Micky Quinn delivered his verdict on why nobody had bought Newcastle United from Mike Ashley as of yet and pointed his finger straight at the business man.
The former Magpies player was asked during a question and answer session why the club hadn’t changed ownership as of yet and Quinn shared that he believes Ashley wants too many strings attached to any potential deal.
Quinn revealed that he knew for a fact there had been interest in the Magpies and that in his opinion Ashley was scaring off any interested party by making ludicrous demands.
“It’s an excellent question. I made the point in a column earlier this year that there should be wealthy investors queuing all the way down the A1 to London trying to buy Newcastle, it’s a club with that much potential,” said Quinn on the Chronicle’s live blog (Monday October 15, 14:02).
“But it hasn’t happened, and I believe that it hasn’t happened because Ashley has made it too difficult for anyone to buy it.
“Not only because his price seems to be too high, but I also think he wants too many strings attached to any deal.
“I remember going to a Newcastle home match against Liverpool a couple of seasons ago, and I was in the corporate boxes. I looked up at the companies listed on the wall, and a lot of them seemed to be Ashley-owned from what I could see.
“Some of the rumours I’ve heard are that he wants to keep things like that in place even if he sells. For example, he might want Sports Direct advertising to remain at St James’ Park. Or he might still want a connection with the club shop.
“I don’t know that for certain, but it’s the sort of thing I’ve heard – and it seems to me that Ashley is just asking for ridiculous terms in any sale.
“I know for a fact that there has been interest in Newcastle, but it seems to me that he’s scaring those interested groups off with his ludicrous demands.
“If he really wants out, he’s got to make it easier for someone to buy the club in my opinion.”
OPINION
Quinn’s answer is literally what the majority of Magpies supporters are thinking. It has to be Ashley that is jeopardising the club being sold as potential buyers should be easy to find given the Magpies’ prestigious stature and Premier League status. Yet it seems like the owner has been trying and failing to part company with the club for ages now and it’s frustrating situations for supporters of the club. Ashley has avoided digging deep into his pockets during the last two transfer windows, likely because he wants to sell the club, and he has just left the first-team in a less than adequate state. Rafa Benitez’s team has several weakpoints because of the lack of financial investment in it during the last two windows and it seems that money won’t be poured into improving the Magpies’ squad until a change of ownership occurs. Hopefully Quinn’s assessment of the situation is wide of the mark because if he is right then it’s unlikely that a takeover is about to occur at St James Park.
