Dennis Wise reckons Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley deserves praise, not criticism, from the Magpies faithful.
Dennis Wise has said on Bein Sports that Newcastle United fans must acknowledge the ‘masterstroke’ that Mike Ashley pulled in appointing Rafael Benitez.
Newcastle drew 0-0 away to Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon and many visiting fans protested against Ashley from the stands.
It was another frustrating summer for Benitez’s side on the transfer front and the feeling is that the Spanish manager was hindered by the Magpies owner and the board over targets.
Wise worked under the 53-year-old businessman as United’s Director of Football once upon a time.
And the former Chelsea midfielder reckons that Ashley’s appointment of Champions League-winning manager Benitez – who replaced Steve McClaren in 2016 – is something that fans need to give him praise for.
“I look at the situation and I look at Rafa and I think that people haven’t really credited Mike for bringing Rafa in,” he told Bein Sports on Saturday. “I thought it was a fantastic masterstroke to bring him in to the football club – they needed him at the time.
“To go and get a manager like that and bring him in – I don’t think Mike got a pat on the back for that and he won’t because unfortunately that’s how people perceive Mike – they don’t think he does anything right for the football club.
“But he does, he does a lot for the football club and he won’t sell that football club to somebody who will strip it.”
Ashley clearly deserves quite a lot of the criticism that he receives from Newcastle fans, but it probably is fair to say that he also deserves a bit of credit for convincing Benitez – who has managed Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan – to join in the first place.
Question is, why does he not fully back the Spaniard and maximise Newcastle’s chances of success? That is the baffling thing from the Magpies’ perspective.
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