Newcastle United: damned again
by Chris Reed
Just when you think things are picking up Newcastle United shoot themselves in the foot again! Oh for a foreign owner, even an American one…..ok maybe not. Anyone would be better than the clown Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct, synonymous for cheap fast moving branded tat to dress the youth of the UK in tracksuits. The Newcastle brand had just recovered from the beating it received from Ashley sacking Geordie idol Kevin Keegan and being relegated. Now after previous manager Hughton gave us some pride back by beating our deadliest neighbours Sunderland 5-1 and Arsenal away 1-0 he is sacked with us in a respectable 11th . The reason? Not enough experience or trophies won. This despite having a better win record that much more experienced Sam Allardyce, Graeme Souness and Alan Shearer. The replacement? One of Mike Ashley’s Casino buddies, another of the cockney mafia loathed by Geordies, a monkey to Ashley’s organ grinder, a puppet to be controlled, unknown outside of east London, renowned for doing nothing of note at any club and having been sacked three times in three divisions, Alan Pardew. Who you may ask? Well precisely. His track record doesn’t speak for itself because there is nothing there. He has won nothing. He has minimal premier league experience and he hasn’t managed a premiership outfit for several years. Yet he has been given a 5.5 year contract. He knows none of the dressing room, he has no affinity with Newcastle. The fans are completely underwhelmed by him and plan protests to show their disgust. Possibly the first manager to be appointed without a honeymoon. Welcome to Hell Mr Pardew. Did Ashley enjoy taking us down so much the first time he wants to do it again?! How not to manage a sports brand.
This article first appeared on http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/chrisreed/archive/2010/12/10/newcastle-united-damned-again.aspx