Newcastle getting closer to seeing the back of Mike Ashley

A very dark period in the history of Newcastle United may at last be coming to an end. The reign of owner Mike Ashley has seen disaster and controversy follow disaster and controversy and culminated in the club’s relegation to the Championship a few weeks ago.

Realistic

It is now confirmed that Ashley has once again put the club on the market, but this time, at a much more realistic asking price. A statement on the Newcastle club website yesterday said,

“The board of Newcastle United can today confirm that the club is for sale at the price of £100m. Interested parties should contact Newcastle United at admin@nufc.co.uk (or Keith Harris at Seymour Pierce) for further details. The club will not be making any further comment at the present time.”

Keith Harris is the chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce and he has been appointed by Newcastle to broker the sale of the club.

Whilst Mr Harris has said that there are ‘two or three’ parties interested in buying the club, believed to include former chairman Freddy Shepherd, the sale would mean a huge financial loss for Ashley. He has invested over £250 million in the club and after initially putting the club up for sale last September at a price designed to make him a tidy profit, he has now decided to take what he can and run.

Unpopular

Mr Harris has said that he believes a deal should be concluded by the end of this month and Ashley’s exit won’t come a day too soon for a majority of Newcastle fans. He is deeply unpopular with the Toon army and has presided over a quite disastrous era.

Even in the sale, Ashley continues to be controversial and is believed to have opinions and views that would again upset the Newcastle fans. For example, Mr Harris has pointed out the value that Alan Shearer brings to the club,

“Shearer is obviously a very charismatic figure in the area and Newcastle need some local interest. He is a good commercial addition, certainly in terms of generating interest among the fans. Whether he is the right man to lead the club back into the Premier League is something other people will express a view on, especially if there is going to be a change of ownership.”

Reports suggest that Ashley is not so keen to keep the Geordie hero on as team manager if he stays in control.

Apologised

Recently Ashley apologised to the Newcastle fans for the errors he has made and for the part he played in the club’s relegation. That apology will have had little effect on his lack of popularity after the chain of events that began with the departure of popular boss Kevin Keegan in September, amid rumours of disputes with Ashley over the club’s transfer policy.

Keegan’s sacking or resignation led to mass protests from supporters, with fans demanding that Ashley and hated controversial director Dennis Wise leave St James’ Park.

Amazingly

Ashley then amazingly appointed Joe Kinnear as manager but he soon had to stand down from his position because of health problems leading to assistant Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood taking charge of team affairs.

As results continued to worsen, Newcastle turned to Magpies legend Shearer to turn things around but under him the team won only one of his eight games and were relegated.

Despite the turmoil and relegation that the club has been through, Mr Harris believes that the club is an attractive purchase for the right buyer,

“It is a huge club. In attendance terms, last year it exceeded Liverpool with an average attendance over 48,000. If you walk around the infrastructure of the ground, the training ground, the academy, what you realise is for somebody willing to take a view over two or three years this is a club that belongs in the top seven of the Premier League. It’s very attractive.”

Whilst Mr Harris has said he does not know the identity of the prospective purchases as yet it is believed that he has travelled to the Middle-East to meet with interested parties and has already been stated, Freddy Shepherd is strongly rumoured to be interested as well.

Controversial

Shepherd was a controversial figure when he was in charge at Newcastle and featured on occasions in Sunday tabloid newspaper ‘exclusives” that he would rather not have done. Having said that, he was in charge during a much more stable time at the club and it may be the case that many of the Toon army wouldn’t be too disappointed to see him return. In reality, they would probably prefer to have absolutely anyone than Mike Ashley.