The financial trauma of changing managers is five million, and we all know the Toon owner would rather have his knackers cut off rather than hand out dosh.
But if we DO go down ... Mr Ashley could be HANGING by his knackers come the end of the campaign!
"Can I have my five million please, Mike?"
He told Pardew finishing 10th was the goal, but if Newcastle would finish fourth from bottom, he would take that.
It’s not about any love for NUFC or the fans ... it's a numbers game with Ashley.
Was Stoke merely a temporary reprieve for Pardew?
After all, outside a pub in Soho, Ashley said "I've had enough, lose to Stoke and he's out!".
That didn't happen.
But his team – and you suspect Pardew knows this – simply aren’t good enough. This is a team without invention, identity, energy or endeavour, and for that he is the cause.
He cannot speak out against the club’s transfer policy and those above him because that WOULD be a sackable offence.
And Pardew's love of money is just as greedy as Ashley's,
Instead, he has offered a whole host of reasons as to the team’s shortcomings in recent seasons – hence the now familiar chant, ‘Alan Pardew, it’s never your fault’.
But - because of that greed - Pardew will attempt to paddle through it.
Two men who LIVE for money!