Newcastle owner Mike Ashley says he needs fresh partners to help
the club, who discovered on Thursday they will be without Joey
Barton until August 13.
Ashley, who bought Newcastle for £133million last year, has
announced profits from his Sports Direct shops halved to £85m. He
denied he is trying to sell the club but accepted he is feeling the
pinch in the credit crunch.
The family of terrorist Osama bin Laden have been linked with a
buy-out and stories said the club had been offered to New York
finance company InterMedia Partners for £420m.
But Ashley said: 'That is not
true. I am keen to have partners in Newcastle. That's a very
expensive seat I sit in but I think I'll start with people from
Newcastle, not in some cave in Afghanistan.'
Meanwhile, Barton was told on Thursday he will not be released
early from prison on a tag, eight weeks into a six-month sentence
for beating up two people outside a McDonald's in Liverpool.
Dean Dolman, 28, who was released from Strangeways on Thursday,
said Barton had been giving inmates autographs in exchange for Mars
bars.