Obviously we have to look to the Newcastle owner for keeping us above water, but let's not fool ourselves ... it only takes a strop from Mr Ashley and we could be in an even WORSE position than the Glasgow club.
No matter what happens, we are told Rangers will live on. here is no chance of them going to the wall.
But Ashley - and Ashley alone - is keeping Newcastle United Football Club solvent.
He tried to sell the club for £100m, certainly undervalued at the time, and there were no takers.
And all it takes is one word from the billionaire and we could fold.
THAT, my friends, is the harsh reality of it all.
Could Ashley afford to disband the club? Of course he could. The man has enough money to last a thousand life-times!
He has broken up the famous "Toon Players' Clique", selling (or giving away) the lot of them - Carroll; Nolan; Smith; Barton; Enrique; ect ... and Pardew had to sit by and watch it happen.
Ashley insists that "no player comes to Newcastle aged over 30 with no re-sale value" ... and that is the rule Pardew has to work under.
Common sense, I'm sure, but it will never put us on a level playing field with the big clubs. Tottenham bought Scott Parker in the summer, while Ashley told Pardew: "Don't even THINK about it!"
Pardew HAS to arse-lick ... and that's why he is still in a job.
Alan Pardew (talking to the Daily Mirror): "The strategy Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias have followed has put the club in a position of relative financial strength.
"Compared to a lot of other football clubs we are in a good place.
"You have to worry after what has happened last week that a couple of other clubs could be in trouble this summer - but we are not in that position.
"That is down to Mike and Derek. That policy of buying younger players and being very tough with contracts and shifting the power a little bit from players back to the club has proved so far to be successful.
"There are a couple of other models that have been similar.
"Spurs have gone down that line and bought young players but are now in a position where they can actually buy experienced players.
"I think, hopefully, that is now the next phase for us. Where we are right now -we are pretty healthy.
"One of the big things that has helped me is that the agenda is out in public.
"That is important that Mike and Derek come out and say: 'this is the financial climate - this is how we work'. So that makes it a little bit easier for me.
"But we will still have problems down the line. Losing some of our best players to the best clubs is still going to happen because we are still not in a position to stop that.
"But we won't be able to protect our best players until we get more revenue and bigger sponsorship in.
"The higher up the table we finish the easier it will be to attract not only new sponsors but also top players.
"We are now getting sound-bytes from agents that they would like to get their players here. It is a good sign."
But on Match Of The Day 2 on Sunday evening, Pardew said he was struggling to get Ashley to relax his system of transfers.
The former West Ham boss said: "You look at Manchester United at Norwich, who scored the goals? Scholes and Giggs who are nearing the end of their careers.
"I'm not in a position to bring in older players, as you well know. I'd love to have a word with the chairman about that."