A New Era? – 3 Reasons Why Amanda Staveley Is The Owner That Newcastle United Need
As has been reported this week, Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley have held their first proper face-to-face meeting during the protracted Newcastle United takeover deal.
The high-level business pair met at the Paradise Indian restaurant in London to discuss the deal, though it is believed no final price has yet been agreed.
Staveley and PCP Partners have been in the process of putting together a second offer having seen an initial £300million offer turned down. Some suspect Ashley is holding out for £400million but by all accounts, this latest meeting went well and a resolution could be reached.
Here we look at three reasons why Staveley and partners are better for the future of Newcastle United FC:
Staveley Is Amiable
Newcastle is renowned for being a thoroughly friendly place and that filters right through the fan base at the football club.
What is not needed, and has never been needed, is a pugnacious, cheap businessman who stays in hiding and essentially has precious little in common with the fans.
Amanda Staveley is undoubtedly a tough businesswoman; however, her public persona is warm, friendly and so much closer to the Geordie, ideal than Ashley and his subordinates.
There Will Be Cash
Harsh real-world fact; if you want your team to be more than an also-ran in the English Premier League then you need some very serious cash to do it, something Mike Ashley cannot or will not provide.
It was easy for Ashley to buy Newcastle at the time he did, but he’s not passionate about the club or the place and so it is more like a toy to him. But, he’s been a naughty little boy who has not looked after his toy and I’m sure his parents would be furious. It’s time for him to give it over to someone who will appreciate it.
Staveley’s initial calculation apparently was that she would need to provide £150million over two transfer windows in order to bring the playing staff up to standard, which is a very far cry indeed from what fans have become used to with Ashley at the helm.
She’s Not Cheap
Under Mike Ashley, everything feels cheap. He has run Newcastle United the same way he runs his other business despite the two sharing nothing in common.
The horrible ads all over St James’ Park, attempting to rename the stadium and all these things connected with some cheap brands essentially, deal in quantity and not quality.
The business plan seems to be to bash out as many individual cheap products as possible while keeping wages as low as possible to maintain profitability. He even had to appear in front of MP’s to defend working practices.
This doesn’t fit with Newcastle; a city whose Grey Street was voted by architects as the best street in the UK, where the nightlife is often voted as among the best in Europe and now a city which is listed as number one on the Rough Guide’s “Places You Should Have On Your Radar In 2018”.