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Mike Ashley bans Newcastle flags display v Manchester United? – 100% predictable

6 years ago
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Sunday morning has seen the Newcastle fans behind the Flags displays reveal that there won’t be anything on show at the Manchester United match today.

The ‘Wor Hyem’ fans group have used their Twitter account to inform everybody that due to ‘restrictions’ they are ‘unable to put on a display today’.

When the excellent flags banner was revealed before the Burnley match, using the Kevin Keegan quote about Mike Ashley (see below), most supporters assumed that this would mean the end of the flag displays.

However, local media then claimed that Mike Ashley wasn’t going to ban them, only now for this mornings news to appear to contradict that..

Reading between the lines, the fan group are being very diplomatic in what they are saying, so maybe safe to assume that this is maybe a yellow card rather than a red issued by the Fat Controller.

Today’s match against Manchester United is arguably the biggest of the season and very likely to have the largest worldwide TV audience of the season as well.

So Mike Ashley wanting to avoid any chance of him being so publicly embarrassed, with possibly flags returning (with restrictions….????) for the non-televised lower profile home game with Southampton on 10 March?

Wor Hyem announcement:

“Due to restrictions, we are unable to put on a display today.

“Make some noise and get behind the lads.”

The Mag – 1 February 2018:

A big well done to those responsible for the Flags at the Newcastle v Burnley match.

They had hinted that they had something special lined up and with the game coinciding with the closing of the January transfer window, it was all very appropriate.

Despite the Mike Ashley PR machine saying the owner was backing Rafa Benitez with a £20m striker, not a single player was bought.

Indeed, even the last gasp loan deal for an (injured) Islam Slimani only appeared to happen after Rafa Benitez made one last plea for support, speaking on the phone to Ashley on Tuesday.

The Flags resurrected a Kevin Keegan quote, which famously told us not to give up and one day we will be rid of Mike Ashley.

The Flags showing:

“Don’t ever give up on your club, keep supporting it,

“It’s your club and trust me, one day you will get your club back and it will be everything you wanted it to be.

“Newcastle United is bigger than anyone.

“It hurts I know but just keep going.

“He is only one man. We are a city, a whole population. Trust me.”

Sadly, it looks certain to be the displays of Flags that will now be leaving us, instead of the owner.

Whilst the club have milked the Flags displays relentlessly for their own purposes, Ashley and his minions will surely be calling time on them, rather than putting them on the naughty step.

Fair play to the organisers because obviously they get a kick out of doing the displays and naturally will have known that they are now going to be blocked from further ones.

It was of course when Kevin Keegan was forced out and the Newcastle fans turned on Mike Ashley, that he took the decision to wipe out the 3,000 strong ‘Singing Section’, which had become the focus for very vocal protests against his ownership.

What a club.

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