Mike Ashley is not untouchable.
The untouchable do not need to deal with supporter unrest unless they believe it poses a real threat to them.
Ahead of the burgeoning publicity being achieved by the #BoycottSpurs campaign, Mike Ashley has already begun deploying his numerous flunkies in an attempt to quash, discourage and disparage the protest.
All of a sudden, with fan unrest bubbling palpably at the surface, significant summer investment is being talked about in statements by club officials.

Bishop_Ashley_Charnley

Over the next fortnight, expect to hear from former players and pundits on the payroll of the club, piping up from the ether with statements condemning the “disloyalty” of fans or the “futility” of the planned protests.
Expect to hear dissenting voices urging you to “support the team not the regime” as though this action wasn’t possible without further lining Ashley’s pockets and further fueling his power over the club (which he incidentally wields to the direct detriment of the team you want to support).
Expect to be told by people you’ve never met what your expectations are for the club, and how they’re too high – expect no commentary from these same people that the primary business plan of the club is to collect TV revenue from the Premier League’s TV deal and advertise a tatty sports company whilst suffering as little by way of overheads as possible – overheads being the category into which all footballing matters fall.
Don’t believe the hype. He’s not untouchable.

BoycottSpurs

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William Kane
Go to it people! Ashley out.
Reg Burlam
‘Let me tell you something, if I didn’t have enough belief in what they were trying to do and the promises they’ve said about the summer, then yes I would walk away.’ Carver, 2015
And so the slow burning, drip feeding propaganda begins. If he felt so strongly why didn’t he go last year, or the year before when nowhere near enough was done to keep us competitive and it was clearly all lip service? He quotes promises when we know the club are proven liars and have broken so many promises.
deanzy1
its already started i.e. chris(i try like fk to hide my accent)waddle
Reg Burlam
In 2010, the eve of Hughton’s sacking, Waddle said live on ESPN that boardroom needed a change and that they were a complete shambles. Nothing’s changed so why have his opinions?
Montagu Montgomery
If Pardew’s Palace can beat the mackems this weekend that will surely send strong signals to all Toon fans, and hopefully even to the Board.
I always felt that getting Pardew out would lead to exactly no change at the club, but I was (as usual) wrong. It’s led to a further decline with a ready made excuse at board level for the worsening position.
Carver’s a canny lad, but he’s not a Premiership manager. But, he knows that he’s going to get the job so long as he says the right things about the right people. And that isn’t me or thee.
Boycotting the Spurs game can only be the start of what is very likely going to be a very long campaign.
Reg Burlam
Let’s be fair, the basis of wanting Pardew out was to get someone more capable and less odious in. Not employ his number 2 who is equally as responsible for all the crap over the last 3-4 years. Until someone is appointed who deserves to be on merit then we cannot really make that argument (against wanting him out).
Agreed, the road is long and it will wind along the way. We’ve just got to keep walking it.
Michael J. DelTergo
To my earlier point on the Toon USA board, the real risks to Ashley and the toon is that an entire generation of fans don’t develop the love for the team that their parents did, and that translates into a thinner base, lower kit and swag sales, and fewer sellouts. Further, if the mackems ever got their shiite together and developed a consistently winning side, they would compete effectively for that younger generation, especially in the environs south of the Tyne. That would accelerate the decline and thin out the fan base even faster, leading to a situation in which Sunderland is the dominant team in the Northeast and the Toon are relegated to laughingstock, an inverse of the recent situation.
As the slave-turned-soldier in the US civil war said to his former master, a Confederate prisoner of war, “Bottom rail on top, Massa, Bottom rail on top.”
So the commenter is correct. Ashley does see the threat and is responding, but it isnt just that revenues tank for one game (they won’t, those tickets are paid for). Its that the boycott, if sustained, could lead to the slide I described above.
If the folks in the C-suite down in the Stadium of Shiite have any brains, they’d be looking to exploit this and may make the investment to try and break out, and establish the mackems as the dominant NE team. Ashley’s biggest hope is that they aren’t that smart or can’t muster the cash to do it. Ashley’s biggest fear is that they can, forcing him into an arms-race for talent in order to stay up over them.
Reg Burlam
What you say is extremely long term, the younger generation still have the stories, the dvd’s etc. told and shown by the older generation. However, I agree, but not as a result of any sustained boycott – but from the actions and treatment the club is subject to under the Ashley regime.
That is why it is of paramount importance that we campaign for change.
Bob Day
Keep it up lads. Thought the Pardew website was excellent and have liked what I have read on this one so far ..My take on it is that Ashley is repaying us for the protests after Keegan left. What a dull person he must be. How can any football man not enjoy owning Newcastle United with the passion, humour, warmth, friendship of the world’s loyalist fans.
AshleyOutdotcom
Many thanks for your kind words Bob. We’re in this for the long haul. We appreciate everyone’s support and are glad to see stimulated debate.
Guest 2
Never mind the propaganda about spending – why was Ashley BORROWING money last September (9th) and using the PL central fund money as security against it? What was it for? How big was it? No numbers mentioned unfortunately.
I got a document from Companies House relating to a charge between Barclays and Newcastle Untied Football Company Ltd. This is an excerpt –
Assignment
4 1
The Assignor with full title guarantee hereby assigns to the Bank absolutely all of its right, title and Interest (present or future) in and to, and
all benefits accruing under or in connection with, all amounts (excluding VAT) due or owing to, or which may be due or owing to, or purchased, or otherwise acquired by replica rolex, the Assignor in relation to, or in connection with, or deriving from the Central Funds relating to the 2014/2015 Season as security for the payment and discharge of the Secured Sums
Mick
Is it not to do with the overdraft facilities and the possibility that he has extended it?
Guest 2
The Barclays question
taters3
Anybody talking about or working on fan ownership? Isn’t Portsmouth doing it?
The Doc
NUST
The Doc
The
shroud of the dark-side is truly hanging over Newcastle United Football Club
& this fine city.
Politicians i expect to spout the s*** they must to get elected.
Business leaders trying to avoid responsibility, the same.
Journalists following orders also,
Ex Captains of Newcastle United, I don’t.
Moncur hang your head in shame sir. What an awful statement you put out.
This feels like a betrayal, a knife in the back.
i shouldn’t be surprised really as every man has his price they say.
I guess Moncur wasn’t really a foot soldier of Toon army after all.
Sad.
I wonder what the Great man would of made of all this.
Sickened i’d imagine. His famous words about what football means to all us fans
and what it definitely is’t all about, these words should be plastered on every
billboard in every corner of this region & further afield if needed. Graffiti
artists fire away!
A wake up call to everyone is needed, football is not immune to society’s
problems, the acceptance of greed & inwardly looking motives for every
action & decision is now par for the course if you want a round. Ignorant
to the true value of the local football club to its community and its role in our
daily lives. What they don’t realise is; they can get away with such behaviour
in parliament or the work place or at the altar, but when it comes to our
football team…..well, we are about to find out.
Does this great old city not have a Son or daughter with enough political,
financial, media & masonic connections with the will and articulation to
put an end to this humiliating ownership of Newcastle united & therein this
great cities Soul.
Its like nobody but the Toon army has noticed.
Where are our political leaders
where are our business leaders
where are our spiritual leaders.
If it’s left to the clowns in Thompson house then we’re all f o o k e d
Anthony Foster
I’ve read many of these forum’s in the past and never bothered to comment but as I’ve read elsewhere apathy is no longer an option. OK it’s a token gesture but me and my Son will be boycotting on Sunday.
Beyond that we need to take the fight to Ashley and his beloved sports brand. One way is to use the time on Sunday to go to the store on Northumberland Street and stop it from functioning – the sheer numbers ‘browsing’ and engaging the sales staff would stop others from placing there cash in the tills if they could even get in. Another token gesture but if this could gain traction and publicity the ‘mass trespass’ could be extended to other stores in the North East; investors would get nervous and the share price would drop.
Apathy is no longer an option.
madgeordie
Good idea that, like it
Mattoon
Not only do we have the seasoned professionals palming Ashley’s coin for positive spin and negative connotations but we have club propaganda emanating of money to be spent in the summer, lots of money. We have Siem De Jong being wheeled out for the match, most likely not ready.
Don’t believe the hype, Ashley is rattled and is in full on offensive, trying to entice you in with empty promises.
Steve Pearn
Have you any idea how long I’ve waited to read these comments????
I’ve never understood why our fans seemed more than happy to put up with the ‘crumbs off the table’!!!!!
My only concern, is that this pressure will subside and there’ll be a swift return to ‘blind acceptance’
Consider this
If a club like Southampton (no disrespect)with significantly lower attendance’s than N.U.F.C. can post a higher profit margin(and that excluded the transfer revenue from the sale of Luke Shaw Rickie Lambert etc!!!)than us where has the revenue gone from matchdays and the colossal income from Official Merchandise gone???!!!!!!
Definitely NOT on player recruitment,or players wages(when it comes to Premier League wages,we must be paying the National Minimum Wage!!)
If you truly have N.U.F.C coursing through every vein in your body,then you’ll not give up,until the ‘Fat Controller’ has been consigned to the ‘Dustbin Of History’