Ex-Newcastle United and Northern Ireland player Keith Gillespie took a dig at Magpies owner Mike Ashley while congratulating the club on securing their Premier League status for another season.
The Magpies currently sit at 13th place in the Premier League, and now mathematically can’t be relegated, after Cardiff lost to Liverpool on Sunday.
Congratulations to Newcastle United on securing premiership safety. Shame that we have to celebrate something like this but that’s what happens when you have an owner with no ambition #HWTL
— Keith Gillespie (@KeithGillespie7) April 21, 2019
While Gillespie was happy his former side were set to be in the Premier League again, he said it was a shame to be celebrating such a thing but you had to when the club have an owner with no ambition like Ashley.
In a statement made on his personal Twitter account, Gillespie said: “Congratulations to Newcastle United on securing premiership safety.
“Shame that we have to celebrate something like this but that’s what happens when you have an owner with no ambition.”
Opinion:
Ashley has been subject to a whole load of criticism in recent years, no more than when Newcastle were relegated back in 2016. Arguably, a club of Newcastle’s stature should not be celebrating top flight safety. As England’s ninth most successful club of all time, Newcastle are five time League Champions, and have six FA Cups to their name. The more recent Newcastle United hasn’t been as impressive however, and although Ashley made a big-money signing in January, bringing in Miguel Almiron from Atlanta United for a fee of £21.6m, Newcastle’s campaign has been average at best. Gillespie’s comment represents the frustrations that have been ongoing within the club for years now, and to be honest it seems like a justified opinion at this point. Newcastle are one of the biggest and most well-known football clubs in the history of the Premier League, and for that reason, they should be aiming to challenge for a higher league finish, and not just hoping to survive.
