Is honesty the best policy for Ashley?
IT'S often said honesty is the best policy.
But the truth made uncomfortable reading for Newcastle United fans last night.
And the euphoria of recent weeks now seems almost a distant memory as the detail of the club's extraordinary statement sunk in on Tyneside today.
The most telling part of a 1,189-word press release – issued, as one commenter pointed out, on a good day to bury bad news – boiled down to one, short sentence.
"There is no plan for new capital outlay on players," it read.
That means Chris Hughton – who had achieved the seemingly impossible by taking Newcastle back to the Premier League at the first attempt amid almost unprecedented turmoil off the field – will have to rely on free transfers, loans and money raised from player sales.
By his own admission, Hughton, pictured, needs to add two or three players to his squad if United are to have a realistic chance of staying in the division.
Now, it seems, those additions will be that little bit harder to come by.
Balancing the books in five years, of course, is an objective few supporters will disagree with, such are the chill winds blowing through football, and if the club can stand on its own two feet in good time, then all the better.
Yet if the planned exercise in financial prudence comes at the expense of the club's top-flight status, and the loss of tens of millions of pounds in revenue, it will have been for nothing.
Does owner Mike Ashley never learn?
After all, it was his failure to back Kevin Keegan in the transfer market that ultimately led to Newcastle's relegation, something which had a far bigger impact on the books than a modest net outlay on players in the transfer window a couple of years ago would have done.
Undoubtedly, there will be good players available on loan this summer. And there will be players available on free transfers in what is certain to be a buyers' market.
As for selling to buy, the idea of flogging the club's saleable assets will be unpalatable to most fans, and, indeed, Hughton has gone on record saying he doesn't want to let any more players go. The statement also talks of "misrepresentation" by the national media over the last decade.
However, the dealings of the present hierarchy, in terms of openness and honesty, were themselves laid bare in Keegan's recent employment tribunal.
The club also go on to say there will be no comment from the board except for prepared statements.
No change there, then. Ashley has never spoken to the press, and managing director Derek Llambias has rarely put his head above the parapets.
So if the club's board won't put itself up to any kind of proper scrutiny, in contrast to Niall Quinn at Sunderland, how open and honest is it?
Certainly, at a time when fans are calling for better PR and communication, battening down the hatches, and hiding behind prepared statements, is an interesting response.
The silence has always been deafening under Ashley, and now it's got louder.
However, it's matters on the field that are of most concern to supporters, many of whom will have already forked out for season tickets in the belief Hughton will be backed.
And his job has just got that little bit harder.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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