Liam Kennedy has been speaking on a recent edition of NUFC Matters with Steve Wraith, discussing the failed takeover of Newcastle United by Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium.
In his discussion with Wraith, he sounded rather confident about the deal coming back in some form – but did issue a warning on Mike Ashley and the possibility he might be with the Toon for a bit longer.
It seems as if Kennedy believes that Ashley will leave the club eventually, with the owner keen to cut his ties with Newcastle.
He said: “I am hopeful [a takeover can happen], I have no idea on timeframes.
“We’ve just got to accept as a fanbase that we’re going to have Mike Ashley in the short-term; the medium-term, who knows; the long-term, he’ll be gone because he wants [to be] gone.
“He doesn’t want to be spending any more time at St. James’ Park, he doesn’t want to be sitting there watching any games. He does not want to be there, he wants to be using that £300m to plug his gaps in his business and start expanding again on the high street.”
Do you think Kennedy will be right?
Yes, Ashley will be gone at some point
No, we will be stuck with him
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen from Ashley’s efforts since the Staveley bid was withdrawn, he wants to sell the club, and he remains ‘100% committed’ to selling it to Staveley’s group.
However, with the start of the season approaching, it looks like he will be the Toon’s owner by the time Newcastle kick off, but he will be hoping that he can sell the club at some point soon, because he clearly wants out.
Kennedy makes a fair assessment of the situation, and for the sake of the Toon, we hope that Ashley will be leaving St. James’ Park in the not-too-distant future.