The date the players return to training is July 4th.
While others like Aston Villa have brought in new faces, Joe Kinnear has ripped up Pardew's wish list and told us he won't bring in new players until he has "assessed" what we have already during the pre-season fixtures.
That will put this club back two months, as the rest of the Premiership will have their new players and move ahead without us.
The whole point of pre-season is to get the players to gell together, but (as usual) Ashley will be scraping about in the bargain bin in late August - IF WE GET ANYONE AT ALL.
Why does Ashley leave it so late to buy?
It makes no sense - players sign yearly contracts so a player who signs a deal in August will still have to be paid up to August two or three years time.
So why not bring them in early - like Pardew suggested?
Let's look at Villa Park, where Paul Lambert says he is excited by the competition for places at Aston Villa after signing a handful of players. Lambert has signed defenders Jores Okore and Antonio Luna, midfielders Aleksandar Tonev and Leandro Bacuna, Danish striker Nicklas Helenius and Norwich goalkeeper Jed Steer so far this summer.
And the 43-year-old is hopeful the new faces at Villa Park can help the side build on a frustrating 2012/13 season.
Paul Lambert: "Having genuine competition for places is really healthy and, in fact, vital for any club that aspires to bigger and better things.
"For instance, Antonio Luna has come in and he will augment and enhance the defence and give us some more options there.
"He's played about 70 games in Spain and we all know the standard of football in La Liga.
"We know that defensively we need to improve from last season, overall as a team, so that's good.
"Bringing in Jed will also add to the goalkeeping department and helps with everyone pushing one another, learning from one another and making everyone better and wanting to improve.
"You want competition for places throughout the team, which is something we didn't have last season."
Are you watching Mike Ashley?
Source: Newcastle United Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
