Our hearts skipped a beat when it was reported that former Newcastle United chairman Lee Charnley had been spotted in the crowd at St James' Park on Tuesday night as the Magpies defeated AFC Wimbledon 1-0 in the Carabao Cup.
Saying that Lee Charnley was an unpopular figure on Tyneside would be putting it mildly so to see him in the stands a few days after current CEO Darren Eales announced he'd be stepping down sent shivers down our collective spines in the office.
Darren Eales announced last week that he'd be stepping down from his post following a cancer diagnosis, but the former Atlanta United chief is staying on to oversee the new appointment and transition.
While it's not impossible, The Chronicle has been quick to point out that Charnley is gainfully employed and was likely just there to take in the game rather than meet with the board.
Lee Charnley was the CEO under the Mike Ashley regime and was famous for ... nothing. He did absolutely nothing. And we don't mean that he did nothing wrong, he just seemed to do actually nothing.
If we thought the summer transfer window was bad, that would have been seen as a rager of a transfer window in the Charnley days.
The idea of him returning to the club in any kind of official capacity is terrifying. Thankfully, Charnley has moved on and now works for a football agency which looks after Eddie Howe and a few Newcastle players.
This does bring up the big question: Who will succeed Darren Eales at the club? We thought we'd hit the jackpot with Eales given how he created Atlanta United out of nothing and turned it into a huge MLS club with a stunning stadium and dedicated fanbase.
It's probably too early to really give a fair score to the Darren Eales era and we'll now never know what he could have done for us.
Can we not just get Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi back? They did alright didn't they? You know, apart from leading us into a PSR nightmare.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
7 | 11 | 18 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
7 | 9 | 17 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
7 | 9 | 17 |
4 |
Chelsea
|
7 | 8 | 14 |
5 |
Aston Villa
|
7 | 3 | 14 |
6 |
Brighton
|
7 | 3 | 12 |
7 |
Newcastle United
|
7 | 1 | 12 |
8 |
Fulham
|
7 | 2 | 11 |
9 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
7 | 6 | 10 |
10 |
Nottingham Forest
|
7 | 1 | 10 |
11 |
Brentford
|
7 | 0 | 10 |
12 |
West Ham United
|
7 | -1 | 8 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
7 | -2 | 8 |
14 |
Manchester United
|
7 | -3 | 8 |
15 |
Leicester
|
7 | -3 | 6 |
16 |
Everton
|
7 | -8 | 5 |
17 |
Ipswich
|
7 | -8 | 4 |
18 |
Crystal Palace
|
7 | -5 | 3 |
19 |
Southampton
|
7 | -11 | 1 |
20 |
Wolves
|
7 | -12 | 1 |