Simon Jordan claimed Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley isn’t difficult to deal with when remarking on his merchandise row with Rangers chief Dave King.
King revealed he was stepping down from his current position as Rangers chairman in March to focus on just being the Gers’ retail director and in the process revealed he would not give up trying to challenge the complex Sports Direct deal which Ashley previously had in place with the Scottish club. (Source: Scottish Sun/Evening Times)
When discussing this story, Jordan insisted Ashley wasn’t that brutal to deal with, even if you can’t have your way with him, and even added Newcastle fans would gasp over what he said due to their view of the Magpies owner.
“Despite protestations, Ashley isn’t that difficult to deal with,” said Jordan on talkSPORT (12:35, Tuesday, November 26th).
“You can’t have your way with him, I know Newcastle fans will go *gasps*, up in arms, lynch him, burn him, Mike Ashley is the devil in incarnate, he’s Keyser Söze, but commercially he isn’t that brutal to deal with.”
OPINION
Jordan is spot-on to claim that Ashley isn’t someone you could easily get your way with, as he doesn’t seem like a pushover, however, there may be some who will argue that he is difficult to deal with. For example, ex Magpies boss Rafa Benitez probably would say that Ashley was difficult to work with during their time together at St James’ Park. After all the Spanish manager looks down on his time with Ashley so much, that he even said in a recent interview with Four Four Two that he no longer wanted to talk about Newcastle anymore after addressing the fact he didn’t leave the club for money like the club’s current owner suggested. So does that sound like someone who wouldn’t think Ashley is difficult to deal with? Also given that the businessman has had Newcastle up for sale since 2017, as per the Guardian, and still owns the club surely that means he is probably difficult to deal with. After all, given the size and stature of the Magpies it shouldn’t be this difficult to get the club off his hands.