Newcastle United's chairman opted to stay silent last night after Sam Allardyce conceded he was back "under the cosh" following the disappointing St Stephen's Day defeat at Wigan.
Chris Mort's reaction to poor results has often been to back Allardyce by stressing he and Newcastle's owner, Mike Ashley, were not "short-term thinkers" but no such reassurance was forthcoming yesterday.
When Mort left the JJB Stadium on Wednesday he declined to answer questions about his manager or the abuse Allardyce had received from supporters. Friends of Alan Shearer have suggested the former Newcastle captain would be willing to take over as manager, leaving Allardyce's position increasingly fragile.
"It's the same old story isn't it? You lose a game, you lose it badly and you are under the cosh, especially if you are the manager," said Allardyce. "I cannot blame the fans for what they were singing. We were not good enough and you don't need to be an expert to see that. They (the fans) spend their hard-earned money and they want to see us fight and do an awful lot better than we did."
Ominously for Allardyce the Wigan debacle was reminiscent of another Newcastle defeat at the JJB Stadium in the League Cup in November 2005 which loosened Graeme Souness's grip on the manager's job. The then chairman, Freddy Shepherd, had his car damaged by discontented away fans outside the ground.
Dispensing with Allardyce would not prove cheap. He is in the first season of a three-year, €4 million-a-year contract and has also hired more than 20 new backroom staff, many on lucrative deals.
Ray Lewington will remain in caretaker charge of Fulham at Birmingham City tomorrow and is expected to continue against Chelsea on New Year's Day. Martin Jol has ruled himself out of contention for the job, the former Spurs manager indicating he would prefer to wait for another challenge, with Newcastle a potential alternative.
Guardian Service
Tottenham captain Ledley King has revealed his determination to stay fit and impress England manager Fabio Capello before the next international break.
King (27) made his first appearance of the season in the St Stephen's Day's win over Fulham following knee surgery in the summer and a niggling recent thigh problem.
"It is an exciting time, and I am no different to any player - I want to impress the new (England) manager," said the centre half.
Team-mate Robbie Keane celebrated his 100th Premier League goal when he netted his second in the 5-1 rout of Fulham.
The 27-year-old is still on a fine run of 29 goals in his last 40 Spurs appearances. "It feels like I was on 98 for ages now," he said. "I am delighted to be able to go into the new year with 100 goals - and to do it at a club like Tottenham is even more special."
