… there was a man with big dreams. He had a dream that the club he (ahem) “loves” would become a footballing dynasty. When he first bought the club, he adorned the stands wearing the black and white shirt with pride, drinking with the fans and promising them everything under the sun.
But soon enough things started to go wrong.
Bad decision after bad decision left the fans turning against him. He could no longer sit in the stands and drink with the fans, as the fans would have wished him harm. With every move he made, the mistakes got bigger and bigger and eventually relegation stared them directly in the face. Then one day he had a magical idea, ‘Let’s get the fans on side by bringing in an icon of the club who will surely save us from relegation’ thought the man. Up stepped the icon who (truly) loves the club, but alas it wasn’t to be. The club was relegated and all seemed doomed.
Then from the shadows of obscurity stepped a man with no reputation, no experience of managing at a big club, a stop-gap whilst the club found a better manager. The man took the team higher and higher up the league, until eventually he lead the team to promotion back to the top flight at the first chance. The fans were delighted and the man seemed to be redeeming himself in the eyes of the fans. Things got better and better for the club, they were exceeding many of their own expectations in the league, a respectable mid-table position, a bright young striker with a seemingly long England career ahead of him, and an almighty whooping of their bitterest rivals. With everything going so well, the man with the big dreams, the fans and the club lived happily ever after. The End!
I assume that many Newcastle United fans wish that this fairy tale would have ended this way. But in reality the man with the big dreams is Mike Ashley, one of the most incompetent chairmen ever to (dis)grace our league. The young up and coming manager was Chris Hughton, who Ashley sacked in one of the most knee-jerk decisions I have ever had the misfortune to witness in football. And by no means will the fans of Newcastle United EVER live happily ever after with Mike Ashley.
The whole footballing community is shocked by the decision of Ashley to sack Chris Hughton. The fans liked him, he was slowly turning the club around and yes, there were a few bad results, but surely nothing that warranted a sacking. Ashley came out and said he thought it was time to bring in a manager with more experience to push the club forward. Whilst the decision was unpopular, the thought of a big manager coming in would have softened the blow eventually. In steps Alan Pardew, a man who has won nothing, done nothing, and whose last job ended in getting sacked from League One Southampton.
I can only speak for myself, the handful of Manchester United fans I speak to on Twitter and the various football fans I know, but everyone I speak to has had bucketfuls of sympathy for Newcastle fans (with the exception of Sunderland fans). It’s bad enough as a fan with the general emotion you go through in the course of a football season, but to have the owner of the club making terrible decision after incredibly ludicrous decision, it must be torturous. I honestly hope Ashley sells the club to someone who will allow a person with some kind of football knowledge run the club. I’d be lying if I said I wished them every success because I don’t, but I wish them a long-term period of stability where they aren’t wondering what idiotic act the chairman will do next. Because at the end of the day this is football, our passion, our clubs. We don’t want people like Mike Ashley ruining our game, leave that to referee’s………
I think the biggest problem here is that Mike Ashley is a huge Newcastle United fan, we know how fickle football fans can be and to be in “control” of a club you love with such fickle Fantasy Football mentality, its always going to end in tears. Mike Ashley ridiculous delusions of grandeur, thinking that his beloved club is way bigger than it actually is. He mistakingly believes Newcastle should and deserve to be the worlds best club. I genuinely feel sorry for Newcastle fans, but more so for Chris Hughton, what on earth did he do wrong?