Last week Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley gave a rare interview.

In that interview Ashley stated the one thing that the Newcastle United fans didn’t want to hear when he stated…

“To definitely win something and, by the way, I won’t be selling (the Club) until I do.”

Now many a football fan would be desperate to see/hear their owner with such ambition.

But due to his history as the clubs proprietor, the Toon fans only look on the statement and see ‘I won’t be selling the club’.

Why?

Well it is simple, Mike Ashley has proved to the Newcastle Utd fans during his eight years at the helm that he has no interest in winning anything with the Magpies.

During his tenure balancing the books and staying in the English Premier League have been the only real ambitions that drive him.

Not bad ambitions, the club are healthy in the financial department and will once again be playing top flight football next term and that will see them pocket £100m plus in TV money.

But the lack of imagination to do anything beyond achieving good books and securing Premier League survival, turns the club stale and infuriates a very passionate fanbase.

Instead of trying to fight for domestic honours, the board seem to actively encourage the management team to field weakened sides in the cup competitions. Ashley would prefer they forget about a dream date at Wembley and just get enough points to stay in the league for another season.

The lack of ambition then filters into the stands and the fans publicly call for change. They chant ‘Ashley out!’, they protest outside the ground and then many just stop turning up for games all together.

That negativity then affects the players, who become disillusioned with everything and start to perform at a mediocre level. As they feel unwanted by the club”s hierarchy and see that they are also unambitious.

Just looking at outgoing Jonas Gutierrez, who tweet this…

“Two things I learn from my illness, how you can support a player (Newcastle fans) and how you leave a player alone (Newcastle owner).”

This scenario of being stale and unambitious persuaded Alan Pardew that Crystal Palace offered him better options than Newcastle United. Pardew left the Magpies in a mid-table spot in January but after he left they sunk like a stone. While Alan rejuvenated a lowly Palace and secured a top ten finish with the ‘Eagles’, Newcastle needed to wait until the final day of the season to claim Premier League survival.

Ashley and his board watched on as interim boss John Carver lost the plot on the touchline. They should have spotted that Carver wasn’t up to the job and hired a new head coach then and there.

Even now they still haven’t brought in a new full time boss. Steve McLaren has been mentioned and has just been released by Derby, yet Newcastle are slow to move. Another out of work boss, Remi Garde has been mentioned yet he still hasn’t arrived either. Crazily, Carver’s name seems to still be in the frame.

If they plump for inexperienced Patrick Viera, then that would be a huge risk. But you would also show at least a bit of forward thinking.

Most top class, established coaches wouldn’t go near the hotseat at St James Park, while Ashley is in charge.

When you consider the money that Newcastle have; the personal wealth of Ashley and the transfer income… You’d have thought that there would have been more big signings for the Toon fans to crow over.

But they rely on cheaper foreign imports and youth products that have shown potential. Then before they reach their full potential they get sold on like Yohan Cabaye, Andy Carroll, Mathieu Debuchy and Demba Ba.

That wouldn’t be so bad if the club used up the majority of those incoming fees to replenish the squad but they don’t do that properly! They always seem to look at the cheap options first.

Mike Ashley said that he viewed getting into the ‘Top Four’ and the Champions League as good as winning something. Very true but Newcastle United can’t be seen as potential Champions League placed candidates if they aren’t willing to splash the cash on recognised, already established world-class players.

Getting back to the winning something. If Ashley promoted winning a cup as a real goal, then maybe they like Aston Villa could have changed their seasons fortunes by getting to an FA Cup final. Villa actually finished behind Newcastle this term but their fans are happier because during the season their owner brought in a new enthusiastic coach and they reached a domestic final, as well as staying in the Premier League. The Villains now have more optimism for 2015/16 than the Toon faithful.

Simply put; Mike Ashley has sufficated the life out of Newcastle United.

Any enjoyment those passionate Newcastle Utd fans once had for the club has evaporated quicker than Sports Direct announcing a sale of liquidated stock!

It is such a shame, but Mike just doesn’t care about the club and winning trophies. He might spend a few million more on personnel for next season but they won’t turn into a Top Four outfit.

His PR stunt last week is fully transparent (unlike everything else about the man), he will stick around for as long as the millions come in from the TV revenue and he’ll give the club crumbs to live off of.

Actions speak louder than words Mr Ashley. Put up or shut up, actually it would be better if you shipped out rather than continued to take the piss!

Posted on May 31st, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article