Not only the fans, but Chris Hughton knew too, and admitted it on SKY Sports the following day saying "it will go on running costs of the club".
So WHY did Hughton take the job, when he knows he will forever be seen as 'Ashley's Puppet'? The man who does what he's told and hasn't got the balls to go to the big bad boss man and hold out his begging bucket and say "MORE PLEASE"!
Hughton has done a half-decent job with what he has, but let's be honest ... Newcastle United have BY FAR the best squad of players in the Championship by a million miles.
And none of those players, apart from the current crop of loan players, came here because of Chris Hughton.
He does NOT impress the majority of the fans simply because he does what he's told, keeps his gob shut on matters that are crippling the club, and (if the truth was known) probably picks players he is told to pick.
He took the job because ... "what have I got to lose?"
Chris Hughton: “The money that has been put into the club is money that had to be put into it anyway.
"I have not been told any figures, but what I have been told is that I will be supported in their endeavours to get things right on the pitch.
“Of course around that will be the January window and outside that will of course be loan signings that every club in this division will endeavour to bring in.
“What you have is a club that wants to get back in to the Premier League and the best opportunity to get back into Premier League is the first opportunity and the club is aware of that.
"The most important thing for me is that I have been given assurances that I will be backed in the windows.
“This is a big club that wants to be in the Premier League. What we have had to do is take a massive step backwards.
“We are not in the Premier League any more so it is almost like building again, and what we have to do is take the appropriate steps as they come along.”