Jimbo

Sam Allardyce has declared war on controversial buy-out clauses, which he admits could see Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins leave St James’ Park this summer for knockdown fees. The strikers both had buy-outs included in their contracts when they signed for the Magpies, which means Owen could leave for as little as £9 million and Nigeria international Martins for £13m. Although Allardyce says Arsenal have not yet made a formal bid for Martins, he is furious that the buy-out clause means the player can leave. The same goes for Owen, who has given plenty of indications in the last few months that he wants away from Tyneside, despite the fact no major club has tabled a concrete bid for him. Allardyce hopes both strikers decide to stay, but he is adamant it is a system which is weighed far too heavily in favour of the player. “I would like to eradicate buy-out clauses if possible,” he said. “I think one of the key things in my experience is that the quicker we move in the transfer market this summer the cheaper it is. It will become more expensive as the summer moves on. “The whole thing is a very flawed system where panic sets in. You start the season and within two or three games in August you can panic buy. “That is the worst sort of business and then you end up with clauses in contracts like the ones we have now got at this club. It is the way of the world and will probably never stop. “I might have to do the same at some stage and you have to live with it, but it makes things a lot more difficult. “From our point of view we have got long contracts for both players, but we haven’t really got long contracts with them because if those clauses are activated there is nothing we can do about it. While I am disappointed about that I can live with it. I understand it and we have to get on with it. How do I plan for it? I would love to plan for Michael Owen and Oba Martins to definitely be here at the start of the season but between now and August I may lose those players, which would be a massive blow for me and this football club.” Allardyce believes Newcastle have secured three high class signings this summer – all without buy-out clauses – with a fourth potentially on the way in Cameroon international Geremi, but he says the big spending has only just begun. “It has been terrific business for the club getting Mark Viduka, Joey Barton and David Rozehnal, while having sold only Scott Parker. The next phase needs to start now and I think we need at least four more players in the squad, particularly in defence. “Hopefully the players will stay fit and strong and whatever happens last year is now ancient history. It is a new start for me and for the players and we now need to start forging great relationships to help this club get to where it wants.” Whereas takeovers at other Premiership clubs have taken months on end, it appears Mike Ashley’s has been a relatively bloodless coup and Allardyce is grateful he can now carry on full steam ahead with the job in hand of bringing in silverware. He said: “The speed of the takeover has been very impressive. It could have become a distraction like has been the case at Manchester City and Liverpool, but the business has been done very quickly. “These things can drag on and cause huge speculation but our transition has been extremely smooth. Forging a relationship with the new deputy chairman Chris Mort is now very high on my agenda. “I have not had much contract with Mike Ashley. He prefers to run his businesses from afar. He has put people into place to run the club for him but I would like to have the opportunity at some stage to exchange a few ideas, which I hope will happen soon.” Allardyce’s comments came as the Magpies announced a multi-million-pound four-year drinks sponsorship deal with Carling.

TRANSFER RUMOURS Carlos Tevez's "heart is in the Premier League" according to his representative Kia Joorabchian. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United want him. (Various) Liverpool have wrapped up a deal for Fernando Torres. Luis Garcia and £20m will be heading to Atletico Madrid for the striker. (Various) The Addicks are set to invest some of the £16.5m for Darren Bent in Blackburn Rovers striker Jason Roberts. (Independent) Bent's arrival at Tottenham will trigger another move with Jermain Defoe going to Aston Villa. (Independent) Although elsewhere it is Liverpool and Manchester United who are leading the chase for the England striker. (Mirror) Frank Lampard wants his future resolved by Monday. Juventus and Barcelona want the Chelsea midfielder. (Various) Another Chelsea midfielder could also be off. Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp says he would "love" to sign French veteran Claude Makelele. (Mirror) Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce does not know if strikers Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins will be at the club next season. (Various) Arsenal will trigger a £13m buy-out clause for Martins as they search for a replacement for Thierry Henry. (Sun) And Manchester United will offer £4m and Alan Smith for Owen. (Sun) As well as Smith, another new arrival at Newcastle could be Edmilson. Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder is a free agent. (Star) Anderson's £18m move from Porto to Manchester United could collapse as he does not have enough caps to satisfy work permit rules. (Mirror) Aston Villa's Steven Davis is on the verge of signing for Fulham in a £4m deal. (Guardian) And Cottagers boss Lawrie Sanchez is set to go in for another former Northern Ireland charge in Sheffield Wednesday's Chris Brunt. (Express) Malcolm Christie is mulling over a move to Nottingham Forest. (Star) Sunderland, Derby and Coventry want Blackburn defender Andy Todd. (Mirror) But one player Sunderland definitely will not land is Leighton Baines. While the Black Cats have offered £3m for the full-back, Wigan want £6m. (Sun) Rangers have missed out on Julien Faubert. Bordeaux chairman Jean-Louis Triaud says they have received a better rival bid for the winger. (Record) Bolton plan to gazump Everton and sign Sheffield Unuited's Phil Jagielka. They have tabled a £5m bid. (Mirror) Auxerre are resigned to losing full-back Bakary Sagna to Arsenal. "He wants to wear the Arsenal shirt," said club president Gerard Bourgoin. (Mail) Stuart Pearce will be named full-time boss of England's Under-21s early next week. (Guardian) Back to top AND FINALLY Frank Lampard's agent Steve Kutner was seen holding a "Teach Yourself Spanish" video as he looked on while the England midfielder launched a new initiative at Wembley. (Various) Dunfermline's fans have helped sponsor a pre-season club training camp in Spain. (Record)

Spuds board of directors celebrate Bent deal http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=...5&q=hasidic

Best chain spray there is, used to be into mountain bikes in a big way, but living in East Anglia doesn't really make it much of a hobby, so these days I stick to wanking. You definitely know your lubes, I'll give you that Damn right: http://www.jackinworld.com/expert/09lubes.html

Best chain spray there is, used to be into mountain bikes in a big way, but living in East Anglia doesn't really make it much of a hobby, so these days I stick to wanking.

phwoar, a nice length of Shimano 1/2". Slim actually, for a 9 speed 3/32" width x 1/2" pitch, very nice. She'll be running like a dream in no time. Might go out with SMO see if we can see owt Treat yourself to a can of GT85 chain spray.

phwoar, a nice length of Shimano 1/2". Slim actually, for a 9 speed 3/32" width x 1/2" pitch, very nice.

just negotiating their minimum release clauses.

phwoar, a nice length of Shimano 1/2".

Moschops ! now that was a class show !

agreed, he's an instantly irritating cockend.

Man Vs Wild with Bear Grylls, superb show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_vs._Wild

Good, lets all laugh at Spuds wasting their money !

A manager who isn't being dictated to by his inept chairman tbh

Its only when you have a kid and attempted changing a nappy and use regular toilet roll to wipe its arse, before you realise how inefficient lav paper is, which probably explains the usual condition of my pants.

Blue star finally goes west : £4M - that's a canny round Newcastle have confirmed that they were ending their association with Scottish Courage aka Newcastle Breweries, after Molson Coors outbid them for counter rights at SJP. The Canadian-based parent company have signed a four-year deal with the club under their market-leading brand name of Carling. This will see Carling and other products such as Worthington Bitter, Grolsch & Coors Light sold from outlets round the stadium, in Shearers Bar and the club's various hospitality facilities. However the deal is purely off-field and won't result in the Carling or any other products in the Molson Coors portfolio appearing on shirts. No announcement has been made as yet to whether there will be a re-branding of the Gallowgate End of the ground, which has been known officially as the Newcastle Brown Ale South Stand in recent seasons.

Mexicans, Brazilians, Peruvians or Argentinians ?

Par for the course isn't it ? didn't they sack Del Bosque after winning the Champions League ? Aye. He went on to star in Boro Pat iirc. Aye, looks more like Del Bosque than Magnum !

What makes you think he'll stay then? Pillow talk.

Par for the course isn't it ? didn't they sack Del Bosque after winning the Champions League ?

I was struggling to think of something that tastes worse than Carling until now. I hope you are refering to the beer rather than confessing to a homo-erotic episode with one of our young posters.

We should have Skol on the shirt.

Coleman has been touted for the Sociedad job, perhaps we'll see a sudden exodus of shit English managers to Spain? and Welsh ones...