It's the biggest power struggle at Newcastle since Dennis Wise told Kevin Keegan to "look on You-Tube" for the players he had just signed!
Joe Kinnear joined the club last month as director of football, or so he told us, but Pardew insists Joe's position at the club is to replace Derek Llambias ... nothing more!
The controversial appointment angered fans, who have questioned the logic of the move.
Pardew has certainly 'lost the plot' and he could do with a guiding hand (or kicked out the door), but nobody believes Kinnear is the man to do it.
Kinnear’s arrival led to bookmakers cutting their odds on Pardew becoming the next Premier League manager to leave his post.
However, Pardew – who signed a new eight-year contract last year – is adamant that he won’t go until Ashley pays up his eight-year contract to the tally of £10.5m.
Today he has clarified the separation of powers between him and Kinnear with his players.
Pardew The Doormat: “They (the players) have read things in the Press.
"They weren’t sure what the deal was, but I’ve made it very clear to them I’m here to look after them as manager.
“I must make sure we function to the best of our ability.
“Joe is in a position where he can influence things on transfers.
"He will take over from Derek Llambias.
“After games and doing my normal Press conferences will continue – that’s my job.
“I’m not exactly sure on what Joe’s media profile will be.
“What I am focused on this year, and what I have tried to do over the summer, is detach myself from the negative Press we’ve had from Joe’s appointment, and instead I’ve focused on taking the team forward.
“It isn’t too dissimilar to what we had with Derek.
“Joe isn’t running the club in the same way Derek was, but in terms of the transfers, myself and (chief scout) Graham Carr will get together.
“We come up with four or five possibilities for each position.
“Then we have to nail down what is going to work for the team.
“Graham’s job is to find names. My job is to say ‘I would favour him’, for example, and say ‘Player A’.
"Then Joe’s job is to see if the finance is going to work and ultimately Player A may be out of our reach.
“Then we have to go to Player B or Player C. That’s really where the important part of Joe’s role comes in.
“He has to persuade Mike that B is a better proposition than C. I’m hoping Joe works well for us.”