view photoNEWCASTLE, England (AFP) - Ailing English football giants Newcastle were put back on the market by owner Mike Ashley on Sunday at a vastly lower price than he bought them.
The 46-year-old businessman is reported by the BBC to be willing to sell the club for only 80million pounds as opposed to the 135million he paid in 2006.
Ashley, a Londoner who has tried to conjure up favour with the Newcastle fans by wearing Newcastle team shirts and drinking pints of beer among the spectators, confessed to the Sunday Times that he couldn't wait to leave.
"It's been catastrophic for everybody. I've lost my money and made terrible decisions," he told the Sunday Times.
"Now I want to sell as soon as I can. I am genuinely sorry for everybody for what has happened."
Ashley, who went through four managers in the past campaign, again issued a fulsome apology to the longsuffering Newcastle fans.
"I never said I was an expert in football clubs," Ashley added.
"I was just a fan - although a very wealthy fan, but I'm not so wealthy now.
"I put my money into it and I tried my best, but I accept my best was woefully short.
"Seeing Newcastle relegated has been a catastrophe for us all.
"I fully accept that mistakes were made during this and previous seasons, and I am very sorry for that.
"I would like to say sorry to our magnificent supporters who have turned up in their thousands, home and away, up and down the country and who have given the team amazing backing throughout.
"And I would also say sorry to all of the club's hard-working staff, who have gone about their jobs all year long."
While Ashley is yet to sell the club one of his last acts might be to sign Newcastle icon Alan Shearer up to a four year contract as manager - though he only managed one win in his eight matches in charge.
Comment 14 - 33 of 33
The whole of Newcastle and surrounding area is not worh 80million. Its a dump, has been for Years.
DOOOOONNNNNNN AAAAAARRRRMMMMMYYYYYYY!! cheer up thickoooooos its only a game!!! hhhhaaaaarrrrrrr hhhhaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
DOOOOONNNNNNN AAAAAARRRRMMMMMYYYYYYY!! cheer up thickoooooos its only a game!!! hhhhaaaaarrrrrrr hhhhaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
Mike Ashley... Are you really even worth an article on eurosport? You run the team into the ground and then simply try to wash your hands. Get to work you twit!
surely mike could get planning permission to get rid of st james park and build a nice housing estate on the spot...lets face it saturday afternoon around the town would be a better place without all them thick beer swillin thick c**ts clogging the streets up!
sell the club at alan shearers pound shop on hylton road sunderland,well done darren Lloyd lol
Hutch, he's a serial stirrer; the sad thing is, on the rare occasion, in between his poison, he does raise some valid stuff. I stopped conversing with him a while back when he described me as 'vile', and 'a disgrace to my football club' . . . and they were the nice 'compliments'!
If you go around the other club's pages, apart from man united and liverpool, the NUFC pages are the most popular - he will get nowhere on the man united or liverpool pages (they're just in a world of their own there!!!), and they'll suss him right out - so he comes fishing here. He's good, he's very good if you know what i mean.
impactclean, barry, tranny you are so wrong and you know you are. You like to be a smart @#$% but don't like my response, tuff.
Hutch, fancy a carrot mate. I've read some of your comments, nice to read genuine fans opinions, keep it up.
heyup connolly 2ns,
you dont mind dishing it out,but as is usual with your kind cant take it,youve got a new mate now,Hutch, as in rabbit,ime looking forward to your comments and am glad to see you have cleaned your act up a bit,give hutch a carrot please, hes got nothing to chew on,and appears to know zilch about nufc.perhaps you could give him some lessons.
Granny!.
Hutch, Impactclean (who also goes by barry groves when he is cornered and has no reply) isn't interested in NUFC. He is actually full of shyte and likes to post it on this site. He once told me he was a 73 year old granny who works night shift but i think he is a 40 year old lonely transvetite looking for a reaction.
I support the Toon but if I never posted anything on here but constantly posted shyte on the SAFC site I think I would have a look at myself in the mirror, in his case with his frock on.
Hey Mr Impactclean -
Why are you so interested in NUFC if you aren't a supporter? Isn't there a forum where you can discuss your own team? If not - why not advertise for like-minded friends in the Guardian. Please don't criticise other people for being uneducated when it is clear from your comment that your own education left you incapable of using correct grammar and spelling.
heyup you lot,
if you had £80mill would you buy nufc.?
hey up,the deadly duo,cameron/connolly,
youve finaly admitted that nufc are dross,with your incredible foresight you should both be installed as co managers,oh by the way,have you heard,the guardian states your mate shearer will not take the job,oh yes for the reasons i stated earlier.i look forward to your next uneducated posting,to save you getting anymore stick,why dont u try the local pub team.you really are a pair of idiots!!!!!!granny.
£80 million surely there is enough geordies to put that amount together and buy the club, Sell of the High earners and that will recoup a hell of a lot of money alone, Ant and Dec must earn about £80m for doing their live shows, so come on you Rich Geordies and Buy Back your Club and stick Big Al at the Helm!
So here we are, out of season and back in the news again…
That price of 80 million pounds would have been right a year ago, he won't find any buyer for that price now, especially with the recession. Some people only know the fire by stepping in. So now he says he is no football expert? and now he acknowledges his mistakes that the whole world could see? Well guess what, now it is all well too late. What a pig! I said it many times, the best fans in England are the Toons, and I don't support Newcastle, and they don't deserve that their team goes down so they are paying the price of what Ashley did.
Note for all you Geordies. I do feel for you. When you have the likes of Stoke, Hull, Sunderland who have stayed up makes it an injustice that you have gone down. I am a Spurs for for my sins but lived in Blyth and naturally got the toon army bug. Shearer and the fans do not deserve what has happened. Sure after 38 games the league does not lie but you have a massive club and you WILL bounce back.
You have a team of good players but maybe it's the attitude that has put you where you are, you guys will know better than me as I did not see 1 game in the land of toon.
I hope you bounce back straight away.
See you again the season after next & good luck !!!!!
thank god hes selling atlast we might have a jordie owner with a jordie manager and maybe a jordie squad plzzzzzzzzzzzzz sell fast u complete totenham s h i t face
let owen go he was a wast of nealy 17m an he has done @#$% all for us this season
nufc have all taken the piss this season no players have worked hard or we wouldnt be in this @#$% would we?????????????????
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account