Back of the Net!

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has decided to sell the club, and released the following statement to Sky Sports.

“I am putting the club up for sale.

“I hope the fans get what they want and that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want.

“This will not be a fire-sale. Newcastle is now in a much stronger position than it was in 2007. It is planning for the future and it is sustainable.

“I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you (the fans). You want me out, that is what I am now trying to do but it won’t happen overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in.

“You don’t need to demonstrate against me because I have got the message. Any further action will only have an adverse effect on the team. As fans of Newcastle United you need to spend your energy getting behind not me, but the players who need your support.”

“One person alone can’t manage a football club and scout the world looking for world class players and stars of the future.

“It needs a structure and it needs people who are dedicated to that task. It needs all members of the management team to share that vision for it to work.

“Dennis and his team have done a first-class job in scouting for talent to secure the future of the club.”

It really is like an episode of Dallas - even when the rest of Europe continues to play football, Newcastle United manage to grab the headlines again!

It’s a sorry state of affairs, but a couple of things stand out.

Firstly, Ashley released the statement to Sky Sports News.  Not to the BBC, a newspaper or news agency, but directly to Sky Sports.

That’s called playing a game, and the game isn’t footy.

Secondly, he doesn’t mention Keegan or the recent talks with the former manager.  Ashley also omits to mention the caretaker boss Chris Hughton.  It’s a vague, impersonal statement that while namechecking Dennis Wise and talking directly to the fans doesn’t really do anything to diminish the perceived wisdom that Ashley and his team haven’t the first clue about running a football club.

Throwing in words like “vision” and “management structure” when there clearly is none on Tyneside is even more insulting to the Newcastle fans.

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