Ashley's ownership of the club was initially popular with fans, despite press scorn for his unconventional approach, by installing Chris Mort as chairman to run the club, while Ashley acted as one of the fans, drinking in local bars and clubs, and watched the team from the stands with the supporters wearing the team shirt. This caused fierce local rivals Sunderland to publicly refuse to give Ashley permission to wear it in the Stadium of Light corporate box for the Tyne–Wear derby on 10 November. Instead of opting for a different attire, Ashley chose to take his usual place among the travelling fans for the game. An apparent anomaly with the fans was the choosing 'Smith 17' as the number of his shirt, after a squad player Alan Smith he admired and 17 being a lucky number for him. Ashley's popularity increased further with the return of Kevin Keegan as manager on 16 January 2008, to replace the previous regime's relatively unpopular choice Sam Allardyce.