Ashley’s spin to win?
Posted on February 25th, 2010 | 42 Comments |
Which begs the question, is that because there’s some truth in it or is it because Mr Edwards has just rehashed the same thread? As they state in the article, The Journal wrote before Christmas that Ashley was loaning the club £20m cover running costs, following the drop in revenue and the limit on cutbacks to wages, which has enabled Hughton to maintain a decent squad.
Some fairly erudite contributors to this site have estimated that rather than struggling to breakeven, Ashley might even be turning a small profit, with the increase in crowds. And these are the people who aren’t necessarily ‘anti-Ashley’ as it were. Yet the feed from the club is, hardly surprisingly, somewhat different.
In the words of the source:
“Newcastle United couldn’t survive at the moment without Mike’s money, it’s as simple as that. If Mike and the banks weren’t willing to cover the cost of relegation Newcastle may well be in a Portsmouth situation. It is costing Mike £500,000-a-week this season to keep Newcastle running without making further cutbacks, yet some people are saying the club should be able to wipe its own mouth, that it should be able to run by itself with the income coming in.”
“You can not lose £50m in revenue and expect not to have to take a hit, particularly when you have the overheads Newcastle have.”
“The wage bill was reduced, but it’s still way too big for the Championship.”
So where does the truth lie?
Can we still be making this sort of loss? Even considering slashing the wage bill almost in half, adding in parachute payments, also considering that the estimated drop in attendances isn’t as drastic as first thought. It’s not clear yet what we will have made from televised games but we’ve been on the box more this season than any I can remember in recent years.
The accounts will be published soon enough and it might mean giving a clearer indication of what has been going on. But it will only tell some of the tale in reality. But the evidence so far, suggests that the club is a going concern now and Ashley may soon hold the aces if we get promoted.
The article in question suggests that promotion is essential to avoid haemorrhaghing more money. But the reality is that, even if he is bankrolling us on a weekly basis, promotion will ensure that deficit is covered and then some.
Which should leave him in a position to sell a club which is eminently more saleable or to make a fist of this football lark and see what happens. The likelihood in my own eyes, is that he will jump ship at the first opportunity if he can claw back some of his money and subsequently call in his loans when he does, including the ‘big loan’ which paid off the original debt. But even if he isn’t able to sell immediately, for every season we’re in the Premiership, with a reduced wage bill and overall outgoings, he will continue to put a dent in his losses.
Either way, it leads you to wonder whether it’s all just spin from the club, in order to pacify a set of supporters he probably imagines he can now turn in his favour. Has Ashley reached the point where he thinks that reconciliation is a possibility. The inevitable question is though, why not just come out and say something if he intends to stick around? Tell everybody what the crack is and state your intentions. Otherwise bin the spin.
NUFCBlog Author: bowburnmag
bowburnmag has written 234 articles on this blog.
I’m happy that we have a bit of stability at the moment. It’s been a long time. I’m just looking at the football, not querying the owner’s motives. Only he knows what they are. Doubt they’re as cynical as everybody thinks.