Any disgruntled Newcastle United fan who cancelled their season ticket during the utter mess that was the campaign just past (myself included) would have received a letter from the club in the last week or so. Written by the wonderfully named Stephen Tickle, the club quite openly pleaded for you to reconsider your decision to up sticks and leave St James' Park to hop back aboard the good ship Newcastle for the 2015/16 campaign. Tickle, the Ticket Operations Manager at St James' Park, painted a pretty picture which included the following:
"With the appointment of our new head coach, Steve McClaren, we are looking ahead to the 2015/16 campaign with genuine optimism and excitement. The club are targeting a top eight finish and will also be giving the domestic cups a real go in the hope we can bring a trophy back to Newcastle. "We are already working hard to strengthen the team and are confident we can deliver the exciting and attacking football we all desire with the team challenging at the right end of the table."
And with that claim the club announced that the deadline for renewals had been extended until Friday, June 19. TOMORROW! The plea from the club must mean that a lot of fans have done what they were threatening to do and turn their backs on The Magpies. Even Mike Ashley was forced to come out and give an official interview for the first time since he took over the club in 2007 before the West Ham game, such is the hit he is seemingly about to take in the pocket. The owner painted an even prettier picture than Tickle's letter, claiming that he would be investing and wouldn't be leaving until we won something, or qualified for the Champions League. This alone, in a few naive fan's eyes at least, was enough to convince them into renewing. But as we sit here almost a month after those claims, what have we seen to suggest anything has changed in the running of the club? We've seen players (in Jonas Gutierrez's case still more than good enough for a spot in the squad) let go in what can only be looked upon as a cost cutting measure more than anything else, and absolutely no one come in. It seems to be business as usual at St James' Park with the Charlie Austin saga being a prime example of this. United have reportedly been quoted £15 million for the recent England call-up with seemingly no official bid being sent Loftus Road's way. It looks like that classic case of Newcastle making an enquiry for a player, the player's club telling them the fee they will have to pay, and Lee Charnley et al spitting their collective dummies out and offering severely less before being unceremoniously rejected. How is that meant to get bums back in seats next term? Ashley gave himself a month to prove that what he said on the final day of the Premier League season was all true and now looks like missing his own deadline. We've seen Southampton buying Spanish internationals, Stoke signing a former Real Madrid striker and West Ham enticing one of the most highly rated midfielders in European football to their club. These are all clubs at a similar, or maybe even a step higher, playing level to The Magpies and they are showing intent and strengthening early on. Why haven't Newcastle done the same? If Mike Ashley had secured the signature of even just Austin by now it would have signalled enough ambition to prove the nay-sayers wrong and get them back into St James' Park... However, so far, Mike has once again deceived the fans and failed to restore any sort of trust within the club. Let's hope this changes in the coming weeks or the stadium could be under capacity more than we've ever seen it before while the club, once again, battles relegation. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow whatculture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.
