Barton Snubs Wage Cut?
It is understood the 25-year-old, who was jailed for six months in May after pleading guilty to charges of assault and affray, was offered a choice between taking a huge pay cut or the sack.
A Magpies official is believed to have met the player's agent, Willie McKay, at the weekend to deliver the club's verdict after they considered the alternatives open to them.
Reports have suggested Barton will NOT accept half the £60,000-a-week wages he agreed when he signed a five-year deal at St James' Park last summer.
The other avenue open to Ashley is to tell him to look for alternative employment.
Once again the fans are left in the dark, as neither the Magpies nor McKay were commenting on the situation.
Barton headed for Tyneside last summer in a £5.8million switch from Manchester City, but endured a less-than-successful first campaign in the north-east.