Mort: I’m in charge

Dec 9 2007 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

THEY say Chris Mort is a puppet chairman, his strings pulled by the man with the money and the power.

They say he is a stuffy, southern lawyer who will never understand Newcastle United or Tyneside – or their conjoined relationship.

They say he and owner Mike Ashley are ready to peddle Sam Allardyce – and even the club – at any time.

“They” should read on.

Yes, Chris Mort is both an outsider and an emissary. But he sounds like no errand boy.

Instead, in the most in-depth and candid interview of his five-month reign, chairman Mort makes numerous things clear.

Not least his and Ashley’s long- term commitment to United. And to Sam Allardyce.

But most of all, Mort makes plain – Big Sam take note – that he is very much his own man.

It has been a largely upbeat week at a club down on its uppers in recent months, so Mort’s unequivocal backing for Allardyce, who continues to divide opinions among fans, is unsurprising.

Talk of sounding out other managers, including Fabio Capello, is dismissed with derision.

Instead, Mort insists he and Allardyce are already planning for next summer and beyond.

But what adds spice to Mort’s solid show of support for Big Sam is his readiness to defy his manager’s January transfer window wishes.

The admission that Mort and Ashley decided whether to dispense with Allardyce before the season even began is another eye-opener.

More of which later.

First, Mort is keen to tackle the theories that Ashley is making all the decisions that matter at St James’s – and that sacking Allardyce could yet be prominent among them.

“If people want to say I’m a puppet, fine. But it doesn’t reflect the reality,” says Mort.

“I’ve been consistent throughout, Mike’s been consistent throughout. He didn’t want to get involved in the business side.

“He’s got his own massive, multi- national business. That’s his day job and he doesn’t want Newcastle United to become a day job as well.

“So he wants me to run the club and he wants to come and support it, which he thoroughly enjoys doing.

“He just wants me to get on with it. I understand what the financial spend of the club can be, but within those constraints it’s for me to go and run the business, and that includes deciding to sign players.

“In the summer, he didn’t get involved in any of the signings. That’s not the role he wants.

“We travel to games together, we talk as mates do about the team and how it’s going. But he’s not out to influence who’s in the team.

“He seems less involved day to day than, say, Roman Abramovich is at Chelsea. Mike’s a passionate supporter. In fact, my conversations with Mike in the context of Newcastle tend to be on matchdays and not often in between.”

So is Mort’s faith in Allardyce, never mind that of Ashley, more substantial than the positive soundbites issued by chairman and owner?

Despite the revelation that Big Sam’s tenure might have been over almost before it began, the answer is yes.

“Mike and I discussed at the start whether he (Allardyce) was the right person, because he wasn’t our appointment,” admits Mort.

“We had to decide whether we were going to stay with Sam or not. We concluded then that we should.

“He’s an experienced manager – and this club needs one because it’s a big club to run and there are some significant demands here.

“Since then, we’ve never sought to think about ‘right, who’s next?’”

Not even amid the slump in form which had seen United take two Premier League points out 18 before yesterday’s visit of Birmingham?

“Nothing’s changed between Sam and me,” Mort adds. “We sit down, go through business and talk about what’s happening with the team.

“We are both very frustrated by the level of inaccurate Press comment that’s been around over recent weeks, particularly in the nationals.

“But I assume Sam would say he feels that, in terms of a management and ownership team, we are stable and not going to do anything crazy.

“He and I are making plans about what’s happening next summer in terms of signings and the like.

“We’ve talked about how we’re planning to build this club up over a long period of time, and those are still our topics of conversation.”

Mort is dismissive of the idea that Ashley, although widely regarded as a loose cannon in the business world, is impetuous enough to fire Allardyce on a whim. His long-term investment in firms like Slazenger, Dunlop, Lonsdale, Everlast is cited as proof that Ashley has stickability.

“He has taken them under his wing and developed them over a period of years,” says Mort. “That’s what we talk about doing with Newcastle.”

They may be talking now, but frostier conversations may lie ahead for Mort and Allardyce.

Asked about their New Year transfer plans, Mort responds: “We had nine new signings in the summer . . . I think part of the difficulty we’ve had – particularly in defence – is getting those guys working together.

“I’m not convinced adding another two names in defence is necessarily going to be the solution this season.

“If I made any signings in January, they’d be young guys who I could see staying for a very long time, not immediate first-team regulars.”

Braced for the prospect of losing Abdoulaye Faye, Habib Beye, Geremi and Obafemi Martins for six weeks or more in January and February to the African Nations Cup, Allardyce may beg to differ.

But Mort insists: “Sam’s not pitched to me that we need to sign players because of that tournament.

“If I was going to sign anyone it would be with a much longer-term view than January and February.”

That means a policy shift at a club synonymous with trophy signings.

“Yes, we’re looking to build a first- team squad capable of competing at the top level, but we are also looking to improve at youth level and make signings there,” says Mort.

“That’s an area which Newcastle United, historically, hasn’t worried too much about. But Arsenal are the classic club to look at and see the value of making very smart young signings and developing players.”

In a city struggling to look past its team’s next game, that would be a bold policy.

Yet just one of many being pursued by a chairman who, never mind Mike Ashley, is warming to his task.