Glenn Hoddle, George Graham and Avram Grant all turned down Newcastle manager job

Mike Ashley was left staring at the consequences of turning Newcastle United into the car-crash club of football last night - but the real pain is being felt by the people he cares least about.

As Terry Venables pulled the rug from under Ashley's feet by turning his back on the chance to take up the St James' Park hot seat, the sheer unmitigated chaos the sportswear millionaire's reign has wrought on the club was becoming clear.

Trite and over the top as it seems, St James' represents the heartbeat of what Sir John Hall christened "The Geordie Nation".

So much hope, so much disappointment, but still so much passion, so much belief.

Newcastle have long been a basket case club, the sick joke of the North East, each season bringing more misery and despair for the fans who crave any sort of success with an unsurpassed intensity.

Yet that passion is being crushed, drained and destroyed by Ashley, in danger of leaving the shattered, desiccated remains of a great club when he eventually finds someone willing to take it off his hands.

And with Venables joining the ever-lengthening list of those who do not want to play any part in Ashley's panic reaction to the crisis for which he is solely responsible, the truth is impossible to ignore - you would have to be mad to go there.

Last night, even the bended-knee entreaties of Ashley, Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez failed to persuade Venables to accept the ridiculous idea of a match-to-match contract.

That, ludicrously, was the offer on the table - the befuddled thinking of an owner who would fire any commercial employer who suggested such an approach.

Venables was willing to discuss a short-term deal, aware Ashley is desperate to sell out at the earliest possible opportunity and that there could be no long-term promises.

He even accepted he was wanted as no more than a fire-fighter to douse the flames already on the point of burning out of control.

But no manager, no coach, can possibly work if he can only think about the next game as if it genuinely were his last.

No wonder Venables walked away, just like Kevin Keegan did when a badly-bitten Ashley tried to repair their broken relationship 12 days ago.

Venables, whose previous clubs include Barcelona and Spurs, did at least sit down with Newcastle.

Most of the other names contacted over the past week, did not even do that. It is understood Alan Curbishley, Glenn Hoddle, Frank Rijkaard and George Graham are among those sounded out, while Avram Grant - who declined the opportunity to even have discussions with Ashley - also rejected the approach.

The reasons were simple.They looked at what they were being asked to do and realised there was only one reply: "Thanks. But no thanks."

Yet while Venables and Co could shake their heads, the true victims of Ashley's ongoing nightmare can only look on in despair.

The 30,000 empty seats at kickoff - and it was nearer 40,000 by the end - of another tame end to Newcastle's Carling Cup hopes, against Spurs, were the most graphic denunciation possible of what has gone on since Ashley strolled into Toon promising a bright new dawn.

That is long forgotten now and, as the spectre of relegation hovers over every member of the Toon Army, Ashley is left with a business proposition that could destroy the club for good, and take him down with it.

The fact Ashley ended up hoping for Venables to take the job was symptomatic of the mess that has engulfed the club since the irretrievable breakdown of his relationship with Keegan.

He thought he could persuade Gus Poyet to turn his back on Tottenham, Paul Ince to quit Blackburn after barely two months, or Didier Deschamps to resist the potential call from France and come to Tyneside.

Instead, the tottering regime has descended from farce to potential catastrophe, with every step transformed into an embarrassing stumble, including his statement of intent to sell in which he bemoaned the "madness" of the club.

Ashley's fruitless odyssey to the Middle East, seeking a sheikh in the desert willing to meet his bizarre £481million valuation but finding only a series of mirages, served to undermine what little credibility he had left, while back at St James' Park, things were disintegrating.

Dressing-room morale disappeared down the plug hole, as caretaker Chris Hughton, left isolated and exposed, tried to put a plaster on a gaping wound, powerless to resist the chaos.

Successive defeats by Hull, West Ham and Spurs have been the inevitable consequence, with even the most optimistic supporter now targeting 17th place as their goal for the season.

Venables may, of course, change his mind. He knows Ashley is desperate and may make him the sort of lucrative offer which will be hard to resist.

Whatever happens, though, Ashley deserves to be in the dock. He is the architect of this mess. And it is a mess that will eternally damn him if it cannot be sorted out.

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Nick Faldo's joke writer
Posh Spice's hairdresser
Nigel Bannister's optician (A tough task after Watford cock-up)
Mortgage Broker.. anywhere
Gordon Brown's spin doctor
Amy Winehouse's life coach

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