NEWCASTLE'S billionaire owner Mike Ashley will have to pay out a staggering £50MILLION to sack manager Sam Allardyce. Ashley will spend the weekend weighing up his options amid mounting turmoil at St James' Park.Under-fire Allardyce was fuming after Salomon Kalou's blatant ‘offside' goal sealed United's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea. He stormed: "Managers are losing their jobs sooner than ever and that means there is even more pressure on decisions. That was a horrid decision. I wouldn't mind being fined for criticising but what is the point?
"The Chelsea player was three yards offside. It is certainly the worst decision against me this year. But referee Mike Riley should have gone over to linesman Mike Cairns and given him time to change his mind."
A Newcastle insider declared: "It will cost Ashley a fortune to get rid of Allardyce and find a replacement." Ashley would have to fork out £7.5m to pay up the remaining two-and-a-half years of Allardyce's £3m-a-season deal.
That figure will rise to a staggering £20m to pay off the huge backroom team which Allardyce brought in. Any new manager would want at least a £10m contract to take over — plus a £20m transfer kitty.