The new Toon boss was thrown to the wolves (alone) ... just as he was on the day he arrived ... to face the media and try explain why his star striker had legged it to Scouseland.
Ashley: "Go on son, tell the press what they want to hear. Me and Derek (Llambias) are just poppin down the casino for a flutter.
"Here's a bag of crisps and bottle of pop to keep yer gannin."
Alan Pardew: “What can I say? We didn’t force anybody to leave.
“He had a contract here for five years, and at some point it would get renewed, but for him to sign in October and it get renewed in January – where would it stop?
“Personally, I’m disappointed. He’s a lovely lad, and I really like him, but it was his decision, and you can’t change that.
“Was this about football? That’s what you have to ask. I don’t think it was.
“We turned down a big offer, and they came back with a second big offer.
“We were having a discussion about what we were going to do with that offer when Andy requested to see me.
“I went to see Andy, and face to face we had a conversation about him wanting a new contract, even though he signed on in October, and (he said) if he didn’t get that contract, he wanted go.
“I asked him what he wanted, and I went to the board. We had a discussion about what the ramifications would be for the whole club.
“We took the view, with him signing a contract in October, that this would cause us all sorts of problems.
“We decided that we needed the conversation confirmed, and he put in a transfer request, which he did.
“He spoke to his agent, and between them they put the request in. We decided with the size of the offer, and what it meant to us, that we would accept.
“We weren’t expecting him to go, so we weren’t in a position to replace him.
“One thing I can guarantee, having spoke to Mike Ashley, is that every penny will go back into the club. Mike’s assured me he won’t take a penny out of the transfer.
“We never put him up for sale – we fended off a bid from another Premiership club.
“But no club’s about one player. We’re absolutely gutted that he’s gone. It’s disappointing, but we’re not in a financial position like Liverpool.”