Staveley sends reassurance to fans following speculation
AMANDA STAVELEY has pledged her future to Newcastle United and insisted she has no intention of leaving her post – assuring supporters she is here to stay.
The Ripon financier has been on club business in Saudi Arabia but is expected back in the director’s box for next week’s midweek Premier League game at Crystal Palace.
As reported earlier this week, “resignations” stated on documents by Companies House were merely company housekeeping and Staveley and co-director Jamie Reuben remain fully committed to the black and white cause.
Posting on Instagram, Staveley said: “Just arrived back from Saudi and noticed a lot of messages from fans concerned that I had stepped down from my role as a Director of Newcastle United.
“I have not – the changes made last week were purely administrative, to non trading subsidiaries.
“After the takeover, Jamie and I stepped in as directors of all companies until we could build an executive team. We remain on the ‘top-co’ and the Board.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their incredible support over the last few years, and particularly for people taking the time to share their thoughts.
“We have the best fans in the world – and I am privileged and proud to be a part of your community.”
The confusion earlier this week came from the fact that Newcastle United Football Club Limited is a dormant company and on the papers covering Newcastle United Football Company Limited, Staveley and Reuben remain active.
Staveley has resigned from a host of other Newcastle United companies and it comes after seeing her initial 10% shareholding in the club diluted to 6% earlier this year following a cash injection by fellow investors.
Among the other clubs Staveley has resigned from according to Companies House files are, Newcastle United Group Limited, Newcastle United Television Limited, St James’ Park Limited, Newcastle United Promotions Limited and NUFC
Limited.
IT wasn’t the fact that Steve Mcclaren didn’t get it at Newcastle United – his failure on Tyneside almost certainly came down to one thing.
Mcclaren had been around the block already and succeeded on the managerial circuit and, while some have him pigeon-holed as a number two or leading first-team coach, winning the Carling Cup with Middlesbrough and reaching the UEFA Cup final with the Teessiders, as well as winning the Dutch title with FC Twente, suggests otherwise.
His short tenure at Newcastle boiled down to a manager who underestimated just how bad things were at St James’ Park.
Mcclaren did all the usual things an incoming manager does when appointed at Newcastle – getting the media in for a cup of tea and becoming familiar with journalists. His interaction with fans came via sending supporters personal emails and open letters in the early months.
And he also tore up the club’s domestic cup policy, which stated that younger sides would be fielded as the club focused on Premier League survival.
That was something new for fans at the time, but it was never going to cut much ice with the hardcore supporters who’d had enough Mike Ashley.
From a distance, Mcclaren looked at Newcastle as a team that had just staved off relegation under John Carver in 2015 and would be able to quickly cement a position much further up the table.
Carver, who endured the brunt of fans’ fury, knew that investment was needed but took on the challenge of managing an injury-hit squad without a penny to spend, and saw Davide Santon and Mapou Yangambiwa sold before a difficult winter task of retaining Premier League status.
Unlike Carver, Mcclaren was handed a decent transfer pot and landed Chancel Mbemba, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Florian Thauvin and Gigi Wijnaldum. My understanding, though, was that the trio of
of stars were already hand-picked by chief scout Graham Carr.
Carr had already recommended Mcclaren to Mike Ashley and the club’s shortlived “football board”, consisting of Lee Charnley and Bob Moncur, went along with that idea. Yet it was soon obvious that Mcclaren’s own style of player was clearly missing from his squad.
At Boro, Mcclaren’s success had come through wingers such as homegrown Stewart Downing, and Bolo Zenden, while he also signed solid midfielders such as Gaizka Mendieta and relied on experience at the back, with Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu.
Mcclaren came in on June 10 but he was quickly trying to get to the bottom of deep-rooted problems at Newcastle. Such as why club captain Fabricio Coloccini was out of sorts; why he’d inherited a squad with just two senior centre-backs in the Argentine international and Steven Taylor; why inflatable paddling pools were being used for player recovery, and a concerning lack of harmony around the place. But bigger issues were around the corner and Mcclaren failed to win his first Premier League game in charge.
It was on a pre-season trip to America that Mcclaren had quizzed a colleague at a Sacramento hotel over why Coloccini was “high-maintenance” to manage. As well as what would be a respectable league finish in the eyes of the fans.
Mcclaren was just 11 minutes away from beating Southampton at home before a Shane Long equaliser left it all square.
The former England head coach introduced a lap of appreciation after each game but it soon wore thin. Only a 4-1 win over Northampton in the Capital One Cup gave fans something to cheer in the first segment of games, and it was game 11 in the Premier League by the time Mcclaren grabbed that elusive first victory over Norwich in an impressive 6-2 win, with Wijnaldum scoring four times.
But by that time, Newcastle were already in the relegation zone and Mcclaren was under massive pressure.
Just weeks earlier, Mcclaren had
I didn’t really know
what success looked like on and off the field. I just wanted the job. I made a big mistake