Stan Collymore claims Newcastle United’s owner is out to annoy fans.
Stan Collymore has claimed in The Mirror that Mike Ashley is purposely trying to ‘troll’ Newcastle United fans as ‘payback’ for the treatment he has endured during his 12-year ownership of the club.
The supporters’ disdain for the Newcastle has increased in a major way after it was announced earlier this week that Rafael Benitez had left St James’s Park.
Benitez was a very popular figure among fans of the Magpies after guiding them to Premier League safety two years in a row, despite limited funds been made available by the businessman.
The Spanish manager had failed to agree a new contract with the club’s hierarchy and made it clear that he wouldn’t put pen to paper unless certain assurances were made which, evidently, they weren’t.
Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah launched a parliamentary petition last July, stating that the United owner must back the former Liverpool boss in ‘investment in players, training facilities and community engagement’.
Ashley responded with a 529-word letter to Jeremy Wright in which he revealed “unprecedented” levels of abuse, intimidation and harassment that he and staff members have faced from the fanbase, and Collymore believes that letting Benitez go is an act of revenge on Ashley’s part.
He wrote in The Mirror: “I remember him writing to Jeremy Wright, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, last year to defend himself after Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah launched a parliamentary petition questioning his reign at St James’ Park.
“Ashley spoke about “unacceptable abuse”, “harassment” and an attempt to turn him into “a pantomime villain”.
“It’s my belief that this is payback time. It is like Ashley is trolling Newcastle’s fans, showing them that he can do whatever he wants with their club because it is his name above the door. They now have to fight fire with fire.”
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