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Opinion

‘Shutting down Newcastle Takeover was right move by Mike Ashley’

6 years ago
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Mike Ashley. A name many on Tyneside would like never to hear again.

Since taking over Newcastle United on 23 May 2007, The Magpies have never been the same.

A very shrewd businessman, he has admitted on so many occasions he does not know anything about football. This poor knowledge about the sport, that so many people in Newcastle are so passionate about, has seen Fat Mike make many wrong decisions that have set the club backwards at every turn.

These bad decisions are so numerous they cannot all be listed here but the prominent ones, range from the decision to appoint Dennis Wise as the director of football, to forcing Kevin Keegan indirectly out of the club.

The one I feel every Newcastle fan would find it hard to forgive Ashley for, was the decision to appoint Joe Kinnear as manager on 26 September 2008, a decision he then repeated five years later by appointing The Director of F… all as our director of football. After spending eight months as director, Kinnear failed to make a single permanent signing in two transfer window, a complete embarrassment to the club.

In October 2017, Mike Ashley officially put Newcastle United up for sale. A relief for Newcastle fans around the world.

This led to a bid from Amanda Staveley and her PCP partners, putting in an offer(s) for the club in November 2017. After various rumours on social media and in the press, on 16 January 2018 it was announced (by Ashley sources via the media) that the bid was off the table and Mike Ashley has invited new bidders. This development was a major disappointment to Newcastle fans who wanted to see the end of their greedy owner.

Taking a closer look however, the decision by Mike Ashley to break off from any Newcastle Takeover deal could be the saving grace to Newcastle’s season for two major reasons.

Firstly, Newcastle United find themselves in a very delicate position in the Premier League table. The Magpies are just three points away from 20th placed Swansea  City. The last thing the players need is the distraction of a takeover. Many may not realise this, but as long as the takeover news continue to linger on, there will continue to be some sort of uncertainty surrounding the players and managers which could affect the performances on the pitch. So because of this, the decision by Mike Ashley to give up on the takeover process could be an advantage to the overall performance of the team.

Secondly, the breakdown of the Newcastle Takeover deal is a good thing for the Toon Army. A lot of people may not agree with this but as long as the deal stays alive, the fans will continue to keep their hopes up even when the deal is far away from conclusion. A term Ashley labelled as ‘exhausting and frustrating’. Well, for the first time ever, I will have to agree with Ashley on this one. As a fan, waking up every morning and reading about the takeover rumour was, in the words of Ashley, ‘exhausting and frustrating’.

On a final note.

The best time for the Newcastle Takeover deal is to wait till the end of the season. This will enable every party involved to know where the club stand and also if the takeover becomes successful, give the new owner a fresh start.

To every Newcastle fan out there, the best thing to do is forget about the potential new owners and just support the club.

Mike Ashley is only one man, no matter how far away it seems, he is going to leave eventually.

This is our club, we need to give it our best support and the time to do it is now. We cannot let him push us away from what we are so passionate about.

I love Newcastle and will continue to give it my best support because there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Let us keep up the faith, a time will come when we will have our club back.

You can follow the author on Twitter @done2stay
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