As Newcastle United head into the final day of the Premier League season fighting for survival, former player and manager Kevin Keegan has hit out at club chairman Mike Ashley.
Newcastle need a win at home to West Ham to ensure they avoid dropping into the Championship for the second time in seven seasons, and Ashley has long been a target of criticism from the St James' Park faithful.
The fans have become frustrated with Ashley's policy of selling players without spending the money on strengthening the squad, and Keegan, who was sacked by Ashley in his second spell as manager in 2008, expressed his own displeasure at the situation.
"It's not a difficult thing to work out unless you're from another planet," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I think Mike Ashley runs that club from another planet.
"It is almost as if Mike Ashley has said, 'What is the worst thing I can do? Change St James' Park and call it 'Sports Direct', and so he tried to do it. Incredible."
Fans have staged protests at the way the club is being run and although Keegan feels they are not the solution, he is hopeful Ashley will sell the club in the near future.
He added: "I don't think boycotts are the answer. You get through this season, hopefully stay up, and then hopefully someone with a lot of money and who cares about Newcastle United Football Club, who wants a very special club, comes along and says 'that's for me'.
"It's not just me who would urge him to go. It's everyone connected with the football club and even some of the people employed there... It's time for a change."
‘If I was Bournemouth, I’d be thinking if they can get past Manchester City, there’s no-one to stop them winning the FA Cup for the first time ever’ Former England star believes the Cherries have the ability to make history
‘I wasn’t concerned I’d done anything wrong – I stated a fact. It was taken out of proportion and people have recognised that they misread the situation a bit’ Gary Lineker gives FourFourTwo his thoughts on BBC suspension for asylum seeker tweet
