Shepherd: Helped build Newcastle

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Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd will not front a takeover bid for the ailing Premier League outfit.

The former Magpies chief only left St James' Park in the summer of 2007, but has seen the club come off the rails since his departure.

Current owner Mike Ashley has failed to steady the ship, while alienating himself from the club's fanatical supporters with his boardroom appointments.

Shepherd admits he was tempted to make a sensational return to the North East after receiving two offers to head bids for the club, but has ruled out any chance of him accepting those approaches.

Saddened

"My family have asked me not to get involved," he told the Sunday Sun.

Shepherd was reluctant to sell his share in the Magpies to Ashley last year but takes no pleasure from the current plight of the club.

"It's sad, really sad," he added. "Nobody should take any delight whatsoever in what is happening, least of all me.

"Myself and Sir John Hall took the club on in 1991 and took it forward, with promotion, a new stadium and a new training ground.

"So it's so, so sad to see it in such a plight."

Vision

Hall, Ashley's predecessor as Newcastle owner, also admits to feeling sorry for the current regime.

"When I met Mike Ashley and his advisors they had the best intentions for the club," Hall told Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"He wanted to stay there and develop it so I feel sad for him and sad for the club.

"When he bought the shares I had lots of talks with him and his team. He was coming in to build for the long run and he is a football fan.

"Newcastle was a brand to him and he wanted to use it to market his business abroad - he had a long term vision.

"He's a good businessman but a novice in the game, as I was when I first came into the game."