Allardyce criticises Ashley reign

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley sacked former boss Sam Allardyce

Former Newcastle United boss Sam Allardyce claims owner Mike Ashley only bought the club to make a big profit.

Ashley has put Newcastle up for sale and Allardyce, who was sacked in January, said: "It is crystal clear now what the motives were for Mike Ashley.

"I think that he did buy the club in the hope that he could quickly sell it on for a vast profit.

"It is going from bad to horrendous and there is part of me that thinks I'm glad I'm out of it."

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Ashley replaced Allardyce with Kevin Keegan, but decided to sell after facing a fans' revolt in the wake of Keegan's surprise departure in September.

Allardyce added: "I thought Kevin was going to get the money I didn't get - but the continuous sales and players moving in and out over the summer obviously caused him to conclude the job was untenable and the club was thrown into chaos."