Allardyce.

[Jockstar]

I dont think he'll go.

Newcastle forced to start over in manager search

Newcastle were today forced to renew their search for a new manager after Harry Redknapp rejected the chance to head for St James' Park.

The 60-year-old held talks with Magpies chairman Chris Mort yesterday, but after mulling over the offer, turned up for training this morning to reveal he had decided to stay with Pompey.

Redknapp's decision will come as a massive blow to Mort and owner Mike Ashley, who had been confident of landing their number one target after dispensing with the services of Sam Allardyce on Wednesday.

They now find themselves back at square one after days of frenzied speculation with much more to come.

Newcastle privately insisted from the off that they were looking to recruit an experienced manager, and hinted that their focus was on one currently in employment.

That instantly ruled out fans' favourite Alan Shearer, who intimated through friends in the immediate aftermath of Allardyce's departure that he was not a candidate to replace him.

The story took in intriguing twist last night when reports surfaced that the 37-year-old had suggested he would take the job if offered it, although the claims were given little credence.

Shearer's name will inevitably figure significantly in the betting - he was swiftly installed as a 5-2 favourite by Ladbrokes this morning - and it remains to be seen how committed the club is to recruiting a man with a proven track record.

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes found himself thrust into the race for the hot-seat as Redknapp emerged as the front-runner, although he expressed his satisfaction with his lot at Ewood Park yesterday.

Everton's David Moyes too was an early contender, but chairman Bill Kenwright later revealed he had received assurances from Ashley that his manager was not in his sights.

There is popular support too for former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and Martin Jol, while the frankly unlikely prospect of Kevin Keegan returning to St James', either as manager or in partnership with Shearer, remains for many the dream ticket.

However, there was talk on Tyneside in the wake of Redknapp's decision of former England boss Steve McClaren, an outsider in the betting at 33-1, nursing Shearer through the early years of his management career.

Having seen their first attempt fail, Ashley and Mort will now step up their search knowing all the time that as the days slip by, so to do their new manager's chances of strengthening a squad depleted by the departures of Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye, Geremi and Obafemi Martins for the African Nations Cup in the winter transfer window.

Redknapp had reportedly been offered a £20million kitty, but Allardyce admitted as he planned his own recruitment drive that the best signings will be made during the first two weeks of the month.

The former Bolton boss returned to the club's training ground yesterday to say his goodbyes to the players before they set off for this evening's Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester United.

They will run out at Old Trafford themselves not knowing what the future holds as the turmoil goes on.

By contrast, Redknapp will head for the dug-out at the Stadium of Light tomorrow still wearing Pompey colours, and he is likely to be greeted as warmly by the Sunderland fans as by those of his own club as they revel in their arch-rivals' discomfort.

[mrtoad]

Anyone believe what Redknapp is saying?

Pretty sure, that he's holding out for some more brown envelopes stuffed with cash. I'm sure that Southampton fans will be laughing about his loyalty, etc, etc.... afterall, he walked out once before on Portsmouth to go to their biggest rivals.

Ther is something not right here.

I was told (reliably) that he had already accepted in principal, the job, when Allardyce left.

Then we have all these smoking mirrors,about no contact etc etc, which is BS.

Who knows anymore?

Have to agree, something doesn't seem right, but I wouldn't be suprised in the least if Arry ends up walking out on Pompey in the coming days.

[oldgit]

I was interested to see how Newcastle would react after the departure of Allardyce.Would Smith and Butt raise their games against their old club,fight for every ball?Who would stand up for the cause?Well,after last night,Butt was only marginally better than Smith who was woeful.Who's idea was it to make him captain,anyway?Whoever takes over should show those two the door together with that overrated pile of rubbish Barton(although he'll probably be banged up).I think whoever comes in,though,will inherit some very good players,albeit playing without any confidence.I've always lliked Milner,N'Zogbia,Taylor,Martins,Owen and Shay Given.It's the first time I've seen Enrique and he looks decent,Duff and Viduka will do a job so,if its true that Ashley is willing to put up 20M,then some intelligent wheeling and dealing could assemble a good squad.Something the Barra' Boy is pretty adept at.Problem is,how would the Geordies react with a Cockney in their midst?!

[fletchsmile]

...

But most of there midfield are in Africa now. . . so hope isn't all lost . . and it'll also take a miracle to get that bunch playing half decently.

...

Africa? Ah.. so that's where the team went in the second half of the match. The bar closed, so I only saw the first half 0-0. I was wondering if they came back for the second half

....

At the end of the day Sam was an average manager who had great belief in himself. His managerial tactics revolved around playing percentages. Eliminating flair and hoping to score from set pieces wasn't going to win over the fans. The point he was missing was that Arsenal/Man Utd score goals through flair/creativity and have an organised defence. Under Allardyce Newcastle had neither.

...

I think there's a bit more to him than that. He took one of the weakest clubs in the Premiership, in poor financial shape, and got it consistently ranked in top 7/8. That's 1/3's of clubs above and 2/3's below. I don't think you beat 2/3's of the Premiership based on percentages and negative football. Particularly if you think Liverpool, Chelsea, ManU and Aresenal will usually be top4. That would be a sad reflection on the rest of the premiership, to say they're vitually all consistently beaten by playing negatively on %'s.

A lot of the negative image Sam got was from big televised matches, where preference is given to the big4. For the big4 of course Bolton couldn't compete on skill, quality, when their most expensive signing (pre-Anelka) was around 3mio. Under Sam Bolton had little money to spend, and usually generated positive transfer revenue having to sell anyone that got "too good". So whenever playing big 4 teams, they had to stop them playing/ negate their systems. Anything else was a sure loss on the pitch and probably financial suicide.

Sam was also excellent at spotting good deals in the transfer markets, and turning round problem players, or has beens. Diouf used to be a disgrace, and is much improved. Anelka was always fickle and starting to look past it/ too high a risk for Premier League. At Bolton he got back on track. Doubling his value. Even at 15mio he is a good deal now.

I was interested to see how Newcastle would react after the departure of Allardyce.Would Smith and Butt raise their games against their old club,fight for every ball?..

Me too. I think the result says it all. The players have no team spirit, and need a man manager. The set-up won't change in half a season. I wonder who the fans turned on after Saturday's result...

[Jockstar]

Souness would return to Toon 'in a heartbeat'

Former Newcastle boss Graeme Souness admits he would return to St James' Park 'in a heartbeat'.

Harry Redknapp yesterday turned down the role following Sam Allardyce's exit - and Newcastle have been told by Portsmouth they will be wasting their time making any more bids for the 60-year-old.

But Souness, who endured a difficult spell from 2004-06 as Magpies boss under Freddy Shepherd, admitted he would be happy to return to Tyneside under new owner Mike Ashley and chairman Chris Mort.

Asked on Sky Sports 1 if he would be interested in going back, Souness said: 'With [there now being] a different chairman, most certainly.'

When pressed on whether he would take the job if it was offered to him, he added: 'In a heartbeat. It is a big club, one of the big clubs out there.

'It has got the potential to be one of the best. But it's not a quick fix, and whoever goes in there is going to need certainly a minimum of three or four years.'

Newcastle spent vast sums on transfers during Souness' tenure - including the signing of Michael Owen from Real Madrid - but the Scot refuted the suggestion he was fully backed by then-chairman Shepherd.

'I would argue that point because at the end of the day my first choice was (Nicolas) Anelka and (Luis) Boa Morte.

'I was told, when I spoke to the people in Turkey, when Anelka was for sale at that time, that he could be bought. But I was told he wasn't for sale and couldn't be bought.

'So instead of us spending the £12million there, we bought Albert Luque for £10million and Michael Owen for £16million.'

Asked whether those were his decisions, Souness said: 'No. I was told Albert Luque would cost £2million.'

Redknapp yesterday decided to stay at Fratton Park, where chief executive Peter Storrie says he has 'a job for life'.

Speaking on Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme, Storrie said: 'Harry has made it perfectly clear he has made his decision - he wants to stay at Portsmouth.

'That is the end of the matter. He has made it plain it is not about money so Newcastle can continue to offer him what they like.

'We only allowed Harry to have a conversation with them as it brought the matter to a head.

'It is a disruptive time for anyone to have done this in the middle of the transfer window.

'I can understand why Newcastle wanted him as he is one of the best managers in the Premier League.

'But Harry knows he has a job here for as long as he wants it. He can see there is the potential to go forward.'

Former Newcastle owner and chairman Sir John Hall, meanwhile, rates former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier ahead of Redknapp.

Hall said: 'I am pleased that Harry has dropped out.

'None of the fans I have spoken to were behind him. They did not feel he was any better than Sam.

'I have a high regard for Gerard Houllier and he could do a job at Newcastle. He did well at Lyon.'

But Hall poured cold water on a potential partnership between two Geordie icons Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer.

'Alan is the most dedicated professional I have ever met,' he said.

'He will probably be a tremendous manager but I do not think he would be prepared to come in yet.

'Kevin has maybe had his time in football and is now doing other things.'

Hall is confident owner Ashley and chairman Mort can turn things around.

Former Bolton boss Allardyce was already in place when they arrived and Hall said: 'I have a certain sympathy for Mike Ashley and Chris Mort.

'Ashley and his team are dedicated to the club. He has just come into the game and it takes time to get into the passion of the club.

'However I cannot understand the timing of Allardyce's departure. I would have let him stay until the end of the season.

'The players let Allardyce down. The displays have been abysmal - probably some of the worst I have seen in 20 years.'

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes has now been installed as bookmakers' favourite for the Newcastle job.

But ahead of his side's match against Bolton, the former Wales manager told Sky Sports 1: 'All this speculation has been going on for quite some time, but my focus today is obviously on getting a result for Blackburn Rovers, as it always is.

'I don't really want to be talking about speculation that has nothing to do with me. It's a case of getting the lads focused and that's what we're trying to do.'

[mrtoad]

So where will Allardyce actually end up. Republic of Ireland, or maybe Sheffield United?

[chavy]

Bury

In fact on my footy forum one guy seems positive he'll end up at "The Custard Bowl" I'm still trying to find out where that is ?

[mrtoad]

Bury

In fact on my footy forum one guy seems positive he'll end up at "The Custard Bowl" I'm still trying to find out where that is ?

Do Birds have there own team?