Ashley Set To Kick Newcastle Into Shape

Last Updated : 21-Jun-2007 by
Ashley, Newcastle's new owner, says he will shortly appoint a troubleshooter to scrutinise all areas of the business just as Sir John Hall did back in 1991.

The fellow Hall went for was Freddy Fletcher, the man who built an empire with Glasgow Rangers, and within the year the club was transformed beyond belief.

How many can remember the old club shop? It was so bad the Supporters Club Shop in the Haymarket was making more profit selling Toon items. The shop at St James' Park was still selling Jim Smith T-shirts six months after Ossie Ardiles was made manager!

Hall and Fletcher turned United into a top Premiership club, and things have slipped in recent years under Freddy Shepherd. But Ashley has plans for the future.

The future of Freddy Shepherd, who still holds the role of chairman despite selling his shares in the club to Ashley, will also hinge on the troubleshooter's review.

Ashley is anxious to dismiss suggestions that the fact that Allardyce was named in the recent Stevens report on the probity of football transfers it might have placed the Newcastle manager's job security in doubt. Allardyce has the job, and as long as United head in the right direction, he will keep it.

Ashley is said to be "supportive" of Allardyce, but he wants success in double quick time and the ex-Bolton boss knows where he stands.

The un-named troubleshooter will take a long, hard look at the way Newcastle is run. This will encompass the role of Kenneth Shepherd, Freddy Shepherd's influential son. Who was mentioned by the Stevens report when it highlighted a potential conflict of interest in having relatives work so close together.

Although - we must stress - there was no suggestion of wrongdoing by United officials, four of the 17 transfers that Quest refused to clear involved signings made by the club, namely Jean-Alain Boumsong, Albert Luque, Amady Faye and Emre Belozoglu.

In fact eight of those 17 deals involved either Newcastle or Allardyce, the latter in his former capacity as Bolton manager and featuring the incoming transfers of Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku and Julio Correia.

It has not been revealed whether the troubleshooter will be recruited from the ranks of Ashley's existing employees or be an external appointment.