JUST when things appeared to be going so positively, trust Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias to take out a giant pin and burst a bubble of optimism with quite remarkable force.

Forget Newcastle equalling a club record for going 11 games unbeaten at the start of a Premier League season. Forget being third in the table after almost a third of the campaign.

Neither of those things matter when set against the decision to ride roughshod over 100 years of history to create the Sports Direct Arena.

In the eyes of most supporters, the move, a crass attempt to attract sponsors willing to pour their millions into a rebranding of St James' Park, simply confirms the owners' complete lack of understanding of the identity of their club.

Two years ago, when a watered down version of the renaming was first mooted, the board's proposals provoked a furious response.

Fans protested, MPs discussed the issue in the Houses of Parliament and would-be partners were no doubt put off by the negative publicity.

This time around, things will surely be worse, with the St James' Park name removed entirely to be replaced by a company with no attachment to the North-East other than the identity of the person at its helm.

The only conclusion possible is that Ashley is completely oblivious to the concerns of his supporters. Either that, or he actually revels in causing them distress.

The ironic thing about today's events is that the last two or three months had begun to see a softening of the fans' enmity towards their owner and managing director.

It wasn't exactly detente, but most supporters accepted there was merit in Ashley's attempts to reduce the wage bill. He had been forgiven for selling Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique in the summer, largely because of the quality of players recruited by head scout Graham Carr, and was even being praised for the appointment of Alan Pardew, a move that had initially been criticised last December.

Last month's decision to offer cut-price season tickets was lauded, as was the decision to offer a refund for the abandoned pre-season friendly with Fiorentina. Results have helped of course, but as they appeared to be getting the hang of positive PR, much of the harsher criticism that had previously been levelled at Ashley and Llambias was blunted.

Not any more. Perhaps by making this announcement today, a full 23 days before Newcastle have another home game, they hoped to draw much of the sting from the reaction? Perhaps they believe the strong start to the season will have earned them some leeway and enabled them to make today's statement with only a limited response.

Time will tell. But after an opening three months that were very un-Newcastle like in terms of their calmness and serenity, the Magpies' season has lurched into crisis mode once again. And all too predictably, the wounds have once again been self-inflicted.