There's a message for some Reading fans in Ashley's words.

[Factfinder]

Read Newcastle owner Mike Ashley's reasons for wanting to sell the club in this lengthy 1,644 word statement released on Sunday (today).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/7615655.stm

"But like any business with assets the club has debts. I paid £134 million out of my own pocket for the club. I then poured another £110 million into the club not to pay off the debt but just to reduce it. The club is still in debt. Even worse than that, the club still owes millions of pounds in transfer fees. I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.

But there was a double whammy. Commercial deals such as sponsorships and advertising had been front loaded. The money had been paid upfront and spent. I was left with a club that owed millions and part of whose future had been mortgaged. Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived. It could have shared the fate of other clubs who have borrowed too heavily against their future. Before I had spent a penny on wages or buying players Newcastle United had cost me more than a quarter of a billion pounds."


It looks like the club has been badly run in the past. (No shit Sherlock!)

My question.
Would Reading have done deals like that under John Madejski?

[Kevin Doyles Right Foot]

Ashleys a pcunt, HTH.

[brendywendy]

a 1/4 of a billion

feckin ell
and still in the shit, in financial and footballing terms

agree, ashley is a cnut though

[Dirk Gently]

Can't argue with what he says - a sizable proportion of the Premier League is living today on projected future income which may or may not materialise. Football finances are nearly all done on a short-term basis with no regard for long-term sustainability.

[Platypuss]

And how much of this was a secret when he bought the club?

[Dirk Gently]

And how much of this was a secret when he bought the club?

It does suggest he didn't do his due-diligence properly!

[brendywendy]

maybe he just thought, everyone else is doing it, why cant i

[Dirk Gently]

Because buying a football club is like being at the end of the chain in a pyramid selling scheme.

By the time you get to buy it all future earnings have already been mortgaged away, so you're left paying off the money that others have had away with years ago.

[Sarah Star]

Because buying a football club is like being at the end of the chain in a pyramid selling scheme.

By the time you get to buy it all future earnings have already been mortgaged away, so you're left paying off the money that others have had away with years ago.

Why do people do it then?

[Dirk Gently]

Because buying a football club is like being at the end of the chain in a pyramid selling scheme.

By the time you get to buy it all future earnings have already been mortgaged away, so you're left paying off the money that others have had away with years ago.

Why do people do it then?

Ashley has loved being "one of the lads" on the Gallowgate in his replica shirt. But it looks like he didn't quite understand just how much debt the club was in. And when he tried to rectify it his mates in replica shirts have turned on him because he wasn't throwing pot-loads of money at the problem.

[Schards#2]

Because buying a football club is like being at the end of the chain in a pyramid selling scheme.

By the time you get to buy it all future earnings have already been mortgaged away, so you're left paying off the money that others have had away with years ago.

Why do people do it then?

Ashley has loved being "one of the lads" on the Gallowgate in his replica shirt. But it looks like he didn't quite understand just how much debt the club was in. And when he tried to rectify it his mates in replica shirts have turned on him because he wasn't throwing pot-loads of money at the problem.

You don't think it was more employing a repulsive, racist, gobby cockney tw@t and then backing him over the fans greatest hero, resulting in said hero leaving?

[Factfinder]

Much of the vocabulary in his statement echoes that of John Madejski.

"This will not be a fire sale. Newcastle is now in a much stronger position than it was in 2007. It is planning for the future and it is sustainable. "

"Tough decisions have to be made in business and I will not shy away from doing what I consider to be in the best interests of the club. This is not fantasy football."

[The 17 Bus]

I recall meeting Wise in the Mad Hotel a few years ago, was a nice fella, I think Mr A was there too we were surprised at how nice he was.

[Man Friday]

Don't cry for Ashley - he'll get all his money back when he sells the club.

[chandog]

Don't cry for Ashley - he'll get all his money back when he sells the club.

agreed
and he has only got himself to blame - he has turned the fans against him by getting wise in and messing keegan around

[Lower West]

Don't cry for Ashley - he'll get all his money back when he sells the club.

Why ? If he wants out then he'll have to accept what's offered. Newcastle like Man City require a total rebuild of their team. The bubble is bursting ........

[Uke]

And how much of this was a secret when he bought the club?

It does suggest he didn't do his due-diligence properly!

It was all buried by Freddie's accountants

and missed by Ashey's accountants

[Platypuss]

Who says he missed any of it? Could well just be after the fact justification for bailing.

[Avon Royal]

Would Reading have done deals like that under John Madejski?

No.

[Forever Reading]

Would Reading have done deals like that under John Madejski?

No.

If clubs are spending more than they are earning then sooner or later it will catch up with them and there will be trouble and a crash just like what has happened in the property market.