
barton smith nolan jonas
ameobi carroll
2nd choice
krul
r.taylor tozer kadar adeji
geremi butt guthrie donaldson
lua lua
ranger
then theres froster, the potentially excelent vuckic & inman, den ferguson, godsmark
__________________________________
Replace Adeji with Ferguson because Adeji is a striker 😛
Rodzilla
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Comment #10zzzzzzzzz …..eh? …what? (grunt) ……someone buying us? …….oh (grunt) ……….ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…………
Rangerman
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Comment #11How a club valued at £100m in June can still be worth £100m less Martins, Bassong, Beye etc I have no idea.
…….
Because the money is still in the club, either in the accounts, gone to reduce the overdraft which would have been taken into account when the club was valued or we haven’t got the money yet, just a guarantor that we will get a fixed payment every year from the clubs we sold the players too.
Stardust
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Comment #12This was the real interview with the edited pieces put back in.
“There’s a few people who have put some money together, we went to meet the Newcastle board but they didn’t turn up. [Derek] Llambias didn’t show up, he wouldnt see me without my shrink, we had the financial director and the club secretary photographs in our hand as we walked around the ground, but we couldnt see them,”
“They think we’re just wasting their time but let me assure them… we’re not..I have some very good ideas for the colour we can paint our faces at childrens open days.”
“We want to do a Barcelona because Barcelona rhymes with Newcastle. You get the supporters to buy into the football club – I have a piggy bank, its pink, if everyone empties their piggies we can either buy the club or black bullets, I hope we buy black bullets or a duck or a bike, they have six or seven proper members on the board, they go missing at christmas to play snow white and the seven dwarfs – I wanna be a dwarf, can we play on the swings, you have a chairman who is voted as President, and the supporters who invest get financial gain back out of it because the black bullets can be sold in countries where they dont have them – we will make a lot of money from our bullets.”
“We’re not sure how much they would have to invest, maybe between £10,000 and £20,000, but you can do it through your pension scheme – please give me your money, I will buy lots of medicine so I dont flip out and spend it, sell you houses and I guarantee to get you a wendy house each in 5 years, and the supporters who have invested gain a dividend each year – plus they get a season ticket out of it – I understand they wont have anything left – but anyone who sold their underpants to invest is guaranteed a 3 pack from poundstretchers of we get promoted . Imagine that 3 pairs of underpants”
“The Supporters’ Trust is on board, they think it’s a wonderful idea, I’ve got a brand new combine harvester and I’ll give 2,500 members who are all going to join up to this the key, one fella phoned us on Friday night and gave us a £1 million donation. I have invested that in a wind farm on the moon – we will buy kaka and ronaldo and geronimo with that – I have also asked my uncle forrest who is the bestest runner to sign for us, he will if you sell your house for him”
“We’ve got some money already [among the founders of the consortium], it’s not the £100 million but we’ve got somewhere near that, £5.50 is somewhat near it – I have a big old shrimp I am going to auction it will buy us a great deal.”
“And the way this works is, under our plan, the club becomes very very rich – if we do this, I intend to set up the first stadium on Mars – imagine that if we get all the support there we will control that world – we will be the biggest club there – Sky will cover us – we will be the biggest club in the solar system”
Invest in me – you know you want to. Got to go – the vans out looking for me.
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Comment #13i feel sorry for de man that who gave roberts a million last friday
roberts: what million pounds, i never recieved any million pounds
Rodzilla
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Comment #14hahahaha Stardust, sounds about right! 😀
HarryWorth
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Comment #15Personally I wish Graham Roberts and his idiotic chums would just fcuk right off.
sahil
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Comment #16Someone just cum and buy us!
Weve got EVERYHTING!
The loylast supporters in the world,
One of the Best statiums in the world,
An atmosphere that is known all around the world,
Everyhting is there Come and BUY US!
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Comment #17apparently we tried to get vaughan on loan but it didnt work out……ah sure what the hell, lets offload xisco anyway, never mind a replacement
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Comment #18maybe moat should get in contact with roberts if he’s struggling for money or vice versa
davis_toons
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Comment #19Dont know what rubbish this news is about. Garbage.
Profitable Group bid was real but was reject due to lower then expected offer price. Not that the houses/property Profitable Group own wasn’t value.
durhammag
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Comment #20Stardust, that’s hilarious……..
Why do people even bother publish this garbage. If you are a serious bidder, you sign a confidentiality agreement. If you talk to the press, you cannot have signed it, therefore you are not a serious bidder. The really scary thing about this is that NUSC appear to have signed up in principle. Can you imagine a club with 7 of these lot on the board…think I would prefer MA
Rodzilla
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Comment #21There will be an announcement on the sale of the club to rich Arabs after tonight’s game. Shearer will be installed as manager first thing tomorrow morning, and 7 players all previously identified, and having passed clandestine medicals, will join the club before the 5pm deadline, to the tune of 30m invested by the new owners.
I wish. 🙁
(sorry, if that induced unnecessary butterflies on anyone)
Back to sleep, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………………………
davis_toons
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Comment #22Why didnt some arab countries or oil countries came and buy us? Why?
We have got everything accept a proper management owner and manager
What is wrong with our club that make no invester interest?
What was the reason behind that we fans don’t know about it.
NO F IN KINNEAR
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Comment #23biggest load of sh1te of all. so every fan that can’t afford £20k but have paid for a season ticket for o
last ???? 30 years ???? can fck off as we are giving your seat away to someone who can invest £20k . and the supporters trust support that do they ?
BlacknWhite Barmy
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Comment #24It makes me cringe that the likes of lamearse couldnt even be bothered to attend !!
Any one remember Ashley when he got wellied in Saudi because he couldnt be bothered to wait for a meeting ….
The arrogagance of these two arsees and the fact they are assest stripping the clib makes me sick !!!.
Whilst I think it a long shot to try to set up a barcelona type system here – the fact that we dont have much of a clue as to what it would involve – and yet you are all downing it before it even gets off the ground. Take a look at the club and see if you think it should remain the way it is currently been run !!!
Any change has to be for the better.
HarryWorth
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Comment #25Craig Cathcart coming in on loan?
Geordie-Gerrard7
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:45 PM
Comment #26cathcart has alot of potential, but i imagine it wont happen
davis_toons
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Comment #27durhammag // Aug 31, 2009 at 3:40 PM
I totally agree. With these kind of owner we might as well stick with MA.
Just ask you guys, will any of the big four or small but serious club owner talk this kind of crap.
Not even when US ecomony was bad. Not even when AIG was going bust.
Toonfan1
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Comment #28Zamblera leaving Newcastle for Roma according to Sky Sports 😐
TrinidadToon
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Comment #29Zamblera going to Roma according to SkySports
Lew Davies
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:49 PM
Comment #30bloody h ell STARDUST, didn’t know you had such a sense of humour!
I think I’ve just wet meself.
Thankyou very much, haven’t had such a good laugh for ages lol.
No seriously 😀
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Comment #31oh ya, forgot bout him, never really worked out for him
Rodzilla
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Comment #32It does make you wonder if anyone other than MA/DL is deciding which players leave. Hhhmmm……..
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Comment #33toonfan1
loan deal or pernament deal, what did ssn say
Rodzilla
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Comment #34http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12874_5528383,00.html
He’s off, Fostino
NO F IN KINNEAR
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Comment #35UPDATE
OUT
OWEN 110K
VIDUKA 70K
LOVENKRANDS 25K
MARTINS 80K
BASSONG 5K
BEYE 50K
DUFF 65K
XISCO 55K
zamblera 5k-10k
FORSTER 1.5K ?
GODSMARK £500 ?
TOTAL £470K PER WEEK
IN
DANNY SIMPSON £10K ?
SO SINCE SUMMER SAVING £460 K PER WEEK OR £2M PER MONTH. £24M PER YEAR JUST IN WAGES SAVED.
Greg P
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Comment #36with two strikers out on loan lets just pray that the Lovenkrands discussions are going well
davis_toons
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Comment #37Our youth system have to improve…
Rodzilla
Aug 31, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Comment #38NO F, you missed David Edgar and super, super, super Nacho off that list. (has Cacapa gone as well?)
Fostino
Aug 31, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Comment #39cheers rodzilla
from SSN
‘Newcastle are willing to let him leave as he does not figure in their long-term plans and Roma are ready to offer him an escape route from St James’ Park.’
what long term plans, to destroy the club completely
spanishtoon
Aug 31, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Comment #40the santander fans are exactly overwhelmed on their messageboards….they’re saying they’d prefer makaay…..is he available?