Wise believes Ashley will see out season at St James?

05 October 2009 10:55
DENNIS WISE believes that Mike Ashley will remain as owner of Newcastle United until the end of the season. The former director of football at St James Park last night responded to the findings of the tribunal that awarded £2m to Kevin Keegan in settlement of his claim for constructive dismissal. Wise claimed that Keegan had turned down a larger offer made by Ashley to settle the dispute out of court an accusation that Keegan has already denied. Wise also outlined how his own growing unpopularity among Newcastle supporters made him increasingly reluctant to travel to the North-East. Mike was worried about it, youd expect someone to panic a bit a bit about paying out that much money. It was a difficult situation at Newcastle with Kevin, these things happen. People have disagreements and dont see eye to eye. Its sad, I was doing the job the best I could for Newcastle, but in the end it all turned out wrong. Longterm, the idea of the relationship was we would get first option on the best young South American kids and that was important to Newcastle United Football Club. Mike was fine about it. He knew all about it, he is the owner of the football club and it is his money, nobody elses. It was all done the right way. It isnt always how it is portrayed, it was all done properly. Asked if Ashley would retain ownership, Wise replied: I dont know, thats something Mike can answer. I really hope they get up and I mean that. I think he will hold on to it at least until they get promoted. I dont know what they will do after that. Mike Ashley is one of those people who takes things on the chin and gets on with it. He does things he thinks are right and thats it. He went public and told everybody he wanted to sell it. He has the best interests of Newcastle United. If he feels somebody can come in and give them what they want then he will do that.

Source: Northern_Echo