Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is facing £40m cash crisis
DECADES of bad management and reckless spending have begun to unravel in horrific fashion on Tyneside.
Newcastle's relegation from the Premier League last weekend has exposed the true depth of financial turmoil which now exists.
And while the Toon Army were not blinkered to the plight of their beloved club, the fact Alan Shearer could be the first victim of the meltdown will stun the St James' Park faithful.
The vast majority of Newcastle fans are pinning their hopes on Shearer. He is the one beacon of hope they cling to in these dark and desperate days.
Sadly, that beacon is in grave danger of being extinguished.
At the start of the week, it was thought the legendary striker would be given the job of guiding Newcastle back to the top flight.
That belief was certainly mirrored in the Shearer camp but, as the week unfolded, his position was far from clear.
He wants to stay on as boss and has a provisional agreement in place to carry on in the job he took over for the last eight games of the season.
But now that billionaire owner Mike Ashley has put the club up for sale for as little as £80million, Shearer may, reluctantly, walk away.
Shearer, 38, can only be installed as permanent boss if a financial plan to safeguard the Magpies' long-term future is finalised.
Relegation has cost the club an estimated £40m and with a dressing room full of overpaid, underachieving players, the future looks bleak.
Ashley admitted: "Of course I regret buying Newcastle. I never said I was an expert in football clubs, I was just a fan - although a very wealthy fan.
"But I am not so wealthy now. I put my money into it and I tried my best. But I except my best was woefully short. I am genuinely sorry about what has happened."
There is a genuine fear that Newcastle's fate might follow the same downward spiral as that experienced by Leeds.
Even worse is the concern the plight is so severe that it might result in one of the nation's best-supported clubs going to the wall.
That is why tough action has been demanded by the financiers who effectively now control Toon's fate. A reduction by over 50 per cent of a £40m bank overdraft is seen as essential to the business plan.
So is the drastic trimming of a wage bill which has been allowed to soar during previous years of uncontrolled spending.
The players, now on holiday, are still banking a weekly wage that amounts to £1.4m - but some of those may have played their last game for the club.
Aussie striker Mark Viduka is expected to retire, while bad-boy Joey Barton will be sold for £2m with Bolton, Blackburn and Spurs all interested.
Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins could also be on his way to Fiorentina for £10m, while Damien Duff and Sebastien Bassong are wanted by Aston Villa and Arsenal respectively.
Ashley is desperate to sell the club which has caused him nothing but heartache since he bought it for £134m, before spending a further £100m.But first he must have a business plan in place to make it more saleable.
And part of its appeal to any would-be buyer would be an agreement to have Shearer and his assistant Iain Dowie in place for the long haul back to the top.
But one Toon insider said: "Alan's future is just one small spoke in a much bigger financial wheel.
"Everyone knows he wants the job. He is fired up by the desire to take Newcastle back to the Premier League. But, like everyone, he accepts his part in the club's future is dependent on everything being put on a stable footing in the long term.
"He would not accept the job in any other circumstances. This is not about Alan any more. It is about the well-being of a club which finds itself in trouble - and it could get even worse."
Shearer and Dowie were close to walking away at the start of the week. Their talks with Ashley ended prematurely after the owner said he would not be able to provide funding for future transfers.
But Ashley returned to the table and promised up to £20m for new signings over the length of Shearer and Dowie's proposed four-year contracts.
But that assurance now seems unlikely to be carried through, with Ashley having officially put the club on the market.
Our insider added: "Until the financial mess is sorted out, no progress can be made."
A new future with Shearer as boss and a new owner with vision and money is the dream scenario for Toon fans.
That, though, is far from being a reality and, if Shearer goes, the last trace of hope for the Toon Army will go with him.
This article has 6 comments
its seems to me that no matter what happens with our club our dirty linen always seems to get put out in the public for people to look at and laugh at were a disgrace at the moment and things have to change drastically or we`re definately going to be another leeds united
mike ashley has been nothing short of a disaster sinse arriving at newcastle united who was never going to be in it for the longhaul he was here to make a quick buck or two
the way the clubs been ran sinse sir booby left has been nothing but shambolic and it has really been waiting to happen
By ricky lee. Posted June 7 2009 at 11:55 PM.
'Overpaid underachievers' says it all. They deserve to rot in the Championship. Forget Mike Ashley, it's the players who should take responsibility. If they had any pride, any dignity, they would vow to redeem this poor season with automatic promotion into the Premiership next season. But like the cowards they are, they turn their backs on the club, seeking refuge elsewhere, expecting others fix their mistakes. Take a stand, fight for a cause. Newcastle United forever!
By Trent King. Posted June 6 2009 at 2:53 PM.
Without doubt Mike Ashley is the worst thing to happen to Newcastle since Gordon Mckeag, he has ruined our club, all i can say now is for once do the decent thing and sell up for a fair price and lets try to get this club moving in the right direction.
By Peter Stewart. Posted June 1 2009 at 3:10 PM.
Ashley bought the club as a toy to play with. He has realised that it is a grown up's toy. Watching him run the club has been like watching a teenager drive a Ferrari and it has predictably ended in disaster.
The £20m is over 4 years. It isn't fantastic. Shearer, or anyone else, would be foolish to accept it.
The inclusion of Shearer could well be as big a disaster as anything else Ashley has done and it is purely an attempt to get season ticket sales up. A manager who knows the division (Ian Dowie was a good idea) is a MUST but remember how Leeds unloaded uner achievers like Fowler.......? They continued to pay part of their wages. Who will take on any of these misfits on their current salaries?
This awful scenario demonstrates how Ashley had no "plan B". He seriously expected Shearer to have an impact and turn things round. As it has failed where is the contingency?
In Business it seems even more apparent that Ashley was in the right place at the right time. You wonder that he could be trusted to run a whelk stall. However remember that he, along with much of business rode the wave of cheap money and low regulation. He floated at the right time and got out ahead of the crunch. Over a lifetime your luck evens itself out but unfortunately the Newcastle fans are now sharing the bad luck never having had the real good times that Ashley had that lured him into this reckless gamble.
By George Mackem. Posted May 31 2009 at 9:17 AM.
I dont think there was a single moment when, anyone felt that Mike Ashley really knew what he was doing, and he finally acknowledges this is the case. Although it is true that the majority of the issues that he has floundered over were not of his making, but the result of 2 generations of poor handling of the club, it is also true that he has failed to address any of them successfully. That he was tricked into buying into the shambles in the first place is the biggest mystery regarding such a successful businessman.
The firesale meltdown clearout of good, bad and indifferent players, managers and staff, is just something this club is going to have to go through if it is ever to get well.
Most fans will tell you this is going to be painful, humiliating and embarrassing, but something they accept as necessary - the sooner it starts the sooner its over. Bring it on.
By bobby_ollox. Posted May 31 2009 at 7:40 AM.
Seems like the Ashley / Llambias claims of the club debt having been wiped out are just another in their long line of bs
By bobby hill. Posted May 31 2009 at 1:23 AM.