Newcastle United Blog » Barry Moat

Newcastle United Off the Menu for Shy Investors

Dave NU Blogger — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:34:51 +0000

We had a slight inkling that Ashley would retain the club weeks back but the Club confirmed yesterday that Newcastle United was no longer up for sale. The club article read as follows:

“The Club had been trying to broker a deal with a number of prospective buyers in recent months however none of those deals came to fruition. With regard to the possible sale of the Club to Barry Moat, that particular bid has now fallen through due to the cash price of £80m not being met.

In confirming the news, Mike Ashley stated that he is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focusing on gaining promotion back to the Premier League. Mike will put a further £20m into the Club this week.”

Well, that’s it for yet ANOTHER failed sale of the club which goes to say that Ashley has indeed bottled the formula for failure and taking healthy swigs from it from time to time. However, blame should go to both Sheard and Moat for clearly not having the funds for buying the club. Seriously, if they had so much trouble finding that cash then how in the hell would they go on to maintain the running of a top Championship club aiming for promotion?!

Also, confirmed in the article was the permanent appointment of Chris Hughton as manager. There was no chance of Shearer being there with Ashley in the helm and Hughton has been doing well enough to churn out some wins despite the fact that the opposition may not always be up to scratch (Ipswich anyone?).

Some interesting developments accounced would possibly see St James’ park called under a different name. We all think ‘Emriates’ and ‘Reebok’ make rubbish stadium names but the time may well see SJP called ‘Addidas’ or even ‘ Mr Kiplings’. Who knows what’s going on in Ashley’s mind. Also, mentioned were shirt sponsorship deals which could see us remove troubled bank, Northern Rock off our shirts.

There’s a long road ahead with games piling in and players either injured or suspended. We have a crisis in defence with Taylor out and now Zurab after the win at Donny over the weekend. The less we say about Harewood the better. The guy needs a rocket up his ass.

Anyway, £20m investment heading our way with no Dennis Wise in sight, Hughton will control his own selections. Which is a good thing. Our hope now is Hughton & co can now fully focus on pitch matters (until next summer when the club gets flogged again).

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Sheard Joins the Newcastle United Sale Scrum

Dave NU Blogger — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:48:04 +0000

Derek Llambias confirmed yesterday that Geoff Sheard has now entered the fray with a potential bid with significant American backing. Sheard has a history with wheeling n dealing with Newcastle before. He was responsible for supplying kits back in 1993 and failed in an attempt to buy the club in February.According to news in the Chronicle, a close source says:

”He’s keen to run a football club.

It didn’t work out when he tried to take over Sheffield Wednesday but feels he has something to offer Newcastle.

He’s got serious backing and is in negotiations with Seymour Pierce.”

We shall see but his bid comes very late so that calls into question as to why now and not several weeks down the line? Very odd.Barry Moat on the other hand is probably having all sorts of problems with Barclays. Barclays are still looking to reduce a £39m overdraft and that would mean shrinking an already small side further. I’m not that optimistic about Moat’s chances as each day passes.UPDATE: It is worth noting that it is NOT Sheard who is buying the club but he’s acting on behalf of an unnamed American client. Hmm, mysterious.

Moat Given More Time

Dave NU Blogger — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:38:15 +0000

It seemed as if there was only ever going to be an anti-climax. It’s been reported that Moat will be given extra time to sort out funding from Barclays bank.We now know that Ashley favours a sale to Moat and it is unlikely that any other consortiums would be involved in this late stage.

Elsewhere, Manchester City and Everton have agreed on a £22m fee for unsettled Evertonian, Joleon Lescott to move to Manchester City Staduim. This effectively clears the way for Everton to make a bid for Steven Taylor to boost their faltering Premiership campaign.

Newcastle United Thump Reading For Three

Dave NU Blogger — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:07:28 +0000

Shola Ameobi scored a rare hat-trick fittingly gave tribute to the late Sir Bobby Robson. The match played out to a crowd of around 35,000 supporters and was over seen by current owner, Mike Ashley (everyone stand up) and also close by Barry Moat. The match was summed up by some characteristic spirit and grit when we play at home. Some could say that passion had been sadly missing over the past two seasons. Thankfully, Ameobi did much to dispel some of the inaddequcies of the previous match by netting two with his head and one penalty. The team played exceptionally well to close down Reading and keep them on the back foot. Alan Smith provided another fantastic performance in mid field once again. I seriously hope that Smithy doesn’t get sold off as he’s winning over many who derided him over the past two seasons. It was also good to see Harper back in goals after the knock he received at West Brom.The crisis at Newcastle United was not evident on the pitch and although this is the first match, it goes to show that the team can still deliver some punches to lift us fans. Well done to Hughton and the lads for getting it just right for the first home match.UPDATES:On the transfer side, one absentee that was registered was that of Damien Duff. There is a good chance that he’ll be slipping on the Fulham jersey come next week. Rumours are abound that the the wage bill for the team is gradually being chipped away. It stands at around £48 m.Players in : it is strongly rumoured that Newcastle will at last approach Pompey for Sol Campbell. I’ve admired the defender for a while now for his services both to clubs and country and it’s about time he had a look in since Roeder kept him off his transfer list during his tenureship as manager.