The Devil Wears A Toon Scarf: Why Newcastle Fans Hate Mike Ashley

If making football fans angry were a sport, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley would have to take the cake, in English football at least.

The Toon man has driven his club's supporters to the brink of insanity since taking over the club in 2007. Relegation, transfers, managerial changes, court cases; the works have taken place at St James' Park under the entrepeneur's guidance, with his insistence that the ground be referred to as 'Sports Direct Arena' only adding to fans' discontent with his tenure.

The ripping down of the St James' Park sign last week has again brought up feelings of anger, with some fans left asking why Ashley didn't do so when he announced the name change in the first place to help alleviate some of the ill feeling.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg for many Newcastle supporters, with Kevin Keegan's resignation, the forced sale of Andy Carroll and subsequent exits for Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique, and shock sacking of Chris Hughton forming many reasons for fans to harbour hope that Ashley will find that buyer for the club which he has searched for twice now.

IBTimes UK takes a look at just some of the reasons the fans have resorted to graffiti to make their feelings clear in the north east.

It was the beginning of the end of sorts for Ashley’s relationship with the Newcastle fans, and after sitting in the stands alongside them, he had to admit that they wanted him out. On September 4th, 2008, Kevin Keegan resigned from the post at St James’ Park, and the legend immediately had fans on side, with protests taking place. Keegan made it clear in his comments that he left because the board didn’t give his vision enough support, and while Ashley came out and said he would sell the club, he was unable to find a buyer. Even though he put the side on the market again in 2009, the entrepreneur is now claiming he’s committed to giving Newcastle a viable long term future.

After Keegan’s sacking, and eventual court case which left the Toon legend receiving a payment from the club of around £2 million, relegation ensued, and even Alan Shearer couldn’t save the club from their fate. Players were being overpaid, and Damien Duff’s own goal for the Toon when they lost to Aston Villa 1-0 and sealed the 2009-2010 season in the Championship was an apt representation of the club’s mental state. Many fans blamed Ashley for the instability at the club, that had resulted from Keegan’s sacking and fights being dragged out into the courtroom.

Chris Hughton was brought in when Newcastle had reached their depths of desperation, with the club relegated to the Championship for the first time since 1993. The former Tottenham full back took the club to win the second tier and get back into the Premier League, and establish themselves mid table with a decent record. But in December 2010, Ashley decided to go in a different direction, and sacked the manager to appoint Alan Pardew. Skipper Kevin Nolan, who was sold by the club six months later, said at the time: "It goes without saying we were shocked by the announcement."

With Hughton gone, and Pardew in the front line, January transfer window rolled around and there was one name on everyone’s lips: Andy Carroll. The young striker, who had come up the ranks in Newcastle’s youth squad, was having a cracker of a season, but the club were insistent that they wouldn’t let go of their prized possession. Just before January, Pardew told reporters: "Andy's career path is here. He just has to keep working hard. We have to have a big-club mentality and hold on to our best players." But deadline day came around, and after the Toon let go of Carroll for a cool £35 million, they insisted he wanted to leave, only to have the England international reveal that was never the case. "Derek [Llambias] asked me to hand in a transfer request, so I was pushed into a corner and had no choice," Carroll said. "I wasn't wanted by them and they made it clear they wanted the money. Then I flew down in [owner Mike Ashley's] helicopter. I didn't want to leave. I'm gutted that I wasn't wanted at my home team after everything I have done and the progress I have made."

Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan were quick to follow Carroll, though both claimed that they also wanted to stay at Newcastle. And after the departure of two of the team’s more senior players, and the loss of their upcoming starlet, Jose Enrique said he wanted to leave as well. But the Toon have done amazingly well considering they didn’t purchase a striker to replace Carroll, and though the frontman and Enrique left for Liverpool, who would appear to harbour bigger ambitions than Newcastle, the north-eastern side currently sit above their rivals in the Premier League table.

The changing name of St James’ Park's name has been particularly hard for many fans to swallow, with the sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park name making little sense and changing the name altogether feeling like Ashley was taking away the ground’s heritage. And just as the furore died down surrounding the name change, Ashley organised for the iconic St James' Park sign to be taken down last week. Numerous graffiti attacks have taken place since, and fans questioned why Ashley didn’t just take down the name when he made the announcement.