Former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee has slammed Mike Ashley for his ownership of the club.
The Magpies have ensured Premier League safety for another year, but Lee believes that survival is not enough for a club of United’s stature.
Speaking to the Chronicle, he said: “I think, at the moment, we’re a staying in the league club rather than pushing into Europe. I think all we look at is, ‘If we stay up, we’ve done well’ which is a shame but that’s the way we are at the moment.
“I think the new wave of Newcastle fans probably don’t realise because they might not have seen the team that I played in during the ’90s, but I think the older ones will be pulling their hair out if they have any left.
“It’s so sad because I look at Manchester City and I see what you can do with a fantastic owner. With all due respect, I think Newcastle are a bigger club than Man City but they have got a fantastic owner and we haven’t. That’s what you need.”
OPINION
Lee is only saying what everybody else is thinking. It’s at a stage now where the vast majority of anger will have given way to general apathy towards such mismanagement of a club that, by rights, should be flying. That’s not to say that there aren’t still significant factions of frustration within the Toon Army’s fanbase, but it’s almost at a point now where supporters have given up hope of Ashley ever leaving. Every time he seems to get close to putting the club on the market and finally moving on, he finds a way to back down or weasel out, and the Magpies are left back at square one. They say it’s the hope that kills you, and that is absolutely the case at St. James’ Park now. One day, Ashley will go, and honestly, it might be declared a public holiday on Tyneside, but until then, fans just have to grit their teeth and bear one of the most frustrating owners in Premier League history.