Andrew Musgrove, who covers Newcastle United for The Chronicle, has slammed one particular aspect of the club’s decision to place the majority of its staff on furlough leave.As revealed by Lee Ryder on Monday, Mike Ashley has decided to place a large portion of the staff on furlough leave to protect the club’s future. The Magpies emailed staff on Monday morning, including the academy and scouting teams, pointing them to the government’s job retention scheme, which gives employees 80% of their wages back up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

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One added detail that will really touch a nerve with supporters though is that this includes the club’s Foundation charity, an organisation that promotes healthy living for disadvantage children through soccer schools, career training and guidance and fundraising. Musgrove was not impressed.

Of course, this is just the latest move made my Ashley and the club that will no doubt infuriate fans and neutrals alike. The infamous Magpies overlord was forced to apologise last week when he tried to keep his Sports Direct stores open by declaring them an essential service, and also drew the ire of supporters for opting not to push back season ticket renewal fees.

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The three most standout words from Musgrove’s verdict are “gutting”, “heartbreaking” and “inevitable”, mainly because those three words seem to apply to pretty much every mistake the club makes at the moment.

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