Ashley Had Wenger Lined Up!

It was never public knowledge, but I can promise you Ashley was ready to offer the Newcastle job to Arsene Wenger if the Frenchman didn't sort out his difficulties with Arsenal.

And for a time it looked as though Wenger could be on his way, but the North London club managed to get him to back down and sign a new contract.

Ashley has very strong connections with the Gunners, which was why he was livid when it was suggested he was set to buy Arsenal's bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Whether Wenger would have come to Tyneside, though, is a different matter.

Allardyce, like Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder before him, was not the first choice of the fans ... or certainly those who I mix with. His long-ball style of play has not impressed the boys (and girls) in black and white, and recent performances have been shocking.

Some see him as "taking the game back 50 years", and unless results ... and performances ... change, he will become a target for the boo boys.

But what about Ashley? He has stayed quiet, although club chairman Chris Mort has ruled out Mark Hughes.

Asked to comment on a Sunday newspaper report that Hughes was now the principal target of Newcastle's owner, Mike Ashley, Mort said: "This kind of story does not merit a response; it is ludicrous."