PRIME minister Tony Blair, an avid Newcastle fan, has criticised Magpies manager Kenny Dalglish's decision to sell French winger David Ginola. But Dalglish responded that he had no choice in the matter.
In an article for tomorrow's Mail on Sunday, the PM talks about his passion for the Magpies, and his admiration for Ginola, who Dalglish sold to Spurs for £2m in 1997, two years after Kevin Keegan took him to Newcastle for £2.5m. ''I don't get to see them as much as I would like these days, but I follow their progress closely," says Blair, "closely enough to know we are not as bad as we seem, close enough to know we shouldn't have sold David Ginola.''
But Dalglish replied: ''My hands were tied. David Ginola had already made up his mind. This was made plain to me when he failed to return for pre-season training, and he'd made it plain he wanted to leave the club. I couldn't do anything about the situation, it had gone too far, and anyway, in the end, I decided I needed to concentrate on players who wanted to play for Newcastle United. I had nothing against him but it was just circumstances were out of my control.''
At the time, Dalglish has the backing of many Newcastle fans, but Ginola's inspirational form in a struggling Spurs side this season has frustrated members of the Toon Army forced to watch the palid football their heroes have served up. Mark Jensen, editor of the fanzine 'The Mag', says: ''It was right to sell Ginola, and I am sure the vast majority of Newcastle fans would agree. He'd stopped playing for Newcastle about a year before he left the club. The first five months he was on Tyneside, David was superb, but after that there was always the feeling among the fans that he was on a downward trend.
''We decided to have a poll before he departed the club on whether he should stay. In that poll 82% of the fans said he should go. I believe that Dalglish's sales have been right. But what I would question are that some of his signings haven't worked out yet.''
The Prime Minster explained how important Newcastle are too him: ''Football has always played an important part in my life. From the age of seven, my father used to take me to watch Newcastle at St James's Park.

CASIRAGHI DEAL DOESN'T MEAN THE END FOR SPARKY CHELSEA unveiled new £4.5m Italian striker Pierluigi Casiraghi yesterday, then told warhorse Mark Hughes: You've still got a future here. The Lazio star's arrival would seem to signal the end of the Welshman's days at Chelsea, but the club insist that isn't the case. Even though they now have five world-class strikers on their books player-manager Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, Tore Andre Flo, Hughes and Casiraghi managing director Colin Hutchinson insists that the club has no plans to show Hughes the door. He said: We well meet with Mark next week to try to sort out his future, but we will not push him out. Whether the former Manchester United star will accept a bit part role next season is another matter, but there are plenty of clubs including West Ham, Leicester and Bolton watching events with interest. Casiraghi, who missed out on a place in the Italy squad for France 98, signed a four-year contract and is relishing the opportunity of joining the Cup-Winners' Cup holders. He said: There was interest from other clubs, but this was the move I wanted. I have watched English football for a long time and that is the reason I have come to Chelsea. I have been at Lazio for five years and needed a change of scene."

GOLDBERG GIVEN A NEW DEADLINE MARK GOLDBERG'S tiresome takeover of Crystal Palace has been delayed yet again and is now scheduled to be completed on Tuesday. Friday's deadline for the £30m deal came and went without an announcement from Selhurst Park, as the saga took the latest in a series of bizarre twists. Football365 has learned that chairman Ron Noades has agreed to extend what he had earlier claimed was the absolute deadline, to give solicitors more time to finalise the small print. The funds are now understood to be in place and computer business tycoon Goldberg will return from a family holiday in time to complete the deal early next week. Once the takeover is sealed, Goldberg can begin to implement his bold five-year plan to transform Palace into one of the biggest teams in England. He has already appointed former England coach Terry Venables as manager with Kenny Sansom, currently part of Glenn Hoddle's England set-up, as his assistant. It is an incredible turn of events for Sansom, who was axed from the same role as Attilio Lombardo's number two after just 30 minutes as the Selhurst Park saga descended into farce. The new regime's first task will be to persuade key players such as Lombardo, Matt Jansen and Marc Edworthy to stay. After the handover, Noades is expected to complete his £750,000 purchase of a majority shareholding in Third Division side Brentford.

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