Newcastle need the right buyer, not a quick sale

George Caulkin

It needs to end and it needs to end soon; each day that elapses with Newcastle United still unsold, still without a manager, with nobody in place to take footballing decisions, with new players not bought and the old ones fuming and festering, an opportunity is lost. The smell of decay is pervasive and yet, and yet ... In the long-term, some good may come of this, utterly counter-intuitive though it may feel at present. Here's why.

Each day that elapses, another question is posed, questions that Mike Ashley could not bring himself to ask when he bought the club without undertaking due diligence in 2007. Arguably, Newcastle is still creaking from that failing, one that obliged Ashley to immediately repay the loan taken out for regenerating St James’ Park. The next lot - whoever they may be - have not made the same mistake.

Each day that elapses, Newcastle’s books are pored over - with "the finest of fine tooth combs," it has been put to me. Does that automatically mean that Ashley's successor or successors will be an improvement (it stretches credibility to imagine how they could possibly be worse)? No, of course not. What it means is that, unlike the sportswear retailer, they will be better prepared.

(An example. When does Newcastle’s overdraft, reported to be in the region of £34m, become a debt? Towards the end of last week, it became an issue in discussions, with Seymour Pierce, the investment bank handling the sale, recommending that Ashley accepts outstanding bids for Obafemi Martins and Fabrizio Coloccini. Football can never be an exact science, but precautions are being taken).

Each day that elapses, Keith Harries, executive chairman of Seymour Pierce, inches forward a process he has conducted with decorum and discretion. That process is not assisted when figures involved either make themselves known or speak publicly about fees, as Derek Llambias, Newcastle’s managing director, did on Monday. There are multiple bidders to court, satisfy, answer and appease. 

In a complicated situation such as this - millions of pounds at stake and bidders from abroad - haste would both be impossible and foolhardy. Each day that elapses, frustrations mount, season tickets remain unsold and fresh dangers present themselves, but Tyneside has witnessed one macho attempt at business gunslinging and it was pathetic. Speed is necessary, but right is ultimately the most important thing.

World Cup bid

To St James’ yesterday for the official press launch of NewcastleGateshead’s bid to be a host city for the 2018 World Cup, should England be awarded the tournament. Listening to the speakers and watching the promotional video offered a vivid reminder as to why a revitalised North East could and should be an integral part of the competition and the organisers were swift to follow their counterparts in Sunderland in expressing hope that both bids can be successful.

Peter Beardsley spoke with typical enthusiasm about the prospect of the World Cup coming to Tyneside and of his own memories of playing in them, but it is a sad reflection on recent events that an Academy coach and a former player - no matter how brilliant - should have been the sole representative of Newcastle United on the main stage. The leaders of Newcastle and Gateshead City Councils filled the breach manfully and, as they correctly pointed out, the present travails on Gallowgate will not be an issue in nine years’ time.

The bid should stand or fall on its own merits, not on the inadequacies of Ashley’s reign at Newcastle and local supporters should not be punished further simply because St James’ presently represents the Marie Celeste. Hopefully, the Football Association will realise that when they visit the area next week. As ever, much will fall on the shoulders of fans, who can make the case for their own cause at www.NewcastleGateshead.com/2018.

Sunderland in spotlight

Steve Bruce is now in situ at the Academy of Light fully aware that a keen sense of anticipation is bubbling on Wearside. A big season is approaching for Sunderland who, in terms of the Premier League, no longer have to jostle with Newcastle and Middlesbrough for attention but, equally, will find themselves in the full glare of the spotlight.

Niall Quinn is absolutely right; it takes a special type of character to thrive in North East football. Commitment should be a rudimentary quality, but all too often it is not and unearthing those players who marry a sense of responsibility, on and off the pitch, with the talent to lift a team will be Bruce’s challenge. Richard Dunne and Peter Crouch would be a decent start.

Owen's exit

Speaking of which, farewell and a bouquet of thistles to Michael Owen. You never quite got it. At first, your refusal to play along with badge-kissing cliches felt refreshing. You didn’t really want to play for Newcastle United and that was fair enough, but we sort of hoped you would fall in love with the place of your own accord. It couldn’t happen from the window of a helicopter; it was never in your contract, never in your character.

Middlesbrough need grafters

Predictable headlines of our times, part 239: ‘Alves and Mido go AWOL’. It happened enough times on the pitch last season. It is a statement of the bleeding obvious, but Middlesbrough need a different sort of player this time and the shirkers to be shipped out.

Comments

[Holden McKnee]

Another well considered article by Mr. Caulkin. Rod Liddle and Matthew Syed please note. It takes mental dexterity and insight to be a journalist rather than a hack!

[mick the mackem]

The right buyer.....Steptoe and Son.

[Jinky Jim]

Ditto Holden Mcknee's comments,George you're Bang On!!!.

[Ian Kirkup]

Refreshingly direct and informed comment. Its not a rehash such as is found in the Mail. I posted a critical comment on their reporting but they chose not to print it.
Aren't makems sad lads with their jealousy its a shame that, even though they're in prem players prefer the Toon. Quinn deserves better supporters!

[jonners]

Jackie Charlton just rang me to say he saw Risdale,Shepherd and Lowe fishing on the banks of the Tyne with Mike Ashley. Fingers crossed aye!

[Hadrian]

Here here, Holden McKnee.. well done George, another spot on piece.

[mark]

good article on toon.

[Cecil]

Spot on.

[neville scott]

A sensible and restrained article that Newcastle fans would be well advised to consider, they won't!
They'll believe that, when the club is eventually sold, they're on their way back to the big time, puff their chests out and shout the odds from the rooftops.
This time though, the odds are stacked heavily against them and they should sit back and accept that their rivals are Peterboro, Scunthorpe and Doncaster not Sunderland, a Premier League club that's run in a way Newcastle can't even dream of.
They can't even accept they've really been relegated can they?

[Peter (Whitley Bay)]

Re Neville Scott: Neville, don't make the same mistake in assuming that all Newcastle fans are like the additive-soaked numpties paraded in front of the Sky cameras. We are not, and the majority do not deserve this scorn, as we are not all blinkered and arrogant. All NUFC deserves is stability from a sensible owner and leader; anything else is a bonus.

[Leon]

Sorry Neville Scott... Sunderland being ran as a club in the way Newcastle can only dream of??? Are you taking the mick??? Blowing over £80m in 3 years to end up scraping through in the most pitiful bottom half of the league that the Premiership has ever seen?? Leaving the fate of the club in the hands of an over-promoted coach and hoping for the best. The only reason Sunderland stayed up was due to the massive inadequacies of other clubs and not because they're following some sort of genius 'Plan A' dreamt up by the powers behind the scenes.

Everton... now there's a blueprint!