Mike Ashley's decision is bad news for Newcastle

Ashley may be a little on the tubby side, he may be from down south (I dispute he's a Cockney given he isn't actually from London) but he isn't getting out of the club.

There will be a feeling of impotence, which will spark renewed talk of boycotts and direct action, all of which are potentially going to have a negative effect on the team's results on the pitch.

This is far from ideal. In fact, to coin an American phrase from my youth, it sucks, but I can only repeat, the most important thing, both for the short term and long term vitality of Newcastle United, is promotion.

If Newcastle are promoted they can be revived, whether by Ashley or some other oaf with more money than sense.

If they stay in the Championship, they could go into terminal decline. I just hope Ashley has fully grasped that fundamental truth and strengthens the squad in defence and attack in January.

If we are honest, we have expected this decision for weeks, if not months. I've been saying since the start of the season that if a takeover was going to happen it would have happened a long time ago.

It just makes it even more frustrating that we have been misled for so long, not just by Ashley and Barry Moat, but by the other mysterious consortiums who have supposedly shown an interest since May. What a waste of all our time.

None of this means we have to like Ashley, far from it in fact. He will never win any popularity contests. It's whether the anger towards him becomes all consuming or whether the club and the team remain deserving of the same level of passionate support they have always received.

Newcastle is a football club. It is about more than Mike Ashley or Derek Llambias, Chris Hughton or any players. But it still leaves a nasty taste in the mouth when supporting your football team means giving tacit acceptance to a regime which has been guilty of so many wrongs. Then again, Freddie Shepherd and Douglas Hall have already benefited from that.

More than 40,000 people have remained loyal this season. It is a remarkable figure in the circumstances and has shut plenty of people up around the country who questioned whether Newcastle's support really was as special as has been claimed. But will that number hold now that Ashley is definitely staying put?

The announcement the club are looking for commercial sponsors for St James's Park is just a further erosion of the club's traditions by a regime which still fails to grasp the mood and emotions of its fan base, sorry customers.

Its timing is ridiculous, although I suppose there is a view it's better to get all the bad news out in one, big blow. My money is on it being the Sports Direct Stadium by the end of the season! No, surely not.

How about the Emirates? British Telecom? Northern Rock?! And I wonder whether St James's will figure in any of the re-branding? More cause for exasperation, but this is the way of the world, just look at your prime time television shows, they're all sponsored.

For me, it is better to channel anger towards a positive. It is better to chant anti-Ashley songs at games than it is to merely stay away in a vague hope of hitting him in the pocket to try to to get him to sell.

The club is off the market, he isn't going to sell until the end of the season at the earliest and lower crowds mean less income and raise the prospect of players been sold. It hurts doesn't it?