Newcastle will need to beat West Ham on the final day of the season in order to secure their Premier League survival, after throwing away a first half lead to fall to a 2-1 defeat at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Failure to beat the Hammers, and a win for Hull City at home to Manchester United, would result in the Magpies suffering relegation for the second time in six seasons. Former-Newcastle owner Freddy Shepherd has predicted that controversial owner Mike Ashley will sell the club this summer should this disaster occur.
“If they do get relegated there could be a change of ownership,” said Shepherd.
“You can’t get relegated twice in six years without something at the top being sorted out. I think he would try and sell the club. I’m sure of that. He may have had enough.”
Shepherd then tried to redirect the blame from interim boss John Carver on to Alan Pardew – who departed Tyneside for Crystal Palace at the turn of the year.
“With all due respect to Alan Pardew, he knew when the time was right to get out, and the players he left Carver with weren’t the best in the world. I’m sure of that,” he claimed.
“Carver didn’t buy them. He has had the responsibility of getting that team playing, which just hasn’t worked. He has to get them playing now.”
Injury-prone midfielder Ryan Taylor also blamed Alan Pardew’s departure for Newcastle’s collapse since the turn of the year.
“We had turmoil once Alan left,” he said.
“We were unsure – have we got a manager, who is in charge? It took a few weeks to resolve and then John got the job. It’s not that John has not got any experience. He has been around the game a long time. It’s down to the players. We had injuries, but we still had quality, and we just haven’t done it. It’s down to us to put it right in the last game.
“Nine defeats out of ten, I don’t care who you are, it does shatter your confidence. The good thing is that we are at home this time, unlike in 2009. We really lacked a lot that day. We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Everyone has got to be on it next Sunday. Everything is riding on it for the club.”
