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Allardyce wields axe at Newcastle
NEWCASTLE, England (AFP) - New Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce wasted little time in swinging the axe with five players, including defender Titus Bramble, being told Wednesday that their contracts will not be renewed.
Bramble along with fellow defenders Craig Moore and Olivier Bernard, as well as keeper Pavel Srnicek and loan signing Oguchi Onyewu, will leave the club as Allardyce, who was named as Glenn Roeder's successor Tuesday, looks to rebuild.
Bramble, Moore, Bernard and Srnicek are all out of contract and United States international Onyewu has failed to make his mark since joining on loan from Belgian side Standard Liege in January.
Former England under-21 international Bramble arrived at St James' Park in 2001 but the 25-year-old paid for a series of costly errors.
Moore, 31, was hampered by lengthy injuries during his two seasons on Tyneside after a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach, but 21 of his 29 starts came this season.
Bernard did not make a single senior appearance in his second spell at St James' after returning from Rangers having lost his conditioning and regretting ever leaving the Magpies in the first place.
Srnicek was drafted in last autumn with Shay Given on the long-term injured list, and got his chance over Christmas with the Irishman and deputy Steve Harper both on the sidelines.
The 39-year-old came on as a substitute in the 3-1 win over Tottenham on December 23 for his first appearance for the club in nine years, and made his only start at Bolton on Boxing Day.
Onyewu, 25, was drafted in by Roeder in January as he looked to strengthen his defensive resources with no cash available.
However, he started only six games and made four further appearances as a substitute and was unable to persuade the club to take up an option on him.
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