Whether or not he gets the chance to rebuild next season is up to Ashley, but Pardew will head for talks with the owner claiming there is a campaign of hate from the North-East media.
The Championship play-offs are about to begin with the spotlight firmly on Harry Redknapp and Queens Park Rangers.
Redknapp was offered the Newcastle by Ashley before Kevin Keegan's return to St James' Park and was always Ashley's first choice as manager.
Redknapp has Spurs links (who Ashley supports) but he refused the job saying "something is sadly wrong at that club."
Has he changed his mind?
There isn't much Harry Redknapp hasn't seen in his time in football. There have been highs and lows, promotions and relegations, trophies and near-misses, but one thing he has never experienced is the often gut-wrenching horror and nerves of the play-offs.
However, he will have to get used to it pretty quickly, because promotion is an absolute must for Queens Park Rangers.
Given the quality and experience of both their squad and manager, it could be argued that QPR's participation in the play-offs alone is a failure, but should they not prevail at Wembley on May 24, then it unquestionably will be.
Indeed, it is not so much that QPR haven't achieved automatic promotion but from around the beginning of March they were never really in serious contention, Burnley and Leicester pulling away and leaving the expensively-assembled Rs trailing.
There are obvious parallels to West Ham's ultimately successful 2011/12 season, when Sam Allardyce's men were prohibitive favourites to win the division, but finished third and were forced to clamber up via this most uncertain of methods.
Like West Ham then, QPR have a pressing need to win promotion, if only because their wage bill, even trimmed as it was last summer, is simply not sustainable for another season in the Championship.
Parachute payments have seen them through this term, but those will decrease the longer they spend in the second tier, and the club will have to rationalise their spending accordingly.
Redknapp has preached from the off that winning promotion is not as simple as merely throwing money at the problem.
But if QPR fail he will be out on his arse ... and rumours in London suggest he could be heading to Newcastle!