With the Sunday Sun yesterday reporting that local journalists had been contacted and that “no new capital outlay” did mean no cash was available to Chris Hughton for transfers this summer – we thought we had solved the mystery – and it wasn’t good news.
Mike Ashley – still confusion over no new capital outlay
But that may not be the case after all.
This is what Neil Farrington said yesterday in the Sunday Sun:
Newcastle’s hierarchy this week confirmed – in contacting newspapers to deny numerous transfer stories – that the “no capital outlay” referred to in their recent five-year mission statement DOES mean that they will be making no cash signings.
And we would have expected a similar type statement in today’s Journal from Stuart Rayner – but this is what we got:
Having only muddied the waters in an attempt to clarify their transfer policy at the end of last season, Newcastle’s stated approach of “no capital outlay” on players is open to – and has already been subjected to – wide interpretation.
That certainly doesn’t suggest journalists received a clarification, because Stuart still seems unclear what the Newcastle Board statement really means.
We are guilty of some of that interpretation because we had thought cash could still be made available as long as it’s paid up front this summer – and that – by definition – is not a capital outlay – which is stretched over multiple years.
But we have our doubts about the Sunday Sun statement now.
And actually that could be good news because if Chris really has no money to spend – that’s bad news – not only for Newcastle fans – but for the welfare of the club next season in the Premiership.
We couldn’t take another relegation scrap.
Comments welcome.
50 comments so far
Alinufc
May 31, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Comment #1didn’t it also say, in this statement, that there would be no contact with the media other this statement.
F. U. Ashley
May 31, 2010 at 11:36 AM
Comment #2I posted this on the Chronicle forum earlier regarding this topic:
Who was it that came out the other week from the club and said Ashley wasn’t looking for any of the money he’d loaned the club to be paid back to him any time soon?
That suggests he will be looking to recoup most of it when/if he sells the club.
What confuses me, and someone might be able to make it a bit clearer, is now we are back in the Prem and will be bringing in somewhere in the region of £60m-£90m from tv revenue etc (not to mention sales of merchandise, New shirts etc) where is all this money going if it’s not being spent on players or reducing Ashleys loan?. It wouldn’t take that much to keep the club running as it is day to day.
If we aren’t going to spend anything on players then that money must be used to reduce the loan-there’s no other explanation i can think of, the money has to go somewhere, so why say that he’s not looking for it back yet?
It’s still early days yet and none of us know what will happen over the summer but i find it hard to believe that after buying in the January Transfer window we won’t do so again in the coming months-however little the transfer fund might be.
snoutshuffler
May 31, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Comment #3Cant believe you gave light to the Sunday Sun opinion in the first place, Ed.
Shocking really, and I can only assume it was posted to sensationalise things for a little bit more ego stroking.
Rich TOON Bristol
May 31, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Comment #4alinufc yea mate u hit the nail on the head there, thats EXACTLY what was said but STILL it keeps being “reported” that they’ve spoken to the media, i dont really understand why these stories even make it onto this site tbh, its only giving the papers exactly what they want out of writing it in the first place.
“Media
The Board at Newcastle United wish to reiterate the points made above that there will not be at any stage in the future any comments coming from the Board regarding any issues surrounding Newcastle United save for prepared statements that are issued by the Newcastle United Media Officer.
Once again, for the sake of clarity, this does not affect the Manager and coaching staff talking to the press/media about footballing matters on an everyday basis. The Board are being absolutely transparent in respect of this policy and would ask that the press/media direct any future questions that they may have regarding Newcastle United to our media officer.”
says it there in black and white that any “statements” will be reported from the media rep at NUFC, ie on the website so i doubt we’d hear it first from the sunday sun do you? like i said i dont even see why blogs like this give them any credibility by even writing up reports based on that kind of paper bullsh*t!
Rich TOON Bristol
May 31, 2010 at 11:46 AM
Comment #5snout shuffler, SPOT ON MATE!
The_Legend_Of_Jonas
May 31, 2010 at 11:48 AM
Comment #6“Capital Outlay:
Payments made in cash or cash equivalents over a period of more than one year.”
jimiley
May 31, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Comment #7There will be no cash for players. Why is that so hard to grasp?
Trent Toon
May 31, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Comment #8I am no Newcastle Accountant, however considering we ran at a loss of 32 million last year and 37 million the year before that, and ‘probably’ another 37 million the year before that it goes to show we are not making as much money as we thought…
You guys think all premier league teams are raking in the cash, but why did portsmouth go into administration??
Why have Westham and Fulham got huge debts?
Why does the huge clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United have massive debts???
There is only one conclussion,
THERE IS NOT AS MUCH MONEY IN FOOTBALL AS EVERYONE THINKS!!!
Ed you post an article about why we should be saving money to secure the future of the club, but the next article you critize the club for no money to spend!! We are making huge losses WE OBVIOUSLY CAN’T AFFORD IT..
Why is this such a problem to everyone? Critizing the board for money they dont have!!
Charlietoon
May 31, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Comment #9Snoutshuffler I think you have to be without a doubt the most depressing and negative new blogger I have seen in a long time. Everything I have seen written by you has contained nothing but snide, pompus comments and insults to Ed or other bloggers. What’s the point man?
NOVA2967
May 31, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Comment #10What we need to do is set up a deal with Dario Gradi at Crewe Alex. and give them a yearly amount of money to help them countinue to develope great talent. They have two players as of now who will make the jump up to the EPL in the next few years:
Nick Powell- Midfielder 16 yrs old (Link/Arsenal)
Max Clayton- Striker
They also where robbed by Stoke for these two players: Matt Lund and Ben Marshall
I was actually born in Crewe and there for I have kept up with them as my second team since most of my family live up in Newcastle. Dario Gradi is a great man for the sport and has done amazing things for Crewe. Although they dont have the money to get into the Premiership they develope great talent and lose all there players for small fees.
If we can have first dibbs on there players and even learn a thing or two from Gradi for our own youth team its would do us wonders. Give him some extra money and more players will come through from them and we would have to pay little money for them and its not like we have two worry about them getting into the EPL and challenging us, just keep them afloat they are a small team with limited funds but with one of the all time greats in Dario Gradi and a loyal man who deserves more praise for what he has done for the sport.
Trent Toon
May 31, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Comment #11jimiley, spot on!!
Sav
May 31, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Comment #12The club made a statement, supposedly unequivocal and final. Unfortunately it seems to be neither.
But the Q asked by F.U. Ashley is the important one. WHY ids there to be no capital outlay? There’s more cash in Premiership status than ever. We must have a wage bill no worse than average, after a season in the wilderness so should be well-positioned to spend some of the vast amount coming in on new players. Heaven knows we will need all the help we can get because in my opinion, all this hoorah stuff about Guthrie, Smith and Nolan being our midfield engine room gives me sleepless nights.
Does Ashole intend the Prem millions to pay off his debt in one go?
Ericles
May 31, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Comment #13There will be no cash for players. There never ever was. So any media gossip is speculation. No more, no less. So it becomes pointless talking of whom we would like to see CH get in. Not unless they are the free and there to make up squad numbers – and prepared to play for peanuts by current Premiership standards. FU Ashley is on the ball by qustioning where the inome is going. The “no comment” policy means we will not be told anyway. Fat Ashley is really going to town with this dishonest regime he is establishing. Watch out for the ratbag to start selling certain players too.
StuW
May 31, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Comment #14If there is going to be no cash this summer, Ashley needs to drop the plan of signing players under a certain age. Good young players cost money, and thats something we are apparently getting none of. There are a lot of free agents who i feel could do a good job for us next season, but the age policy is stopping us from looking at them. Sidney Govou, for example is 30-years old, has said he is leaving Lyon this summer, would be an ideal recruitment for at least 2 seasons. He can play as a right winger, or as a striker, two positions we are a little light in. Per Kroldrup at Fiorentina is another 30-year old, and would be a very good CB signing. These are players that don’t command a high wage, and are born-tryers that give 110% on the field, and are international quality players. But, MAshleys plan of signing players below a certain age is goingto, in my opinion, have us finishing no higher than16th next season.
Trent Toon
May 31, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Comment #15Ericles i disagree, he wont sell players it would be unwise to do that as we may be relegated again lowering the value of the club… For mike the value of the club club is the last thing he can cling onto to get him out better than when he started or break even… He will sell the club when we have a strong team with the likes of Carroll breaking the England squad and Ranger, Inman, Ferguseson, and Krul strarting to really develop.. It is an atrractive buy knowing the Youth Academy is producing and the first team is mature…
Toon1978
May 31, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Comment #16Trent Toon
Very positive mate, i never thought of it like that but i like it lol.
snoutshuffler
May 31, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Comment #17Carlietoon – You call me negative, I say I am a realist.
So who is being negative in your pearl of wisdon statement?
It’s a nothing story, that doesn’t really need writing. A waste of time. We are quibbling over something the Sunday Sun said FFS.
Oh, and I’m not a new poster by the way. I was here before Ed shut down and left you lot in the lurch last time. I have only just come back.
Howay The Lads
May 31, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Comment #18Trent Toon
I like the sound of that…
Charlietoon
May 31, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Comment #19There is nothing positive about my statement as it is associated with you.
I have been on this blog for a good few years and never seen “Snoutshuffler” apart from the last few days. Seeing as everything you have said has been slagging off Ed or telling us how happy you will be when we get a tough few opening fixtures and lose the first few games simply because it will prove you right…..I don’t see what I could say regarding you that is positive.
I bet you one the realists last season saying we are going down like leeds and Hughton isn’t cut out to manage NUFC? As for me you could go through the last 50 articles ED has written and you wont find a negative word against anyone but people with attitudes like yourself…of which you seem to be the only one.
snoutshuffler
May 31, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Comment #20Think what you want Charlie, but I dont try to piss all over other peoples opinions, like you are doing.
People are free to believe what they want, and if they think this squad can survive then its there call. I will stick with what the former players who have played the game seem to think, that we need investment to stop up.
Hughton has done brillaintly, in the second tier, with far superior players. That is why I thought we stood a chance of going up, as long as fatboy didn’t sell anymore bodies. He didn’t, and we we went up.
Out of interest, where have I ever said I want us to lose? And just because my name may have changed, doesn’t mean I wasn’t around before 😉
If I can find your name on the last 50 ‘blogs, you need to get oot more sonna.
Chris F
May 31, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Comment #21Trent Toon:
P0mpey went into administration because Peter Storrie made Freddie Shepherd look like a shrewd, honest businessman in comparison. Money was bled out of that club, and even the administrator is struggling to find out where it all went. Corruption of the highest degree there.
Couple that with the fact that they spent beyond their means and have a relatively small ground and fanbase, which leads to a lower ‘non-TV’ income they were a disaster waiting to happen.
Man U and Liverpool have debt for one reason, and one reason alone: They were bougth with borrowed money. They haven’t LOST that money, or struggled for income, they were just saddled with debt by their new owners who basically bought them with bank loans and not their own cash.
West Ham are screwed because of the whole Icelandic banking collapse, as they were majority owned by Icelandics when it occurred. Again, coupled with overspending on average players.
There is plenty of money in football, the problem there is that there aren’t too many people running football clubs who know how to spend it properly.
The problem is is that people get carried away by media headlines such as Blackpool’s “£90m windfall” for getting promotion and read that as meaning they are getting 90million quid, up front and in their pocket, which is just ludicrous.
Numbers like that are estimates, and includes stuff like projected merchandise revenue increases, higher ticket prices coupled with more ticket sales, projected income from parachute payments when/if they get relegated, etc.
It’s why I get so annoyed with some posters ont hsi blog at times, who talk a load of BS and come out with statements like “so where’s our 90million going?” etc.
The fact is, the club is being setup to try and turn a profit, or at least break even. This doesn’t mean there will be NO money available this summer,it may just mean there won’t be much.
The sad fact is, that the club’s overdraft is supposedly already allocated, so any purchases will need to be made from projected GUARANTEED income profits, and the only guaranteed income the club will have will be from the initial 30mill for TV rights this season and season ticket sales.
So say they bring in 15million from Seasn Tickets, which would give us around the £45m mark guaranteed income for the season.
Now, detract whatever our current wage bill is from that amount, with a common estimate currently having it at around £35-38mill, we should, in theory have between £7m and £10m for new acquisitions this summer.
Of course, i’m just guessing, the same as everyone else is, but i’d rather believe this than anything the sunday sun has to print! 🙂
And now, I’m gonna get some lunch lol
snoutshuffler
May 31, 2010 at 1:02 PM
Comment #22Chris F – Tha Blackpool headline, and it was just that – a headline, is because of the income from the Prem PLUS 4 years of parachute payments.
So £40 mill + £48 mill parachute payment = The headline.
As for our income, don’t forget ‘other costs’. Heaven knows what they are, but I assume Police, maintenance, travel etc will form part of it, aswell as non footballing staff costs.
These other costs were around the £35 mill mark last time we were in the Prem, so to use that as a guide, PLUS our wages of say £40 million p/a, means we have outgoing of £75-£80 million already.
Howay The Lads
May 31, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Comment #23Police don’t cost anything. Public sector ring a bell
Toon1978
May 31, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Comment #24To much talk of business on here and not football lol. Lets just hope we can pull off a few gems and survive next season. At the end of the day i don’t want our club to be a Leeds or a Pompey but on the other hand we do need to strengthen to survive a tough EPL. We need a happy medium and maybe that’s what Ashley is doing.
Craigg
May 31, 2010 at 1:12 PM
Comment #25snoutsniffer:
To quote a book im reading:
” The joy of promotion can be absurdly brief. As soon as the bunting has come down from the town hall, Journalists and bookmakers begin to intrude on the euphoria with the smug cynicism that too often is mistaken for expertise… ”
The truth is nobody knows how it will turn out, But i would take our lot over Wolves, Wigan, West Brom, Blackpool, Bolton and Stoke.
Craigg
May 31, 2010 at 1:12 PM
Comment #26SnoutShuffler that is
snoutshuffler
May 31, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Comment #27Howay The Lads – Police do cost, just have a search for clubs who have struck financial difficulty as they haven’t paid “the bill”.
It’s comes under “special police services”, and comes with a price. The more bizzies neede, the higher the price.
Trent Toon
May 31, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Comment #28Yes Chris i do hear you… But why is newcastle United making a heavy losses that is the question we need to ask ourselves!!
snoutshuffler i do agree with you with the non football costs…
Money is so hard to earnand so easily spent…
AND LETS NOT FORGET TAXES
Which can be millions for club making 100 million in revenues as we did in 2008-2009!!
We need to run at a break even, for the future of our club, and then even push toward the positive…
I do believe that the team we have right now is good enough, i truely do believe that if the same team spirit continues with a few free transfers to aid us we can mount a challenge for the premier league mid table and who knows..
This is a team that has become brothers and they play for each other… What more can we ask!!! The lads did us proud and they will do us proud next season MONEY OR NO NOT!!!
Chris F
May 31, 2010 at 1:26 PM
Comment #29he’s right about the cops – Wigan recently had a big to-do with Greater Manchester Police over the cost of policing their home games, almost led to a game’s postponement iirc.
gorskino10
May 31, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Comment #30Still would confuse me if he gave out under £1 Mill for the Championship Window and then nothing in the Premiership??? He is tight fisted and lacking money but still like Liverpool i see Chris getting under £4 Million which will be spent on 1 quality player and the rest will be freebies.
Rotonda heights
May 31, 2010 at 1:36 PM
Comment #31this has been done to death has it not ed. we have no money to spend, end of.
howay the lads
conservatives in now forget the public sector !!
Rotonda heights
May 31, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Comment #32stu w
i would take finishing 16th and some if not all the younger players coming good
Howay The Lads
May 31, 2010 at 1:44 PM
Comment #33Rotonda
I’d take finishing 17th and none of the young players coming good
Solaidback
May 31, 2010 at 1:55 PM
Comment #34@ ChrisF, good post mate, totally agree with on that 🙂
One thing you did forget tho is the money coming in from Puma & Northern Rock over the next 3-4 years, break that down & it’s prbably around £5m a year imo… on top of that we should have money coming to us from selling last season, as no way did we get all that money in, so some of it should be on route this summer, that’s not capital outlay, thats revenue, so should rightly go into the club for new players & wages 🙂
As I’ve said before, its all assumption & that the mother of all f**k ups….. 🙁
StuW
May 31, 2010 at 1:58 PM
Comment #35@ Rotonda & Howay The Lads –
I would take 17th, but we want to be as far away from the 18th spot as possible in terms of points etc. It looks as if we are going to be the only club without a penny for transfers, and I think we should be looking at the more experienced players such as Govou, Kroldrup etc, as we can’t afford anyone under the age of 28.
Trent Toon
May 31, 2010 at 2:42 PM
Comment #36Stu
spot on, but we are a club bigger than 18 position, although it may not seem like it..
For gods sake we should be up there with Aston Villa and Tottenham…
At the moment those clubs sound so much bigger than us but only as recent as last year we would almost expect a result agianst them… and we did pip aston villa 2-0 at home…
It just goes to show how much our (me included) confidence and belief has dimished in just a year in the 2nd division…
geordielad880
May 31, 2010 at 3:13 PM
Comment #37why the club is making substantial loses is that they are still paying for players we bought ages ago, like duff, martins, owen etc, it will take several years to get the club back on a solid financial footing. Obviously getting relegated had a massive impact on finances, i also think that wages are too high still, our wages are in the top 7 in the premiership and yet our team definately wont be, so something doesnt add up, we should be getting rid of players like ryan taylor, smith, and getting good young players or promoting our own youngsters if good enough.
And as far as im concerned no capital outlay means we wont spend any money, unless raised through player sales.
bill
May 31, 2010 at 4:44 PM
Comment #38Chris F:
I think that you have it just about right.
I personally think Ashley is preparing to sell the club and is getting the club in financial shape to make the process as easy as possible.
At least I hope that is what he is doing because unlike some on here I don’t think that we will do well at all with the current squad.
Rotonda heights
May 31, 2010 at 4:57 PM
Comment #39geordielad 880
spot on.
provele
May 31, 2010 at 5:12 PM
Comment #40It does make sense that we have to prepare ourselves for a tight season, both financially and performance-wise, but we need to really really make sure as a team, both Ashley and the supporters by filling the stadium every time, that we are not in risk at any time.
However, as many of you said above, there are a lot of quality free agents both in England, even in my country, Greece. Govou is indeed a great case, kroldrup is no longer available though as he renewed his contract with fiorentina. I also heard that boyd is free, but still isnt he gonna to ask for a huge wage? i think that whichever the financial condition, there can easily be an opening of 10 mil to ensure that we dont get relegated again, because it would be absolutely catastrophic this time.
The important think to do now is to ensure that we support the club the best that we can (season tickets, attendance etc) to raise revenues. 2-3 seasons at the mid-table will both give us back our financial security, and our confidence!!
Silly point, but I do have to make it; Can’t a rich Saudi Arabian businessman come to us!?!? 😀 (they mostly look for clubs that have immense support, not so much about financial status, even though with ours its impossible to attract anyone at the moment)