Many people say Ashley was suckered in by Shepherd and Hall but maybe he was the wise one and saw the TV money would solve the losses NUFC were making. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure if Shepherd had remained at Newcastle that extra money would have probably been wasted but it would have at least been an opportunity to turn things around.
In the 80s, I refused to get involved with the campaign to get rid of McKeag et al. The reason being was I simply did not like or trust Hall. History has proved that he was only interested in the kudos and the money.
Going back pre-Ashley, for better or worse, this kind of signing would have been exactly the type you could have expected in the latter days of the Hall/Shepherd administration.