Mike Ashley versus the Newcastle United supporters is a recurring theme during the Sports Direct tycoon’s ownership of the North East club, with the latest protests threatening fans to withdraw their support if the owner fails to back manager Rafa Benitez.
The rumours are that Ashley is refusing to give Benitez further transfer funds until he commits to a contract extension. But, Benitez is supposedly delaying an extension until he has been given satisfactory evidence that his and the fans’ ambitions will be met by the Newcastle owner.
Newcastle fans have made their opinion well-known through the likes of the social media campaign: ‘#IfRafaGoesWeGo’. The revolt translates supporters’ feelings of frustration and passion into action; threatening if Benitez leaves, so too will they.
The mistrust for Magpies fans in their owner harks back for years, but back-to-back promises of “every penny generated by the club” being available to Benitez has failed to materialise in yet another transfer window. It has been well documented that the Newcastle manager has been forced to embarrassingly admit that he has had to ‘wheel-and-deal’ this summer.
With a limited transfer budget, Benitez has been able to welcome only two new faces to St James’ Park thus far; Ki Sung-Yueng joined on a free transfer from Swansea and Swiss defender Fabian Schar has most recently signed for £3m. Mainz striker Yoshinori Muto is set to be the latest acquisition for £9.5m, while Martin Dubravka and Kenedy rejoin the squad after last season’s successful loan spells. But the club has generated a healthy income through the player sales of Mikel Merino, Chancel Mbemba, and Matz Sels for an overall figure close to £19m.
The truth is, Newcastle fans are not stupid. They know the facts and the figures of how much money the club generates through the likes of player sales and television deals, and that there should be more money to spend if Benitez were to truly get “every penny generated by the club”. Fans will also be questioning as to why the likes of West Ham and Everton can continue to break the bank to sign new players of up to £50m, while their own club has failed to break their £16m transfer record in 13 years, and thus; highlighting Ashley’s lack of ambition for Newcastle.
The campaign has reached the point of political action; Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah delivered a petition to parliament on Tuesday. “The House of Commons urges the Government to prevent unscrupulous football club owners from exploiting clubs, their fans and local communities with particular reference to Mike Ashley and Newcastle United football club,” she said.
Reaction to the petition has been mixed, with some fans negatively labelling the petition as “pathetic” and “pointless”. As the old saying goes, ‘any publicity is good publicity’, and even if no direct action comes of the petition, the media has raised the importance of the issue and that can only put pressure on Ashley to respond.
The rallying cry for change from the Magpies faithful will have undoubtedly alarmed Ashley’s attention, but whether his response to the crisis will be sufficient is another question. But for now, supporters will have to continue to make their voices heard and to hope that their owner will wake up and do enough to keep Benitez at the club – and for his sake, not just Newcastle’s.
