Takeover rumours rubbish - Mort - Sport in brief

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Reports have surfaced that former Magpies captain and club-record goalscorer Alan Shearer would front a consortium of north-east businessmen looking to buy out Ashley, and that a third-party financing group called PCP had been asked by Ashley to invite Dubai Investment Capital to turn their attentions away from Liverpool and towards Newcastle.

But Mort told The Times: "The reality is that the Alan Shearer story and the PCP story were both absolute rubbish. Alan has obviously denied he has been approached by a consortium and we had never heard of PCP until Monday's story."

The chairman also reiterated his support for manager Kevin Keegan, who returned to manage the club last month.

"He has a three-and-a-half-year contract and we are looking to see what can be achieved over that period."