Ashley may need to step up boss search

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley’s so-far fruitless search for a buyer for the club means he may have to appoint a new manager and try to quell fan unrest before he is in a position to sell.

Ashley plus vice-president Tony Jimenez and executive director (football) Dennis Wise have been in the Middle East since the weekend searching for a buyer but according to well-placed City sources the trip is in danger of becoming a “wild goose chase”.

The Dubai ruling family have said they have no interest in buying Newcastle, the major players in Abu Dhabi are already committed to Manchester City, and intermediaries acting for Qatar ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, while interested in taking over a Premier League club, are understood to have already ruled out Newcastle.

Meanwhile, it can be revealed that, despite reports to the contrary, Ashley has yet to make contact with Keith Harris, the former Football League chairman who helped broker the takeovers of Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra and West Ham by their Icelandic consortium.

The source from the City told PA Sport: “Looking for a buyer in the Middle East could be a wild goose chase because in reality Newcastle have been up for sale for the last six months.

“If there had been interest from Dubai or Abu Dhabi it would already have surfaced.

“What makes it even more difficult is that Newcastle do not appear as a very saleable asset at the moment – the club has no manager, the fans are protesting and the team are struggling.”

Meanwhile caretaker manager Chris Hughton is hoping Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins will return from injury for the weekend’s trip to West Ham.

Hughton told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle: “The closest at the moment would probably be Martins, and we’re hopeful of having him and Damien Duff back.

“They would be the closest, and we are not expecting Alan Smith or Mark Viduka back.”

Danny Guthrie will also be unavailable on Saturday as he starts a three-match ban after his red card for breaking the leg of Hull’s Craig Fagan.