''He's got one more game. If we lose against Stoke on Monday night then he's gone. I have had enough. Dead. Finished. Over. One more game, then that's it. What would you do? I have spent a lot of money on that club, it's cost me a lot. I won't put with it any more. Honestly, answer me, what would you do? One more loss and he's gone, he's over, finished.'' - Mike Ashley, September 2014.
One can only surmise from the above interaction with an undercover journalist prior to Newcastle's game at Stoke City in September that either Mike Ashley is a liar or a man with a painfully dull sense of humour. Having brushed off his above claim as a 'joke', the Tyneside outfit put the mogul in an uncomfortable position by slumping to a 1-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium. Alan Pardew was spared an execution. However, one would wonder that had Ashley simply kept his mouth shut, would Pardew still be in his job?