Shepherd: Betrayed by my friends

Shepherd says he first heard of the deal as he lay in a hospital bed, fighting pneumonia and a collapsed lung.

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"I was lying there with tubes, drains and all sorts sticking out all over when my brother, Bruce, came in and told me that John had arranged to sell his 40 per cent shareholding," said Shepherd in an exclusive interview.

"From where I saw it, the whole thing had been done behind my back.Neither John nor Douglas had been in touch to inform me of their intentions. I was not aware of Ashley's interest in the club. His name had never been mentioned.

"There had been a few people expressing an interest in the club but he was never on my radar.

"I felt disappointed by what had happened, especially remembering our past relationship."

Shepherd, who later sold his own 29 per cent shareholding to Ashley for £38 million, insists that he would have put up a greater fight to retain control of the club had he been fit enough.

"I was too ill to put up a fight," he said. "Had I not been in the state I was, if I hadn't have been in hospital, things might have been different.

"I believe I could have found enough backing to make a counter-bid but it was more or less a fait accompli.

"If I had been fit I might have taken up the challenge but I was lying on my back without the strength to do anything.

"My main priority was to get well again. I was told later that my condition was very serious and potentially fatal. They took four and a half litres of fluid off my lungs and I lost two and a half stone in weight."

Shepherd revealed his disappointment at the circumstances of the club's sale as we spoke in the boardroom at the headquarters of the family business, Shepherd Offshore.

Overlooking the Tyne, it somehow lacked the opulence of the boardroom at St James' Park — a 20-minute drive away — where Shepherd had spent the previous 15 years as vice-chairman and then chairman.

HIS decision to sell his shareholding to Ashley prompted criticism from some in the city but Shepherd said: "I had no other option but to follow suit and sell my shares."

He insists much was achieved in his time at the club. "We have a ground that would cost the thick end of £300m to build today, one of the best training establishments in the country and a brand new academy.

"We also have some top-quality players. There is no doubt we'd have finished a lot higher in the table last season but for what everybody acknowledges was a horrendous run of injuries.You have to accept criticism, although a lot of it was personal. But I just wonder what the supporters wanted from me.

"None of the managers who were at the club while I was chairman could say they didn't get 100 per cent backing in the transfer market.

"Looking back, I probably went too far to try to please the managers and the supporters."

He accepts that the downward trend during the managerial reign of Graeme Souness and his successor, Glenn Roeder, began with the departure of Sir Bobby Robson.

Shepherd says he regrets the circumstances surrounding the sacking of the former England manager.

"Bobby and I remain firm friends. He knows what happened and doesn't hold anything against me," said Shepherd. He also insisted that, contrary to speculation fanned by recent police raids in Newcastle, he had a clear conscience when it came to investigations into Premier League transfer dealings.

Although Shepherd was one of two football personalities questioned in their homes by City of London police investigating corruption in football, he said: "I've co-operated fully with the investigations by Quest and anybody else. I have absolutely nothing to hide.

"Lord Stevens has said all of the clubs are in the clear, so that should be the end of it all as far as I am concerned."

He believes he has left Newcastle in good managerial hands, saying: "At least I feel my last appointment could turn out to be the right one.

"Sam Allardyce will be successful as manager if he receives the kind of backing that I gave the people who were in the job before him. He's exactly the right type for Newcastle — tall in stature; strong willed; an out-and-out football man. That's what the club needs right now."

Shepherd accepts he was on borrowed time at the club once Ashley assumed complete control. But he warned the new owner that Newcastle need daily, hands-on treatment to be successful.

"Once the club was de-listed, my situation was redundant," he said. "Mike Ashley now owns the club lock, stock and barrel and is solely responsible for their future welfare. I wouldn't presume to tell him how to run things but all I will say is that I don't believe it can be done by proxy.

"We may live in an age of communication but I believe Newcastle are a club who need dedicated day-to-day handling.

"The competition for success in the Premier League is fearsome. It doesn't begin to resemble what the situation was like when we first moved into St James' Park. Those who supported the club before then seem to forget the bad old days.

"I supported the club, starting from my days as a kid standing on the terraces at the Gallowgate End before I moved into the boardroom, and I'll still be supporting the club now that I've left it.

"And I'm proud of what has been achieved during my time there. I've made mistakes but show me somebody who hasn't. On the whole, I think I've done a good job.

"I want Newcastle to be successful and I hope Mike Ashley can do what, regrettably, I could not — that is, bring some major silverware into the trophy room."