Fuber

I'd point out all comments towards Newcastle on this thread are from our (Championship/BCFC) perspective. In the same manner of us in regards to Ipswich relating to Ashton re the Tractor Boys view of us. All we know for certain is that the Geordies likely know more about the ins and outs than any of us here, and all have been protesting Ashley's ownership for some degree for almost ten years at this point. Re the point about servicing the Debt. Any debt would have to settle upon transaction of ownership, so either way Ashley's met his end goal. Profit. As for interest, he paid near no Sponsorship fees re Sports Direct for years with regards to stadium advertisements, bar the recent years a counts which still way below the promised value. I'd count that as service of the interest.

They made profits in 8 of the past 11 seasons, the latter most loss due to COVID. I'd argue if a club is looking to progress, there should be an overall net spend in roughly half season over said time period. Ashley has simply pocketed the profits in the same manner Glazers rack up Man Utd as a debt pinata. Add to that in 2015 and 2019 Newcastle had the 19th highest revenue of any club listed in Deloittes Rich List (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11678/11615548/newcastle-rank-19th-in-deloitte-money-league) Much more Money could've been spent to at least give them a competitive spine that could see them easily into the top half. Their fans aren't asking Ashley to spend personal fortune but just to reinvest profits.

I actually found Villa fans to be many times more unbearable. Found the Geordies to be much more realist and down to earth while they were down here. Think the majority are just relieved to be rid of Ashley. Who never really had any plans for the club.

In my experience, Antifa may claim to be anti-fascists, but for the most part they're simply anti establishment. They're as bad if not worse than the 'fascists' they claim to be against. It's simply two sides of a coin. Different being that Antifa (and the far left general) have a tendency to claim anything that doesn't align with their own view as right wing or fascist. I.e. the damage to Bristol Police Station during the Kill the Bill protest.

Tbf they do clearly state reasoning within the article. They make it clear it was elements outside of BLM i.e. Antifa who could use the ruckus for their own agenda. Such as a Cenotaph. As well as the events in London where the Cenotaph was targeted.

Undoubtedly. Same as Bournemouth, etc. Alternatively, even if we had stayed in the Championship until the 13/14 campaign. We would have also failed it (£11m loss vs £8m target). Forest, Hull, Ipswich, Leeds, Boro. All also failed it. In total 8-9 clubs failed it. I'd argue, however that when you look at their spending between 2012-14, does it strike you as really spending to get where they needed to be? Net spend was only £3m. They were already cutting said spending if they failed. Failing FFP depends on the context, up to 2016 it was a bit of a non entity. No real punishment whereas compared to now i.e. Villa (if relegated), Birmingham, Sheff Wed, Derby, Reading.

To be fair - their owners have done a fair bit in the local community. Re the Super League, I got the feeling that it was American Execs that were overall to blame for that fiasco, i.e. Bruce Buck at Chelsea. Leicester show how it should be done. Overall material wealth means nothing unless used strategically.

Large majority of us are Bristolian or from Somerset. Glass Houses much?

This. Issue is just that his acceleration is non-existent.

Feel posts are being slightly harsh on O'Dowda here. When was his last competitive match? - for me was one of few positive regarding player performances last season. Bakinson doesn't have the same excuse, he's looked static in every match played this season, namely due ball watching and poor mobility. Players should be given a clean slate to some extent now we actually seem to have a competent manager.

middle 8 Dan. Re-read Fevs post. If he'd suggested top 8, I'd have just quoted him and posted this:

Could understand him not starting as likely not fully match fit. Think this system needs two mobile but strong midfielders in the double pivot. I don't see Baks suiting this system if I'm being honest. That aside. 100% JW changed the game when he came on. Simply quicker on the deck and combative when he had to be which we were lacking. Cemented his name on the teamsheet as it stands for next match if Han is out still.

And I didn't. We weren't the only club he yeeted out of after all. Snakes and Ladders.

More than any other manager we've previously appointed. Even Coppell.

Mostly the latter. Like Martin, but a countering system doesn't suit him nor Wells. Can see the likes of Conway and Bell having roles to play if Nige can get them up to speed.

They were this shit under LJ. There's a reason we were near bottom of the XG table for his final two seasons at the helm. We just happened to be clinical. Last 12 months the last of the confidence went to shite under an inexperienced manager and here we are. Simple.

They been rebuilding quietly under Warburton for almost three seasons almost. Now coming to fruition. Them and Luton are examples of where we can be under a couple years of (competent) stable management.

Oh come on Bas. At least get the ruddy analogy right...

We have a mismatch of players that don't fit a single system. Hes working with what he's got. This isn't his squad by an stretch. He signed two players that started in the squad today. Luton have a settled squad and on that display could easily be top half this season if they're more composed. They are not a bottom half team. Can we not have this every time we drop points against a team people perceive as weaker than us?

It's ironic that they don't seem to question why we barely maneuvered in the transfer market this window. Championship FFP is much harsher, and Ashton ran us into the ground with awful recruitment. No difficulty. We had no money to spend because of him. Not due to anything Gould or Pearson did wrong. Honestly, the sheer arrogance on that Forum reminds me of Villa fans, talk of Prem being the end goal. We were in prime position to push on for playoffs three years ago with a Billionaire owner - no question as to why we/MA failed so badly as to leave for a League One club? Really? - The days of Bankrolling to the EPL are gone. League One FFP rules are much easier than Championship to work around it seems, i.e. Derby, Reading, Birmingham, Sheff Wed, etc, are all examples of clubs that tried and failed. Sustainability was SLs goal, not Ashton's. Guess who rogered that up completely? As for the disdain being because we didn't get promoted...? Do they realise how tough this division is? - I'm just glad Ashton didn't get us relegated, I'd have (and many City fans likewise would) taken small increments each season - the issue is the spending completely outpaced any real progress. I'll reiterate to any Ipswich fans. Don't listed to anything he says. Or at least take it with a huge pinch of salt. The man just lies through his teeth and goes missing when things don't go well - manager eats the farm, but soaks up the limelight when things are.

If Ipswich fans want a simple metric as to why we despise Marky-boy, it's the following. - We were 23rd in this division, when he took reigns as CEO. He was in an advisory position previous to that when Keith Dawe was Chairman, bless that man, who planned and initialised the stadium and training ground plans that Ashton ultimately took credit for. - At the point MA left we were 20th - however: - Never connected with fans; no updates or news from the club with regards to general communications when things were not going well. - Sacked well liked media staff members among others under NDAs (same as he did at Watford). - Net transfer spending and wages were up £35m and 50% per annum respectively, leaving us in a lack FFP shit-pile having been solvent he previous 3-4 year period with outgoings. - Signing players with no regard to tactics or playstyle, scattergun recruitment, leading to a bloated squad, and horrific club culture across most levels. - Inept staffing (fitness), plus managerial appointment(s). Holden, good coach, should never have been named manager after an 8 week search. Ultimately, in terms of every remit where he had targets to hit as a CEO, and with the level of backing he had. He failed - badly. None too gracefully either, and made a few tongue in cheek comments also, as well as outright lies on multiple occasions. I find the Tractor Boys forum thread discussing us also ironic, in whereby they claim we have no idea what it was like for them under Clegg. No shit lads. Pot Kettle Black, etc. Think we have this vendetta against him for fun? By and large seem confused whereby they seem to think we're the only club ran afoul of by MA. His time at Watford is well documented by the same issues, I.e. disagreeing with managers, not connecting with fans, NDAs to longstanding clubs staff to appoint his own 'people'. https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/3995357.oliver-phillips-reflects-on-the-departure-of-mark-ashton-from-watford/ Literally one of the first returns on Google. Not exactly 'hidden'. All we're saying, is take the man never at face value, with a massive pinch of salt, and don't get carried away. @Davefevs @Mr Popodopolous Out of interest, Not 100% clued up on the L1 FFP requirements, but where did Ipswich position in regards to the latter for the last couple of season, and what impact would the change in ownership have? "I suspect it is something we will discover for ourselves in the future. In short, Ashton works with sustaining the books, so our best players may be sold quite regularly to finance the future of the club. I presume with Bristol, he may have been a bit too heavy on his sustainable approach. However, over the long term, it seems to have improved them." Oh sweet summer child, if only you knew the complete absolute clusterfudge our finances were now in compared to where they were 3 years ago...

From what I recall from the Maguire posts on Twitter - we at least did it two season runnings (18-19, 19-20). The latter we spent upwards of £25m.

But only we have outspent all other clubs outside of parachute payment recipients under LJs tenure, and increased our wage spending in the last 3-4 years by near 50%. In hindsight the MA/LJ era has set us back to 2011, outside of infrastructure. Culture is toxic, wages are a mess, scouting nonexistent. Relying on our academy now.

In theory; whats so different between LJ and Martin at the times of which they were appointed to oursleves and Swansea respectively? I'd argue it was LJ's inexperience and lack of playing identity - along with Ashton's poor wage control and contract lengths that utterly fudged us - but overall we needed an old head to sort things out. We'd become and still are a bloated misshapen husk at the moment. The real devastating about the former two's stewardship - is that it stripped all leaders, cohesion, and identity (i.e. Cotts era) from the club. No matter if thats us, Swansea, or another clubs entirely, its a horrific job to try and tackle - even if you're NP. My comparison would be Stoke when they came down - basically the sane scenario, but 3 times the wages blown; or Forest, if you're talking similar standard.

Fulham away would disagree with you.