Get the latest NUFC transfer and takeover news straight to your inbox for FREE by signing up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Toon legend Rob Lee has described Dennis Wise’s controversial comments regarding supposed anti-London feeling among Newcastle United supporters as “nonsense” and “absurd.”

The born and bred Londonder, who spent ten years at St James’ Park, claimed to be “living and breathing proof” that such an agenda does not and has never existed.

Wise, who was briefly United’s director of football, believes neither Mike Ashley or Alan Pardew have been given a fair chance because they were part of a so-called Cockney Mafia.

Chronicle columnist Lee could not believe the comments when he heard them and hit back at Wise who made his remarks on a Qatari sports channel.

Lee said: “What a lot of utter nonsense he (Wise) came out with this week. They were unbelievable remarks.

“To suggest anyone at the club, be it Mike Ashley or Alan Pardew, aren’t loved, respected or even liked a bit because they happen to come from London is absurd.

“It was perhaps a flippant remark, but a ridiculous one nonetheless.

I am not quite sure how Wise could even have come to this conclusion. He wasn’t in Newcastle long enough to get to know what the area and its people is all about.

“What was it? Eight months. Yeah, he knows Newcastle inside and out and what makes the people tick.”

Lee, ironically, believed that Wise as a player would have been loved as a player by the Newcastle fans because of his work rate and attitude.

The now 48-year-old speaks in today’s column of how he was warmly welcomed by the Newcastle people from the moment he set foot in the city following his move from Charlton Athletic in 1992.