Chris Waddle doesn't think Mike Ashley is serious about selling the club:-
‘Benitez’s future is another reason this is a pivotal time for Newcastle.
He is entering the final six months of his contract and there is obviously a risk he will decide to walk away when it ends next summer.
Rafa told BBC Radio 5 live this week that he wants to stay, and he clearly wants to move the club forward. Like many people, he believes Newcastle should be a top-six club.
But he is a manager with a proven success record so he is going to get offered some tasty jobs elsewhere in the next few months and you could not blame him if he were tempted to take one of them.
Why would he stay? Well, Benitez has got a great affinity with the supporters and he is probably looking at the situation in the same way many of the fans are – and thinking if a new owner comes in, and is willing to spend some money, then things could really take off at Newcastle.
This is a club that is up for sale and that has so much potential – we are talking about a team in a one-club city, with a top manager, great support with crowds of 53,000 at every home game, a fantastic stadium and a top-class training ground.
What else do you need to kick on? Everything is in place, which is why I am so surprised no-one has bought it yet.
If there is a serious buyer out there, why can’t Ashley just sell? It does not seem to have been a problem for all the other clubs we have seen change hands in the past few years, but for some reason at Newcastle it does not seem it is easy to get a deal done.
If Ashley wants to sell, then he should do it and move on. Leave and let the new owners do what they want to do to try to make this club great again, or at least make some progress.
That is all the fans want, because their club has been stood still now for too many years.
Something needs to happen, otherwise, we will just be talking about this again in a few months.
And, if Newcastle do end up being relegated for the third time since Ashley bought them in 2007, what a travesty that would be.'