Newcastle Managing Director Lee Charnley has a been given a difficult task, and the Express is reporting today the 36 year-old has been given a week to come up with a short-list of candidates for the vacant management position at Newcastle.
Lee Charnley and Mike Ashley
In an attempt to keep some stability at the club, Ashley has given John Carver the caretaker manager position in charge of things for the next two games at home to Burnley on Thursday afternoon and at Leicester in the FA Cup 3rd round two days later.
John will give the press conference today for tomorrow’s game against Burnley, so that will be interesting, but he needs the support of Newcastle fans and another Geordie, Steve Stone, will be his assistant.
Both games are winnable and it will be interesting how we do in those games, although Papiss Cisse is out and he’s been banned for three games.
Papiss, Cheick Tiote and Mehdi Abeid are off to play in the African Cup of Nations at the weekend.
Mehdi has played only one game for us since breaking a toe when he was with the Algerian squad in mid-November, but that doesn’t stop him going off to play in the tournament, which starts next month.
Mike Ashley is back from his Barbados vacation next week and will peruse the list that Lee has come up with, at that time.
John Carver was in charge for seven games earlier this year when Alan Pardew got himself banned for head-butting David Meyler at Hull, and John only won one game and we lost the other six and only scored tow goals.
If the news is to believed, then Tony Pulis has already turned us down, and Tim Sherwood probably wouldn’t come to the north-east, because of all the restrictions placed on the manager at Newcastle.
The word is out on Mike Ashley.
Newcastle have been linked with Tony Pulis, Tim Sherwood, Hull boss Steve Bruce, Ajax coach Frank de Boer, Besiktas coach Slaven Bilic, Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier, Derby coach Steve McClaren, and former England manager Glenn Hoddle – so that’s a fairly unimpressive list of managers.
A number of those managers like Steve Bruce and Tony Pulis are simply middle of the table managers at best, but that may be good enough for Mike Ashley, but it will be difficult to get a good manager in who has to manage within the heavy restrictions placed on them by the owner.
An excellent young coach is Eddie Howe, who has done great things at Bournemouth over the last few years, but we don’t know if Newcastle would be interested in him, and don’t know if Eddie would be interested in joining Newcastle with Bournemouth top of the Championship at the moment.
Probably not.
Alan Pardew towed the party line for four years on Tyneside, but then seemed to get sick of the inability to keep (and get) good players at the club.
Lee Charnley is a company man, very quiet, but he gets knuckles down and gets stuff done, but this task will not be an easy one for him.
An outside bet would be that John Carver and Steve Stone are in the job through the end of the season, if Newcastle cannot bring in a suitable candidate in mid-season.
What do you think?
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15 comments so far
scout
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:32 AM
Comment #1Would like to see OLeary in as manager. I met him at York races and seemed very keen on the job when I mentioned it a few years back. Hes been out of the game a while, but hes a manager not a coach like Carver.
A man that commands respect and would have us playing fluent attacking football.
hibbit
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:37 AM
Comment #2expat mr tubbs will have an exit plan……there are buyers out there….. i for one don’t move in those circles to know who they are
cyprus
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:37 AM
Comment #3Ed,
Having lived in the USA, I’m sure you see that a very centralised management, with one dude pulling all the strings, is inefficient these days. In the old Fergie-style days, it was all much simpler. These days, you need a team of people looking at potential talent in all corners of the world; you need someone(s) to analyse opposition and their strengths-weaknesses at any given time; you need people to assess your own players, one by one, at many levels (e.g. endurance, comparison with the opposition respective player, etc.). In short, having worked in management, you know that a one-man-band, a dude who plays all the instruments, is a thing of the past. A symphony orchestra sounds much better.
SO: a head coach is what we want. Nothing wrong with that.
And while we are at it: a set plays specialist. Fire the clown who’s been responsible for those. (Unless it’s the guy who’s heading to Palace.)
Douglas
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:41 AM
Comment #4Charnley will make a list of managers who like to play good football and are ambitious and discard them for a start. He’ll then make a list of maqnagers who want to manage and discard them too. Football teams being multilingual, my guess is that he’ll look for someone who has the ability to say yes in 4 or more languages.
Mag52
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:48 AM
Comment #5Cyprus.
We’ve badly missed the abilities of Ryan Taylor and Yohan Cabaye at set plays.
Mag52
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:52 AM
Comment #6Douglas.
Re the language issue, all the new guy will need to say is ‘yes Sir’.
Ibizatoon
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:52 AM
Comment #7Morning all,
So, a week to get a list together, will take us to the 7th of January. Leaving us just over 2 weeks in the transfer window.
There will be further internal discussions, then contacting people off the list, then getting turned down by people off the list, finally when someone does agree, advanced negotiations will take place.
My point is, what hope is there of a) getting a manager in before the end of the window and b) having any time to bring in players?
We seem to have enough problems with that line when we’re supposedly prepared.
I still predict limbo for the next few weeks, with Carver or someone else from within our current setup taking control to the end of the season.
That is unless we get spanked during these next two games, in which case Ashley may panic in to doing better.
Of course this is guess work. I truly hope I’m wrong.
Pardew still not confirmed at Palace? Do you think it took 24 hours just to get him to stop weeping at all the abuse from being hounded out by the nasty mean Geordies?
Actually, it’s probably been weird for him talking with Parish and co.
“Why are you asking me? Don’t you just tell me what to do and say?”
“No Alan, we pay you for your advice and expertise”
“Really? Ermmm….”
lochinvar
Dec 31, 2014 at 8:58 AM
Comment #8Ashley maybe on holiday in Barbados but that’s also a good spot to meet up with potential American investors. Florida is on the door step. Ashley knows that The Far East market for a fan base is dominated by clubs that play in Red ( Mancs, Scousers, Gooners, Cardiff ! ) so limited for Toon marketing, but that the USA is still open to development for ” soccer”. He has ambitions for Sports Direct to be Global and tie ups with America means big bucks for him. If he wants to finalise the Rangers deal and needs to offload NUFC ( or part of it ) to meet Financial Regulations then setting up some sort of American Franchise deal might make sense. Do not be surprised when something like this happens. Pruning costs before a sale is standard practice in selling on a business. It also allows new owners to make their own appointments. What’s Jurgan Klinnsman up to these days – and there’s the old boys Spurs connection for Ashley to tap into. Or maybe just settle for Carver as Klinnsman doesn’t like pies.
firebug666
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:01 AM
Comment #9Ibizatoon
PMSL. He may leave here a broken man, but he will still have the same delusional, egotistical persona he arrived here with.
In a few months the Palace fans will be asking Sackpardew.com if they can borrow their site,
I notice Arsenal are at it again, trying to unsettle our players, this time a bid of £9m for Sissoko.
Harley
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:08 AM
Comment #10I cannot see any manager other than one who is on the scrap heap coming here.
Like pardew was when we signed him, it’ll be a curbishley or an oLeary who will agree to almost anything just to get back in to management.
Ashley is taking standing of the club lower every year. Throughout the last 20 years it has been regarded as one of the top jobs in football to be Newcastle manager.
Now you have no marks like pulis ruling himself out (apparently) and clubs like crystal palace sounding more appealing.
Of the scrap heap managers I’d like Hoddle or Venables. But I’m not sure even they would work for Ashley.
storza
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:18 AM
Comment #11I’ve heard Nigel worthington is on a short list. Really hope not but you know what Ashley is like.
ash1001
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:22 AM
Comment #12ED – simple question, have you ever met Lee Charnley, he is 100% yes man to Ashley, so what sort of genuine list is he going to draw up, Ashley will have given terms of reference and if the past is anything to go by the list is not going to be very impressive, we could end up with another puppet and probably will.
Better the devil you know comes to mind. Come back Alan.
Marty-Toon
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:26 AM
Comment #13Don’t thonk Hoddle would be any good,he’s a decent coach and was a great player but as manager?
He was a useless weird England manager
ToonMatt
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:31 AM
Comment #14Is that Lee Charnley really only 36? lol he looks like the love child of Mike Ashley and Eddie Hitler!
grem1983
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:42 AM
Comment #15@ibizatoon
1st off, Charnley has been given a week to draw up a list yes, this doesn’t mean it will take a week! If I ask you to draw up a list now you could probs do it in about 20 mins so the next 7 days he isnt just gonna be sat there thinking wow who can I add to this list, he will have multiple duties to carry out over the next 7 days.
As we all know the manager has no real say on which players we actually buy and I would imagine we have already drawn up a shortlist of players we are going to make offers for once the window opens. So us not having a manager will have very little effect of transfer incoming and outgoings