I figure Ashley had two things in mind when he bought us: (1) we'd be a bauble that he could play around with for so long as it interested him; and (2) a football club would be a useful adjunct to his bargain sporting goods business. He obviously never had any real personal affinity for the club. After he fucked over Keegan and realized this wasn't going to be all fun anymore, he gave up the "fun toy" aspect, leaving us only as a adjunct to his sports shit 4 cheap business. People that run sports organizations well generally have some real passion for the sport or club, realize that it's a business unlike any other--which inherently depends on fan satisfaction and willingness to spend to ultimately realize a return--or, hopefully both. Ashley has none of this: he doesn't understand the business, doesn't really care about the sport or the club, and is happy for it to do its job advertising his bargain basement brands.
tl;dr We're fucked.