On This Day: 8 June 2009

The statement read: "The board of Newcastle United can confirm that the club is for sale at the price of £100m.

"Interested parties should contact Newcastle United at admin@nufc.co.uk (or Keith Harris at Seymour Pierce) for further details."

Ashley bought the club for £134.4m in May 2007.

Alan Shearer, who has indicated a willingness to take on the role of manager on a permanent basis, is due to return from a short break later today and will be looking for an early answer over whether or not he is wanted after several rounds of talks.

There are understood to be several interested parties, with former chairman Freddy Shepherd, who has been linked with a bid to regain control, refusing to rule himself in or out.

So what about today? One year on from the dismal days of being up for sale at a ludicrous price, playing Championship football we are now back in the 'big' league.

In a similar situation, whereas we have no money to spend on the players we need to survive a long season against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea et al...

Make no mistake, we are in for a long haul, I think we can survive the potential disaster of another relegation, however, for those who think Mike Ashley will sell up, don't hold onto that thought, we're running at a huge loss, and Mike will see this season as a potential way to recoup some of his hard earned cash, well, let's face it, selling those socks in his jumble sale of a sports shop aint gonna work!

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