Don't think by any stretch of the imagination that he is hated by 100% of the supporters, and you only have to check out our message board to see he is backed by many.
The fact is, Ashley will NEVER fill United's coffers with his OWN money (£3billion) like the owners of Manchester City or Chelsea.
And although his 'wage cap' keeps the bank manager at bay, it doesn't allow us to bring in the genuine stars we used to attract.
There was a time, back in 1996, we broke the World Record Transfer Fee when we brought in Alan Shearer. Will it ever happen again?
Not in my life-time. And certainly NOT under Ashley.
We can only afford the players showing promise, and when they fulfil that promise ... they want to leave.
The list is endless: Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique, are the obvious Judas figures in recent years, but there are several boiling over at the minute ... look no further than Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa and Fabricio Coloccini.
The Champions League is the big carrot, and that in itself, brings big bucks.
Ashley's cap is set at £60,000 per week, with Newcastle's first team squad allegedly on £38,000 as an average.
It varies on the player. Look at last season, Danny Simpson was on £15,000; Mike Williamson £40,000 and Coloccini on £60,000.
But the big boys leave us standing:-
Manchester City pay their players more than any other team in the world, according to a new report on global sports salaries.The average weekly pay at the Etihad Stadium is a staggering £100,764 - which translates to an annual salary of £5,239,750.
City jump to top spot from third place last year, replacing Barcelona who are now fourth. The LA Dodgers basketball team are second on the list, with their players averaging £93,380 per week, £4,855,783 annually.Manchester United are in 12th place on the list, with average weekly wages of £75,423 (annual £3, 921,423). Last year they were 11th.
Source: Newcastle United Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
