TO what extent can a football club be run like any other business? Keep an eye on Newcastle United next season, and you should find out.

If 2010's promotion to the Premier League marked phase one of Mike Ashley's blueprint for the Magpies, and last season's survival represented a successful resolution to phase two, the last three weeks have seen a dramatic shift to a new era in the club's development.

Self sufficiency? Not quite. But it does not take long to conclude that a new air of austerity is apparent at St James' Park.

That's why Kevin Nolan is no longer at the club, having unsuccessfully demanded a new five-year deal. It's why Joey Barton is on his way out of Tyneside, even though he was most people's choice as Newcastle's Player of the Year last season. And it's why the players arriving to replace them fit a very specific template that is as much to do with financial stability as footballing talent.

Will it work? Only time will tell. But having gambled in the wake of relegation by holding on to some of Newcastle's highest-paid players, Ashley is arguably taking an even bigger risk this summer by letting up to half-a-dozen of them go.

In terms of the balance book, the policy makes sense. In a nutshell, Ashley is desperate to avoid a scenario similar to the one he inherited, whereby Newcastle's squad was populated by aging former stars, on sky-high wages, whose resale value was a fraction of the sums that had been paid to sign them in the first place.

From now on, anyone approaching the final year of their contract will be in a vulnerable position. If, like Nolan and Barton, they are approaching their 30s, they will be offered a short-term deal at best. And if they want to reject it, their exit will be sealed.

On the opposite side of the coin, the days of throwing big money at established stars, whether to fund transfer fees or wages, are long gone.

Instead, the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Sylvain Marveaux will become the norm. Young (preferably 24 years old or less), probably foreign (as the financial premium for English players tends to add £3-4m to a transfer fee and £10-20,000-a-week to a pay packet) and often with a point to prove, whether that be because of a failure to live up to previous expectations or a succession of injuries that have hampered a player's development.

The financial benefits are obvious, and by the end of the summer, Newcastle's wage bill will have reduced markedly, but the squad's potential value in two or three years' time should have increased.

So far, so good. And that's before we even consider the £35m thats still swilling around from the sale of Andy Carroll.

The problem, however, is that footballing success isn't measured on a balance sheet, it's determined on the pitch.

And for all that Newcastle's summer transfer dealings look good on paper, there's no guarantee they'll result in a team capable of pushing on towards the top half of the Premier League.

Will Cabaye be a decent replacement for Nolan? He might be, but at this stage, nobody can possibly know whether he'll help replace the 12 goals the former skipper scored last season.

Will Marveaux be the new David Ginola? Perhaps, but maybe he'll be the new Albert Luque instead.

Might Mevlut Erdinc fill the gap left by Carroll? Newcastle fans have seen enough 'superstar centre-forwards' down the years to know it's best to reserve judgement at this stage.

Ashley's new model will stand or fall on the strength of his signings, and that's why Graham Carr, ostensibly the club's chief scout but effectively the director of football that Ashley wanted to install when he recruited Dennis Wise, is now the most important employee on Newcastle's books.

Carr, rather than Alan Pardew or Chris Hughton before him, is driving the recruitment programme, and therefore Newcastle's fate is effectively in his hands.

If four or five of his summer signings come off, significant progress is possible. If three or four of them flop, however, a relegation battle beckons without the likes of Nolan, Barton and Jose Enrique to recreate the battling spirit of the promotion campaign.

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WHEN Rory McIlory imploded on the final day of the US Masters, fears were expressed that the Northern Irishman might never recover from the mental scars inflicted by the experience.

Not any more. By trouncing the best players in the world by eight shots to win the US Open at Congressional, McIlroy confirmed himself as a golfing great.

He is the youngest US Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923, and the youngest Major winner since a certain Tiger Woods.

The Woods comparisons are impossible to avoid, but in terms of personality and demeanour, McIlroy could hardly be more different to the surly, robotic American.

Woods was admired for his excellence, but little else. McIlroy, with his broad smile and approachability , is destined to be a fans' favourite for years to come.

At the age of just 22, there is surely no limit to what he can go on to achieve.

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With more than 1.5m Olympic football tickets going on sale this month, it's easy to be cynical about the BOA's motives for announcing an historic agreement about a GB football team, even though the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs seemingly knew nothing about the arrangement.

Jumping the gun? Possibly. But maybe there's another explanation for the sudden desire to crowbar Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish youngsters into the team.

Having watched England's performances at the European Under-21 Championships, it's easy to imagine the conversation that took place between the BOA and the other home nations.

"We know the English players are going to be rubbish, but you lot are also going to have to take your share of the blame."