How have the ton-up club fared in the Premier League?

Posted on May 23rd, 2010 | 177 Comments |

Our history making team.
Our history making team.
When the curtain drew shut on the season just gone, Newcastle became only the fourth team since the shake up of the football pyramid to amass more than 100 points. But does that accolade stand us in good stead for our return to the Premier League?

Aside from us, the other teams that are part of the ton-up club are the dirty tramps from down the road, Fulham and Reading. I wondered what exactly this meant, so spurred on by an idea from one of our fellow ‘bloggers, Richietoon, I decided to see just how they fared back in in the big time, and the results are rather surprising, certainly more surprising than I thought they would be.

Sunderland – Promoted 1998/1999 with 105 points.

They pretty much romped the division back in 98/99, and had pretty much the same sort of points difference between themselves and 3rd placed Ipswich as we had over 3rd placed Nottingham Forest this time around. They unfortunately took the Premier League by storm and finished up in 7th place, far exceeding the expectations of many. They stayed in the Premier League for four years until they eventually bowed out with a record low 19 points in 2003.

Fulham – Promoted 2000/2001 with 101 points.

Fulham coach at the time, Jean Tigana, managed to build on Kevin Keegan’s ground work and guide the then minnows to the Premier League whilst becoming the second member of the 100+ point club. The fairytale was complete, although it was significantly helped by their owner throwing an absoulute fortune into the club, a fortune that Fulham still owe some of today, on top of interest charges. That money helped them in consolidating in the Premier League and they finished 13th in their first season, the worst of the performers out of the ton-up club, depsite all the money that was spent. They have yet to be relegated again, thats if they ever end up being relegated of course.

Reading – Promoted 2005/2006 with 106 points.

Another rags to riches story in a simlar vein to that of Fulham. John Madejski bought the club and took them up the leagues, and ultimately into the Premier League where they were tipped to go straight back down. They didn’t, and they were the surprise package of the season as they finished 8th in the table. The next season they loooked comfortable in mid-table but hit a patch of real bad form which they couldn’t recover from and ultimately led to their relegation after only two seasons in the Premier League.

Now I know what people are thinking, and that is probably that these teams outlayed a lot of money to ensure survival. Whilst that is true in the case of Fulham, who spent just over £30 million, it isn’t the case with the other two.

Sunderland spent £9.8 million on new players to secure their Premier League status, most of which was offset by £8.2 million of player sales. So in real terms, the only new money buys totalled £1.6 million, which isn’t a massive amount.

It’s the same case with Reading, who relied on loans and free transfers to secure their survival, aswell as players picked up on the cheap previously like Kevin Doyle. Their outlay was around £4 million, which was good enough to secure survival only three years ago.

So what does this tell us? It tells us that no team that has hit the 100 point barrier since the invention of the Premier League has been relegated the season after promotion. The fact is that we have been much better than the rest of the league, as these teams were, so there is no reason why we can’t follow in their footsteps.

Don’t get me wrong, we need to strengthen the squad. But what we do have is a solid base to build on that with a couple of astute signings could ensure survival pretty comfortably in my opinion. Those are the thoughts that are echoed by Chris Hughton and by the bookmakers aswell, and we all have to hope it works out that way in the end.

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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177 Responses

  1. and,does that mean coz we broke 100 mark were going to stay in the prem..thank good and he i am worrying we didnt have a good enough or big enough squad…..happy days :wink:

  2. The point is that these teams did it, with weak squads that weren’t big enough, so why can’t we?

    The facts are that 100% of the teams that managed 100 points have stayed up.

    Of course that may channge next season ;)

  3. Which, as I make it, is precisely the opposite of ‘nowt’.
    Why do some people on here want to be depressed?

  4. I’ve got a feeling those are real, most are dismissing them but I reckon they’re genuine. I’m a big fan of the away strip, home strip’s boring but I won’t be buying it so that’s aight. Hope we have white shorts this year, I far prefer our kits with white shorts and socks. Think the blue of the away kits nice. Could’ve been a lot worse as far as I’m concerned, although I still feel Nike make the nicest footy kits by far. (Apart from Manures rank kits for this year!)

  5. Shite looking shirts I think. Not liking the fake stick-on badges personally ;)

  6. Good article Toonsy.

    I think we,ll stay up with a few additions to the suad,and i dont mean maga million pound signings,its just as well int it.

  7. the scum had 94 then went back down the following season..just because we put 100+ points on the board dosnt make us serts to stay up.EH

  8. Investment needed Toonsy whichever way you look at it…what happens once the first team start to get suspensions and injuries….non of our kids have much 1st team experience even at championship level and will be made to look like Chumps and Bozo’s by hardened prem players.

    10 million on a Striker and another 19M inclusive of the Sale money for Steven Taylor from Arsenal ;lol;

  9. SJT – Hence this line from the article:

    “Don’t get me wrong, we need to strengthen the squad. But what we do have is a solid base to build on”

    ;)

  10. We have some decent players Toonsy…we do need serious strengthening though before the start of the new season-Not just Kids and Loans..the board need to invest now and ship out some of the crap as well.

  11. Good bit of research Toonsy , i think also compared to those teams we have a squad with alot of prem expirence in it , meaning our players should be more capable of hitting the ground running .

  12. Shola,Ranger and Best will not get a sniff of goal if owt happens to Carroll and Lovenkrands that is certain.

  13. Axel…the Midfield is not known for running…not very quickly anyway :)

  14. There’s Only 1 Mike Ashley
    1 Mike Ashley !!
    There’s Only 1 Mike Ashley
    1 Mike Ashley !!

    Don’t think this one will catch on much ;lol:

  15. We love You Owl Heed we Do
    We love You Owl Heed we Do
    We love You Owl Heed we Do
    OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
    Owl Heed We love you !!

  16. Hitman – Our startin XI has played over 1400 Prem games in. They have made the step up, they know what the prem is about.

    Hopefully this time round the bedsheets and bad decisions will be avoided and the players can just focus on what they have done for years, play Prem football.

  17. Don’t worry Hitman…Big Mick will save us.

    He knows how to run the club,has all the transfers lined up ready to swoop….major investment on the horizon….the 5 year plan is in place and nothing can stop us now.

  18. Lads im sure if there is stability we will be ok and should stay up easy, But I do think we need strenghtning in a couple of places. I agree with CH that the team for next year should be built round the bulk of last years squad as they are the one’s that have earned the chance.

  19. Oh when Owl Heed
    Oh when Owl Heed
    Oh when Owl Heed comes marching in….
    I wanna be in the number
    When Owl Heed comes marching in…

  20. toonsy says:
    May 23, 2010 at 4:39 pm
    Hitman – Our startin XI has played over 1400 Prem games in. They have made the step up, they know what the prem is about.

    and we know how that ended toonsy..
    nar m8 just think were lacking upfront and at rb,lb..im not to worried about the mid like we have plenty of quality there maybe rw is a worry..

  21. Nowt wrong with adding depth and experience Dave…just don’t want a load of kids and rejects making up the numbers.

  22. Dave – Put that common sense away, it’s misunderstood on here at the minute ;)

  23. You will be catching Ed Harrison up soon-He bashes out 150 a week :lol:

  24. Stability, happy dressing room, watch the money, under 26 and under fifteen grand a week, what a lot of loosers !
    Screw that I want a team with pace and talent, dont give a shit how old they are or what they are on a week.
    As long as they play attractive football, would rather see a not so successful team that entertained me (after all it`s show business)than a plodding robotic Big Sam type team that plays the percentages.
    I wanna see some foooootball !

  25. At this very moment, NUFC will be a favorite over Blackpool and even with WB-A at SJP. Will be even with Blackpool away. All else, NUFC will be underdogs.

  26. Pity we couldn’t sign “The Librarian” he is a brilliant GK.

    SJT, surprised you would make such a negative comment, theres nowt wrong with the right “Kids” and rejects.

  27. Are you taking into account that this has been the worst Championship ever?

    I don’t think we’ll get relegated next season but it won’t be a long stay in the PL if we have to be as frugile as we have been under Ashley for the next five years.

  28. Hitman I sort of agree with you I wouldn’t say no to a proven prem striker BUT I do think Carroll will make the step up, and I would love to see Lovens giving the chance to make it in the prem as I think he can do it. Our mid of Jonas, Joey, Guthrie and Routledge would do ok the only worry there was that Routledge looked a bit easy through about in some games, but if that happens we have stronger boys to cover. Our 1st choice defence last year of Jose, Collo, Taylor and Simpson looked strong. My worry there is Simpson as he had a few bad times but I put that down to injury though if we could get a good proven RB I would take him or maybe we can put S Taylor there and put williamson in CM.

  29. Toonsy I sadi don’t mention the mackems man ;-)
    Stuart,and on what basis is it the worst championship ever?

  30. Richietoon, did you see most of the teams? I couldn’t believe how bad most were.

  31. chuck I know what you mean but I think times have changed and we have to accept it as there is FA we can do about it. Dont get me wrong I would love for us to go back to the way things were in the KK roller coaster years, when we feared no one and most feared coming to SJP. but I think that has gone now never to be seen again :(

  32. Reading where we have been linked to Kallstrom who is currently with Lyon.
    The comments in regard to that claim, were typical of the present mindset of a majority of the fans.
    Oh! he would never come, he`s 28 too old, this is a guy who plays for a very successful and well run club, one which if we need to emulate, would be the perfect operatiom.
    But a club is also listed well below NUFC in value.
    My point is THINK BIG, punch your weight, stop being such whiners about Asleys billion+ fortune.
    Other EPL owners dont constantly cry about outlay and spend readily every season, if MA wants to keep crying,
    to hell with it SELL !

  33. I agree Dave unless we are taken over by someone that can afford to invest properly we will just be in limbo for the next few years.

    I just don’t think the Board know what they are doing and I am sick of hearing them plead poverty…if you can’t afford to run the club then get it sold,cut your losses and FK OFF !!

  34. Any decent player we identify and go after will end up joining other clubs once the have seen the wages we will be offering….that is probably why Steven Taylor will be sold as he will want wages that are beyond our current means.

  35. I did Stuart but its always been like that in the championship/old second division but when I started watching the Toon we were worse than at least 75% of the teams I’ve seen this season.I don’t think the standard is worse than it has been before,the football is definately played on the ground more than back then but that’s because there’s still grass on the pitch come October.
    At the end of the day you beat what’s in front of you poor or not mate.Now that new strip,that’s worse than it ever has been before ;-)

  36. Chuck

    “Other EPL owners dont constantly cry about outlay and spend readily every season, if MA wants to keep crying,
    to hell with it SELL !”

    He tried to… twice.

  37. Why do we have so many posters complaining that we are showing no ambition in the transfer market, when it there are still two months left and Hughton has stated we won’t sign anyone until after the world cup?

  38. Big Dave
    You just made my point, Aaaaaaaarrrrgghh !

    That`s the mindset that i`m talking about, it`s a passive what can we do about it, let`s not make a scene, accept any old shit attitude.
    Well it`s not one that i can live with, if the owner is loath to provide the funds to at least build a competitive side, then sell or take heat from the fans, not a difficult concept to grasp !

  39. SJT there is only one problem with that Who’s going to buy us, So for now we are stuck with MA. I was reading through earlier and seen someone saying that Moat couldn’t even afford the 80mill but they need to remember that there was 115mill that had to be paid straight away, So it was 200mill for a CCC side. But I still live in the hope that he will surprise us and we will end up with a few good players but even more so I would like to see the back of Lambs-arse and get a Football Brain Chairman in to replace him.

  40. Hughton is the one man at Newcastle i do trust these days.
    So if he says he won’t be signing anyone until the end of June. Then I think we are just going to have to be patient. Because noone will come in until the end of June.

  41. I reckon Ashley will give £40m to spend with the aim of getting at least a Europa cup place or alternatively I may just be a little pissed and have a touch of sun stroke ;-)

  42. Chuck as I said I know where your coming from and I do understand. But what can we do we cant make him sell and we cant make someone buy, we’re fuked its not something I like to live with but I have to live with it ;)

  43. Dave that may have been me about Moat but I said he couldn’t raise the £80m to buy plus the cash to run it i.e transfer budget,debt payments etc.Like I said I think we’re stuck with him and he’s stuck with us…..obviously that’s less of a hardship for hi though ;-)

  44. Look this club is in no worse a financial position than the majority of the EPL clubs and in much better shape than many.
    As for Ashley, his fortune is steadily improving, even during this financial meltdown.
    But here we are begging for loanees from clubs we were on par with during the Sir Bobby years, teams who feared coming to St. James`s Park.
    If this is what you want , then it`s what you deserve.
    Got more respect for the bedsheet guys at least they got balls.

  45. Moat would have been worse than MA-Much more penny pinching and he is supposed to be a right shitheed as well.

    Mike could have sold but wanted to make a massive profit so everyone told him to get stuffed…remember he used to put the club up for sale just before a transfer window…Clever that :)

  46. richietoon the only problem was that it wasnt £80m he had to raise it was £200m just to own the club. Now I am Toon daft but I think that was a bit much for a CCC side

  47. Dave @ 61 – I agree. I don’t like it myself, but as I don’t know any multi-billionaire Newcastle fans there is feck all I can do about it.

    End of the day, people can kick and scream as much as they want, but it aint gonna get them anywhere or make Ashley throw the cash around anymore. He proved that last season.

    Lets see what happens on Thursday or Friday of this week ;)

  48. He priced the club out of the reach of most/all buyers on purpose.
    Big Mick knows a cash cow when he sees one.

  49. SJT – Name 1 club that is a cash cow? Now name another cash cow that is losing £30 million a year, and has done for the last 4 season.

  50. Thats also what I said Dave even if he asks for the £80m again with the money owed to him would take the price to over £200m,nobody will pay that for us even as an EPL team.

    Chuck it’s not what we want but there is not a thing we can do…nothing.

  51. Get Granny outta bed we need the sheets, what can we do about it, protest !
    But the one thing that would get MA`s attention, would be empty seats.
    No one brought in, no season tickets bought.
    A general refusal to buy seats until the team is strengthened.
    Would you buy a ticket for a movie or play where the actors names were not supplied ?

  52. Agree Chuck…dunno why he bought the club anyway…oh I remember now…trying to keep up with Dave Wheelan his old Mate.

    If you cant afford the petrol don’t buy a sports car.

  53. But if we don’t spend money, that means there is absolutely no chance of investment. Income will drop below expenditure and players will get sold to address the shortfall.

    Over 3 months to go before the window shuts and the knives are oot already. Comical :roll:

  54. Chuck we did protest are were you away then?….no effect what so ever.Why would any protest bother someone who has no feeling for the club.
    Stay away…….then what does he do? sells of players to make up for the financial loss or puts his own cash in and then we owe him even more money!!!!! any more bright ideas?

  55. Toonsy-If it’s losing that much cash and he can’t afford to fix the leaking bucket he should get the club sold,cut his loses and move on.

  56. Sjt do you not remember the for sale signs have been up before.
    As for protests I spent most of my life involved in protests, sometimes peacefull and sometimes not and TBH it hasn’t got me anywhere.

  57. SJT – You cant fix leaks like that overnight. It has been losing tens of million for years now, even before his arrival. He stopped the interest payments on the debt, but the long expensive contracts a load of our old players, and a lot of current ones are on will take much longer to sort out, in fact they probably would have been sorted the season just gone had we avoided relegation as Geremi, Owen and Butt would all have gone anyway.

  58. Sale signs up and the price too high.
    MA needs to invest properly and deliver a team that excites and plays with passion..instead of scraping up the leftovers from the bargain basement.

    I mean players like Leon Best wouldn’t even get a game at Whitley Bay never mind a premiership club.

  59. What happened to youse guys, usta be proper fans ?
    Guess you`all been subjected to the same old, Mike`s a good guy and has saved the club and we have to cut our cloth accordingly, yes, we cant afford this or that.
    In fact many fans on this blog are quite willing to settle for a second class club.
    Look at the facts, there`s going to be no debt taken on by the club, ergo short term ownership by Mike, prepare the club for selling.
    Only spend what`s required to prevent another relegation.
    The plans are obviously not long term, so screw this guy we owe him nothing.
    And stop being such a bunch of apologists for this regime, it`s unbecoming.

  60. We would have avoided relegation if he had of spent money in the january window and stopped putting the club on and off the market like an idiot.

  61. He can afford to Jason mate,he doesn’t want to.Like I said he has no feel for the club so why would he want to spend anymore of his cash than he has to? Nobody wants to or can afford to buy the club at the moment so were stuck with him.The only way he can sell is to clear the debts and make it a more attractive buy,unfortunately one way of doing that is not spending as much as we would like in the transfer market.Although I believe there will be some cash because he can’t afford us to get relegated again imo.

  62. I think we would of been better off staying in the fizzy pops for a few years,give the young players a chance to develop.

    It is clear to me that under MA and the financial state we are supposedly in does not bode well as far as moving the club forwards in the near future.

  63. Alot on here are still having problems accepting the fact that the Fat Tw&t is running us as a buisness and their will be no more BIG signings . Too be honest i am sort of glad that we will not have any more overpaid wasters ie OWEN , Boumsong , Viduka , Duff and the rest (Too many to go on about) and look forward to good young lads coming through and making a name for themselves . Just hope when they do they wont be sold like Gasgoine , Waddle , Pedro and the rest where when Mckeag was running the show . Still at least we wont all be watching the latest transfer activity on Sky or where ever expecting the breaking headline to be us signing some international superstar or other from Real , Inter or Ac Milan then come January realise that he is over the hill injury prone or cant stand the rain . A few more signings like Bassong , Guthrie and Routledge will do for me and a team we can be well proud of even if it means mid table battlers for the next 2-3 seasons before someone buys Fat Tw&t out and lets us kick on .

  64. I hope we avoid relegation I really do…it would be heart breaking to go down again…but I expect this current team to be out muscled by most teams next season due to financial restraints etc

  65. shut up Chuck you tit,who the F*** do you think you are accusing people of not being proper fans.Who’s apologising for Ashley? we all know why he’s doing it the way he’s doing it and it isn’t for our benefit.Until someone has the cash to buy this club we are Stuck with Ashley and there’s absolutely nowt we can do about it.Arsehole(chuck and ashley)

  66. I think some people just love to moan. If we did an Inter winning 3 key competitions they would fnd somthing to be negative about. Why don’t we just wait and see.
    Chuck – think you started on the Amstel early if you think we should be protesting for crying out load. We’ve only just won promotion, the state of the accounts are clear for all to see, the manager has stated he has his transfer targets in sight, so what excatly do we have to moan and protest about. Jeez I wish some people would get a grip

  67. That is one way of looking at it Richie @ 82. Few years of scrimping brings everything down to a level where he can sell out to someone.

    Again it goes back to my earlier point though, 3 months of the window left, and only 4 PL deals done and the knives are already out :roll:

  68. I know Toonsy,he can’t sell the way it is and he definately doesn’t want us to go down again(tho for different reasons).We will get new players in and I’m fairly confident we’ll stay up but people are already slagging off signings we havn’t even made yet..unbelievable.

  69. geordie deb says:
    May 23, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    Could it be that the club have made a ridiculous statement that has just burst everyone’s bubble?

    I don’t think he;s wrong to try and get us sorted financially but he must surely know that without investment we just will not stay in the PL for the next five years..

    Personally I think we’ll sign about 2 players and they’ll be on loan.

    We’ll be really struggling at the bottom come October, Hughton will be hung out to dry, crowds will drop, everyone will be protesting against fatty and we’ll be back to square one.

    He will try and sell the club and we’ll implode – Again!

  70. Screw China, damn Commies ;)

    May be going to Hong Kong for a bit (not as a tourist, well maybe a little), just wondered what it’s like?

    Japan is also somewhere I want to go. Two more promotions and I stand a chance of getting there with my work. Fingers crossed. :lol:

  71. Aye I had a flying visit in the 80’s after staggering out the stage door smashed as a coot :)

  72. Richie toon
    Who the f**k do i think I am, someone who has an opinion and expresses it
    It seems most here agree that there is`nt a buyer out there, actually none of you have a clue whether there is or not so please stop making that argument.
    And Richie, enough with the personal stuff, Eh !

    That goes for you too GEORDIE DEB, lets not make it personal, after all your sctick is “be nice boys”, you and big dave, the voices of reason who in fact use a passive agressive approach that is soh obvious.
    Did I miss anyone !

  73. Stuart I just live in the hope that MA isn’t stupid enough to risk relegation as I honestly believe there would be no way back again if it did happen. I think we all agree that MA has a love of money ? so For him to make money we need to be reasonable successful.
    As for loans I think they are handy short term but I dont think long term are the way to go for us
    I live in hope
    Keep the faith ;)

  74. SJT – Could be irrelevent anyway, although it is somewhere I have always wanted to go.

    Depends whether I stick with a certain Japanese manufacturer or move to a German manufacturer ;)

    Decisions to be made :(

  75. Chuck dead on mate ;)
    Why is it Geordie Deb and I are allways linked together, as Stardust once said it would make a good sunstrip for a Ford Cortina :lol:

  76. I think MA has done an excellent job in convincing fans that we are a poor club and he has totally lowered any expectations,destroyed any dreams that most fans had…in away it is like being punched in the heed everytime another stupid statement is made,or crazy decision like selling the ground name to sponsors,covering the ground in the tackiest sportswear chain logo’s..Who the Fk does he think he is?

    Get back to London and take your shitty sports direct banners with you!

  77. Never been to Germany-Hamburg is the place to go or berlin…loads of Kraut Chicks with hairy pits :)

  78. Is saying people on here aren’t proper fans not getting personal??? I disagree with many on here,often with Jason and Stuart but I would never question or doubt their committment to the NUFC(the team)just because we have different opinions they are Proper fans as are all on here.I’ll apologise for the swearing but you have no right to express an opinion on who is a proper fan or not and I’m certainly no apologist for Ashley.I’m still waiting for your solution,one that would work.

  79. this country is coming out of a recession(as long as the torries dont put us back there)alot of people on here were saying clubs will go to the wall and we will be laughing.there has only been 1 club went tits up thats portsmouth in the most world wide recession since the depression,yous need to get a grip this club is far from going under,the only way that could happen is if we come back down again…

  80. Hitman-No it aint-The recession has not even started properly yet….1st Italy and Portugal and Spain will be bankrupt plus others..then us (we are pretty close) then the American Dollar will collapse and then they can unveil 1 world Government and a global currency…all done by design.

  81. Reeperbahn-My Dad worked in hamburg building in the 80’s..I had the Keegan HSV Kit it was cool as fook.
    Said he had a fun time down the Reeperbahn-dirty old sod :lol:

  82. Alex is the Man-Everything he has said would come true has and continues to do so…brave bloke and deserves a pat on the back from anyone that understands how much freedom has been stolen from us.

  83. dave i always knew this blog was pro ashley,it was set up by pro ashley supporters..but come on this club and the fans are being taken for complete mugs by ashley…sad but true

  84. Hitman meant to ask have you seen batty out selling his Big Issues or collecting cardboard box’s lately, haven’t seen him on in ages

  85. Toonsy

    Been to Hong Kong twice – great place to visit if you get a chance

  86. Think about it, any prospective buyer, exactly what would he be looking for ?
    A club with a decent infrastructure, sure, St. James, state of the art.
    Club with a low debt level, yep!
    A competitive side, sure but mid level would be acceptable.
    Location, London? absolutely.
    Newcastle, hmmmm ! dunno !
    Fifty thousand plus per home game, well o`k.
    Question is, will he stay or will he go ?
    Think SJT might have nailed it about Ashley buying the club as a one upmanship on Dave Whelan.
    Now does`nt know how to get his money back
    There`s money to be made now in the EPL, else why are foreigners buying into it ?
    Will he stay (until he recoups his investment over a number of years, with minimum outlay and a mediocre team)
    or will he go cutting his losses, he`l stay.
    In which case crap team for the next(5 year plan).
    Enjoy !

  87. Chuck
    ‘That goes for you too GEORDIE DEB, lets not make it personal, after all your sctick is “be nice boys”, you and big dave, the voices of reason who in fact use a passive agressive approach that is soh obvious.
    Did I miss anyone !’
    Why is it making it personal asking what you think we will achieve with your logic of getting the bedsheets out and protetsing before we know what we’re protesting about?
    For all you know Chris H may have a warchest of £20m+ to spend.

  88. which is what’s already been said Chuck.We know all that and still there’s nothing we can do about it,and that’s why he’s still here and will remain so until he decides to go.

  89. £20m aint a war chest Deb….this is 2010 prices.
    It’s a decent amount but wouldn’t buy much quality considering Milner is going for 20-24M.

  90. Sure SJT. I agree, it’s not a huge amount, but we could get a few decent players with that

  91. He’s only going for that amount tho because of the club who’s after him SJT…anybody else and it would be £19.5 to £23.5m ;-)

  92. He ain’t gonna sell up. He would like to I;m sure but there isn’t the money out there anymore.

  93. Reckon Liverpool will be in for Him,Manchester United,Man City….he will have his pick of Clubs.

  94. I agree Stuart,I don’t think he wants to be here anymore than we want him………but not enough to go without getting his money back tho.

  95. I think he’ll be out of Liverpools price range though.Maybe Ashley will buy him back :-)

  96. Hitman @119#

    Not true, this blog has never been given direction by those who run it (other than Igor,sometimes, dont get your knickers twisted just joking)
    On the contrary it has allowed contrasting opinions of all kinds to be printed and is pretty liberal in nature.
    Just because the majority of those on the blog have become content with the status quo and if not pro Ashley, then something close to it.
    Pavlovian technique, keep telling them the same story until it becomes the truth!

  97. Stuart79 says:
    May 23, 2010 at 7:09 pm
    He ain’t gonna sell up. He would like to I;m sure but there isn’t the money out there anymore.

    so does that mean liverpool are going to be on the shelf .

  98. chuck..
    the blog was set up by worky mostly and stardust to an extent who are both pro ashley..soz worky :)

  99. Unfortunately Hitman,they have a much bigger worldwide appeal than we do although it would be nice if they can’t find a buyer ;-)

  100. deb

    If i accused you of starting on the Amstel early, you of course would`nt think that was both an insulting and not so subtle way of putting down your argument ?
    And not personal?
    Anyhow forget it, lost interest.

  101. richie the debt and the new stadium should put off any buyer….but true you would never here the end of it if they got bought by some one like the man shitty lot..

  102. Chuck says:
    May 23, 2010 at 7:15 pm

    “Not true, this blog has never been given direction by those who run it (other than Igor,sometimes, dont get your knickers twisted just joking)”

    I actually found that amusing Chuck, and almost (almost) a compliment ;) :D

  103. hitman says:
    May 23, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    I think Liverpool may struggle unless they drastically reduce their asking price.

    The total investment of buying Liverpool with everthing they need is about £1b!

  104. Thing with Liverpool is that it will need someone like that Man City lot.

    I reckon it would cost near a billion smackers to sort it out, and thats before touching any players.

    £400 mill debt.
    £2-300 mill to buy the club.
    £2-300 mill on a new stadium.

    Which is why it always baffles me as to why nobody seems to want to buy us. They could buy us, clear debt, and spunk a load on players and still have a half a billion pound note as change ;)

  105. Hitman

    Again I disagree, Stardy is no longer with us, banned I believe by Workey, so admittedly Stardy gave pro Ashley statements, i don`t believe he really meant a lot of what he said, more of a windup I believe.
    No i have no reason to believe there is any pro Ashley direction from those who run the blog.

  106. heres hoping Hitman ;-)
    That’s a fair bit of cash Stuart,I think they’ll be playing at Anfield for sometime to come.

  107. Ay Hitman, agree with Chuck there like. Some may remember how I was saying Ashley should be hanged and his family should have bad things happen to them.

    I don’t like him being here really, but I do realise that we would be struggling wothout him under-writing everything, after all, that is the only reason the accounts got signed off as a going concern this year, and probably next year aswell.

  108. Attempting to make a comparison between Us and Liverpool is obvious.
    They have a history of success over the years a much larger w/wide fan base.
    Possibly the largest drawback for NUFC is it`s location and lack of any track record during the last fifty odd years.

  109. Either there are no Terry Pratchett fans reading the blog or I have become invisible (again)

    Anyway for what it’s worth a few comments from me.
    Toonsy re. 69 (many many comments ago) Chelsea, ManU. Liverpool, ManC. to name but 4. If two of them didn’t have Sugar daddies they could be doing a Portsmouth or at least struggling to keep up. Arsenal would probably have been the most successful team of the last ten years.

    Also with all this talk of income for the next year I see that Blackpool are expecting to be 90m better off in the Prem. So as a bigger club fan and income wise we should be even better off, or am I missing something.

    Feel free to totally ignore my comments, thank you.

  110. Big Willy the £90m is if they get relegated and receive all the parachute payments for 4 years conventiently packaged by the press as a £90m game yesterday.

  111. Big Willy – promotion is only worth £90 million if they go up, get relegated and get all their parachute payment of £48 million pounds.

    The real money from next year is nearer £40 mill, and if they stop up, the season after it will be around £50 mill as domestic TV money increases, plus £50 mill a season thereafter.

  112. Big Willy :) I thought the programme about Terry Pratchett was real interesting with himself and Tony Robinson.
    As for the 90 mill I dont think that is a guarantee ? and I cant work out how it would be, But I do agree we should be a lot better off. I am sorry if you think I ignored you as that is not my way, I think I was barking up a different tree

  113. I’ve been quiet for LONG time – but can’t hang back any longer. I still think you’ve all been in that pink slime in “Ghostbusters 2”.
    We’ve just got promoted – over 100 points, scored more goals and conceded fewer than any other team in CCC, the weather this weekend’s been great, I’ve just had a great birthday party – and nowt has happened with our club since the end of the season. So why all the doom and gloom? I remember the January transfer window – it was all “Ashley oot! We’re doomed, Captain Mainwaring! Abandon hope all ye who enter – and what happened? We brought in 2-3 reasonable players.
    I can’t believe some of you. It’s a shame we got promoted? – a few more seasons in the CCC would have been better cos we would have played more youngsters? WHATTT?? Why not go the whole hog and say it’s a shame we weren’t relegated to league 1 – then we might have had nothing but youngsters to play for us.
    Look, we are where we are. There is a recession, we have an owner who thinks (rightly or wrongly) that the club needs to break even or make a profit and who’s not prepared to fund it like it’s a plaything (unlike Man City etc.). Sad, but true – and there’s no white Knight waiting to leap in to save us. This is reality, protests and staying away will only have negative effects and are not going to achieve anything of substance. And if anybody says I’m an Ashley-lover, not a real supporter or whatever – well that’s b*****s – I’ve been going to SJP for 45+ years and seen much worse than this – but I do miss the Keegan and SBR days!
    Rant over – back in the padded cell now with a nice cup of tea.

  114. The real big money will once again go to the most successful clubs.
    Those with a huge marketing operation and fan base, certainly Man. U. with its massive fan base and a large stadium usually filled for home games, will again be expected to have a massive income as will Arsenal and Chelsea, who although they have a smaller ground make up for it by higher prices
    Unfortunately the northeast teams do not have anything similar, having a small catchment area and unless they find some good Asian players will never come close to the present top sides earnings for kit`s.
    At one time there was always the opportunity for a good side either from London or the provinces to win something.
    Unfortunately to-days teams are representative of how much money the club has and I see no reason for that to change in the foreseeable future.

  115. magpie6699

    As much sense as you speak. There are still some clowns on here that will argue till they are blue in the face refusing to ever believe they might be wrong.

    It is clear we don’t have the money to invest heavily.

    Some supporters arn’t going to be happy until we are some stinking rich owners play toy.

    Reality of finances is finally catching up with the real world. And some people just get it…

  116. JJ, A lot of people thought we were going to be a rich mans toy and they were jumping up and down with glee. As it happens he has turned out to be a hard nosed business man which may actually turn out to be a good thing.
    It’s a bit like this country, spend more than you earn then at some stage the sh!t hits the fan.(fans :) )

    I’ve said it before and will repeat myself, (sorry) but we may yet be given MA the freedom of the city.

  117. Chuck, why do you think the Toon are in a small catchment area. Its a large city with a lot of dormitory towns such as Gateshead, Ashington, Hexham, Whitley Bay and many others.

    We are getting huge gates compared to most of the rest of the league and with some success would probably fill a 70000 plus stadium every week.

  118. to be fair big willy it’s a large area but population wise we’re not huge,I don’t even think we come in the top 10 cities(population wise).Even Sunderland has a bigger pop,but that just makes it all the more impressive with the size of crowds we get.

  119. First post
    1 hitman says:
    May 23, 2010 at 3:55 pm
    good read toonsy,but it means nowt

    sums it up. The toon dont follow any trends.
    So pleased for Blackpool.

  120. richietoon

    Most toon fans come frome places like Gateshead and Ashinton/Bedlington. If these places had good teams would the toons attendance figures be so impressive?

  121. DJG,true but thats the same for alot of teams.they draw support from surrounding areas but even so the North East in general has a small population compared to most other areas of England.There’s also quite a few mackems in Ashington too.

  122. Well I used to Support Gateshead when they were in the league but I always regarded NUFC as my main team.

    The bigger cities may have larger populations but they usually have more than one big club. The london clubs probably have smaller catchment areas in many ways as the plethora of clubs tend to be more localised within the city.

  123. True bigwilly but then greater london has a pop over 7m,but if you take Leeds say,the city has almost 3 times Newcastles pop and they also draw from alot of Yorkshire.i.e Wakefield(which is bigger than Newcastle)………but which ever way you look at it,to still be able to get 50k plus when we havn’t won owt for over 40 years is good same goes for Sunderland tho I hate to admit it.

  124. Its understandable like. Im from Gateshead but from where I live St James Park is both closer and easier to get to than the international stadium and even the civic centre where gatesheads new grownd will be. Also who wants to watch non-league football. not many.

  125. I like to watch the village play on a Sunday,its refreshing to watch lads play just for the love of playing…….bunch of dirty b*****d’s like but fun to watch.

  126. it implies that you dont need to spend any money to stay in prem, this just isnt true, sunderland may have spent 10 million on bent alone last year. we need to invest in more than just loanee kids. its just not going to work otherwise. I think ashley will spend nothing much at all and then look at us again cum january and if we are a sinking ship fast by then he may give us one or two more higher profile loan jobs.

  127. also two of the three clubs you mention did get relegated and were always likely to if we are honest. sunderland have stayed up this time cos they are splashing the cash. plus the dates you mentioned are a fair while ago… the prem has moved on even more and its much harder to stay up now without investment. a better way to say this headline would be…. 2/3rds of the teams that got promoted with over 100 points were relegated back down through lack of investment.

  128. Craig – The whole thing is looking at teams who have pised the Championship, like we did, and how they got on in the Prem.

    Read the article. I said we need players, but the history says we only need to tweak the team, not change it wholesale.

  129. Sunderland went on to finish 7th again, then another season in maid table before slipping out of the league. Thats 4 prem seasons.

    Fulham never got relegated.

    Reading lasted 2 seasons but went on one of them runs of form that we end up on nearly every season.

    The comparison is for one season. It’s simple, obviously not simple enough like, but the question is have all teams that won promotion with 100 points stayed up the next season?

    The answer is yes.

  130. the answer short term is yes toonsy but even you must agree it does not tell the more acurate story. the bottom line is 2/3rd of the best of the best of the ccc went back down again. we will not survive on loan kid jobs. are you not worried toonsy that we will be straight back down, we should all be. plus reading stood by coppel even when they were sliding back to the ccc. as soon as we get a wobble on ashely will bin bag CH and try to panic sell us, throwing the whole club into disaray and most certain, a downward spiral out of control. sorry if you think may be a negative spin but lets be honest, there is nothing much positive about wor mike is there!! his track record is shite.