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Opinion

Middlesbrough owner lectures Newcastle fans about Mike Ashley

9 years ago
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Middlesbrough owner and former boss of Steve McClaren, Steve Gibson, has taken the NUFC Head Coach appointment as the opportunity to lecture Newcastle supporters on the subject of Mike Ashley.

Gibson says that Ashley ‘has done a lot of good things for Newcastle and people forget that’, then adding ‘people forget where Newcastle might be without him’.

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Like countless other people who have patronised Newcastle fans down the week, months and years of Ashley’s reign, Gibson should keep his nose out of our business and concentrate on running his own second rate football club.

It is fair comment for Steve Gibson to give his opinion on what he thinks Boro former manager Steve McClaren might do for Newcastle, but that’s what he should stick to, rather than lecturing teh NUFC fanbase about how grateful they should be to Mike Ashley.

Speaking to the Northern Echo, Steve Gibson had this to say:

“I am delighted to see Steve McClaren back in the Premier League and I think he will do a great job for Newcastle – he is the perfect fit.

“He has an eye for a player and is a terrific coach and a great man manager, he’s exactly what Newcastle United need.”

Mike Ashley:

“I have always got on well with Mike Ashley, he’s done a lot of good things for Newcastle and people forget that. He has not got everything right but he has got a lot of things right. People forget where Newcastle might be without him.

“Steve is great for Newcastle and I wish him well.”

Yes indeed who knows where Newcastle United might be without Mike Ashley?

We could be another Portsmouth, Leeds, Rangers etc etc…

However, we could be another (bigger version of and with much more potential) Swansea, Southampton  – clubs who are outperforming Newcastle United both in the transfer market and on the pitch.

The fact remains that last season Newcastle were one of the ten best supported clubs in Europe and 19th in the latest list of Deloitte’s highest turnovers in World football

This despite Mike Ashley refusing to allow the club to pursue the best commercial deals for the club and instead take the benefit of free promotion for the rest of his retail empire.

Banking the TV riches instead of investing in the squad is something else we should all be grateful for, including buying no players for 18 months at one point. Not forgetting the relegation of 2009 and the near misses of 2013 and 2015.

Nobody will be more pleased than me if Mike Ashley starts to run Newcastle United in a decent and ambitious way, starting in this summer’s transfer market.

Until there are any physical signs of this new approach though, I’ll be not posting my ‘Thank You’ letter to the Newcastle United owner just yet.

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