I think this is as much another reason for people to add to the negative image of Mike Ashley citing him as greedy or whatever, however the truth is that the moral outrage is totally misplaced, football club owners have no responsibility when it comes to who they choose to sponsor their club, and as custodians of the business interests of the club their job is to get the best deal they can. So while Ian Lavery rightly has misgivings about Wonga, this is surely clouded by his dislike of Ashley, if you want to discuss the morality of Premier League sponsors then he may want to look across the league at the glut of gambling and alcohol firms that sponsor teams, two areas of life that negatively affect far more people in the North East of England than the irresponsible lending of Wonga.
It's also worth remembering that Virgin Money benefited from the use tax payers money - eg. the money of all NUFC fans - in order to make the risk-free takeover of Northern Rock before then making several hundred North Eastern workers redundant. Add to that the huge bankers bonuses paid by companies such as Standard Chartered and Investec (recognise those names) and the large part this played in the current economic downturn, and of course a certain sponsor that is a front for exploitative oil exploration in Africa, and it's clear that we are not the only club with a wonky moral compass when it comes to sponsorship.
Finally, nobody (other than George Caulkin) has pointed out that the entire league is sponsored by a company who's ethics have been hugely questioned, recently leading them to be fined a record £2.5bn for illegal trading. So the problem is not a one related to Mike Ashley, or Newcastle United, but football now in general, where money is far more important than ethics, it's all well and good taking a holier-than-thou view on the Wonga deal, but in reality it is very much the norm, and not Ashley doing anything other than making money for the club in the same way the majority of other PL team owners already do, and we already have been doing.