Newcastle owner Mike Ashley hired Joe Kinnear just to 'p*** off' fans and the club can be as big as Manchester City without him, claims Shay Given

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Shay Given says Mike Ashley appointed Joe Kinnear and made deliberate decisions to ‘p*** off’ Newcastle supporters - but believes the club can be as big as Manchester City with new owners.

The goalkeeper quit the Magpies in 2009 when he joined City - who had been taken over by Sheikh Mansour - and he has revealed it was Ashley’s ownership which forced him out after 12 years on Tyneside.

’The ambition of the club when I left was zero, zilch,’ he said. ‘It was a ship just bobbing along with no leadership. The appointment of Joe Kinnear just about summed things up.

Mike Ashley hired Joe Kinnear as manager to 'p*** Newcastle fans off', claims Shay Given

Given says he was forced to leave for Manchester City owing to a lack of ambition on Tyneside

‘When you say it slowly, Joe Kinnear - joke in here - we honestly thought it was a wind-up. He’d been out of the game for so long. This was Newcastle United and they got someone out of the wilderness to come and manage us.

‘It just summed it all up, he was friends with Mike Ashley. It felt like he was thinking, “What can I do next to p*** the fans off?”.' 

Ashley officially put Newcastle up for sale last week, and Given added: 'A club like this, with the backing of a Sheikh Mansour type, could go wherever it wants. 

‘It can be as big as Manchester City. It wouldn’t happen overnight. But they have the right manager, the stadium, everything is in place. 

Kinnear managed Newcastle between 2008-09 and was director of football from 2013-14

Ashley has officially put Newcastle up for sale after years of elaborte protests from fans

‘You could sell that stadium twice over. If there is investment on the pitch then they’ll be queuing around the block to get in.’ 

Given’s exit was acrimonious and the club released a statement saying they had no choice but to sell the popular keeper after he handed in a transfer request. 

The Irishman, though, has said that the club ‘put a gun to my head’ in making him officially request his move.

‘They said I put in a transfer request and put everything down to me. F****** hell, it was nearly 12 years of my life,’ said Given, speaking in Newcastle at the launch of his autobiography.

‘They paid £1.5million for me and sold me for four times that. I just felt the least I deserved was a line saying thanks for your service and all the best for the future, I wasn’t asking for a yacht down the Tyne.

Given says Newcastle 'put a gun to my head' and forced him to hand in a transfer request

‘Even when I went back there was no mention of me at all. I thought they could have treated me better.’ 

Given is also bewildered at Ashley’s treatment of his friend and former team-mate Alan Shearer, whose statue is not inside the grounds of St James’ Park and is instead located on the road outside.

‘You have such a legend there in Alan and if you’re owning the club you’d have him at the helm of it,’ said Given.

‘His statue isn’t even in the ground. You couldn’t make this stuff up. The reception afterwards wasn’t at the stadium either, but I don’t think Alan would have wanted it there, the way he’s been treated.’ 

Given is bewildered at Ashley's decision to place Alan Shearer's statue outside St James' Park

Shay: Any Given Saturday - The Autobiography, Trinity Mirror Sport Media, hardback and ebook on sale now.