Mike Ashley is unhappy that Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez has never invited him to watch training, according to the Mail.
The newspaper claims that the Magpies owner is irritated that the Spaniard has never asked him to watch the first-team squad train at their North Tyneside base, or personally invited Ashley to a game.
However the report, from respected North East journalist Craig Hope, states that Ashley would be willing to accept an olive branch from Benitez if the former Liverpool boss were to offer one.
The Mail also states that Benitez and Ashley no longer speak directly, only communicating through managing director Lee Charnley.
OPINION
It’s a sad state of affairs when a club’s owner and manager have to communicate through an intermediary. It says something about how bad the relationship has become between the two that that is the case. It seems that both men merely allow the other to get on with their respective jobs, despite their roles being inextricably linked. Ashley could have a case for being slightly bemused by Benitez failing to invite him to training if that is something that Premier League managers normally do, or if it’s something that Benitez has done before in his career but is refusing to do now. However, you would have thought that the mature thing to do would be to simply talk to Rafa about this issue. And, let’s face it, the claim is incredible because Ashley owns the club. If he wants to go and watch training then he can just go. That is something that the Sports Direct tycoon is apparently unwilling to do, preferring to wait for Benitez to ask him to attend training. Both men appear to be rather stubborn characters, so there’s no way of knowing how long this stalemate will continue. It’s not good for the football club, but then nothing Ashley does is particularly good for Newcastle.
