OPINION
Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley shared lots of fascinating pieces of information in a recent interview that will have fans wishing that Mike Ashley would show the same attitude he previously did.
Charnley did a detailed interview with the Daily Mail to explain the club’s decision to take a huge gamble with their finances in the Championship in order to bounce instantly back in the Premier League following relegation.
The newspaper stated that Magpies manager Rafa Benitez was backed with £55million worth of transfers and a wage bill of £80.3million in order to get the club promoted, despite there being huge consequences if they failed.
While it is debatable how healthy it was to carelessly risk the club in that manner, fans will be screaming for Ashley to showcase an attitude he has previously demonstrated before upon reading Charnley’s interview.
Charnley opened up about what exactly occurred on the last day of the 2015/16 season for the Magpies and revealed Ashley instantly made a bee-line to ensure Benitez stayed put.
“We had planned a conversation with the manager after the game, the thinking could have been, ‘We have to scale back because the revenues have gone down’, whereas Mike was, ‘We are going for it’,” revealed Charnley to the national newspaper.
“We talked through the game, ‘if we could get the manager to stay, get off to a decent start, fans behind you, you build momentum and it can develop a life of its own.
“So Mike’s priority was to keep Rafa, he said, ‘I am going to leave you two to get on with it, I’m going to support you and, come next year, I do not want to be in this league.'”
Charnley’s stunning revelation that Ashley was definitely going for it come what may, despite the odds and cost, is an attitude that fans have been wishing he showed even in the slightest since getting promoted.
The Magpies owner’s urgency is an aspect that has been lacking, shown by how slow the club have been in the last two transfer windows, and how they currently appear to be taking their time once again this summer.
While the managing director does go on to claim the club have ambition, but will take baby steps towards fulfilling it in order to not to jeopardise the club’s future, progress still needs to be a made at a faster rate than it currently is.
Magpies supporters know they might not spend £70million at the drop of a hat, but they do want to see some sort of urgency about the club making even the tiniest of steps in the right direction.
It shouldn’t take relegation for Ashley to be the owner his side deserves and with the club still locked in talks with Benitez, according to the Mail, Ashley needs that ‘go for it’ attitude to return in order for a positive development to occur soon.
Therefore after hearing that the Magpies owner is capable of acting fast when he wants to, thanks to Charnley’s revelation, supporters will be screaming for more of the same even if it isn’t taking the same financial risks.
