Newcastle owner Mike Ashley's long-term intentions for the club have been a subject for debate for almost as long as he has owned the club - though you should be careful what you say, since the latest round of bans for journalists came when someone had the audacity to say he'd welcome bids. At various stages over the Sports Direct supremo's stewardship of the club, he has been linked with selling on to someone else - and the rumours are now back to the fore-front thanks to his sizeable investment in Rangers, but the club has apparently never been closer to a sale than it was in 2008. Having seen the fans turn on him after the resignation of Kevin Keegan and the mishandling of the transfer window, Ashley put the club up for sale and was in the process of talking to Dubai officials about a deal - with an astronomical starting bid of £481 million to double his money. Impressively, Ashley apparently managed to upset his potential buyers on three fronts; first with his asking price, and then by snubbing a meeting with the consortium. But the worst came when he cased offence by drinking in public during Ramadan, according to the Daily Mail who quoted the emergence of a photograph of Ashley allegedly drinking cocktails on the Arabian Business website. Apparently he chose to whet his whistle rather than go to the important meeting because they were only offering £200m. For a man so concerned with PR, the emergence of those allegations was clearly a source of embarrassment for Ashley, and even more so for Newcastle fans.
