Uncle Mike Flies In

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NEWCASTLE owner Mike Ashley will return from a business trip to Hong Kong today and will immediately step up the club’s search for a new manager.

 

Following the failed bid to land Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp last week, the Magpies hierarchy have sensibly taken their time as they plot their next move.

 

Blackburn Rovers manager Mark Hughes remains the favourite to land the post, but both he and Rovers’ chairman John Williams are adamant they have had no contact with United since Sam Allardyce’s removal last Wednesday.

 

The Journal understands that a list of around 10 names has been drawn up by Newcastle chairman Chris Mort, which reads like a who’s who of European managers as they consider every possible option to fill their vital vacancy.

 

Hughes is on that list, but it is far from certain he will be offered the job, with the prospect of a big European name like AZ Alkmaar’s Louis van Gaal or former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier landing the prize a growing possibility.

 

Sources at St James’s Park have been increasingly keen to stress in the last few days that nationality is not important when it comes to the appointment, despite earlier suggestions that Ashley wanted someone British. Jose Mourinho continues to be the number one choice for most fans, but there is a feeling the Portuguese is waiting for an opportunity to manage one of the top clubs on the Continent rather than return to the Premier League.

 

Former United boss Kevin Keegan, who could potentially take over in partnership with ex-Magpies captain Alan Shearer, refused to rule himself out of the job yesterday, but the club’s record goalscorer remains silent as he tries to enjoy the sunshine in Barbados. Hughes has also tried to adopt a similar

 

strategy, but those close to the former Wales striker are confident he will accept the job if it is offered to him. For now, though, Blackburn remain hopeful they will not be getting a call from Ashley or Mort because they have cast their net beyond these shores.

 

“We have had no contact from Newcastle whatsoever,” said Williams yesterday, who will reject United’s approach if it does come, unless Hughes demands to be allowed to talk to the Magpies. “He is doing a great job here and we obviously want to keep him. We are chasing a Uefa Champions League place, so why would he want to leave?”

 

Sources have indicated that Hughes is interested in the position, partly because it could improve his chances of being offered the manager’s job at the club where he made his name, Manchester United, further down the line. The former centre-forward has told friends that he lacks the necessary Champions League experience to have any hope of being considered for that job in the future. He feels Newcastle offer him a higher profile position in which his achievements will be impossible to ignore. He also feels they have the potential to return to the top tier of European football.

 

The pressure and scrutiny of life as manager of English football’s great under-achievers will also add another dimension to his CV. As much as he enjoys life at Blackburn, he knows it is not one of the big jobs in English football because there is little pressure on him and even less media interest.

 

There is no suggestion that Hughes will be interested in the Manchester United job in the short term and he is unlikely to be considered to replace Sir Alex Ferguson when the Scot retires in two or three years’ time. That will give him the time to try to bring a spectacular change in Newcastle’s fortunes before any potential move to Old Trafford becomes a possibility. Some Newcastle fans will bristle with indignation that their club might be considered a stepping stone to bigger and better things, but the lure of Old Trafford for Hughes is similar to the affinity Shearer has with St James’s Park.

 

Few will also complain if Hughes enjoys a successful five or six years before leaving for another challenge.

 

Meanwhile, Keegan was evasive yesterday when asked whether he would be interested in returning to the club he galvanised in the early 1990s. He said: “You’re asking a lot of questions I can’t really answer. I’m not ruling myself out or in or anything. It’s a club I love, that’s what I am prepared to say, everyone knows that, and it’s a club I’ve managed before.”

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Hughes is on that list, but it is far from certain he will be offered the job, with the prospect of a big European name like AZ Alkmaar’s Louis van Gaal or former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier landing the prize a growing possibility.