Leyton Orient 6 - 1 Newcastle

[seanworth]

I think I'm starting to feel sorry for them!

I'm not, long may it continue!

Me neither. Would love for them to be playing Leeds next season in the lower division. Doubt it will happen but one can dream.

[Village_Idiot2]

I think I'm starting to feel sorry for them!

I'm not, long may it continue!

Me neither. Would love for them to be playing Leeds next season in the lower division. Doubt it will happen but one can dream.

Just checked out and apparently they have yet to sell the club, have no manager and have yet to sign or sell any player, with the Championship starting in a couple weeks or so.

Looks like they are trying hard to please you!

[Worthy4England]

Profitable Group have withdrawn their interest in buying Newcastle United.

The Singapore-based group had been one of the leading candidates to take over at St James' Park.

But Sky Sports News understands that the group were unable to provide proof of funding of £100million needed to purchase the club.

The group, whose commercial director is former England international Steve McMahon, had stated their intention to bid for the club and to appoint Alan Shearer as manager.

But now the bid has fallen by the wayside, meaning a takeover before the start of the new season looks increasingly unlikely for the beleaguered North East giants.

More storm clouds gathering methinks...

Wouldn't surprise me if some investors weren't waiting to see if Ashley goes belly-up first to get a better deal from the administrators...

[enfieldwhite]

Profitable Group have withdrawn their interest in buying Newcastle United.

The Singapore-based group had been one of the leading candidates to take over at St James' Park.

But Sky Sports News understands that the group were unable to provide proof of funding of £100million needed to purchase the club.

The group, whose commercial director is former England international Steve McMahon, had stated their intention to bid for the club and to appoint Alan Shearer as manager.

But now the bid has fallen by the wayside, meaning a takeover before the start of the new season looks increasingly unlikely for the beleaguered North East giants.

More storm clouds gathering methinks...

Wouldn't surprise me if some investors weren't waiting to see if Ashley goes belly-up first to get a better deal from the administrators...

I heard on the radio this morning that as well as the £100 m to buy the club there's the small matter of £100m owed to Mike Ashley in loans, not to mention the £6-8m Keggy Keegle is suing them for.

No wonder no-one wants to buy it!

[Frandsen08]

newcastle vs leeds tonight should be interesting

[Bruce Rioja]

newcastle vs leeds tonight should be interesting

Oh, you've tee'd me up nicely there, Per .

Found this on a Newcastle forum and thought that I'd share it with you.

Code: Select all

Will Newcastle follow Leeds to become the latest damned United?
By David Kent
Last updated at 1:10 AM on 28th July 2009
The symbolism will be lost on nobody on Tyneside: Newcastle United’s next pre-season fixture sees Leeds travel north to St James’s Park on Wednesday night.

The fear is that the North East club are going through the same harrowing downward process that saw their visitors lurch from Champions League semi-finalists to the old
Third Division in six seasons.

It is only two years and four months since Newcastle were at AZ Alkmaar in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup with a team that included Shay Given, Scott Parker and Kieron Dyer.

Eight weeks after that exit Mike Ashley bought the club for reasons that have never been explained satisfactorily, and a staggering decline began, one that has yet to end judging by Saturday’s 6-1 defeat at Leyton Orient. 

Caretaker manager Chris Hughton initially called that a ‘blip’ but that was an optimistic
reading of a performance for which he subsequently apologised. 

Despairing: Chris Hughton (left) and his players look desolate after their defeat at Orient
Hughton apparently gagged the Newcastle players from speaking after the game but Jose Enrique, bought for £6.3million by former manager Sam Allardyce, said yesterday that the visitors’ dressing room at Orient hosted a serious discussion.
It was the least they could do with the Championship season kicking off in little more than two weeks.

‘Everybody did their talking afterwards in the dressing room,’ Enrique said. ‘I think it was important that this happened. To lose 6-1 is bad, but it’s better to do it in a friendly game then when we go to West Bromwich. 

‘In some ways it can be a good thing. It doesn’t sound like it, but if we can learn from this and get the mistakes out of our system, it can help.’

One problem for Enrique is that two of his Spanish-speaking teammates, £12.5m Fabricio Coloccini and £5.7m Xisco, were photographed by a Newcastle fan on the Tube after the match laughing and joking. 

Their anger or embarrassment at being beaten 6-1 by a team of free transfers seemed short-lived.

Another is that Ashley’s systems have been shown not to work. His inappropriate off-field appointments culminated last season in relegation. The club are up for sale but, despite managing director Derek Llambias’s claim weeks ago that at least two
offers had met the £100m asking price, there has been no movement. 

Bankers Seymour Pierce have been commissioned to sell Newcastle but they failed to do so last year when Ashley first put the club on the market. Keith Harris had originally stated ‘the end of June’ as a deadline but the end of July approaches, which is why yesterday the rumour of a Leeds-like plunge into administration returned with zest.

As Ashley would be the major creditor, administration would seem an odd move financially. But Ashley could probably take his losses at Newcastle, which would be close to £250m, and set them against profit at his other companies, such as Sports Direct. Ashley’s tax liability would then be reduced and his loss not so great. 

Friday has emerged as being possibly significant simply because it is the end of the month. Ashley has a basic economic calculation: does he make more money from selling the club or from administration? 

A third possibility is that he keeps Newcastle, but that would surely mean pumping in fresh cash, and that is clearly not his preferred option. He would also have to appoint a manager.

What the Football League will confirm is that Newcastle being placed in administration would bring an immediate 10-point deduction as they prepare to begin life in the Championship.

But that would no longer be Ashley’s responsibility. He has been regarded as an absentee landlord from almost the day he bought the club, and the fact he and Llambias missed Sir Bobby Robson’s charity match at St James’ Park on Sunday is seen as another example of their desire to be rid of Newcastle.

Only two Newcastle players were seen, Steve Harper and his goalkeeping deputy Tim Krul. After Orient the others were presumably too embarrassed to face their public.

Shearer, contrary to reports he is about to walk away, said he is ‘hanging on in there’ waiting to see what happens next. 

Nobody seems to know what that is, beyond the fact that the team visiting tomorrow are Leeds United, another damned United