Ashley apologises to THREE former bosses
MIKE AshlEy has apologised for his treatment of three former Newcastle managers and says he regrets changing the name of st James’ Park.
his admissions come at a time when his relationship with current boss Rafa Benitez is on rocky ground. Indeed, supporters would rather he did something to address the unhappiness of the spaniard than own up to previous shortcomings.
Benitez believes Ashley has not been true to his word over the promise of investment in the playing squad this summer, but the owner has hit back by claiming he does not have the money to satisfy his manager’s needs.
To the backdrop of that tension, Ashley has been reflecting on his 10 years at the club.
The sports Direct tycoon sacked sam Allardyce in his first season and Kevin Keegan then quit before winning a constructive dismissal case, while Alan shearer was let go after relegation and Chris hughton was axed following promotion.
Ashley has now apologised to Allardyce, Keegan and hughton and has even opened the door for shearer to one day return as manager, although that will never happen given the former captain’s mistrust of the hierarchy.
‘sam Allardyce, I’ve apologised to him — I was too hasty,’ Ashley told sky sports. ‘I was probably too keen to get going and make a difference, and I was a bit naive about how football worked.
‘I thought I was very unfair to Chris hughton, who got us promoted. I don’t think I gave him enough time.
‘Alan shearer came in at a time when he was one of the only peo- ple on this planet who could have kept Newcastle up and he did a fantastic job in everything else but the odd result not going his way.
‘Then I had the very difficult decision of if he was the right person in the Championship. In my opinion, he didn’t have the experience. Never say never, Alan, if you’re listening.
‘Kevin Keegan is an outstanding individual and also did his best. It wasn’t always easy for Kevin at the football club. We didn’t have the structure around that we should have had to support him. I will take responsibility for that. Kevin, if I let you down in any way, I apologise.’
Ashley, who is now open to offers for the club, also changed the name of the stadium to the sports Direct Arena in 2011 but later reverted to st James’ Park.
And he said: ‘I thought the right thing to do was to generate as much money as possible for New- castle. I should not have done that. The reality is, the vast majority of the Geordie fans would rather have the name of st James’ Park and finish maybe one or two places lower in the table, because they want to keep it special.
‘It wasn’t acceptable what happened at Newcastle United, but of course I never did it on purpose.’
Ashley was in the stands yesterday to see his team beaten 2-0 by spurs, with captain Jonjo shelvey sent off when he trod on Dele Alli early in the second half.
shearer called shelvey ‘pathetic’ on social media and Benitez revealed the player later apologised to his team-mates.
‘he knows he has made a mistake and he apologised in the dressing room,’ he said. ‘But we lost the game, so . . . ’ Benitez was hinting that the apology had come too late. Allardyce, Keegan and hughton will know how he feels.