The Day The Promises Had To Stop

[Happy Face 29]

Anyone reading it yet?

 

Just seen all the Chronicle stories on it....

 

On Bobby Robson...

SIR BOBBY ROBSON was so perturbed about a plot he perceived to get him out of Newcastle United that in despair he turned to one-time plc chairman Denis Cassidy.

 

Bobby requested a private meeting that lasted six hours, during which he poured his heart out and repeatedly asked: “Why do they want me to go? Why?”

 

Cassidy reveals the backdrop to Robson’s controversial sacking in his new book “Newcastle United: The Day The Promises Had To Stop” which hit the nation’s high streets this week.

 

If there are those of power at St James’ Park who suffer at the biting perception of Cassidy, then Sir Bobby is certainly not one of them. Indeed, he is revered as a true gentleman of football who skilfully rebuilt a shattered United.

 

However, Cassidy claims that, far from it being the friendly parting that official quotations would have fans believe, Robson was bewildered and hurt at his shoddy treatment.

 

Recalling the long goodbye, Cassidy insists: “Bobby sought a meeting with me in private. He wanted to discuss his position at the club, and the sequence of provocative actions taken by Freddy Shepherd, with someone who knew the parties involved and had been around long enough in the upper reaches of business to offer some sound advice.

 

“It was also important that we were contemporaries – both vintage February 1933 and fellow Geordies who liked each other.”

 

The meeting was to go on for a mammoth six hours and, claims Denis: “Bobby was hurt and confused and was searching, not unreasonably, for a rational explanation, repeatedly asking me rhetorically: ‘But why do they want me to go Denis? We’ve finished third, fourth and fifth in the last three years. That’s the best performance since Kevin Keegan. Why?’

 

“I told Bobby frankly that, whatever help I could offer, he should accept that there was no way back, and if the board wanted him to go then he should seek to manage his exit, if he could, to ensure that he preserved his dignity and reputation.

 

“I stressed there was nothing he or I or anyone else could do to change that – I had been in a similar position at the club in 1998 – if Freddy and Douglas were determined to get rid of him. Yet Bobby still persisted with the question: ‘Why?

 

“Ultimately I told him he must know the answer even if it seemed too trivial or ridiculous to be true. He thought carefully for a long time and then said: ‘Perhaps they are jealous of me, but that’s really too. . .daft! Look what I’ve done for them.

 

“He told me frankly of his problems with Kieron Dyer, Craig Bellamy and Lee Bowyer but felt they were all ‘good lads’ who were valuable assets but needed firm guidance.

 

“Bobby was at pains to stress his admiration for his skipper Alan Shearer and constantly extolled his virtues.

 

“He never publicly or privately leaked mischievous stories. His attitude was in stark contrast to the deceitful undermining of him by the board.

 

“Bobby remained a gentleman to the end, retaining his dignity, but behind the public face he was deeply hurt and confused by events.”

 

By the Bank Holiday Monday after defeat and four games of a new season, Sir Bobby was diverted to St James Park from his routine drive to the training ground.

 

Cassidy takes up the story again: “There, he was greeted by Freddy Shepherd with the words: ‘I am relieving you of your position immediately.’ This was followed by ‘I am an honourable man and we will honour your contract.’

 

“Amid the seemingly endless coverage this attracted, one simple self-justifying statement made by Freddy has lodged in my memory to this day.

 

“When referring to the previous season’s outcome he said: ‘Fifth position is not good enough for this club.’ Really? In the 11 seasons they had been in the Premiership they had achieved a top-five position only six times _ three under Kevin Keegan and three under Bobby Robson.

 

“The Hall-Shepherd partnership – because nobody else made significant decisions – had managed to disenchant the inspirational Kevin Keegan and dismiss Sir Bobby Robson, the most experienced and internationally successful English manager to date.

 

“Even for those fans who did believe that Bobby was too old or had lost his grip, his public humiliation and sacking were shocking, reflecting badly on the club and all connected with it.

 

“Newcastle United had gone from being the great entertainers of English football to being the Premiership pariahs.”

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-u...72703-27228377/

 

On Toongate...

 

DENIS CASSIDY was, as a director and later chairman of Newcastle United’s plc board, at the very epicentre of the Toongate earthquake.

 

A Geordie and lifelong fan who had been head-hunted to become a non-executive director upon United going public, he was in the direct line of vicious crossfire after the ‘Fake Sheik’ had sensationally caught out United’s two most powerful figures Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall in an elaborate sting.

 

Cassidy was in on their reluctant resignations from their seats of power and was a casualty of their dramatic return from exile a little over six months later.

 

Now, for the first time, Cassidy has gone public to tell the inside story of the 1998 explosions which rocked Tyneside in a new book “Newcastle United: The Day The Promises Had to Stop” which hit the nation’s bookshops this week.

 

He deals with the political in-fighting as pressure mounted to re-instate United’s two leading shareholders in the boardroom – pressure which, perhaps inevitably given their political clout, succeeded and in turn led to Cassidy quitting his duties as chairman after losing a dramatic vote 4-3.

 

The drama, which was to shock way beyond the banks of the Tyne, exploded into public prominence just as fans were looking forward to clearing the last hurdle before the Wembley FA Cup final of 1998.

 

Cassidy, a company director and chairman of many publicly-quoted companies, recalls it in his memoirs of the time thus: “I had travelled up to St James’s Park for a game against Coventry which proved a dispiriting, lacklustre 0-0 draw.

 

“After the long journey home I had barely settled down to a glass of wine and dinner when a distraught Freddie Fletcher rang to tell me he had some very bad news.

 

“A national newspaper the following morning was to carry an exclusive story by one of its undercover reporters with the front page devoted to pictures of Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall under the banner headline: ‘Vice girls shame of top soccer bosses.’

 

“Apparently, attempts had been made to serve a High Court injunction preventing publication, but they had failed.

 

“Since there were serious implications for the PLC and the club, I asked Freddie to contact the chairman and the other independent non-executive directors to arrange a conference call on the Sunday, by which time I would have read the report. Unfortunately they could not be contacted. We could delay, but not for long.

 

“Messrs Hall and Shepherd’s conduct was inappropriate to say the least, and had undeniably tarnished the image and reputation of the PLC and the club nationally.

 

“Predictably it was the mindlessly juvenile insults lavished on the fans, particularly those buying overpriced drinks and replica shirts (‘all mugs’), the women of Newcastle (‘all dogs’), and Alan Shearer (‘Mary Poppins’) which attracted most attention and caused both hurt and anger.

 

“I met with Shepherd’s lawyer in London on March 16 and then again, this time accompanied by Freddie Fletcher and Freddy Shepherd, early on March 17, advising Freddy Shepherd there was no alternative to his and Douglas Hall’s immediate resignation from all offices at the club.”

 

Cassidy recommended to the board what action must be taken, but admits: “I was seriously unpopular with all my colleagues for a variety of reasons.

 

“Sir Terry Harrison, the chairman, said ‘you had no right to act in such a way – you are not the chairman.’

 

“Freddy, the culprit, exploded: ‘Don’t ******* moralise at me.’ Sir John Hall stated: ‘You cannot force people who own the club to resign.’

 

“However, I argued there had to be an unequivocal response from the board if we were to start the process of healing wounds and rebuilding the club’s battered reputation. Dithering now would only exacerbate the problems.

 

“Eventually, after further delays and demands from the Halls and Shepherds, these arguments won the day.”

 

The fall-out was not over, however. There were to be further unforced resignations.

 

“I was boarding a Eurostar train to Paris early on the Friday morning after our Cup final disappointment when Terry Harrison phoned to advise me he and another non-executive director John Mayo were resigning,” said Cassidy.

 

“There was no going back. A press statement was being issued as we spoke.

 

“It was now a board in name only.”

 

His position untenable as acting chairman with no other independent directors to provide balance, the impasse was resolved in July of that summer.

 

John Josephs, a local businessman, professional accountant and lifelong fan, was appointed, along with two more ‘independent directors’ who were actually both nominees of the Hall and Shepherd camps. Cassidy was made up from acting chairman to chairman.

 

The second explosion, and the return of Freddy and Douglas, came with Christmas rapidly approaching.

 

After the up-and-coming AGM was rescheduled, Cassidy was again confronted at the subsequent board meeting straight afterwards.

 

Denis writes: “I was unprepared for the demand from chief executive Freddie Fletcher for a vote to appoint Messrs Hall and Shepherd to the board after I had rejected a proposal that we should consider such a move.

 

“I reasoned that this was contrary to our publicly announced undertakings, and said that in my view it was neither in the best interests of the club nor the minority shareholders and as such was a breach of our fiduciary responsibilities. The company’s financial advisers also urged him to drop the proposal.

 

“I reminded him that I had only accepted the role on the written and published confirmation that neither Freddy Shepherd nor Douglas Hall would make any attempt to rejoin the PLC board and that the board had been unanimous in its support of me.

 

“John Josephs said that he was in a similar position, having stated in writing that he would only accept the invitation if this was the case and that I was chairman. Tom Fenton, although a nominee of Shepherd Offshore, said he was in an identical position to John Josephs.

 

“The financial adviser present, Martin Purvis, a Geordie and a fan, said his company would also have to resign in these circumstances and advised strongly against the proposed vote.

 

“Despite this, I was obliged to conduct the vote and duly lost by four votes to three. I thanked the board and left with John and Tom to draft an announcement that was issued the following morning.

 

“The resumption of power was immediate and total and, as I left the boardroom with my two fellow directors, I was passed in the corridor by Douglas and Freddy going in, with the latter saying smilingly to me as we passed: ‘We all have to lose sometime, man.’

 

“Newcastle United was now a PLC in name only, and the ruling junta were back in absolute control of the board.”

 

A momentous development in United’s chequered history but, I asked Denis Cassidy, had he in his book not undergone a character assassination destroying reputations carefully defended to establish their place in United history?

 

I know some insiders have even privately suggested a likeness to the Peter Mandelson dismantling of Tony Blair in his diaries.

 

“It was never my intention to launch a character assassination of anyone,” maintained Denis. “Mine is a chairman’s view of business, a no-holds-barred account of what happened and why things have consistently gone wrong at Newcastle United.

 

“I offer informed criticism, not just as an insider but as a Geordie and a fan who gets terribly wounded by things. My concern has, and always will be, the club ahead of any individuals.

 

“The Hall and Shepherd families never accepted upon the club becoming a plc that they were no longer owners but major shareholders. They never had a strategy.

 

“Of course I hated losing my job with United, but I had to stand up and say: ‘This is wrong.’”

 

Despite Freddie Fletcher’s demand for the victorious vote to reinstate the so-called disgraced two, Cassidy does not tarnish him with the same scathing brush. In fact he refers to FF as “a friend who was the commercial driver of the club.”

 

Denis, who lives in London but still supports his home- town club, is holding a series of book signings in the city this Saturday before the visit of Blackpool to St James’s Park.

 

I know of a few people I would guarantee won’t be in the line of supporters waiting to have a copy of the book signed, but then Denis Cassidy must realise that too, despite saying it was not his intention to offend.

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-u...72703-27218465/

[Ugly Mackems 133]

With regards to Robsons departure, I think it was the right thing to do. The way it was done was wrong in both its timing and manner. What happened after made it seem a total and utter disaster. Graeme Souness (Charged with reintroducing the discipline that had undermined SBR) destroyed the Club.

[Tom 14002]

I hate the way other fans talk about our relationship with Robson, how we are the only team to ever sack him (sic) and how the fans hounded him out.

 

And then of course the subsequent faux grief from mackems saying we have no right to appreciate his values etc etc when they sang songs about him pissing himself after he had already suffered cancer 4 times.

[shackbleep 0]

“The Hall and Shepherd families never accepted upon the club becoming a plc that they were no longer owners but major shareholders. They never had a strategy.

 

Enough said.

[JawD 99]

I wonder where this thread will end up going

[Guest]

I wonder where this thread will end up going

 

 

It's a little bit sad that discussing these things is taboo because of one member

[Monkeys Fist 41340]

I wonder where this thread will end up going

 

 

It's a little bit sad that discussing these things is taboo because of two members

Fixed

[Guest]

I wonder where this thread will end up going

 

 

It's a little bit sad that discussing these things is taboo because of two members

Fixed

 

 

It'd been going on for a while before I was a member, from what I gather.

[TicTacWoe 0]

I never for one minute believed it was the right time for Bobby to go, it was a ludicrous decision, the only reason to have sacked him was if we could have hired Wenger or some mad hypothetical bollocks like that, we got rid of one of history's greatest managers and replaced him with one of the worst, all done in a horrible manner as well. Top managers don't just grow on trees and even if we hadnt gone for Souness would likely have replaced him with someone inferior.

[Guest]

I never for one minute believed it was the right time for Bobby to go, it was a ludicrous decision, the only reason to have sacked him was if we could have hired Wenger or some mad hypothetical bollocks like that, we got rid of one of history's greatest managers and replaced him with one of the worst, all done in a horrible manner as well. Top managers don't just grow on trees and even if we hadnt gone for Souness would likely have replaced him with someone inferior.

 

 

 

Sacking him because fifth wasn't good enough and replacing him with somebody from the bottom half of the table is just madness

[JawD 99]

I never for one minute believed it was the right time for Bobby to go, it was a ludicrous decision, the only reason to have sacked him was if we could have hired Wenger or some mad hypothetical bollocks like that, we got rid of one of history's greatest managers and replaced him with one of the worst, all done in a horrible manner as well. Top managers don't just grow on trees and even if we hadnt gone for Souness would likely have replaced him with someone inferior.

 

 

 

Sacking him because fifth wasn't good enough and replacing him with somebody from the bottom half of the table is just madness

 

Not just bottom half of the table, Blackburn were on the brink of relegation and getting rid probably saved them. For us it was akin to using a mishapen sledgehammer full belt to panel beat a small dent in your still under warranty Merc.

[shackbleep 0]

Appointing Souness was only a 'small' mistake in the years that board were running the club though you do understand?

[Ugly Mackems 133]

I never for one minute believed it was the right time for Bobby to go, it was a ludicrous decision, the only reason to have sacked him was if we could have hired Wenger or some mad hypothetical bollocks like that, we got rid of one of history's greatest managers and replaced him with one of the worst, all done in a horrible manner as well. Top managers don't just grow on trees and even if we hadnt gone for Souness would likely have replaced him with someone inferior.

 

 

 

Sacking him because fifth wasn't good enough and replacing him with somebody from the bottom half of the table is just madness

 

Not just bottom half of the table, Blackburn were on the brink of relegation and getting rid probably saved them. For us it was akin to using a mishapen sledgehammer full belt to panel beat a small dent in your still under warranty Merc.

Accounts later showed NUFC (Shepherd!!!!!) actually paid Blackburn COMPENSATION of £2m if my memory serves me right. I'd like to see Mr Shepherds love child defend that one.

[shackbleep 0]

...and before the inevitable comments of "Shepherd didn't make decisions alone" surface, let's not forget this little gem - particularly the bit in bold:

 

“The Hall-Shepherd partnership – because nobody else made significant decisions – had managed to disenchant the inspirational Kevin Keegan and dismiss Sir Bobby Robson, the most experienced and internationally successful English manager to date.

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

With regards to Robsons departure, I think it was the right thing to do. The way it was done was wrong in both its timing and manner. What happened after made it seem a total and utter disaster. Graeme Souness (Charged with reintroducing the discipline that had undermined SBR) destroyed the Club.

They were my feelings at the time. I thought Bobby was getting too old and losing his grip on the reigns. In hindsight, it's all been downhill from there and you should be careful what you wish for

[TicTacWoe 0]

If I'm not mistaken didn't Bobby recommend Mourinho as his own replacement and all...or was that something I imagined?

[Papa Lazaru 0]

With regards to Robsons departure, I think it was the right thing to do. The way it was done was wrong in both its timing and manner. What happened after made it seem a total and utter disaster. Graeme Souness (Charged with reintroducing the discipline that had undermined SBR) destroyed the Club.

They were my feelings at the time. I thought Bobby was getting too old and losing his grip on the reigns. In hindsight, it's all been downhill from there and you should be careful what you wish for

 

Whatever percentage of toon fans it was who thought Sir Bobby's time was up they didn't want it done in anything like the shitty way Fat Fred did it, nor did any of us want it done at that time, with no idea what to do next and follow him with Souness.

 

The fans as we came to the end of that season thought in the close season, either let Bobby move upstairs to work with another manager, or just have a ambassador role with the club or a scouting one, anything he wanted really, or let him say he'd had enough and leave with dignity, that's what we all wanted. Then we'd have had time to get a proven boss and give them time to bring in their players and have a pre-season with them, and take it from there.

 

Howevere Fat Fred deceided to start the season with Sir Bobby who he said you never sack, then sack him afte a handful of games, leave us fucked and bring in Souness to wreck the club. That is not what any of the fans who'd had wanted to let Bobby go would have done, only one idot thought it was the way to go.

Edited September 12, 2010 by Papa Lazaru

[Papa Lazaru 0]

If I'm not mistaken didn't Bobby recommend Mourinho as his own replacement and all...or was that something I imagined?

 

Yeah i rember that, the plan was Bobby with Jose as his no. 2 then when Bobby retires, Jose take sover as the main man, sadly for us, Mourinho said he wouldn't take it because he knew Bobby and he knew he woul'd never retire! That's the kind of shitty luck we have here, we could have had Mourinho if he'd just believed Bobby would eventually hand over the reigns to him!

[Lazarus 0]

having mourinho here would have been no guarantee of success and would have been a huge gamble.

 

even if he had come and brought success freddy and his cronies would have fucked that up too.

[Christmas Tree 4449]

With regards to Robsons departure, I think it was the right thing to do. The way it was done was wrong in both its timing and manner. What happened after made it seem a total and utter disaster. Graeme Souness (Charged with reintroducing the discipline that had undermined SBR) destroyed the Club.

They were my feelings at the time. I thought Bobby was getting too old and losing his grip on the reigns. In hindsight, it's all been downhill from there and you should be careful what you wish for

 

Whatever percentage of toon fans it was who thought Sir Bobby's time was up they didn't want it done in anything like the shitty way Fat Fred did it, nor did any of us want it done at that time, with no idea what to do next and follow him with Souness.

 

The fans as we came to the end of that season thought in the close season, either let Bobby move upstairs to work with another manager, or just have a ambassador role with the club or a scouting one, anything he wanted really, or let him say he'd had enough and leave with dignity, that's what we all wanted. Then we'd have had time to get a proven boss and give them time to bring in their players and have a pre-season with them, and take it from there.

 

Howevere Fat Fred deceided to start the season with Sir Bobby who he said you never sack, then sack him afte a handful of games, leave us fucked and bring in Souness to wreck the club. That is not what any of the fans who'd had wanted to let Bobby go would have done, only one idot thought it was the way to go.

 

 

Absolutely spot on

[shackbleep 0]

If I'm not mistaken didn't Bobby recommend Mourinho as his own replacement and all...or was that something I imagined?

 

Yeah i rember that, the plan was Bobby with Jose as his no. 2 then when Bobby retires, Jose take sover as the main man, sadly for us, Mourinho said he wouldn't take it because he knew Bobby and he knew he woul'd never retire! That's the kind of shitty luck we have here, we could have had Mourinho if he'd just believed Bobby would eventually hand over the reigns to him!

 

Didn't Mourinho turn it down purely on the grounds that he was offered the manager's job at Benfica? Actually IIRC it was Bobby himself who said Mourinho should persue his own management career rather than carry on being a no.2.

 

EDIT: Just read this snippet:

 

Only weeks after being given the job at Benfica, Mourinho's mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, offered him the assistant manager's role at Newcastle United. Such was Robson's desperation for Mourinho to join him he offered to step down after two years in charge and hand over the reins to Mourinho. Mourinho turned the offer down and said he knew Robson would never step down at the club he loved

[TheMoog 0]

In my eyes we should never have sacked Bobby, simple as that. Finishing 5th isn't good enough for this club? We should have been building on Bobby's legacy then moving him upstairs, Fat Fred was a prick beyond belief imo.

[NJS 4258]

I never had a problem with replacing Robson - but the timing and the lack of any in-place replacement was criminal. Trawling through the usual Allardyce/Bruce/other inferior fucker shortlist was beyond stupid.

[S-I-S-S-O-K-O 0]

Just finished this book. Canny little read.

 

He makes it quite plain throughout, his contempt for the Halls and Shepherds. In particular their lack of a business plan and their use of NUFC as a 'cash cow'. He details at the end of the book how much each family made out of the Toon. Huge figures.

 

He tells a tale of how he put a detailed business plan to Freddy Shepherd, who dismissed it out of hand and instead carried on with his own knee-jerk philosophy of running the Toon.

 

Cassidy does have some interesting ideas on the game and in particular his theory about the number of goals a team scores which determines it's finishing position. Also interesting is his research into 'successful' football clubs and that NUFC are one of only a dozen clubs who will ever have a chance of consistently being a 'top 6' club.

[Wavey Davey 0]

Thias should have Leazes aal ower this thread.

 

Where is he?