One major factor in the fury swathes of Newcastle United supporters direct towards Mike Ashley and his ownership is how good things used to be prior to his arrival in ownership. 

Indeed, while plenty of ill-informed pundits have suggested the club's supporters demand trophies left, right and centre, it is the fact that Ashley has limited Newcastle's ambition, not even providing much in the way of hope for one of English football's sleeping giants. 

While Steve Bruce might just manage to keep his side up after a recent run of good form, few would argue that Newcastle are a far cry from what they used to be. 

Speaking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, former Newcastle star Rob Lee has reflected on better times. 

"Listen we'd have a chance," he said.

"We wouldn't be far off.

"It's very difficult to compare teams of different eras and people will never people never stop doing it.

"They say 'oh you can never play in this system, you can never play this era'.

"That's rubbish, it's football! Don't tell me that George Best couldn't play in any era he liked. 

"We had an unbelievable football team and if you put us in the Premier League [today] we'd be there or thereabouts."

When asked where the famous 'Entertainers' side he played in would rank in the Premier League today, Lee was bullish in the fact they'd have been able to challenge the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the game. 

One of the most memorable teams of the 1990s, Kevin Keegan's team infamously let a 12-point lead slip as Sir Alex Ferguson's all-conquering Manchester United ruthlessly denied them the chance to cap a dramatic rise from the old Second Division with a dramatic title win. 

As you can see in the video above, however, Lee has little concern that he and his teammates would be able to translate their quality into the modern game and run the established elite close.