Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) kicked-off a six-week promotional campaign to try and raise the funds to buy out Mike Ashley.

Their plan is for supporters to run the club in the style of Barcelona and many German sides.

They intend to raise the funds for the deal by fans pledging money or unlocking part of their pension pot.

NUST is halfway through its campaign and will not confirm how well it is doing financially at the moment.

But the Chronicle understands around 3,000 people have indicated they would make pledges of £1,500, which makes a total of at least £4.5m.

And it is understood a further £15.5m has been guaranteed through people agreeing to put £25,000 of their pension fund into the pot.

The Newcastle United supporters group bidding to wrestle control from Mike Ashley have accused managing director Derek Llambias of not learning from his mistakes after he sought to justify selling naming rights for St James’ Park.

The Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) – which has begun a huge campaign aimed at raising the cash to take the club under supporters ’ ownership – has accused Llambias of misreading the mood at St James’ Park and patronising fans with the arguments set out in his programme notes for last weekend’s Swansea game.

Llambias had said that selling the naming rights for the ground made “commercial sense” – quoting Barry Moat’s support for the idea – and also appealed for unity between the club’s fans and the team.

Describing the much-hated Sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park fiasco as “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, the pair took time from filming in the Australian rainforest to vent their fury. The former Byker Grove stars are currently fronting ITV’s I’m a Celebrity show down under, but that didn’t stop them from watching events unfold at their beloved club on Tyneside.

Members of the Newcastle United Supporters ’ Trust couldn’t believe their eyes when Mike Ashley signed up to back their bid to buy the troubled club.

It was only later when they realised that their backer wasn’t the club’s unpopular owner but Mike Ashley, who runs the Blacksmiths Arms pub on Gosforth High Street in Newcastle .

The less wealthy Mike put his name on the list of supporters when the Trust ’s roadshow arrived at his pub. Word spread around the pub like wildfire and Mike had to confess that it was him.