Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

News

Kieron Dyer “Mike Ashley has been treated a bit harshly (by Newcastle fans)”

6 years ago
Share

You don’t expect it to be like having a conversation with Stephen Hawking when you hear what a former football player has to say but there are limits…which Kieron Dyer has managed to go way beyond this time.

On Sky Sports and paid handsomely, the reason he is there is because he is supposed to give an ‘expert’ knowledgeable opinion about the subject.

That subject this time being Newcastle United (and fans) and Mike Ashley.

Geoff Shreeves was the host and also appearing was former Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy.

Kieron Dyer claims that Mike Ashley ‘has been treated a bit harshly at times’ by Newcastle supporters.

To back this up he says that fans got their wish when fans got their wish and Kevin Keegan was appointed but ‘it doesn’t go well’. Surely even this clown must be aware that the reason it didn’t do well was because Ashley told Keegan he would have the final say on transfers in and out – BUT then employed Dennis Wise and unbeknown to Keegan gave the cockney dwarf the final say. The legal action ending with Mike Ashley proved to have lied and Kevin Keegan winning £2m for being forced out (constructive dismissal).

Kieron Dyer then repeats this with Alan Shearer, Ashley supposedly having his hand forced by fans when appointing him. Shearer was given an impossible job as Ashley waited far too long after having brought in JFK and only belatedly gave Shearer eight games to avoid relegation. The owner then asked Shearer to come up with a plan to get the club bouncing back, which he did, only for Ashley never to get back to him and then gave Chris Hughton the job as caretaker.

Dyer describes ‘stuff like’ changing St James Park to the SD Arena as ‘a bit of a rick’. Tearing up over 100 years of tradition and changing the name of the stadium to a company of which he is the majority shareholder, with not a penny going into NUFC, is more than any ‘rick’!!

Kieron Dyer then comes up with the classic – ‘Knowing the Newcastle fans…I think the fans think they’re a Champions League team’. Adding that the fans have been ‘spoilt’ by the Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson eras. (Did he get to know the Newcastle fans so well when he was out getting mortal and causing mischief, or did he have the supporters helping him look for that £5,000 diamond earring that he lost…?)

No, those two managers showed what is possible at Newcastle United. Newcastle fans don’t expect Champions League football but they hope for and aspire to it.

Craig Bellamy actually spoke well and said ‘If they (a new owner(s)) are willing to invest, I will tell you now, if they go in and do it well – it is a really good club’.

Ironically, Kieron Dyer even ends up agreeing with Bellamy, saying ‘The club has got so much potential, I would love to see them do well and get back up and in the Champions League‘.

Surely if Newcastle United has got ‘so much potential’, then it has to be aiming for the top four as its long-term aim, with the likes of Tottenham, Leicester and Everton having all done it in recent times, why wouldn’t NUFC be aiming for that. The big thing of course is that the fans don’t expect it, they hope for it to happen.

Newcastle have been year in year out one of the six or seven clubs with the most revenue and biggest support, so that says our natural place – based on cash coming in, should have been the top six or seven with the possibility of aiming for higher if  everything was done correctly. Instead of Mike Ashley getting the club relegated twice in eight seasons of Premier League football, a few other near misses, with only one finish in the top nine.

Craig Bellamy and Kieron Dyer talking to Geoff Shreeves on Sky Sports on Wednesday night:

Kieron Dyer:

“I think he (Mike Ashley) has been treated a bit harshly at times (by Newcastle fans).

“The fans wanted Kevin Keegan as manager, he gives them their wish, it doesn’t go well.

“The fans wanted Alan Shearer, he came in as caretaker manager, that didn’t work out well.

“He has had a bit of a rick when he changed the stadium name and stuff like that.”

Geoff Shreeves:

“To change the name of the stadium in the manner he did, he admitted himself in that rare interview he’s got so many things wrong.

“I don’t think so much the Newcastle fans are apoplectic so much about the amount of money he’s put it, it’s the way he’s run the club under his stewardship.

“This isn’t about Mike Ashley now. Can you see a big investor, there are allegedly people looking at it, taking Newcastle on?”

Kieron Dyer:

“I find the problem now in football, you just look at Arsenal, they will see the football club as a business. Not bothered about winning anything, just to make money, Arsenal have shown they are happy to come top four every year, job done.

“So knowing the Newcastle fans, would they settle for just….

Craig Bellamy:

“But for there to be a business then you have to invest, you would have to invest at a club like Newcastle…

Kieron Dyer:

 “I think Newcastle staying in the Premier League will make money with just the TV deal.”

Craig Bellamy:

“It’s clear why a lot of clubs in the Premier League have been bought because there is a lot of money due to the TV deals.

“Money from China has dried up a little bit due to the government rules now. You look at the Middle East: Abu Dhabi have taken on Manchester City, Qatar with PSG, so a lot of money (interest) has gone into clubs already.

“Maybe America is a route for a club like Newcastle.

“If they are willing to invest, I will tell you now, if they go in and do it well – it is a really good club.

“It’s really difficult to get like your Manchester Uniteds and Liverpools because they have had 50 and 60 years of success, there is a reason they are supported all of the way around the world, because of winning European Cups and winning  leagues. It would take a long time for them ever to get to that stature.”

Geoff Shreeves:

“I’ve spoken to quite a few Newcastle fans. I was on the train with quite a lot after the Brighton game and they said they’re fed up with this reputation that they believe they have a right to win a trophy or belong alongside Manchester United. That’s a myth. They just want to support their team and see them do well. They do not believe they have any divine right.”

Kieron Dyer:

“I disagree. I disagree. Being there…I think they expect to be up there. I’m not saying winning the league but I think the fans think they’re a Champions League team. I honestly believe that.

“They were spoilt with Kevin Keegan.”

Geoff Shreeves:

“You say spoilt, but they went in an (upward) direction and then did that went downhill).”

Kieron Dyer: 

“They were spoilt by Bobby Robson in a way, he exceeded expectations but that was when, especially under Kevin Keegan, they broke the world record transfer fee. They just cannot do that now unless a massive investor comes in.

“The club has got so much potential, I would love to see them do well and get back up and in the Champions League.”

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks