Friday 7th December, 6 Months On.
Today, Friday 7th December 2007, should be a day of celebration for all Newcastle fans. Why? …Because it is exactly six calendar months to the day since Freddy Shepherd became nothing more than a part of our history.
The time has flown by, although getting rid of the man hasn’t kept him out of the news completely. How many people can forget that even after his departure we had to put up with the embarrassing issue of the City of London Police entering the club in a bid to uncover evidence of wrong doing? Not to mention the damning publicity that followed in the local and national press - it would appear at this time that nothing was found, but how many people actually expected that outcome?
Shepherd left the club in such a state that our new chairman; Chris Mort is reported by the press as having said that the club was in danger of going out of business if things hadn’t changed as quickly as they did. The debt has been reported in the national and local press as being close to the £100m mark, although here at NUFC Mismanagement we have since learned that the debt was actually more than this and that the reaction of Mike Ashley on hearing this was a simple shrug of the shoulders – a reaction to deliver optimism for the future, if ever there was one. As it happens, NUFC’s books were looked at before the purchase during due diligence but the debt was partially hidden, fairly cleverly (surprisingly enough): we were showing future income that had already been spent!
We’ve also read that Fat Freddy is no longer welcome at St. James’ Park because of the deal he struck up between our club and one of his other companies. We understand that the warehouse cost £175,000 when purchased and leased back to the club for a very reasonable £150,000. The only problem was that this very reasonable £150,000 was per annum… it doesn’t take a genius to work out that Newcastle United Football Club had paid for this warehouse within fourteen short months and that month fifteen was money in the bank. By now Shepherd’s warehouse will have been paid for many times over, but from this week on it will have to find a new use because we no longer have an involvement with it - I suppose it could be full of Leeds shirts soon if the reports are true.
This was done by a man who claimed to be a fan first and chairman second. Sorry, but that claim is nothing but absolute 24-carat bullshit. It’s the fans who paid for his warehouse, it was paid for by people who went to work to afford a season ticket, a new football shirt for the kids or a bond that was proven to be worthless - a bit like the shares which some fans bought just so that they could feel as if they owned a part of the club.
A club insider has told this website that Shepherd wasn’t banned from the ground because of the warehouse deal - although it may have played some part in the decision. No, the real reason for Shepherd being unwelcome at St. James’ Park is because it is the fans that are the most important part of the club and we should not have been treated in the manner in which we were under the former regime. The infamous News of The World sting had as much to do with us seeing the back of Shepherd than the warehouse deal – justice, in a way, was finally (and properly) done. It wasn't his passion for money which brought the ban, it was his utter contempt for the fans, a contempt which fortunately isn’t held by the new chairman or owner, hurt the fans now and you hurt the owner, because he has quickly become one of us. Some are suspicious of his motives for sitting behind the goal with the rest of the supporters, come on, give your heads a shake and see it for what it is and what it is becoming more and more, day by day, a Newcastle fan sitting amongst Newcastle fans.
The new people are doing everything they can to make the club an inclusive one, an organisation which benefits from having the fans on its side. Actions speak louder than words, so judge the new people running the club when they contact Newcastle United fanzines and websites and ask for some guidance on an away ticket allocation. It even looks as if something may be arranged quite soon so that the club and fans can bounce a few ideas off each other, fancy that!
The club didn’t just want to know the thoughts of these fanzine editors and fansite owners, they wanted to know the thoughts of the supporters who read these publications and logged onto these forums.
The club wants input from the fans, they want to do what we, the fans, want them to do. The club is no longer a dictatorship, even those working within the club are allowed to do the jobs which they are employed to do, they don’t have to wait until they are told to jump so they can ask how high, they just get on with what they are paid to do.
This isn’t rocket science, this doesn’t make Mike Ashley or Chris Mort a genius, it’s basic good practice in business - and don’t kid yourself, football is a business and we’re more likely to do well if we’re run along the lines of a good business and use good business practice.
In six short months we’ve been fully taken over by a man who was said to be a recluse, I think Mr. Ashley has put that myth to bed. We have a man who owns the club and seems to act just like any other fan of the club. The one exception to him being just another fan is the impact that he could have on our club at any time, in any moment.
I don’t think we can fault him at all so far, he could easily have gone off on a massive ego-trip, but no, that’s not what he’s done at all. He’s employed a chairman who he clearly has total faith in to run the club and make it one of the best in this country - no longer do we have to put up with knee-jerk reactions from the person/people at the head of Newcastle United.
Sam Allardyce would have been out of work after the Liverpool game if Freddy Shepherd had still of been in charge and we’d once again be scrambling around looking for another manager to come along and rip the previous team/squad apart - we’d be looking at yet another period of transition.
Allardyce may not be everyone’s choice - I wouldn’t have chosen him if I was as rich as our current owner - but we’ve got him and I’d be gutted to lose him without seeing just what he can do for us, given the proper time and the proper backing.
He’s on a different planet to Souness and Roeder and you never know, he might just prove that he’s better than some thought if we just give him a chance. He’s made mistakes, of course he has, but I’d like to meet somebody who has never made a mistake in life, show me that person and I’ll show you a liar.
The chairman seems determined to give Sam every chance to prove how good he is and Mike Ashley seems more than happy to allow Mr. Mort to run the club the way he sees fit. I can’t remember feeling so positive about NUFC and the reason for that is the way the club has changed at the top and appears to be changing for the better all of the way down.
We’ve had fans booing the manager, we’ve had a player come out and have a go at the fans, big deal. I think that the booing and the player having a go at the fans were both needed. So many years of failure and so many years of frustration had to be exorcised; and we are now seeing signs that we’ve finally managed to do that. All of that will be lost if the fans stop the brilliant support that has been shown in our previous two games against Blackburn and Arsenal. We have a responsibility to this club, too. Arsene Wenger put the draw down to the fans and players having something to prove, well, that will all be a waste of time if we all think we've done our bit. I bet the fans, players, manager, chairman and owner all got more out of the last two games than we have all season.
We all know what is required and we all know what happens when we all pull together and once again become united, our fate is on our own hands and we have nobody to blame if things go wrong. We're in charge of our own destinies, if it goes wrong then we should all blame ourselves. Think of the football club as a chain, a chain of many links, owner, chairman, manager, coaches, players, fans etc. One broken link is enough to make that chain useless and it's up to us if we're going to be the weak link in that chain or the link that holds everything together. I know which one I want to be, do you?
Happy Anniversary Shepherd.