[新聞] SSN：胖子證實他想賣掉俱樂部

[lapoto ()]

Mike Ashley - Official Statement


I have enjoyed sport since I was a boy. I love football. I have followed
England in every tournament since Mexico '86. I was there to see Maradona
and his hand of God. I know what it means to love football and to love a
club. I know how important it is to other people because football is so
important to me.


My life has been tied up with sport. It was the passion that I felt for sport
that helped me to be successful with my business. That success allowed me to
mix my passion and my business.


I bought Newcastle United in May 2007. Newcastle attracted me because
everyone in England knows that it has the best fans in football. When the
fans are behind the club at St James' Park it makes the hairs on the back of
your neck stand up. It is magic. Newcastle's best asset has been, is and
always will be the fans.


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.


Don't get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle
because I love football. Newcastle does not generate the income of a
Manchester United or a Real Madrid. I am Mike Ashley, not Mike Ashley a
multi-billionaire with unlimited resources. Newcastle United and I can't do
what other clubs can. We can't afford it.


I knew that the club would cost me money every year after I had bought it. I
have backed the club with money. You can see that from the fact that
Newcastle has the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League. I was always
prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of ￡20 million per year but
no more. That was my bargain. I would make the club solvent. I would make it
a going concern. I would pour up to ￡20 million a year into the club and not
expect anything back. It has to be realised that if I put ￡100 million into
the club year in year out then it would not be too long before I was cleaned
out and a debt ridden Newcastle United would find itself in the position that
faced Leeds United.


That is the nightmare for every fan. To love a club that overextends itself,
that tries to spend what it can't afford.


That will never happen to Newcastle when I am in charge. The truth is that
Newcastle could not sustain buying the Shevchenkos, Robinhos or the
Berbatovs. These are recognised European footballers. They have played in the
European leagues and everyone knows about them. They can be brilliant
signings. But everybody knows that they are brilliant and so they, and
players like them, cost more than ￡30 million to buy before you even take
into account agent commissions and the multi-million pound wage deals.


My plan and my strategy for Newcastle is different. It has to be. Arsenal is
the shining example in England of a sustainable business model. It takes
time. It can't be done overnight. Newcastle has therefore set up an extensive
scouting system. We look for young players, for players in foreign leagues
who everyone does not know about. We try and stay ahead of the competition.
We search high and low looking for value, for potential that we can bring on
and for players who will allow Newcastle to compete at the very highest level
but who don't cost the earth. I am prepared to back large signings for
millions of pounds but for a player who is young and has their career in
front of them and not for established players at the other end of their
careers. There is no other workable way forward for Newcastle. It is in this
regard that Dennis and his team have done a first class job in scouting for
talent to secure the future of the club.


You only need to look at some of our signings to see that it is working,
slowly working. Look at Jonas Guttierrez and Fabricio Collocini. These are
world class players. The plan is showing dividends with the signing of
exceptional young talent such as Sebastein Bassong, Danny Guthrie and Xisco.
My investment in the club has extended to time, effort and yet again, money
being poured into the Academy. I want Newcastle to be able to create its own
legends of the future to rival those of the past. This is a long term plan. A
long term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish.


One person alone can't manage a Premiership football club and scout the world
looking for world class players and stars of the future. It needs a structure
and it needs people who are dedicated to that task. It needs all members of
the management team to share that vision for it to work.


Also one of the reasons that the club was so in debt when I took over was due
to transfer dealings caused by managers moving in and out of the club. Every
time there was a change in manager millions would be spent on new players and
millions would be lost as players were sold. It can't keep on working like
that. It is just madness.


I have put Newcastle on a sound financial footing. It is reducing its debt.
It is spending within itself. It is recruiting exciting new players and
bringing in players for the future.


The fans want this process to happen more quickly and they want huge amounts
spent in the transfer market so that the club can compete at the top table of
European football now. I am not stupid and have listened to the fans. I have
really loved taking my kids to the games, being next to them and all the
fans. But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a
Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no
longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United.


I am putting the club up for sale. I hope that the fans get what they want
and that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the
club that the fans want.


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.


I am still a fan of Newcastle United. We, my kids and I, have loved standing
on the terraces with the fans, we have loved travelling with the away fans
and we have met so many fans whose company we have enjoyed. We have
absolutely loved it but it is not safe anymore for us as a family.


I am very conscious of the responsibility that I bear in owning Newcastle
United. 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.


I don't want anyone to read my words and think that any of this is an attack
on Kevin Keegan. It is not. Kevin and I always got on. Everyone at the club,
and I mean everyone, thinks that he has few equals in getting the best out of
the players. He is a legend at the club and rightly so. Clearly there are
disagreements between Kevin and the Board and we have both put that in the
hands of our lawyers.


I hope that all the fans get to read this statement so that they understand
what I am about. I would not expect all of the fans to agree with me. But I
have set out, clearly, my plan. If I can't sell the club to someone who will
give the fans what they want then I shall continue to ensure that Newcastle
is run on a business and football model that is sustainable. I care too much
about the club merely to abandon it.


I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you.
You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do but it won't happen
overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in.


You don't need to demonstrate against me again because I have got the
message. Any further action will only have an adverse effect on the team. As
fans of Newcastle United you need to spend your energy getting behind, not
me, but the players who need your support.


I am determined that Newcastle United is not only here today, but that it is
also there tomorrow for your children who stand beside you at St James' Park.


Mike Ashley.
Sunday 14th September 2008



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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 118.168.200.195
推 u1302094:消息來源是週日郵報。他們說有個中國富商（！）想出手...
→ lapoto:週日郵報的是舊的了 SSN這個是剛剛出的XD
→ lapoto:國外討論區的update速度很快 XDDD
推 u1302094:世界新聞報說「啊不然你們一人給我一千鎊啊」XD
→ lapoto:中國富商聽說叫做許榮茂 我查一下他的wiki 應該還是比胖子
→ lapoto:有錢 XD
→ u1302094:－如果真要搞到成立Supporter's Trust運作新堡聯的話恐怕
→ lapoto:但就比不上印度人了
→ u1302094:是英超歷史頭一回，不過會先被扣10分。(￣﹏￣|||)
→ lapoto:我總覺得胖子他其實也未必真的那麼糟 但他處理事情的方式
→ lapoto:簡直就像是10幾的小孩一樣幼稚
→ lapoto:我們現在目標是保級 XD 再被扣10分實在太不適合我們了
→ lapoto:來了來了 胖子發了官方聲明 讓我更新一下這篇
※ 編輯: lapoto          來自: 118.168.200.195      (09/15 00:36)
→ lapoto:我想所有球迷都該看一下這篇 不管你是認為他在說假話還真話
→ lapoto:至少這是他第一次誠實的面對球迷他對這個俱樂部的計畫
→ lapoto:只是很遺憾他是在打算出售俱樂部之後才真正打算面對球迷
推 puremorning:我是新警察 但是這季新補強的人看起來都不錯
→ puremorning:英國有鄉民支持wise的嗎?
→ lapoto:英國"紐卡"鄉民目前我沒看到有支持Wise的
→ lapoto:最主要也有個原因是Keegan的聲明蠻針對Wise的 所以更不可能
→ lapoto:有人支持他 癥結點在於 Wise並沒有遵守他當初來的承諾
→ lapoto:Wise說他不會在KK背後搞東搞西 但實際上他確實做了
→ lapoto:KK的兩次聲明都可以看出他對Wise相當不滿意
→ lapoto:連Sir Bobby的專欄都對Wise頗有微詞 就知道他多不受歡迎
→ lapoto:Sir Bobby很賭爛一群住在倫敦的人來管紐卡 所以他一直說
→ lapoto:Wise該滾蛋
推 royalksdmc:open your eyes the problem is wise