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Sam Allardyce has revealed the three stars that Mike Ashley refused to let him sign during his ill-fated stint in charge of Newcastle United.

Allardyce says he tried to sign England defender Phil Jaglielka, Real Madrid star Luka Modric and Chelsea ace Branislav Ivanovic.

Big Sam lasted just 24 matches before Ashley sacked him in 2008.

It was Freddy Shepherd who appointed the ex-Bolton Wanderers chief just weeks before Ashley took over the club.

Allardyce said: “It was the spending the power of Newcastle that attracted me.

“I’d had limited funds at Bolton and it was the opportunity for the bigger pot - and Freddy wanted to emulate the success they had in the Kevin Keegan era.

“With Mike taking over those funds never materialised. I had lined up moves for Phil Jaglielka, Luka Modric and Branislav Ivanovic - people on my Bolton recruitment database.

“Not big stars but quality players and with the finances I was being promised at Newcastle, we could have done something.”

However, Allardyce feels that Ashley’s decision to wield the axe prevented him managing a bigger club.

He added: “It ended up where I couldn’t get that bigger or better club, so I think there must have been something in my career that stopped me.

“I think it was Newcastle. Had that been successful with Freddy Shepherd, the man who appointed me, staying on, I might have got an even bigger club than Newcastle.

“I don’t blame Mike Ashley, because when you pay that amount for a football club and you know what you want to do with it, sometimes you like to get rid of the furniture you have inherited.”

And while some fans may see Allardyce’s words as arrogance of a high order, he feels his wife has always kept his feet on the ground.

He said: “Lynn knows how to keep my ego in check.

“It was way back in my younger days when I was getting carried away at Bolton.

“When I was thinking, ‘Look at me, I’ve built this team, we’ve got a cup final, we’ve got into Europe’.

“She gave me a bit of a slap down then.

“You only need to tell me once - well, she does!”