What do Mike Ashley and Alex Ferguson have in common?



No this isn't a football themed cracker joke, quite simply, they both have a uncanny knack of being able to ruffle feathers...Ferguson, quite famously, has been despised by those up and down the country and revered by his own, whilst Ashley, quite infamously, has been pretty much despised by everyone bar the Mackems!



But, as Newcastle sit on the precipice of potential European football (with the other side simply being a magnificent season and enviable points total) can we as Newcastle fans truly continue to berate this once extremely fat, now ever so slightly rotund cockney bastard for the job that he has done at the club we all love so dearly?



Ruthlessness



There is no getting away from that fact that Ashley would slit your throat in your sleep for the rights to your cut-price sock company.* The man is ruthless, he's unflinching and quite often appears to be entirely uncaring. Whether a true sociopath, or simply a tremendous business man, Ashley has built a Billion Pound empire off the back of his own (as well as thousands of overseas workers') blood, sweat and tears. This approach has made him many enemies, none closer to home than Wigan's own chairman with a similar tat-pedalling superstore, Dave Whealan.



Applying this 'Alls fair in love and war' mentality to running a football club must've seemed like perfect sense to Mr Ashley, but there's just one problem, football clubs have heart.



Mixing Business With Pleasure



Regardless of what Man Utd fans might tell you, football isn't always about winning. Football is about Gazza's tears, Bergkamp's turn, Collymore's winner, Ronaldo's wink and a good 85% of Maradonna's career. We love winning, we love celebrating goals, but similarly, we love drama, we love heroes and villains, we love a trier, a David Batty or James Perch. Whether we care to admit it, we love Ameobi's shocking performances and love his goals against Sunderland all the more for them! football isn't a simple yes or no, its a yes when the only sane answer is no!



Ashley came into our club, a relatively young but well established business man, with a business man's approach. Spent 10 minutes in the stands with the fans and was sucked in by the romanticism we all know and love! He became one of us. But the problem with becoming a fan, is that we don't think sensibly, we don't know when to stop caring, or when to separate sense and sentimentality. Ashley had to make these decisions and he began to do so with the recklessness of a 14 year old in his first ever Championship Manager season! He took our heroes and dashed their reputations on the stone steps of St James' Park, then took said stones and renamed them. He sold a part of our club's soul and in doing so, sold out a fan base who had so readily welcomed him into our ranks.



Light at the End of the Tunnel?



It's a fairly well established fact that Newcastle fans wear our hearts upon our sleeves (if and when we wear enough clothes to have them). We're overly sentimental, overly loyal, overly naive and at times, yes I'm going to say it, a little deluded. Ashley is obviously a complete opposite to us and the way things are going, we could, in our contrasting extremes, fit together to create one beautiful, and hopefully successful whole!



Lets be honest, how many of us thought refusing to budge over Keegan was right?

I know I didn't - but Keegan appears to be stuck in the past, with big budgets and big names being the only way he wants to manage....



Let's be honest, how many of us thought refusing to budge over Shearer was right?

I was sick of Joe Kinnears, Sam Allardyces and Graeme Sounness's, if we were gunna be ****, I wanted it to be with one of our own, who understood us, who gave a ****. Looking back, Shearer was woeful in that role!



Let's be honest, how many of us thought Hughton's sacking was a disgrace and Pardew should never have been appointed?

I still feel gutted for Hughton, but in hindsight, looking at the players we've brought in and gelled together, we needed a strong manager. Hughton is a great guy and players want to play for him, but what about the one's who can't, through poor form, attitude or performance? How would Ben Arfa have reacted under Hughton? (part of me still thinks very well, but who knows?) Pardew is infinitely more organised than Hughton, his tactics in the past 2 months have been spot on and he's made the right changes at the right times for me.



Summary



Ashley is ruthless, he ruthlessly got rid of Nolan and Barton, despite them possibly having another season or 2 at the top (look at Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool's 'big names' who're getting old and causing their sides to suffer as they look to bring in replacements) GOOD MOVE He ruthlessly sold our shining prince for a huge sum, brought in better players and is seeing the rewards in the league table GOOD MOVE He ruthlessly cut the wage bill, the deadwood and the trouble makers, despite what they've done for the club in the past, putting us on an even keel financially GOOD MOVE. He sacked a great manager and put his faith in a man, many of us wouldn't have even wanted on the 'potential' shopping list, and yet, here we are! GOOD MOVE



I don't think everything Ashley has done has been good and I definitely don't support the way he's gone about it all, but if he can accept that he's a bit of a bastard and get the job done, then is it about time that we accept and possibly even celebrate the fact that he's pretty ****ing good at it?



*This is not necessarily a fact.

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