Mike Ashley was a busy man on August 9, but not in the way Newcastle United fans might have hoped. It was the following morning that his Sports Direct company bought the struggling House of Fraser for £90 million. There was no such investment in the Magpies, though. Rafael Benitez had demanded new signings all summer long. Despite a few additions on the cheap, they never really arrived. Nobody on Tyneside was surprised by this, though. This has been the way of things for Newcastle in the Ashley era, an era that seemed close to a conclusion last year only for talk of a takeover to vanish.

Regrets

Ashley is the ball and chain that weighs down one of English football’s biggest and most storied clubs. No matter what they try, they can’t cut themselves free. While vociferous, and very visible, protests in the face of Ashley were once commonplace at St James’ Park, now a sense of apathy, helplessness even, has set in. Twice, Newcastle United has been officially put up for sale, and twice they have failed to attract a buyer, with Ashley setting his asking price unrealistically high. 11 years of footballing austerity have taken their toll. The Magpies have suffered relegation from the Premier League twice under Ashley’s control having previously avoided the drop for 18 years, finishing in the top half of the top flight just twice in 11 seasons. Their best players have come and gone without being replaced. Newcastle United are a club devoid of any ambition or direction. This is a marriage of gross inconvenience for all concerned. Ashley himself admits he regrets buying Newcastle United back in 2007, going on to explain how he now feels “wedded” to the club. “Do I regret getting into football? The answer is yes,” he said in an interview given in 2016. “I have had tonnes of fun in it, but I haven’t been able to make the difference I wanted to like I have at Sports Direct. I wanted to help Newcastle, I wanted to make it better. I do not seem to have had that effect.”