Ashley's the baddie, not Bond villain Jaws!
JAMES Bond baddie Jaws might have been on Tyneside – but the biggest villain in the eyes of Newcastle United fans is Mike Ashley.
A day after staggering details of the events which led to Kevin Keegan's fateful departure from Newcastle emerged, owner Ashley was back at St James's Park.
If he was embarrassed to have appointed Dennis Wise, the man whose meddling in the transfer market, and love of YouTube, led to Keegan's exit just over a year ago, and prompted protests across the city, he didn't show it.
Nor is Wise, judging by yesterday's defence of his time at the club on TV.
How many more times Ashley graces – or disgraces – the stadium remains in question, with Wise going as far to suggest he won't sell up until the end of the season.
Tyneside businessman Barry Moat remains in talks, but supporters have seen too many false dawns in recent months to get too carried away with speculation that a sale is near.
For the moment, they can only back their team's promotion bid, and that they did on Saturday against Bristol City, whose players were buoyed by a chance meeting with a Jaws lookalike on the eve of the game.
A crowd of 43,326 turned up to watch the fixture, including 2,800 from Bristol, but the bulk left St James's Park disappointed, not to mention frustrated, having seen United drop points on home turf for the second time in four days.
Had referee Graham Salisbury awarded Newcastle a penalty for a blatant foul on Marlon Harewood in the box late in the game, Chris Hughton's side might have taken all three points.
Goalkeeper Dean Gerken, only added to Gary Johnson's team at the last minute after Adriano Basso suffered an injury in the warm-up, also denied Danny Guthrie and Kevin Nolan with superb saves, with United dominant in the second half.
They had found themselves on the back foot for spells of the first half, but took the game to City after the break, but Hughton's attacking substitutions couldn't force a winner.
Still, Newcastle went into the two-week international break with their three-point lead at the top of the league intact thanks to another goalless draw at Deepdale between rivals Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion.
Consistency is what gets you out of the league, and the two points Hughton's side took from last week's home games, while four short of the six-point haul fans were expecting, mean they remain the division's front-runners with 11 games gone.
The chances are Ashley will still be at the helm by the time United next run out at St James's Park, against Keegan's hometown club Doncaster Rovers on October 24.
However, the next fortnight could see movement of a kind, with caretaker boss Hughton – the Championship's Manager of the Month for August and September – tipped for a new job title, such is the admiration in both the dressing room and boardroom for his steady hand.
Hughton's certainly taken care of business, though Alan Shearer – who has maintained a dignified silence in recent months – remains the man many fans want to oversee the rebuilding of the club in the long term.
Ashley, meanwhile, remains, but the XXL replica shirt he donned during his honeymoon period is long gone.
United's fans, however, are still showing their true colours, and with their continued backing, Hughton and his players, by hook or crook, must believe they can return to the Premier League, whatever happens upstairs.
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Harper; R Taylor, S Taylor, Khizanishvili, Simpson; Guthrie (Ranger, 85), Nolan, Smith, Gutierrez (Carroll, 66); Harewood, Lovenkrands. Subs not used: Krul, Kadar, Butt, Donaldson, Geremi.
BRISTOL CITY: Gerken; Orr, Carey, Nyatanga, McAllister (McCombe, 46); Sno, Johnson (Williams, 73), Elliott, Skuse; Maynard; Saborio (Haynes, 60). Subs not used: Clarkson, Hartley, Sproule.
Goals: None
Bookings: Khizanishvili 43, Saborio 45, Carey 53
Sent off: None
Attendance: 43,326
Referee: Graham Salisbury (Preston)
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for South Shields
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South west
