Lee Charnley is still at Newcastle United.
The former manager director appears to be the last remaining component of the Mike Ashley era.
The Sports Direct tycoon left on October 7th when PIF, Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben completed the £305million takeover.
On October 20th, Steve Bruce was relieved of his duties. Now Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence have followed him out the door.
All that is left is some horrible Sports Direct signs and Charnley.
After the takeover was completed, it was reported that he would stay with the club for a handover period. However, he was expected to be an ‘early casualty’ of the new regime.
Alas, Charnley remains at St James’ Park.
And during the search for a manager, it was claimed that Charnley was involved in proceedings. Some fans actually blamed him for the collapse of the Unai Emery deal.
Lee Charnley is reportedly ‘hopeful’ about Newcastle future
Now BBC Sport’s Guillem Balague is reporting that Charnley could stay. In a column about Newcastle’s new owners, Balague writes: “Charnley remains in position and is hopeful of staying on.”
That’s not the news Newcastle fans want, but it is indicative of where the new owners are at.
While they may have deep pockets, they don’t have football experience.
Charnley does have that, although it’s arguably the same kind of experience that Bruce-defenders kept mentioning. Not all experience is good experience…
Until the new owners get their own people in, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Charnley remain at the club. But you do wonder why he wants to remain. He’s hardly popular at St James’ Park. I don’t think he’s ever been liked by Toon supporters.
There were big celebrations when Ashley left the club, and fans will be happy to see the back of Charnley too. But when that is remains to be seen.
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