Newcastle United hero Rob Lee feels manager Alan Pardew only remains in the job because of club owner Mike Ashley.
He wrote in the Daily Express: "If Newcastle were a normal football club there would be a change of manager. We are some way from being a normal football club. If anyone other than Mike Ashley was in charge they would see that a change of philosophy was urgently required and that he needed to hire someone who could tell him directly what was going wrong and what needed to be done. It's not going to happen.
"For years Ashley has decided the age, pay grade and transfer fees of the players. He has failed to properly strengthen. He has bought cheap and sold them on for a fee, allowing players to use Newcastle as a stepping stone. And it has come back to bite him on the backside.
"Newcastle have just about got away with it in the last few years, but not any more. We have allowed too much quality to go and not replaced them adequately and this is why we are bottom of the table. The fans are up in arms and we are in for a long, hard season."
