Former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee has been despairing about the state of the club under the ownership of Mike Ashley.
The former England international was a firm favourite amongst the Toon Army throughout his time at St James’ Park, when the Magpies were considered one of the best and most entertaining teams in the country.
Now he’s given his view on the current state of things: “I think, at the moment, we’re a staying in the league club rather than pushing into Europe,” he told The Chronicle. “I think all we look at is, ‘If we stay up, we’ve done well’ which is a shame but that’s the way we are at the moment.
“It’s so sad because I look at Manchester City and I see what you can do with a fantastic owner. With all due respect, I think Newcastle are a bigger club than Man City but they have got a fantastic owner and we haven’t. That’s what you need. Our owner doesn’t turn up for games. I genuinely don’t know what pleasure he gets out of it. If you’ve got that much money, surely you buy a club because it’s a pleasure for you – something you should enjoy going to and enjoy building?
“There’s so much cloak and dagger about what it’s worth, why no one’s buying it. I just don’t know why he doesn’t just come out, if he wants to sell it, and say in public, ‘This is how much I want for it’ so everyone, throughout the world, any potential buyer, knows what he wants.”
OPINION
Lee makes a number of good points here, aside from taking a very deserved pop at Ashley’s ownership of the club. As he says, running a football club should be an enjoyable experience, but so many owners seem to look at it with apathy and almost regret taking over their team in the first place. It certainly appears that Ashley fits that description. As Lee says, he should just come out and say how much he wants for the club and then anyone interested can take it from there. He’s never been a transparent guy, has Ashley, so it’s unlikely that he’ll do that. But it’s what he should do, that’s for sure. As for the City comparison, it’s a very apt one. Newcastle are, by most measures, a bigger club than Pep Guardiola’s side. Historically they are bigger, their fan base is undoubtedly larger and they play in a one club city. But, as Lee says, the difference between the two teams is that one has a good owner and the other doesn’t. It’s as simple as that.
