Anyone who has read the Harry Potter books, or seen the movies, will know what a Dementor is. The soul-sucking, joy-sapping tormenters who drain their victims of dreams, excitement and optimism, leaving an empty shell, devoid of imagination and barren of hope.

Mike Ashley is Newcastle United’s Dementor. He has been for a decade now. He is the weight around their neck, the concrete boots moulded to their feet, the chains around their wrist.

He will never change because he does not want to. He will continue to do as he pleases, because, as he said himself, even if he wants to sell – which he does – he cannot find anyone to pay the £450m+ asking price.

He is a chancer, a risk-taker, a bull in a world full of china plates. He is belligerent, stubborn, a genius in many ways. He is a self-made billionaire who turned a market stall into Sports Direct, one of the giants of the retail world. He is rich and getting richer. Do not make the mistake of underestimating him or his natural ability to make money.

But when it comes to football, Ashley has always been stupid. Even when he gets things right, he somehow manages to come up with the wrong answer in the end. This is a feature of his time on Tyneside and history is repeating itself as he pushes Rafa Benítez closer to the exit door.