Former Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has said that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has alienated a large number of the club's supporters.

Many Newcastle fans protested against Ashley and his running of the club ahead of Sunday's match against Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park.

Quinn believes that having a positive connection between owners and supporters is vital to the success of a club.

"You've got to get the balance right," he told Sky Sports News. "It's not just a simple case of going in to make money. I think there is a certain amount of ego and ambition involved. Then what happened, in this particular case with Mike Ashley, it hit him that the club was churning out loads and loads of money.

"He wasn't used to that with many of his other businesses, he was getting criticism, and it was as if he put a wall up early on in his tenure here, saying 'right, I'm doing it my way and I don't care what the fans think'. That's something that doesn't work.

"The Geordie fans have been through everything with their club, and for them to stay away and not watch their game of football with the club they love, that hurts, and that's something that tells you the disconnect has to be resolved. The connection has been broken."

Ashley purchased Newcastle in 2007.