Protests, boycotts and bed sheets daubed with slogans won't work with Mike Ashley '“ he's right, we're wrong

Before the arrival of Rafa Benitez there was no hope on Tyneside, no game plan, no ambition and no chance of Premier League survival.

We could all see the direction that we were sleepwalking towards but history was repeating itself as Newcastle United had their eyes tightly shut and their fingers lodged deep into their ears as we plummeted like a lead balloon down into the pits of the division.

Once again, diabolical decisions and sheer stubbornness will leave us supporters with the long-lasting scars from a forgetful season.

Fans were screaming “relegation” from the rooftops as the defeats started to stack higher and higher – it was no secret that the manager who failed at Derby just a few month prior was destined to guide United into the lower leagues of English football.

The club’s see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil motto has back-fired yet again. When will they start listening to those that fill St James’s Park every other week? When will they listen to the fans that travel thousands of miles each season to witness an away day mauling?

I’ll tell you when...never.

They’ll never sit down and talk/listen to us fans, they’ll always continue to pretend that the “fans forum” is a great way of communicating with those on the terraces.

Well it’s not – it’s useless, a waste of everyone’s time, it’s a room full of deaf ears sitting around a table as every question is deflected with a meaningless response, and I’m afraid that will never change.

We can protest, we can boycott, we can paint all over every single form of bed linen available in the North East and cover every singe inch of the ground in anger but nothing works with these people.

They’re right, you’re wrong and no matter how many times they fail that’s the way it shall remain on Tyneside until owner Mike Ashley and his blame-dodging sidekick Lee Charnley vacate the club.

We’ve flirted with relegation almost every season under Mike Ashley’s reign as boss, but unlike the “one night stand” we encountered in the Championship last time I fear that now we could be facing an unhappy married life with kids we don’t even like when we face that league this time around.

Nothing short of a miracle can save us now.