Would THIS go a long way in bringing a SMILE to all Newcastle supporters?

Football FanCast guest columnist Jamie Pryce wonders if the removal of Dennis Wise will
go a long way in building bridges between Ashley and the Newcastle supporters.

The Director of Football is one
of the most maligned roles in the England and the general consensus is that it
has no part to play in the modern game.

Quite why football clubs feel the
need to employ one and adopt these foreign practices is a total mystery, bearing
in mind that the top 6 teams in the Premier League don't have one. They are a
pest quite frankly, power crazy and look to interfere in team matters, much to
the annoyance of the club managers. There isn't a manager who has left such a
set-up who hasn't had some sort of parting shot at the structure and the man
that was in the role.

If there is nothing worse than a
Director of Football interfering, then what about those who don't do anything
and still get paid for the privilege? You would have thought that deadline day
would have seen the likes of Dennis Wise scrambling on the telephones making
the calls to bring in the players he so desperately need, but when has he
actually contributed anything positive to the club apart from seeming causing
disarray and subsequently driving a wedge between Mike Ashley and the Newcastle
supporters.

Mike Ashley has been doing his
level best to make himself more available to the football club, even to go as
far as promising to be a more hands on chairman going forward. That suggestion
seems to mean that the Newcastle owner is having a clear rethink about the
structure of the football club and suggesting that Wise may well be relieved of
his duties in the coming days. That will certainly be music to the ears of
Newcastle supporters who see the former Leeds manager as public enemy No.1.

"I'd be delighted if Mike Ashley cut Dennis Wise adrift and I'm sure
all Newcastle fans would be delighted as well," Frank Gilmour, chairman of
the Independent Newcastle United Supporters' Association, said.

"He is a problem. He's the reason Kevin Keegan left. Ashley stuck by
Dennis Wise and lost Kevin Keegan and I can guarantee that we wouldn't be in
the situation we are now and fighting relegation had Keegan not left. Sticking
by Dennis Wise is the main reason why Newcastle fans are against Ashley but
this would show a different side to him.

"Some of the players have come here because of Dennis Wise but the
quality is just not there and he's also one of the reasons why there is nobody
coming here." (Daily Telegraph)

So would Wise' likely removal from his duties see Newcastle
fans give Mike Ashley a chance to make up for his past mistakes or has too much
water passed under the bridge?