Newcastle owner drops a £27m bomb on Tyneside: The club is STILL swimming in debt!
by offsidetrap on August 13th, 2008
| 363 words |
If you were a staunch supporter of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley before today (and, honestly, who isn’t?), then this next bit of news might have you hopping over to the other side of the fence. We like to call it the “pessimist pasture”. It appears Ashley, who took over the club last year, didn’t do his “due diligence” when he bought the club from the Hall family. Because of it, the current owner says that the club is in for a long road ahead.
Newcastle’s billionaire owner Mike Ashley has revealed that the club owe £27million for players bought before he took over last year.
In a rare interview in a new, official club magazine, Ashley admits that he did not perform due diligence before buying Newcastle from the Hall family because the deal was completed so quickly.
With the full details of the club’s financial situation now emerging, Magpies’ fans may point to the debt as the reason why the club have been reluctant to spend on new players this summer.
Despite putting in £100m over the past year to reduce debts, Ashley has only sanctioned the signing of two new players so far, Danny Guthrie and Jonas Gutierrez, with manager Kevin Keegan hoping to sign at least three more before the transfer window closes. (ESPN Soccernet)
So that’s why Newcastle hasn’t been a big buyer this year! I guess when you walk into a club like Newcastle, it’s A-OK to just sign the paperwork and walk out the door as the new owner of an English football club. At least that’s what Ashley wants us to believe.
In all honesty, this is just another major blunder by Newcastle in what can be called an auspicious summer gone bad. Kevin Keegan made it clear from the start that the club needed 4-6 quality signings this summer. From the looks of things, the club will end the summer with only two signings, and a inept owner to boot! Add in the current credit crunch, and there’s a good chance this situation won’t be getting better anytime soon.
What do Newcastle supporters think about Ashley’s comments? Is the club headed for some serious trouble in the future?
We're giving you £10 FREE so show some bollocks and BET NOW!
Tagged Under: newcastle fc, Premier League, rumours
Anonymous - August 13th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
newcastle united are always like a football fans canary down the mine
no matter how fcuked up your club gets, u can always look at poor poor newcastle!
Scoobyslapper - August 14th, 2008 at 6:07 am
£27m is not swimming in debt you fool. Its one Dimitar Berbatov for god sake.
Try all you like, the days of Newcastle being the joke of the premier league are over.
We are very happy with our club now that Shepard has gone and also happy with the 4 signings we have made.
Jog on….
John McCann - August 14th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Mike Ashley has done a good job so far, invested in the club, brought in a new mangement structure and team. I do not understand why he is lambasted at every turn. There will be more signings another two, we have signed three not two as your article suggests. Mike is the guy who is commercially astute, he’s 40 and a self made billionaire. To suggest that he is inept is quite unbelivable. We’ll get there with this man it will just take time.
Graham - August 14th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Not that i’m one to pick you report to pieces - but here goes anyway…..
1. “Ashley admits that he did not perform due diligence before buying Newcastle from the Hall family because the deal was completed so quickly”.
Keep up - this was reported about a month after Ashley took over - just as he admited that he had put in £100m to clear the majority of the debts.
2. “The club is STILL swimming in debt” -
£27m swimming? At premiership level that is hardly paddling you class 1 fool. The Glazer family at Man Utd. owe interest alone of about £100m which is guaranteed on the club. Chelsea have posted massive losses year on year since Abramavich took over. Liverpool can’t afford an above average midfielder in Gareth Barry. In short, Newcastle are probably one of the safest premier league clubs around. The only reason Ashley hasn’t settled the £27m debt is that there is no interest to pay on it as it’s owed to clubs - not banks!
3. “Ashley has only sanctioned the signing of two new players so far, Danny Guthrie and Jonas Gutierrez”
What happend to Sebastien Bassong? And Collocini is only a registration paper away from being one of the best central defenders in the league. There will be at least two additional signings on top of the 4 mentioned here.
4. “and a inept owner to boot! ”
You obviously found it very easy to aquire your £2bn fortune then? Ashley has stabalised a club which, due to the previous regime was on its last legs. What has been done over the last year is for the long term not just for now like Chelsea, Man City etc etc. I only hope you write similar stories about clubs like these when they finally go under when the owners call in their debts.
Looney Toon - August 14th, 2008 at 6:52 am
We have always been seen as buying expensive and selling cheap. Boumsong, Cort, Viana and the list goes on. It’s not me to say what we should or should not do, but the previous board is totally at fault with all the this mess. Paying someone spending more time on the table for 100k a week is really ridiculous. Hats off to mike ashley, you dont see any other club owner wearing the clubs jersey at every home games!! My gut feeling that we are gonna do a leeds united….
Mimo - August 14th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Have to say to offsidetrap why don’t you spend some more time in hibernation because it appears that when you are awake you are prone to spouting garbage. My advice is to stop believing the lies spread by the national media and start acting like a Newcastle fan. The issue of 27 million pounds is not worth all the trash written about it and only highlights the strong anti Newcastle United bias in the national press.
Looney Toon - August 14th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Agreed with you mimo, too much negative press on us. From barton to the 27 million we owe… Damien Duff hat trick anyone?
Mick Chuck - August 14th, 2008 at 8:19 am
what a useless waste of time reading that load of utter tosh that was. the author of that article must be the biggest wank known to man kind in the history of forever. i can’t believe you spent time writing that shit. why not put it towards something constructive and profitable to the human race like oh umm suicide??
Naha - August 14th, 2008 at 8:38 am
27 mil? Isnt that about 5% of Man Utd’s total debt? If we are swimming, then they are probably buried beneath the bottom of the ocean. Lets not even talk about the amount of debts Chelski is in.
spyro - August 14th, 2008 at 9:40 am
newcastle are an unfashionable side who are a million miles away from ever qualifying for europe. They are looking like strong relegation candidates and once they are down you can add another30-40mill to there debt.
Karl - August 14th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Unfashionable? Seriously… Which Armani-esque club would you have us support?
fife ftf - August 14th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I’m with Graham. It’s a forming a stable bed for future success (UEFA-entry, maybe a cup in next few years)