It’s going to be hard for Mike Ashley to ever be a popular figure amongst Newcastle fans. The club’s owner has left the club in the dust for years now, and there’s no real sign of it improving.
Indeed, it appears as though things are only getting worse, with the club now missing out on a reported target. According to the Chronicle Live, the Magpies’ loan move for Gelson Martins has hit the buffers, with the player said to be lukewarm about a move to St James’ Park.
The reality here, then, is that he just doesn’t think that the project is good enough for a player of his quality, and that just says it all. Historically, Newcastle are one of the biggest clubs in Europe, and prior to Ashley’s ownership, most players would have loved to play for the club.
However, now, the club is a different entity to the one that we all grew up knowing and loving.
Mike Ashley was always going to find it difficult to win over the Newcastle fans, but this could have really helped. Perhaps if he was willing to cough up a bit more money for the player, and indeed if he had already spent some money already this window to turn us back into the force that we once were, Martins could have been more tempted to move to the club.
However, he clearly has seen our current situation and thought – why would I go there? And honestly, can you blame him? We just aren’t an attractive proposition at present, and it’s mostly Ashley’s fault.
Thoughts?