Alan Shearer claims Mike Ashley “locked him out” of Newcastle after advising the former owner on the club’s direction and felt “unwelcome” until the new owners arrived and Eddie Howe invited him to a training session
- Alan Shearer has revealed former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has ‘ostracized’ him
- The Toon legend had eight games as coach of his hometown club in 2011
- As he left, Shearer offered despised owner Ashley advice on the club’s direction
- The Premier League’s all-time top scorer says Ashley left him at the club
- Shearer revealed that current boss Eddie Howe invited him to a training session
Alan Shearer has revealed former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has “ostracized” him from the club.
The hometown hero, who after ten years is the all-time Premier League goalscorer with 206 goals with Tyneside, spent eight games in charge in 2011 in a desperate bid to keep the Magpies from relegation.
But Shearer, speaking in The Athletic in an interview with current boss Eddie Howe, claimed after advising Ashley on the club’s future direction the despised then-owner shut him out.
Alan Shearer (left) claimed former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley ‘ostracized’ him from the club.
Toon legend Shearer, who spent eight games in charge in 2011, revealed Ashley had banned him from Newcastle after Shearer advised the businessman on the club’s future direction
He said: “Kevin (Keegan) came back under Ashley and was treated horribly. I tried (briefly) as a manager, told him what I thought should happen next, and never heard from him again. We were all ostracized by the club we used to be.
“I am very touched when Eddie invites me to go to the training ground and speak to his team. I couldn’t have done that under Ashley because I felt so unwelcome. Now I’m torn.
“I’m very aware that some players see me as the guy who beats them on Match of the Day from time to time and I wonder if I should keep that distance, but there’s another part of me who would love it. Smell the weed again, feel a part of things. Man. This pull from home.«
Shearer, 52, also asked Howe about the new owners. The club is 80 percent owned by PIF, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, a country with an appalling human rights record, which uses its assets for the purpose of “sportswashing”.
The Saudi government has been accused of a litany of human rights abuses – including the persecution of homosexuals, the imprisonment of outspoken government critics, the killing of dissidents and war crimes.
He also said he was invited to a training session by current boss Eddie Howe (pictured), who spoke about the club’s highly controversial Saudi Arabian owners, who will take over in 2021
In confirming the takeover, the Premier League insisted it had “received legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United Football Club”, despite Saudi Arabia clearly owning its own wealth fund and PIF Crown Prince’s website Mohammed bin lists Salman as chairman of the fund.
Fair Game, a body bringing together 25 British clubs and campaigning for constitutional changes in football, insisted the test of owners and directors “is universally viewed as ineffective, slow and no longer fit for purpose”.
And human rights campaign group Amnesty International highlighted “numerous serious flaws” in the Premier League’s rules, “with no ban on property for those involved in torture, slavery, human trafficking or even war crimes”.
Asked if Howe was considering ownership, the former Bournemouth boss said: “Yes, of course. I would be lying if I said no because that’s not true. But I think for me it was important when the Premier League went through the rigorous tests they had to go through and then ratified the acquisition.
“From my point of view, everything revolves around football and sport. That’s what I live for. My world revolves around sport and I make football decisions. And I think hopefully people can see that.’
