The price of being a Newcastle fan can be a costly one: managers and owners call us unrealistic idiots, the media insist we're unfair and deluded and even fellow fans sneer at the idea that we might consider our club somehow "big". But the worst of it is what we do to ourselves, particularly when it comes to hope. As the old cliche goes, it's the hope that kills you, and even the most apathetic of Newcastle fans tend to suggest that they will renew their tickets the minute Ashley leaves, with the implies hope that everything will once more be better. So it's not surprising that fans have jumped on a brief video of Mike Ashley's reaction to the Stoke defeat as indication that everything is about to change. According to some eternal optimists - and in the absence of any qualified lip readers, the moment that the Sky Sports cameras caught has already "definitively" been assessed by a number of fans and the general consensus seems to be that he said something along the lines of "he's gone, get him out". Judge for yourself... https://vine.co/v/OZlDxq50mFE Anyone claiming that Ashley is definitely saying anything is grasping at straws, but reading the owner's body language will inevitably also be enough to convince some that Pardew is headed for a stern meeting if not actual dismissal. And even if he did say what he said, the very recent history of the club should have proved for everyone that it doesn't really matter what Mike Ashley says - it's what he means that actually matters. What do you think Ashley said? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
