Allardyce May Make Renewed Bid For Brown

Early on Friday afternoon, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that he had rejected an offer from Newcastle for utility defender Wes Brown.

England international Brown, 28, is out of contract at the end of the season and has turned down United's final offer of a contract extension.

But despite the earlier knock-back, Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce is planning to hold talks with Magpies' chairman Chris Mort about making another bid.

Allardyce still believes that Brown would bolster Newcastle's shaky defence.

"I will have to speak to the chairman over that," Allardyce told Sky Sports News.

"From my point of view, I would like Wes Brown very, very much. A hugely experienced defender coming in would be fantastic.

"From our point of view, we have had a problem of not keeping enough clean sheets and this effectively means we have to score at least two goals to win a football match.

"If we can [resolve] that side of our defensive problems with Wes, that would be fantastic. I would have to speak to Chris on that to see whether we can move it forward or whether we can't."

Allardyce also played down the possibility of moving for Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim, with whom the manager worked when both were at Bolton Wanderers.

Refuting reports of an imminent bid for Ben Haim, Allardyce said: "I don't think so at the moment, that's not one we've certainly pursued anyway."