A former Newcastle United director has accused Mike Ashley of ruining the club’s reputation and alienating its supporters during six traumatic years as owner. Denis Cassidy, who was on the board in the 1990s at St James’ Park during Sir John Hall and Freddie Shepherd’s time in charge, insisted that Newcastle were a “gem” of a club tainted by “the garbage of its recent history” thanks to Ashley. The billionaire owner of the Sports Direct chain once again incurred the wrath of fans last week by appointing Joe Kinnear, an unpopular former manager, as director of football with complete control of the football side of the business. That has led to widespread accusations that manager Alan Pardew has had his authority undermined and led to the resignation of managing director Derek Llambias. Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer last week hit out in his national newspaper column at Kinnear’s appointment. The following day Newcastle announced that they were changing the name of a bar at the ground from Shearer’s to Nine and on Sunday Kinnear accused the former Newcastle manager of “not having a clue” about coaching. “You’ve got a gem of a football club, a jewel in the garbage of recent history, I call it,” Cassidy said. “But there’s been a terrible trampling on the community and its values, and the most frustrating thing is trying to predict what’s on Mike Ashley’s mind, because he obviously doesn’t talk to the supporters. “It’s about honesty. Face the people. Talking to people is just a start, but why not have a meeting at St James’ Park for all season ticket holders? Stand up and prepare to be quizzed by them.” Given Ashley’s previous refusals to speak publicly, nothing that has happened over the last week is likely to alter his approach. Ashley first encountered widespread criticism at Newcastle when Kevin Keegan quit as manager in September 2008 after his transfer target requests were ignored and players were signed against his wishes by executive director Dennis Wise. He was also attacked for appointing Kinnear as Keegan’s replacement – who won only four games in five months – before standing down due to heart trouble as Newcastle tumbled out of the top flight in 2009. Ashley has twice tried and failed to sell the club, but having initially been welcomed on Tyneside – he used to watch away games with the fans rather than in the directors’ box – he is viewed with either suspicion or animosity because of a series of controversial decisions, which included briefly changing the name of StJames’ Park to the Sports Direct Arena. “It’s a long way from the early days of drinking in the Bigg Market and ‘Call me Mike,” Cassidy said in an interview with The Newcastle Chronicle. “I wrote an open letter at the time, urging fans to give him a chance. What’s followed has been mayhem. It’s tragic. “A director of football is a concept I actually agree with, it’s like a chairman and the managing director or chief executive in a business, but their roles have to be clearly defined and they must work together. “But Joe Kinnear? Then Derek Llambias resigns. Why? Perhaps he couldn’t go on with something he didn’t agree with. And what must Alan Pardew think of it all?” James
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 07:50:55 +0000
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