In terms of victories there appeared to be only one winner this week and that was Mike Ashley’s PR team. They went into battle last week from a position of weakness and by Thursday they were no doubt standing at the bar raising their glasses in celebration of a triumphant week; a week where their aim was to sow the seeds of discontent among Newcastle supporters regarding Rafa Benitez, his coaching, team selection, his tactics and formations, his attitude towards the “agreed” transfer budget, the fact that his family remain on Merseyside (a sign of his lack of commitment apparently) and his all round body language and attitude during press conferences and post match interviews.

They have sown the PR seed, fed the roots and within a week have managed to split opinion and grow the story that Rafa is to blame for everything football related at NE1; from signings, missed opportunities, injuries, performances, the quality of the squad, players performance bonuses and possibly even the bag searches that some supporters will encounter as they enter the ground this season. 

Meanwhile their client Mike Ashley is the victim; the man who has tried vainly for the last 10 years to bring success to Newcastle United but has failed because those whom he trusted were not up to the job. They mis advised him, they spent money on so called diamonds that turned to rust. They wasted the opportunities and money in droves. They let decent people down; decent managers who deserved better. Yes, their client takes the overall responsibility but, and here is the BUT; he was not in day-to-day control and therefore had little influence over how things developed over the years.

To anyone who has watched the goings on at Ashley’s sports clothing empire over the last few years this will seem like groundhog day. The same PR exercise has been used throughout the issues raised by trade unions, MP’s, former employers and investigative journalists regarding zero hours contracts, exploitative working practices, breaches around paying staff in warehouses below the minimum wage and serious concerns about the companies corporate governance. 

In their own commissioned review, conducted by the City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, Sports Direct admitted “serious shortcomings … in working practices”. In response Mike Ashley accepted that as founder and majority shareholder he “takes ultimate responsibility for any aspects of the working practices that were unsatisfactory, even where he is not in day-to-day control of these matters or had no knowledge of them”. Sound familiar?

So, make no mistake; in the world of Mike Ashley, his PR team are calling the shots. They dictate every word he utters, they manage every TV appearance, and they are now trying to focus the mind of supporters through carefully placed media stories that border on “fake news” that Mike Ashley is no villain, but more a poor exploited victim being stripped of his wealth and who cant afford to carry on without risking everything his amazing business acumen has built up. But they only have one hook and that is that it’s all someone else’s fault.  Granted, Ashley is no Donald Trump, but nor is he Mother Theresa! 

Our message to Newcastle United supporters is, don’t be fooled by the hype and to Rafa we ask; please stick with us!
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Ashley’s days may be numbered and by all sticking together let's ensure that a Newcastle, United come out the winners.

Seven days on and Newcastle United supporters around the world are still wondering exactly what the purpose of Mike Ashley’s interview with Sky TV’s David Craig really was.  For a man who for years was described as a recluse; the last two years have seen him emerge from the shadows of the Sports Direct Shirebrook warehouse like a junkie chasing his next fix. Granted, some of his public appearances were not of his own choosing. Legal challenges have seen his lifestyle and business approach exposed to the full glare of both media and parliamentary scrutiny. His family life has encouraged the red top gossip columnists to make hay while the sun shines and his financial affairs have come under scrutiny via legal challenges brought by former business partners who have felt wronged. However, it’s his voluntary appearances in front of the camera that we the supporters are most interested in.

On 25th May 2015 Ashley surprised no doubt even his own advisors when he made a statement live on sky sports ahead of our final game of the season against West Ham Utd.  He told supporters he took full responsibility for the position he found the club in. he said he would continue to invest in the football club; that the club was in a sound financial footing and that we could spend and punch above our weight (whatever that meant). He also stated that his target was to win something and that he would not be selling the club until we did and that the club was not for sale at any price. He also advised us that it was his job to ensure that Lee Charnley had the maximum amount of financial resources to get the best pound for pound value out of those resources. Those resources brought us Steve McClaren, abject football and McClaren’s sacking in March 2016 with only 6 wins chalked up out of a possible 28. McClaren spent £81.6m in his nine months on Tyneside.

Relegation was almost a given when Rafa Benitez was appointed and although we only lost two of our last eight games Rafa was unable to stop the rot and relegation was viewed by supporters as a new beginning for the club with a world class manager at the helm; provided he was allowed to do things his way. Rafa’s presence has rejuvenated the club, the city and its supporters. His project is to bring success to Newcastle United and last season was Stage One of that project; stop the rot, clear the deadwood and the negativity; concentrate 100% on getting the club back into the top flight and use the platform of promotion to build something special. Promotion was Rafa’s priority; he served that up as requested and it was topped off in the most dramatic of circumstance when the Championship title was sealed after the final whistle had blown at St James’ Park. That success cannot be underestimated.  Rafa’s net spend was minus £30m. 

So what do we make of Ashley’s media appearance and more importantly where does that leave Rafa, as he continues his rebuilding of the football club. In Rafa we have someone regarded as one of the top ten managers in world football. Only once in our history has the club had a manager with such managerial record or standing in the game and that was Bobby Robson . Keegan may have been a messiah on Tyneside but he was a one off; a manager for a time; a manager who fitted the dream of Tyneside in the early 90’s supported by an owner who matched the supporters dream with financial backing.

Ashley has made it plain that he will not and cannot pump finances into the club to support the aspirations of Rafa and the fans. He simply doesn’t have the resources he says, to compete any more. He has set out his stall and told all who wish to listen that the club is up for sale. Surprisingly, just at the point where the dots were being joined, the rebuilding programme moving to its next phase, supporters 100% behind Rafa’s plans for the club and united behind a common cause like never before under Ashley’s tenure as owner. And guess what; Ashley has bottled it. 

True to form he has gained maximum publicity from no financial output. He has used Sky Sports to put out a free advert around the globe that Newcastle United Football Club is for sale. However, he has also put at risk the rebuilding programme that Rafa Benitez has so diligently been putting in place this last 12 months since agreeing to stay on as manager after relegation. Ashley has undermined the plans for the season and he has put in jeopardy our chances of strengthening our position to ensure we firstly secure our Premier League status and then consolidate and build a squad capable of bringing success in the longer term. Now, more so than any time since the Keegan era we need a return to the days of supporters, manager and owners in unison, to make the dreams become reality. Let’s hope that the free advert pays off and we can find new owners who are not as short sighted as Mike Ashley, before it’s too late!

Without going into the historic rights and wrongs of Mike Ashley’s tenure at SJP, which he exposed so openly in his Sky TV interview, we now know that the man wants out and Newcastle United Football Club is up for sale. The question is, who can afford to take on the commitment needed to take on the challenge of building NUFC into a top 6 Premier League Club once more.

Putting two and two together often doesn’t come out as four in the world of media stories and football speculation, but the fact that a story in a national newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch came out only a couple of days before Mike Ashley appears on a Murdoch owned sports news channel telling us he wants to sell the club, is surely more than a coincidence for even the most conscious of conspiracy theorists among our fanbase.

Ashley wants out. He can’t compete in his own words with “the finances of a country” and unfortunately that is the way that football in general and premier league football in particular seems to be heading.

In the 1980’s we heard from then Chairman Gordon McKeag that he wasn’t a wealthy man and couldn’t compete with the millionaires now entering football. Move on to 2007 and multi Millionaire Sir John Hall told us that he couldn’t compete with the oligarchs from Russia, which even he stated was a direct pop at Abramovich and the riches he was beholding on Chelsea.

Move forward another ten years and we have a situation where a billionaire can’t compete with multi billionaires, multi national corporations and sovereign wealth funds with money to burn and who see the premier league as the furnace to satisfy their burning ambitions.

So, who out there could afford to buy a Premier League team; and just as importantly, who out there could broker such a deal to purchase Newcastle United?

Well, in corporate terms, one organisation in particular has been mentioned; PCP Capital Partners, their CEO Amanda Staveley and her legal partner, Craig Eadie. According to reports, businesswoman Ms. Staveley heads up an investment fund made up of money largely coming from oil-rich states in the Middle East and is actively looking on behalf of her investors to see if there is a club in the top flight that would be vulnerable to a takeover.

Apparently, buying a Premier League club is one of Ms. Staveley’s main targets, having previously been heavily involved in takeover deals at two clubs in the past; they being Liverpool and Manchester City and Newcastle United will undoubtedly be one of a number of clubs that will now be on the radar of potential suitors. What we have in our favour is that Newcastle United offers any possible owner a united club managed by a world class manager; a fanatical and international fanbase, an enviable history, a wonderful stadium in a one club city and a potential that exceeds any other in the premier league .

So, could Ms. Staveley and PCP Capital Partners provide the escape route that Ashley is looking for. Could they broker the deal that brings to an end Ashley’s ten-year tenure on Tyneside and could a new beginning for Newcastle United be on the horizon?

Tyneside Awaits.