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Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke in better days.Sunderland's revolving door just keeps on turning.

Pascal Chimbonda and Dwight Yorke have been told to look for new clubs as Roy Keane gets ruthless at Sunderland.
The pair were called in by Keane last Thursday and informed they would be made available for transfer when the window opens in January. Chimbonda was ordered to train with the club’s youngsters, just three months after his £6million switch from Tottenham.

Attitude

The 29-year-old has infuriated Keane with his lax attitude towards the club’s rules. He was late for training two weeks ago and lost his starting place at Stoke as a result.

And the former Spurs defender further upset his manager by attending the birthday party of Newcastle star Oba Martins less than 48 hours before Sunderland’s 5-0 defeat at Chelsea.

He will be offloaded if a buyer can be found. Chimbonda and Yorke were both included by Keane in Sunderland’s squad for their trip to Blackburn yesterday.

Dwight out of favour

Yorke can leave Stadium of Light too. Indeed, Keane had appeared to make peace with Yorke after being angered by the player’s decision to play twice for Trinidad and Tobago in September when he had only just recovered from injury.

The pair held clear-the-air talks after the Sunderland boss publicly admitted he regretted giving the 37-year-old a one-year contract extension.

Struggling

But Keane is now again prepared to off-load his former Manchester United team-mate, who was his first signing when he took over at the Stadium of Light.

The Sunderland boss has spent more than £80m in transfer fees in less than two and a half years at the helm.

But having won promotion in his first season in charge, the club are now struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League table.

Keane has now been told that the Drumaville Consortium, who bought the club for £10m from former chairman Bob Murray, will not sanction any more spending in January.

Instead Keane, who currently has 10 players out on loan, will have to create his own funds for reinvestment.

However, he was not eager to let striker Michael Chopra leave on a permanent deal. He insisted on a loan package when the former Newcastle striker returned to Cardiff at the start of this month.

A hint of doubt about Keane’s own future is beginning to cast a shadow over a club that had moved forward at a dramatic pace until their slump following a historic derby victory against Newcastle.

Contract talks were due to begin again this month, but the focus now is on arresting an alarming slump in form and on regaining the whole-hearted backing of supporters.

Deals involving more than 100 players have taken place since Niall Quinn appointed Keane in 2006. Those in control now want the constant turnaround in personnel to slow down.