Lets hope hes still there jan 6th ;D
NEWCASTLE'S billionaire owner Mike Ashley will have to pay out a staggering £50MILLION to sack manager Sam Allardyce.
Ashley will spend the New Year weekend weighing up his options amid mounting turmoil at St James' Park.
Under-fire Allardyce was fuming after Salomon Kalou's blatant ‘offside' goal sealed United's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.
He stormed: "Managers are losing their jobs sooner than ever and that means there is even more pressure on decisions. That was a horrid decision. I wouldn't mind being fined for criticising but what is the point?
READ: Toon mutiny
"The Chelsea player was three yards offside. It is certainly the worst decision against me this year. But referee Mike Riley should have gone over to linesman Mike Cairns and given him time to change his mind."
Yesterday's defeat at Chelsea comes on top of a shocking away loss at Wigan and a tame home draw with bottom club Derby.
A Newcastle insider declared: "It will cost Ashley a fortune to get rid of Allardyce and find a replacement."
Ashley would have to fork out £7.5m to pay up the remaining two-and-a-half years of Allardyce's £3m-a-season deal.
That figure will rise to a staggering £20m to pay off the huge backroom team which Allardyce brought in.
Any new manager would want at least a £10m contract to take over — plus a £20m transfer kitty.
Twist
The axe could fall on Allardyce as early as next week if the club are knocked out of the FA Cup by Stoke as the Toon boss faces a dressing room revolt.
Alan Shearer is the man the fans would love to take over but he will not consider the job while Allardyce is still in place.
Even then, he has some doubts about whether the job is right for him.
The insider said: "It's by no means certain Shearer will take over because of the situation the club is in.
"So Ashley has to decide whether to stick or twist with Allardyce because of the huge sums involved."
A source close to the Newcastle owner said: "We are not going to win the League but we are not going to go down. Not all of Sam's buys have worked out and Ashley isn't convinced there is any need to spend at this stage. If he sticks with Sam, he will wait to see how much more the manager can get out of the existing players."
Former Spurs boss Martin Jol is a long-odds outsider for the job because Ashley is close friends with former Tottenham director Paul Kemsley-the man who was instrumental in the Dutchman's departure from White Hart Lane.
