Former Newcastle player, John Barnes, has forged a reputation of being a well-spoken and sensible person after his retirement from football, but his latest take is absolutely ridiculous.
Here’s what he said about Mike Ashley and the running of the club:
“Well he does put money into the club.
“It’s quite tribal in Newcastle and Mike Ashley is from the south and some used to describe him and his associates as the ‘Cockney Mafia’.
“There are things he may have said or done in the past which Newcastle fans would have found disrespectful.
“Newcastle fans are obviously going to know more than me, but from the players they’ve bought, the money they’ve spent and the salaries they’ve paid then it seems as if football fans are just hard to please.
“I however believe that the players and Steve Bruce have done a fantastic job.”
Barnes seems to think that our hatred for Ashley is created mainly from the fact that he is from London and that we once referred to him and his awful associates as “The Cockney Mafia”…
This interview honestly screams of a person who hasn’t got a clue about what they’re talking about but is determined to have an opinion on it anyway.
This is mostly apparent by his assertion that Ashley “may” have offended us in the past. Yeah, John, and you “may” have been clearly past your best when you played for us.
I would invite Barnes to actually do some research on the players we’ve bought, money we’ve spent and salaries we’ve paid because if he actually looks at it for longer than five seconds then he may realise that there’s a reason we’ve been discontented for 13 years.
Even a cursory glance would easily inform you how woefully underfunded and supported we have been for the many years we’ve had under Ashley.
To establish that our pain under Ashley is simply because “football fans are hard to please” is downright insulting and furthers the media’s bizarre agenda to crush any sort of ambition from clubs they don’t deem worthy.
Of course, Barnes tops off is absolute drivel with the notion that Bruce has done a “fantastic job”… How? How has he? I don’t need to state my case on how poor Bruce is because I’ve written enough on that before but for Barnes to simply state this and leave it without any evidence or reasoning is bad punditry and he should be ashamed.
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It really does appear that every person who disagrees with the writers on this blog is an idiot who knows nothing, and of whom we expect better.
The fact these are all highly respected players, managers and owners seems not to be important.
The fact that these people have sometimes decades of experience in the Premier leagues, as opposed to the hours racked up by their critics watching the game on the box, doesn’t seem to matter.
Maybe, and as I say, this is just a maybe, these people have formed their opinions on actually having met and spoken to Ashley and Bruce. Have based their opinions on the fact that Ashley is a hugely astute billionaire businessman running Newcastle United as a successful business, and Bruce as an in demand manager with over 1,700 games either played or managed at the top level.
Unlike bloggers who seem to form their assumptions on Ashley based on the fact that he is a cockney git and Bruce because he has a head shaped like a cabbage , and managed Sunderland.
Helen Clarey(Quote)
Graeme Jones appointment to the England coaching staff recognises his achievement at Newcastle, who would have undoubtedly been relegated without his input.
If we had continued to play the way we were with Steve Bruce’s tactics we would have been relegated.
Ashley is an astute businessman and because of this the club will never progress under his stewardship, that is why he has to sell up.
John Barnes eats too many pies and pizzas which have obviously taken it’s toll on his cognitive skills, he is nothing but a relic from the past and was past his best when he played for us, only got that privilege because his mate was the manager.
They all stick up for each other no matter how useless they are.
Overpaid and Over Rated!
Joseph(Quote)
We know that Ashley has been poisonous to the club, but at least we are not up to our eyes in debt.
As for Bruce, got to give him credit for how the season ended, if we play like that when we have full strength then we should be comfortable.
This blog however slates Bruce at every opportunity yet creams their pants over Benitez who has an almost identical record to Bruce !!! Strange ?
David(Quote)
You mention research. Ashley was born in Walsall. Hardly a cockney.
James Martin(Quote)