No Deal or No Deal. "Damn the Credit Crunch!", he must be thinking over a Domino's Pizza and pint. But is this such gloomy news for the Toon as things stand? Ashley was booed out of St. James' Park hot on the heels of quitter Kevin Keegan, declaring he'd "got the message" that he wasn't wanted by the fans as club owner.
Trouble is the crisis heralded an air of austerity and humility at the club. No coach worth his salt wanted the job, leaving it to those desperate for a last chance of the big time.
Enter Joe Kinnear, without a sniff of work in football for four years, but with a decent top-flight record at Wimbledon - and he's done rather well, steadying the ship and getting his squad performing consistently. An example of a football man written off prematurely in the over-judgemental world of the English game.
It's not as if Newcastle hasn't got quality: Michael Owen, Damien Duff, Nicky Butt, Obafemi Martins, Shay Given, Geremi and Mark Viduka: all good enough to keep them up.
Ashley's decision to drink up, then wash and go sent Newcastle into freefall. Suddenly there was no manager, an AWOL chairman and a middle-management dubbed cockney mafia, starring Dennis Wise. Who on earth was going to work in that framework and get the team performing? It was the very definition of football's poisoned chalice. Worse than managing England!
But a few months on, the picture's rather different. Ashley's renewal of vows maybe good news for Newcastle United.
They're a decent bet to stay up and though the squad isn't good enough long-term, the fans still turn up in their thousands for the Toon and there's lots to build on.
It's time the Toon Army buried the hatchet and got behind their owner. I think this new version of recession-hit Newcastle minus the Fancy Dans and bad boys can start to prosper.
Also on Jonny's Soccermongery: Thailand's new Prime Minister is a Geordie! and Keeping Michael Owen is out of Newcastle's hands or Home Page for the latest entry.
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Newcastle have been my “glamour club” since I was a kid. I grew up in Cardiff, and for all my childhood the Bluebirds were in the lower two leagues, playing in front of crowds of around 1,500 (I wonder where the other 14,000 who now attend have sprung up from, but never mind!).
ReplyDeleteHaving the Magpies as my “glamour club” allowed me to take a more active interest in the early years of the Premier League, and I still follow them, albeit to a lesser extent these days. Those of you who grew up in London, Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool won’t really understand this phenomenon, but trust me, if you live in a town where top flight football is a distant prospect it’s VERY common for people, especially children, to have a “glamour club”.
There were a few reasons why Newcastle fans didn’t warm to Mike Ashley. The biggest gripe many people have is that if he was half as passionate about the club as he is about gambling, enough money would’ve been spent to expect a top six finish. Of course, it’s his money and he’s free to spend it as he chooses, but we are talking about hundreds of millions of pounds squandered on a roulette table and on financial betting. It’s hardly a good sign of his commitment to the club.
Secondly, the way in which he went about appointing Dennis Wise was unacceptable as far as I’m concerned. A chairman should appoint a manager, and leave him free to choose his own backroom staff. Keegan is certainly a quitter, but would ANY serious manager put up with some bloke he probably hardly knows and maybe doesn’t like overruling his transfer decisions?
Wise still lives in London as far as I know, and only spends 2 days a week at the club. He is in no position to make a fair judgement on any player, yet he seems to have a significant amount of power.
Mike Ashley is here to stay for the time being, and we need to make the best of it. If he fancies being a manager himself, he can buy a copy of Football Manager for his computer. Otherwise, he should just let people get on with their jobs without interference.
I hope this post makes some kind of sense…..I’m taking tablets for a heavy cold- the ingredients are full of words I can’t pronounce so I have no idea what they’re doing to me!
I agree with your summary of the situation at Newcastle. It'll be interesting to see what Ashley does with Wise once Newcastle stay up, and Kinnear earns the plaudits! Will Kinnear stay? if not, we're back to square one: who will work with Wise?
ReplyDeleteI do also understand your "glamour clubs" idea. I've two mates, twin brothers, from Chester. Of course they support City, but they both have allegiances to nearby glamour clubs. One supports United and he other Liverpool. Apart from that, they're identical! Marcus: Happy New Year and thanks for your contributions.
Cheers Jonny, Happy New Year!
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