Tyne For Newcastle To Move On

First of all I must apologise for the bad pun in the title, but like my title Newcastle United football club have became a bad joke under Chairman Mike Ashley. The replica kit wearing, pint drinking, apparent Tottenham Hotspur fan took over at a club in a city that lives and breathes football. In a city that sometimes football is more like a religion than a sport.

For some the football club is more than just a sporting organisation it’s their spiritual home (like many a club) but Newcastle United Football Club seems to have a strange grip on its fans that despite everything else that’s going on in the world, the fans still turn up in their thousands to witness even a player signing for the club.

So do these loyal fans really deserve a club run by somebody who knows little to nothing about running a football club? He appointed former Swindon boss Dennis Wise as director of football, a move which bemused everybody in the football world. Wise had previously only ever managed in the lower leagues and wasn’t prepared for a role that is usually occupied by experienced financial football figures.

To add insult to injury Ashley heaped more ridicule on the club by allegedly trying to sell the club by email. I believe that billionaire Ashley knows that he is out of his depth in the football world and has rightly decided to sell the club; unfortunately he seems to be having trouble finding a buyer at the price he is hoping to get. He is obviously a success in his own business arena and had the right idea in trying to raise a phoenix from the ashes, but it’s gone wrong somewhere along the line.

Relegation means that the club have to change from top to bottom, it might be harsh on Doris the tea lady but that’s what the club needs, a fresh start and a fresh outlook. One of the things that the Geordies would most like to see is the appointment of Toon legend Alan Shearer. He has the drive and passion for the city and the club to push the club forward just like Kevin Keegan did in his first spell as manager in the dark days of the early nineties.

It remains to be seen what this summer holds for the Geordie fans, but let’s just hope for the sake of the fanatic Newcastle public that this summer proves less trying than the last two years under the reign of Mr Ashley.

Photo compliments of Flickr