AshleyWatch 2008: I Wish You Knew What You Were Doing

[BayernWake]

I thought I'd make a thread for one "Mike Ashley," since he's been making some headlines (and bad decisions).

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3043471,00.html

Here Ashley admits he shat the bed. Good job. Now do something about it.

"Now is the time to put away my Newcastle shirt. I'm not saying I will never go back on the terraces but now I have to be in the boardroom - I have to be hands on."

Okay, step in the right direction (although I'd leave the terraces too if every Newcastle fan were pissed at me).

[colinh9]

He wants to wallop chelsea, stuff tottenham, and have a squad able to attack man united. It all sounds good, but let's see how it turns out.

[BayernWake]

He wants to wallop chelsea, stuff tottenham, and have a squad able to attack man united. It all sounds good, but let's see how it turns out.

At least the Tottenham part is more than doable.

[tigerdave]

At least the Tottenham part is more than doable.

Even Roeder managed that.

[ottoman]

He wants to wallop chelsea, stuff tottenham, and have a squad able to attack man united. It all sounds good, but let's see how it turns out.

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

[Dirt McGirt]

I'm glad he realized he can't act like a supporter. Hopefully all of this Shearer - Keegan nonsense will disappear.

[JaredSS07]

For anyone who didn't see it, I thought it was good to read the full comments.

More Revealing Comments From Mike Ashley (http://nufcblog.com/2008/01/13/newcastle-news/more-great-comments-from-mike-ashley/)

I am not concerned about the timing and after reading all of Ashley's comments, I can see why he made the change.

[Crazy Man Michael]

He wants to wallop chelsea, stuff tottenham, and have a squad able to attack man united. It all sounds good, but let's see how it turns out.

Let's see, under Big Sam we drew against Arsenal, beat Spurs and were a horribly missed off sides call away from a draw against Chelski in London. He never got to go up against Manure. Can't say we would have gotten a point, but I don't think anyone will argue we would have lost 6-0 either. The problem wasn't those games, it was Derby, Wigan, etc., and we were still doing better overall than we have in years.

At this point all the suggestions that Ashley had something in place when BSA was fired have been proven false. He acted on impulse, plain and simple. He's proven that the managment at NUFC is as shambolic as ever and raised serious doubts as to whether the ownership will be willing to fund a manager to get the players he wants. So why would anyone at the top level want to come here? I'm afraid we're going to end up with another mediocre retread...

[Samarkand]

Heard from someone who paid to know these things, that Hughes wants the Newcastle job. Whether or not he's the right man is not for me to say, but assuming the above to be true, then Hughes obviously thinks he is.

[JaredSS07]

At this point all the suggestions that Ashley had something in place when BSA was fired have been proven false. He acted on impulse, plain and simple. He's proven that the managment at NUFC is as shambolic as ever and raised serious doubts as to whether the ownership will be willing to fund a manager to get the players he wants. So why would anyone at the top level want to come here? I'm afraid we're going to end up with another mediocre retread...

The management is not in shambles. The management saw a problem and decided to cut their losses now instead of wasting more cash. There is no serious doubts about Ashley funding a manager that he hires and believes in. It does show that Ashley doesn't trust Freddy's decisions and doesn't think throwing money at a problem can necessarily fix it.

The managers who want to come here have an ego that tells them they are better than Sam and can succeed anywhere.

[Crazy Man Michael]

The management is not in shambles. The management saw a problem and decided to cut their losses now instead of wasting more cash. There is no serious doubts about Ashley funding a manager that he hires and believes in. It does show that Ashley doesn't trust Freddy's decisions and doesn't think throwing money at a problem can necessarily fix it.

The managers who want to come here have an ego that tells them they are better than Sam and can succeed anywhere.

I was talking appearances, I certainly hope we are not in the choas it appears we are in! When the story broke we had quotes from Ashley's friends and supporters telling us that he had a great plan and we'd see an awesome new manager soon, etc. Now we know that the plan wasn't there beyond getting rid of Sam since we made an approach for Redknapp and were rejected. Ashley can say he'll fund the new manager, and I believe he will, but his track record so far doesn't spell that out - he'll have to sell that point rather than being able to point to his actions.


Yes, there are managers with egos big enough to think they can succeed where others have failed, but I think we may lose out on many of the better ones who have, or will have, more settled options with more stable clubs. I hope I'm wrong on this (to be fair, I usually am) but I am very worried now about who is coming.