Buckeyed

It's a compelling argument for salary caps to make a level playing field, however I doubt they would ever happen as it will require those that receive the parachute payments to agree to the proposal.

I know that they need to balance the books, but some crude maths, based on an average increase of £10 for 10k tickets (kids prices frozen), then it's only an additional £100k of revenue. So you'd only need 250 fans (at an average ticket price of £400) to decide not to renew to actually be worse off than price freezing. Then there's the lost match day revenue.

Very crude maths I know, but it will be marginal the benefit to the financials from doing it.

7 hours ago, fgrsimon said:

Has it been decided fully how much loss can be written off due to Covid yet? We can't be the only club to have made a huge loss from 2020-2021, I read somewhere that Stoke lost a lot more than us?  Others must be similar to ourselves with no PP I would have thought  (Cardiff, Boro, Forest maybe?) 

EFL announced £5m allowances, however several clubs are pushing for that to be increased.

2 hours ago, GrahamC said:

But then Klose is not so much encroaching as almost beyond Dack by the time he takes it.

Amazed it wasn’t re-taken.

That bit he got right.. the encroaching player has to make a material impact to be an offence. So if Klose had cleared after the save then it should be re-taken.

5 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

They wouldn’t overlook anyone. They are the epitome of thorough 

Indeed.. it will be the large potential transfer fee we will pay (if bonuses are triggered) that excluded him from the list.

1 hour ago, BTRFTG said:

 

Some folks just don't get it.

Ashley acquired £65m of debt when buying the club. That has to be serviced. He loaned, interest-free let it be known, £144m to pay off the debt and invest in club improvements. To date only £33m of that loan has been repaid.

Profits made during the intervening years are retained by the club and are their assets, which Ashley will recoup once he sells it. That's why he refused to be pushed out without a deal that suited him. In almost the anthesis of the Glazers he hasn't had need to cash strip the asset, rather he'll make his money via capital appreciation of the asset at sale. Smart move from him.

It's also interesting how folks see 'profits' (sic). Now were they the difference between income and the actual costs of running the club that would be fine, but those reported aren't. I've already highlighted Ashley, like SL, advanced huge discounted loans to the club. They come at cost, though not in year to the club.

Sports Direct only briefly in 2011 'sponsored' Newcastle, but as the fans kicked up so much fuss over the stadium name the deal died a death and was quickly replaced by the Wonga deal. How appropriate, sponsored by a shyster payday loan operation, robbing Peter to pay Paul, only quickly to go bust themselves, leaving a trail of debt in their wake.

Otherwise Sports Direct only advertise at St James' and it's worth, well that depends upon the quality of the product? I've seen mention of the £1m per season post 2015 and £2m for 2020 but have no other commercial detail. Doubtless there were relegation clauses considered. I'd have to look at the balance sheet to see whether the difference in what was contracturally payable and that which has been paid has been accounted for. Could be Newcastle are owed a considerable sum by Sports Direct, which will be accounted for when the club is sold.

As for revenue - so what? You'll note the top two 'earners' on that list hold somewhat unusual incorporations. They are fan 'owned' and for good reason. Both are technically bankrupt and that's a political way of keeping them going. It's only the fear by Spanish Banks of pulling the plug that allows them to exist. They're the social collective, magic money tree made form. Fans who claim ownership yet don't have a pot to p*ss in. Only this week Barca's auditors reminded disgruntled fans that were the club a PLC or Ltd enterprise they'd cease trading immediately.

With the sheer volume of the 'greatest fans in the world' (sic), I could never fathom why Newcastle didn't follow suit ....

Totally agree that some just don't get it. The fans didn't dislike Ashley because of the finances. I think most would agree that he managed to keep them solvent (although other clubs have also done so without the other crap he has done to players, ex players, managers etc).

49 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

You sound like a true Geordie.

So fans were only too glad to take & spend sponsorship money from Sports Direct but object to then having to use its name? Just how do they think such things work?

The removal of Robson's statue was a fan promoted, urban myth, though I think police had raised safety objections re it's location given its focus for fan demonstrations spilling out onto the adjacent carriageways.

It may come as a surprise to many but Ashley doesn't spend his days managing the club, he handsomely pays a chief executive to do that. It took but 6 years after Ashley's acquisition for Shearer's name to be dropped from the bar and the reason for so doing was simply nobody went there. It had become dilapidated & was dying on its arse,  hence as with such 'fad' premises it was wholly refurbished and rebranded to attract a different clientelle, not just the Saturday football crowd. Shearer (doubtless aided by an envelope of cash,) was so upset he's plastered all over the reopening with comments about how great a venue it is and how the new name better reflects Newcastle's heritage.

Recall Ashley so wanted to distance himself from the previous regime he, er,  appointed Shearer as interim manager, with disastrous consequence. Hero to Zero faster than their crowds fall when on a losing streak.

As for ticket prices. This season they've the 13th cheapest ticket in The Premier, they're 14th on average weighting and 8th most expensive (but that's for their Platinum Club.) The bulk of their tickets aren't that dissimilar from what we pay at AG.

So like a Monty Python sketch all that's left to ask is 'What Did Mike Ashley Ever Do For Newcastle?' 

Kept them afloat, that's what.

 

What sponsorship money? Sports Direct didn't pay anything (up to 2018 at least and I doubt during COVID that would change) for the advertising. There was a promise made in 2018 that eventually Sports Direct would start paying £2m per season.. but that promise was also made in 2015.

EDIT: I see in 2019 they did pay £1m for sponsorship.. not bad for 12 years of advertising.

1 hour ago, 2015 said:

The funny thing is Mike Ashley actually did a good job as their owner and they can't even see it

I think that depends on what you define as a "good job". If you mean making sure they remain solvent, then yes he did that. If you consider every other element then he did poorly. 

His treatment of club legends was disgusting (Shearer, Keegan etc). His treatment of players was despicable. His hiring of executive staff make Mark Ashton look like a footballing genius, and we won't mention Dennis Wise/Joe Kinnear or renaming the stadium after his own retail interest.

I was a Newcastle season ticket holder growing up and worked at the stadium as a teen, but the man genuinely made me fall out of love with football. It was only when I moved down to the south west and started going to City (my boys wanted to go to a match and I didn't want them supporting one of the Manchester/London teams) that I started getting the love back. 

Wiles-Richards sent off in the 28th minute. We go up the other end and Benarous gets a penalty which Britton scores.

Seems like an entertaining first half.

Tanner starts

Are we still saying we should have got Chris Hughton to guarantee playoffs?

Tonight was poor, but I still say we're much better than last season. We can't afford new players, so who realistically will do a better job?

The way they are warming up suggests Pisano at LB with Kelly as CB 

Was Slocombe the keeper that had his arm broken by Matt Smith when we played Scunthorpe? 

1 minute ago, Fiale said:

Yes he's also scored for them

Really?  You would think somebody would have mentioned it.. 

Has burns really just scored 7 goals? 

Premier League ref Lee Mason is officiating tonight.. If I remember rightly he was ref for the West Ham game last season.. hopefully a similar performance from the boys as that match.. but with a better result!!

Yep, which proves my point further. The poster I quoted were writing us off for a play off challenge..

Bournemouth only had 9 points after 8 games last season..

Tut tut Reading.. confusing us with Rovers:

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/steve-clarke-transfer-activity-230715-2566651.aspx?

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Breaking-news-Bristol-Rovers-lose-crucial/story-26891154-detail/story.html

Rovers have lost the case.