Newcastle - Officially a joke club

[red g]

Magpies fooled by Mackems 'banter'
The North-East businessman claiming to be preparing a £150million takeover of Newcastle has emerged as a Sunderland fan having some "banter".

A press release issued on behalf of a 'Rick Parkinson' on Friday morning announced he had put together a five-man consortium ready to offer Mike Ashley £90million for the club.

It also claimed Parkinson would put £30million into restructuring the business and install Alan Shearer as manager with a £30million war-chest.

However, it was revealed later that day that the club were were aware of the consortium and it has now emerged that 'Parkinson' is in fact Richard Parker, a lifelong Sunderland fan.

He told the Daily Mail: "It's all friendly banter. I'm sure the majority of Magpie fans will see the funny side but I'm afraid it is something they're going to have to put up with for a while.

"We haven't had a great deal to shout about in the last 16 years or so at Sunderland, but this summer has, without doubt, made up for all those years of hurt. Newcastle's plight, as difficult as it is for their fans, is music to our ears.

"We could easily have gone down on the final day as well, but that makes it all the funnier for Sunderland fans and nobody can really blame us for milking it for as long as we possibly can."

Parker's revelations have added to the farce surrounding the future of the club, with a number of other Sunderland fans making derisory takeover offers since Ashley put it up for sale




What a joke of a club, literally

[Vermilion]

That's them scuppered for a bit again, Ashley now go's back to considering the 'curly wurly' offer, so long as that doesn't also turn out to be someone making jokes at Newcastles expense.

[Fivex]

He's had enough curly wurly's, the fat *******

Seriously though what lengths did this sunderland fan go to, to convince Ashley and his advisors that this consortium was legitimate? This was one of the 3 offers they were bragging about on the table am I correct? Are NUFC really that gullible?

[Joey Jones]

Another reason why they are a joke club

Newcastle pay Joey Barton £675,000 a year for image rights

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/5526418/Newcastle-pay-Joey-Barton-675000-a-year-for-image-rights.html

The extent of Newcastle United's disastrous management in recent seasons can be exposed by The Sunday Telegraph with the revelation that the club is still paying their notorious midfielder, Joey Barton, £675,000 per year for his image rights.

Newcastle are desperate to reduce their wage bill and this weekend owner Mike Ashley has been in discussions to sell the club for £100 million.

But prospective buyers will be concerned that Barton, who spent 11 weeks in prison last summer for common assault and affray, has the highest "image rights" deal at the club according to a well-placed source.

Barton's deal was agreed in June 2007, before his jail term, but at a time when he was being investigated by the police for his attack on his then Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo.

City had been close to sacking him in 2004 after he accidentally stubbed out a cigar in the eye of a youth team player Jamie Tandy at their Christmas party and in 2005 he was sent home from a summer tour of Thailand after a fight with a 15-year-old Everton fan. For his attack on Dabo in May 2007, which left the Frenchman heavily bruised and with a suspected detached retina, Barton received a four-month suspended sentence. He signed for Newcastle the month after the assault, just days before Ashley took over complete control at St James' Park.

Last December he was arrested outside a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool and subsequently sentenced to six months in prison for common assault and affray. During the 11 weeks he served in prison Barton would have earned £143,000 for his image rights on his contractual terms. The club did, however, fine him for his misdemeanours.

This season, having recovered from injury to help Newcastle's failed efforts to avoid relegation, he was rashly sent off in a crucial game with Liverpool and had to be restrained in a post-match confrontation with interim manager Alan Shearer. The club explored the possibility of sacking him for his actions but are now desperately trying to find a buyer for a player whose total earnings come to nearly £65,000 per week.

With Michael Owen at the end of his contract, Barton's image rights payments – which work out at roughly £13,000 a week – are believed to be at least £200,000 higher than those of his best paid team-mates. While most high profile players receive just over 10 per cent of their basic salary, Barton, whose contract runs until 2012, is paid just over 20 per cent.

When a player signs for a club he has two options. Either he seeks to profit from selling his own image rights, or he lets the club use his image in exchange for an annual payment. This payment goes into the player's 'image company', many of which are based offshore. Almost all players opt for the latter.

[EwarWoo]

City had been close to sacking him in 2004 after he accidentally stubbed out a cigar in the eye of a youth team player Jamie Tandy at their Christmas party

WTF? Not seen that before.

How'd you accidentally stub a cigar out in someone's eye?

[Chrono]

WTF? Not seen that before.

How'd you accidentally stub a cigar out in someone's eye?

I do remember it only the accidental bit is the first I heard of it. I remember that one of the youth players was making some joke at his expense so he did the only thing any of us would have done and attempted to permenantly blind a child with a cigar.

This guy being a millionaire footballer is the reason there is no god.

[Chrono]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....ty_fracas.html

[Vermilion]

He's had enough curly wurly's, the fat *******

Seriously though what lengths did this sunderland fan go to, to convince Ashley and his advisors that this consortium was legitimate? This was one of the 3 offers they were bragging about on the table am I correct? Are NUFC really that gullible?

I hear he wore a Newcastle utd shirt as proof of his commitment.