Big Sam warns of disaster if he can't splash the cash

Allardyce could not have launched a more sustained bid to crank up the pressure on the club's new owner Mike Ashley. He warned that the consequences of starting the Premiership campaign with the existing squad would be disastrous.

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He has also been frustrated at the club's speed in dealing with transfers. Mort, a top lawyer, is a novice in such matters and Allardyce believes Newcastle could miss out on players if the process is not streamlined.

He said: "They know very little of football. It'd be pretty foolish not to back me now. It would be silly coming all this way from where I've come from, and Mike and Chris where they've come from, and not to come together to move the club forward. I see that as a non-starter.

"It's for me to provide enough information to help them understand why I'm doing what I'm doing and where I'm going and show them we need to focus initially on the first team."

Part of the problem is the debt billionaire Ashley inherited when he bought the club for £133million.

His aggressive business tactics are such that he did not even undertake due diligence to go through Newcastle's books. That allowed him to blindside Freddy Shepherd to such an extent that the former Newcastle chairman has admitted the first he knew of any takeover was as he lay seriously ill in hospital.

Shepherd could not react and Ashley, armed with the 40 per cent of the club he had bought off the Hall family, was able to steamroller through with his takeover. 'He parks his tanks on people's lawns' was said of his style . . . and that certainly proved telling in his power snatch at St James' Park.

The price for such an audacious takeover, however, is only now becoming apparent. Ashley, it seems, underestimated the size of the debt he was taking on. That he now has an £80m deficit to bring under control could seriously affect Allardyce's rebuilding programme.

Allardyce has spent a net outlay of just £1.7m since taking over and has actually seen his squad size diminish. Joey Barton, Mark Viduka, Geremi and David Rozenhal have moved in and six have left.

Kieron Dyer could make that seven, but Allardyce is aware he will be given whatever fee he raises from selling the England midfielder to spend on new players and does not want anything less than £5m. Dyer's injury record has so far prevented an offer of that amount.

West Ham remain favourites but the player's preferred choice, Tottenham, have a wage structure that simply cannot get anywhere near the £80,000 weekly wages he currently picks up.

Allardyce might also be forced to sell Charles N'Zogbia, the talented but temperamental French midfielder. Arsenal and Fulham have both expressed an interest in the 21-year-old, who would be keen on a move to the capital.

More likely would be the departure of Obafemi Martins if Allardyce is successful in his pursuit of Manchester United's Alan Smith.

Allardyce's mood has not been helped by the fact that he thought his days of such wheeling and dealing in the transfer market were over. Mention of the possibility of Kevin Keegan taking over as director of football or Alan Shearer succeeding him as manager in the near future have not helped either. Those issues were also discussed when Allardyce met Mort yesterday, but the manager has been given assurances about his position.

However, his prime concern is for the release of more funds than the £10m initially set aside. That total could rise if certain players become available but it is not quite the kind of financial might Allardyce hoped for when he took over in May.

Meanwhile, Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has apologised to Andy Carroll for the challenge Allardyce described as "common assault" in their friendly on Sunday. Carroll said: "Buffon said sorry and that he didn't mean it. He picked me up and I was fine. It's in the game and you just have to get on with it."