Ex-Newcastle United left back has come out with a strong message for the unpopular owner Mike Ashley.
Speaking with another former magpie Andros Townsend on The ITV Football Show, the Spaniard spoke about the owner saying: “When you are not interested in running a football club, just sell it.”
There is unlikely to be a single Toon fan that disagrees with Enrique and it is refreshing to hear an ex player echo the thoughts and feelings of the fans.
The actions of Ashley clearly show that he is not interested in running the club as Newcastle have become known for doing the bare minimum and targeting that 40 point mark season on season.
Unfortunately, consistently aiming so low means you are susceptible to find yourselves in a bit of a mess, hence the scenario we are in at the moment.
Newcastle United clearly still has a place in the hearts of both Enrique and Townsend as both players spoke fondly of their time with the club and both spoke incredibly fondly of the fanbase.
Enrique likened Newcastle fans to Liverpool fans, claiming that he has played in front of the two best fan bases.
“I have been so lucky to play in front of the two best fans.
“In terms of the people in the stadium, Newcastle is as good as Liverpool. It is a beautiful stadium as well. St James’ Park is so nice and the fans are crazy about football.
“The city is amazing and I remember when we were relegated, even in the Championship there was 41-42,000 people and I was thinking how is this possible?”
He continued to say: “They were cheering as much as they did in the Premier League and it was unbelievable. Newcastle is an unbelievable club to play for.”
As a fan it is great to hear comments like this from former players that they appreciate the loyalty of our fan base and how much they enjoyed playing for the club.
Current Palace player Townsend reminisced about the time Newcastle beat Spurs 5-1 in a dead game when the club’s fate was already sealed. A similar result a week today wouldn’t go amiss!
“After we got relegated, the last day of the season we were playing against Spurs. There was nothing to play for because we were already relegated but they sold out the crowd and they were singing Rafa Benitez’s name from first minute to last minute and we won the game 5-1.
“We got a standing ovation and we were confused because we had just been relegated and yet the fans were giving us a standing ovation.
“It was incredible.”
Both players suggested that Newcastle is a club that shouldn’t find themselves in the situation that they are currently in and that will resonate with the fans as we look to avoid a third relegation of the Mike Ashley era.