Ashley must back up his transfer talk with actions

Jan 7 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Mike Ashley hopes Newcastle United fans can forgive and forget but the old wounds are showing no sign of healing just yet. Chief Sports Writer Luke Edwards reports

MIKE Ashley has given the impression he genuinely wants to repair the damage done at Newcastle United by Kevin Keegan’s controversial exit, so why does so much suspicion still surround his intentions?

If that is a question United’s billionaire owner has been asking himself since the New Year statement which announced he was no longer looking to sell the club, he continues to fail to grasp the key issues and grievances.

Ashley would never expect to win a popularity contest among United fans, but given the turmoil and anguish the club has experienced this season there was, perhaps, a begrudging acceptance his decision to take United off the market was a necessary and sensible step.

There are those who are still spitting blood over the shoddy treatment shown to Keegan and the broken promises United’s former manager is adamant he was made. But there are also a large number of fans who, with relegation a very real and present danger, crave some sort of closure on the issue so that other, more pressing matters, can be properly addressed.

If Ashley can’t sell the club, it is better to bring an end to the uncertainty regarding the ownership issue and to have him back at the helm looking to improve things at St James’s Park, than ignoring the problems while he searches for a non-existent buyer.

However, having used the matchday programme from the Liverpool game last month to speak passionately about his desire to move the agenda forward with a pledge to support manager Joe Kinnear in his efforts to strengthen the squad, little has actually happened.

In fairness, the Christmas period has been a disruption. It is not the best time for any business to launch new initiatives or rebuild smashed bridges, but we have still not heard directly from a member of the Newcastle hierarchy. So we do not have a real insight into what is going to change, or what exactly is on the new Newcastle United agenda.

Newcastle’s fans may be willing to accept Ashley’s return as a matter of expediency in the wider economic circumstances, but they want actions rather than words. If they fail to be persuaded, St James’s Park may have thousands more empty seats next season as discontent is replaced by apathy.

It has been more than a week since Ashley revealed his intention not to sell the club, but the hope this announcement would signal an opening of the purse strings is looking increasingly futile.

At best United’s transfer strategy looks confused, with a steady procession of players linked with a move to the North East, only for those targets to be subsequently ruled out by Kinnear.

When Ashley said he would look at how he could help Kinnear in the transfer window, it was widely perceived as a suggestion extra funds would be released to finance the sort of spending spree which will significantly improve the first-team squad.

However, it is now apparent no extra money will be put in by Newcastle’s supposedly repentant owner, with Kinnear’s tone increasingly downbeat whenever he is asked about the progress being made in the transfer market.

Ashley may want to earn appeasement, but he is not willing to pay for it. In the present financial climate that may well be sensible given the prospect of a deepening recession.

But it is not what supporters want to hear when Tottenham Hotspur, a big club in an equally perilous position in the Premier League, have just splashed out £15m on Jermain Defoe and were also willing to pay at least £8m for Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing.

United received £12m for James Milner in August and it seems that whatever change was left from selling the England Under-21 international to Aston Villa is all Kinnear has to play with this month, unless he can raise funds by selling fringe players in a squad which is already too small.

When you consider £5.6m of the Milner money was wasted on Spanish flop Xisco, the player forced on Keegan by the board on transfer deadline day in August, sparking the row which led to his exit, Ashley is going to struggle to win people over if this is his strategy.

In January, £6m might be just about enough for one new player, but it is nowhere near enough to sign the four or five Kinnear says he needs.

Initially, Newcastle’s manager had spoken enthusiastically about being given at least £12m to sign two players this month. Now he talks about having to sell before he can buy with Xisco at the top of his clear-out list.

Several players from the Championship have subsequently been linked with the club, even though they lack the sort of experience Kinnear said he needed to ensure the team were properly equipped to stay in the top flight.

Ashley has promised he will not over-stretch Newcastle’s resources and will continue to run the club sensibly.

But some things simply cannot be done on the cheap, especially not when you are trying to convince sceptical supporters that you have the club’s best interests at heart. It is not just a worry about a lack of new faces which is a cause for concern as none of the four players offered new contracts last month have signed them.

Few expected Michael Owen to sign anything before he talked to rival clubs, but Nicky Butt, Shola Ameobi and Steve Harper have also failed to agree extensions.

All, in theory, could leave for nothing at the end of the season.

Clearly, it is not just United’s followers who still need to be convinced by Ashley that the club is heading in the right direction again.