COCKNEY RUBBLE; NEWCASTLE ASHLEY MAN GOES Jimenez out.. will Wise be next?

Byline: BY SIMON BIRD

MIKE ASHLEY'S regime at Newcastle was crumbling last night after the departure of Tony Jimenez - one of the men who caused Kevin Keegan to leave.

The Newcastle owner's 'Cockney Mafia' was one short after Jimenez, responsible for player recruitment, left the club. His job becomes defunct because Ashley does not intend to buy another player while owner.

His departure removed one obstacle to Keegan, or Alan Shearer, returning to the club under a new owner. The other obstacle, Dennis Wise (pictured right), was last night still in his Executive Director role.

The swift departure of both men would make purchasing Newcastle a more attractive proposition.

But inside the club there are fears that Ashley may not be able to find a quick buyer. Keith Harris, the former Football League chairman, who is brokering a sale, yesterday warned the credit crunch is giving people an excuse not to buy.

Ashley has interest from China, the US and the Middle East after offering the club to buyers for between pounds 250m and pounds 300m.

They include Nasser Kharafi, the 48th richest man in the world, who owns a business empire in Kuwait.

Asked whether Ashley could stay, deal-maker Harris said: "I wouldn't rule anything out, football is so unpredictable.

"Mike bought the club for the right reasons and it hasn't worked out but it is a magnificent, iconic, football brand. We are attracting interest but this is a very easy climate for people to find an excuse.

"Newcastle is in a part of the country where there is ferocious regional support and therefore, if there is going to be an investor, it won't come from England unless we uncover a trillionaire Geordie who wants to buy it.

"Mike still has a good wad of money as you'd say. He is a clever businessman and he is self-made. He has done a lot of good there with the Academy and there has been a lot of investment. Mike has been there 15 months and if you asked him he would say that for 12 months he absolutely loved it... we'll have to see if he makes money out of it."

The acrimonious departure of Keegan was caused by a rift over transfer policy and rows with Wise and Jimenez over who to buy.

Neither Keegan nor Shearer would return to the club as boss unless they have full control of transfers, insisting that a manager should be allowed to manage.

A Newcastle statement said that Jimenez is to "pursue other interests" and it is understood he could emerge at another club shortly.

Jimenez was behind a host of foreign recruits this summer including pounds 9million Fabrizio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, pounds 5.6m striker Xisco and Ignacia Gonzalez.

He failed to land the deals Keegan requested on his transfer wish list, apart from the early signing of Danny Guthrie.

Ashley installed a football transfer department above Keegan's head because he believed it was too big a job to coach a Premier League squad, and scout for the best young players he wanted to be the foundations of the club.

But it effectively stripped Keegan of power, and promises that he would have the final say on recruits were not kept.

Jimenez, along with Wise, MD Derek Llambias and Ashley were branded the Cockney Mafia by Tyneside fans who blamed the foursome for forcing out Keegan.

They have urged Ashley to sell up quickly, and do not want him to walk away with a massive profit.

Interim boss Joe Kinnear has insisted Ashley remains a devoted fan of Newcastle, claiming he watched the Everton game on television with his kids and "almost jumped out of the window" when United came close to a winner.

Kinnear will hold talks with former Tottenham boss Gerry Francis over the weekend to discuss a two-day-a-week coaching role.

And he admitted that Newcastle could be without Mark Viduka for six months, with the injury-prone Australian striker on the brink of needing an operation on his achilles problem.

CAPTION(S):

JIMENEZ one of the Ashley men Keegan fell out with; CLEAR MESSAGE Newcastle fans campaigned to get Mike Ashley and his cohorts out - now Tony Jimenez has gone as the hunt for a buyer continues