Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville says Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley must sell the club as soon as possible.

Newcastle are in bad form at the moment and edging closer towards the relegation zone.

Fans have called for the sacking of manager Steve Bruce, but Neville does not believe that is the solution to Newcastles problems: The owner has to go.

«If you said to me before the game, I would’ve thought Newcastle were going to get beat, irrespective of eight changes.

«I’d expect Newcastle to get beat at Arsenal most seasons to be honest with you, they’ve not raised my expectations to a level where they can go and win there. He shouldn’t be judged on just tonight.

«Newcastle are 15th in the league, it’s where I’d expect them to be, Newcastle fans won’t enjoy me saying that. But at the start of last season, they were expected to go down and didn’t do.

«This season, where did they expect to be? Probably between 11th and 15th or 16th and that’s where they are.»

Need a change

«They need new ownership, don’t they? It’s just obvious. The owner is willing to sell, tried to put one through and it wouldn’t go through.

«That’s the only thing that can really dramatically change that club. It needs to happen as quickly as possible.»