Sunday 14 October 2018 15:10, UK
Newcastle are a "top six" club and are wasting their potential under the ownership of Mike Ashley, according to the Sunday Supplement panel.
Newcastle are languishing in 19th in the Premier League table, without a win so far this season, but it is again scenes off the pitch that dominate the headlines.
Mass protests against Ashley's running of the club remain commonplace at St James' Park, with the majority of fans blaming the owner, rather than manager Rafa Benitez, for Newcastle's current plight. The Mail on Sunday's chief sports writer Oliver Holt, though, speaking on the Sunday Supplement, believes Ashley is holding the club back from achieving what they are capable of.
If I look at two clubs that are a waste I would say Leeds and Newcastle, but Leeds at least appear to be getting back to what they once were. Leeds and Newcastle should be top six - they are great English clubs.
"What I see as an outsider is a waste, a waste of potential," Holt said. "You come into the city and you see that stadium - it is the city's cathedral.
"If I look at two clubs that are a waste I would say Leeds and Newcastle, but Leeds at least appear to be getting back to what they once were. Leeds and Newcastle should be top six - they are great English clubs.
"It is toxic, what it is going on there, but it is a shame."
Ashley has been involved with Newcastle since 2007, having purchased Sir John Hall's stake in the club, but has arguably never been as unpopular as he is today. The Sun's Neil Custis, himself a Newcastle fan, feels supporters are simply longing for someone with more than a business interest in the club.
"He [Ashley] is toxic for the football club and has been for a long time," Custis said. "High profile members of the media have absolutely no idea about that football club.
"The fans just want a bit of hope and he has drained the hope out of that club. The biggest thing that irritates fans is that the club is such a big part of the city, a big part of the community. They just want someone in charge of the club, as Sir John Hall was, who is passionate about the club and is willing to back managers, and give them hope a trophy may be on the horizon, something might happen.
"This does not happen with Mike Ashley. I am not saying it is any different with Aston Villa fans, I am just saying that the criticism of Newcastle fans is that their expectations are unrealistic, and they are not."
