The Life & Times of William Frederick Shepherd
Posted by Roland Deschain in Freddy Shepherd, Glenn Roeder, Newcastle | 2 November 2006
December 1996 – Fat Fred is appointed chairman to the new look board. Sir John’s presidential role begins as his health means he cannot continue in his role as the saviour of Newcastle United. Sir John, alongside the much maligned Freddy Fletcher, had less than 5 years at the helm – and those 5 years set what turned out to be unsustainable levels of achievement, something none of us could envisage from a new chairman with Newcastle running through his veins (albeit alongside gravy and £ signs…..).
January 1997 – Kevin Keegan resigns as manager of Newcastle. Having recently mauled Tottenham Hotspur 7-1, Keegan cites (among other reasons) the look on Christian Gross’ (Tottenham Manager) face as a key factor in his decision. No-one thinks to investigate the boards’ recent changes……
January 1997 – Kenny Dalglish appointed. Just the start of Shepherd’s reign……
Summer 1997 – Club finishes a miraculous 2nd, having been likely to finish 5th at the start of play on the last day. Kenny Dalglish is given free reign over the jewels of Tyneside (i.e. our money) to bring in whomever he pleases. In come Tomasson, Andersson, Maric and other “gems”. Shepherd’s handling of transfers is never called into question.
1997-1998 – Kenny takes the club on a spectacular downward spiral, with nice paydays for Rush, Barnes and Pearce. Club limps home and fails to turn up for the Cup Final.
March 1998 – A classic ‘sting operation’ by the News of the World ensured that Shepherd an Hall (the two Newcastle United plc board members) had to resign. The newspaper had videotaped the men on holiday bragging about the amount of profit they made from the sale of replica football shirts which were sold to fans for up to £50 but cost around one tenth of the cost to manufacture. Additionally, Shepherd and Hall allegedly described the club captain, Alan Shearer, as “Mary Poppins”, mocked the ex-club Manager, Kevin Keegan, detailed their sexual exploits and called Newcastle’s women “dogs”. Fans of the club and women all over the North East were outraged at these remarks and since the company was publicly listed on the stock market, the tabloids claims may have started to adversely affect it’s share price. At the following board meeting, three of the company’s other board members threatened to resign unless the two departed. Mr Shepherd and Mr Hall finally did agree to resign provided that Mr Hall’s father, Sir John Hall returned to the Chairmanship.
August 1998 – Ruud Gullit replaces Kenny Dalglish. Shepherd in full effect on this one – ensures Dalglish can’t spend a penny during the window, then sacks him after it’s closed. Coffers closed. Gullit comes with a big Shep smile and the “sexy football” threatens to return. A succession of dismal signings (Dumas, Marcelino, Domi, Ferguson) and another Cup Final no show ensures that there’s only one outcome for Ruud and his (anything but) sexy football.
September 1999 – The new millennium looms and the long term planning of the chairman kicks in – this time with octogenarian Bobby Robson (well, near enough). The return was hailed as a great thing and Sir John’s input into it (from his home in Marbella) is well documented. Suggested as the only thing that Shepherd got right, but more likely the only thing he DIDN’T have his fat little fingers in.
August 30th 2004 - Unfortunately, Robson found himself at odds with the millionaire lifestyles of his players at Newcastle and the politics of the board. A split opened up with the club's owners as Robson was not always kept informed of transfer deals. He was dismissed by SuperFred after a perceived poor start to the season (ironically, much better than his successor's start the following season) and alleged discontent in the dressing room. Robson also stresses that there was an agreement that he would not be sacked. Afterwards, Shepherd said that sacking Robson was “the hardest thing I have ever done in my life”, but then added “I didn’t want to be known as the man who shot Bambi.”……..
The final straw had come when Robson made a negative (off the record) remark about the club's fans that found its way to publication – we were over-expectant fools, give or take. I mean, it’s not like he was RIGHT…….However, it is true to say that he is still held in the highest esteem by the Newcastle fans for what he achieved with the club, and for his honourable behaviour throughout his tenure. He was granted the Freedom of the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 2nd March 2005. Presumably not by Shepherd……
September 2004 – Possibly the darkest possible days in the clubs recent history, I am reluctant to even dwell on this one for fear of not finishing this article. In came Souness. What followed was a complete lesson in how to destroy a club. Out went tactics, morale, planning, in came Boumsong, Tunks, Saunders and 5 year contracts all round – all funded, all sanctioned, by Mr. Shepherd. Oh, and for the record, that’s FOUR sackings all done at the END of the transfer window.
February 2006 – A glorious day. Souness sacked after yet another tactic-free debacle, this time 3-0 at Man City. In steps Glenn Roeder who does little more than sit down and the subsequent buoyancy created by cutting us free of Souness guides us to 7th. Roeder and Shepherd both stating that Glenn can’t get the job and we’d be astounded by the names interested…….
June 2006 – Finished 7th and Glenn is now in the hotseat. The less said about this latest catalogue of lies the better. Instead, I’ll simply fast forward to…..
November 2006 – 4th bottom of the Premiership, with a paper-thin squad, reduced to loaning players from Manchester United and facing yet another “3 games from death” situation. The only shining light from this whole, nausea-inducing situation? The fact that we are talking to someone about buying this club is the best news we have had that involves William Frederick Shepherd in this whole decade of Shepherd-driven problems.
Shepherd courted controversy in a speech at the 2004 Dubai Soccerex international football forum, stating that large and successful clubs should not be concerned about those struggling at the lower end of the industry. Shepherd said “When we have got 52,000 fans at each home game, the last thing we are worried about is clubs in the third division," and added, "There is no sympathy here"…..
Shepherd owns almost all of his Newcastle shares through Shepherd Offshore, which is run by his brother, Bruce. Unlike the Halls, who have been steadily selling off their shares since floatation in 1997, the Shepherds have increased their holding. They now own 28.01% of the club, up from about 22% in April 2005. Since 1997, the Shepherd's have made ₤8,351,298 from Newcastle United, ₤5,489,239 in share dividends and ₤2,862,059 in salaries. In 2005, Shepherd's annual salary from the club was £552,954. FYI we have now posted a loss of £12m under his financial leadership. No doubt a large portion of that is the millions spent on HIS choice of saviour, Mr. Graeme Souness.
May 2005 - Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd insists a host of big-name stars could be arriving at St James' Park this summer. Magpies boss Graeme Souness is keen to completely overhaul his squad after a disappointing season with players like Patrick Kluivert, Craig Bellamy and Laurent Robert tipped to leave the club after the final game of the season against Chelsea. Shepherd is bullish about the anticipated transfer activity, saying: "If I told you who wants to come to Newcastle, you'd be astounded. "Of course they want to come to Newcastle, they all want to come to Newcastle. "Anybody leaving here, unless they go to Chelsea, is going down. "Let's face it, one of the big reasons for Chelsea is the rewards at Chelsea. Fine, I have not got a problem with that and I would probably be the same if I was a player. But where do you go when you leave Newcastle?"
This last year alone, as we stuttered along to losing £12m, this man claimed that “Our aim is to have the new management structure in place before the last ball of the season is kicked.” – Glenn Roeder, of course, was not appointed until weeks after the season had ended, because we had no other options and we’re lobbying chairmen for sympathy as our chosen manager had once had brain surgery……
The prelude to this, of course was that we were all safe - “Rest assured, we are working ceaselessly towards getting our new manager in place, but only when the time is right will we name the man to lead the team in the immediate future. One thing is for certain: we have a long list of candidates of the highest calibre to select from.” – Glenn Roeder at the top of that list, apparently.
The arrivals this Summer have compounded what has been going on for years – even now, as he continues his strategy of trying to pander to the fans to buy himself time, he finds himself out of options. There’s no money for superstars, no manager for guidance, no Shearer to protect him. There’s nowhere left to turn and he’s a man in a corner. But you know what they say about trapping animals in corners – they’ll just fight that bit harder. The man has survival instinct, I would imagine – if only he had an ounce of ability in running a football club, perhaps then we wouldn’t be in this mess. And even if we were, wouldn’t it be nice to think that the owner of the club could and would do something about it. After all, it was only 10 years ago that we had that. Whilst the expectancies that Keegan set on the pitch were impossibly hard to follow, is it really outside the realms of reality to have the same commitment, the same drive, the same common sense in simply running the club? It’s not like it’s short of money, sponsors or, vitally, support……..
Comments
I just want him to go
I do not have the time or skill to put together a website to express my views, however I want him out - he has destroyed the club. Booooo!
This article is spot on. Shepherd has taken us for mugs and has ran a once rich and successful team into the ground.
There is no money, no class, no football being played. In fact I dont think I have seen a worse football team than the current one in the last 15 years.
Shepherd has to go, but roeder has to join him. Its about time we had a decently ran football club
