Rewind to last May and the idea of any Newcastle United fans saying anything positive about Mike Ashley would have you laughing as loudly as Sunderland fans were that same month.
But recent chants in St James Park for manager Chris Hughton and comments by Derek Llambias suggest that Toon fans are willing to give the sports retail tycoon a break.
Llambias said to Sky Sports News, “It is a passion. They are great fans.
“There is a small section of fans that are basically not reasonable, there is no reality to where they are.”
UNREASONABLE FANS
Whether Newcastle fans are unreasonable, or expect too much, has long-been debated in pubs across the country.
Since Ashley sacked Kevin Keegan there have been chants of “You fat Cockney b******, get out of our club.” These chants continued last weekend when Newcastle travelled to Watford. Over 2,500 Geordies made the trip to Vicarage Road – is this the same small section of fans that Llambias is talking about?
ANTI-ASHLEY SONGS
However on Saturday, Newcastle thrashed Barnsley 6-1 at St James Park, and the anti-Ashley songs were noticeably reduced in frequency and noise-level.
There is not one major event that turned the Newcastle fans against Ashley, a man that they had hoped to be their “English Abramovic,” rather a catalogue of mind-boggling decisions and lack of effective communication at board level.
SAM ALLARDYCE
When Ashley arrived, Sam Allardyce was in place as Toon manager. However, some horrific performances, poor high-wage signings and a failure to connect with the supporters led to Ashley sacking Big Sam and replacing him with Kevin Keegan.
The majority of Newcastle fans rejoiced and sung Ashley’s name from the stands (and in Shearer’s Bar), though some felt this was a nostalgic and short-sighted decision.
KEVIN KEEGAN
Things went sour in the Ashley-Keegan partnership after only three weeks when Ashley appointed Dennis Wise – a man already disliked by Toon fans from his playing days – as Executive Director (football), a role which was apparently to see him recommend players to Keegan, and buy those that Keegan identified. Both Keegan and Newcastle’s supporters were bemused by this decision, as Keegan’s strength during his first reign on Tyneside was his ability to convince big name, quality players like Alan Shearer and David Ginola to come to the North East.
Keegan instilled some pride back in Newcastle United and saved them from relegation (debatably perhaps, but anyone who watched Big Sam’s team knows how poor they were), but left in September 2008 amid claims that he didn’t have control over transfers and that Wise had signed midfielder Nacho Gonzalez – who went on to play twice for Newcastle – as a favour to an agent.
JOE KINNEAR
Weeks of turmoil, protests and boardroom smoke and mirrors followed until Ashley opened the vault of football relics and appointed Joe Kinnear as new Newcastle manager. Kinnear immediately swore at a room full of journalists and began a reign filled with too many draws and punctuated by the mispronunciation of player’s names.
Kinnear was forced to leave his post after suffering heart problems, leaving Newcastle in the temporary hands of Chris Hughton.
ALAN SHEARER
Then came the eight game Alan Shearer experiment, but Shearer was unable to save Newcastle as they were relegated after 16 years in the Premier League.
A summer of failed takeovers followed until a full-strength Newcastle side were trounced 6-1 in a friendly against Leyton Orient. This set alarm bells ringing and sparked a player meeting, with senior players like Alan Smith telling those who didn’t want to play for Newcastle to leave.
PLAYER EXODUS
Cue an exodus of big-name players, with Obafemi Martins, Habib Beye and Damien Duff adding to Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Sebastian Bassong all leaving. These were the right players to sell, but led to worry among fans that Ashley might sell all of Newcastle’s Premier League quality players.
Newcastle – with a bare-bones squad – picked themselves up and in October, top of the Championship, Mike Ashley showed some signs of life by appointing Chris Hughton as manager and taking the club off the market, pumping £25 million into the club in December to keep it afloat.
TOP OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Three months later and – with Newcastle still top – Ashley’s appointment was working. Ashley sanctioned £5.5 million worth of new players in January with Mike Williamson, Fitz Hall, Wayne Routledge, Lion Best and Patrick van Aanholt coming in. No big name players were sold and Newcastle fans took note of this.
HUGHTON ACCEPTED
Following a 3-0 home win over Preston, Toon fans – finally – sang Chris Hughton’s name. Hughton was the first manager in years to keep his head down and keep the club out of the headlines, allowing a break for Newcastle’s players and fans alike. And make no mistake; this support for Hughton is also a reflection on their attitude towards Ashley.
With Ashley stabilising the club with his own money, and Chris Hughton’s men getting results on the pitch, Portsmouth were suffering unthinkable financial problems, leading to doubts whether the Fratton Park club was going to be issued a winding up order and be forced to go out of business.
NEWCASTLE FINANCES
If Newcastle fans are starting to forgive and come around to Ashley, then it is because of his handling of the club’s finances. Whether his decision to use a bare-bones squad to get the club back up was a shrewd move, or a lucky risk, no-one can argue that financially, Newcastle are in the best position they could be in following relegation.
Yes, it was Ashley’s decisions that got Newcastle relegated. But his reaction has been effective and Toon fans are aware of this.
After buying the Magpies from Freddy Shepherd in May 2007 for £134 million, Ashley paid a further £110 million to reduce the club’s debt. And while this was because he hadn’t done due diligence, without Mike Ashley’s money Newcastle could easily have found themselves in Portsmouth’s position.
Mike Ashley is currently using his own money to pay the club’s running costs, but Newcastle’s financial future actually looks promising.
PROMISING FUTURE
If Newcastle are promoted back to the Premier League this year then they will receive a cash infusion of £35m. It can be assumed that season ticket sales will be strong, and in fact, Ashley has frozen season ticket prices for those who buy them before 31 March. Newcastle will also receive their first money for shirt sponsorship since before Ashley bought the club – the previous deals with Adidas and Northern Rock having being front-loaded and used to pay the £17m Michael Owen cost in 2005.
Ashley is also looking to the future by implementing a policy of not signing players over 26, so that they have sell-on value and are not – as so many of Newcastle’s players over the last few years have been – past their best. And high wages are a thing of the past, with none of the players signed in January receiving more than £10,000 a week in wages.
THAWED RELATIONS
The situations at clubs like Portsmouth has helped all football fans – not just at Newcastle – to better understand the financial perils of modern football. And it is this reality of where Newcastle are, versus where they could have been, which means if Mike Ashley can make poor decisions and bad communication a thing of the past, and get Newcastle playing good football in the top division once more, then he himself might find his name sung from the Gallowgate end.