Mike Ashley is ready to end his history of appointing free agent managers at Newcastle United, according to the Chronicle.
The regional newspaper claim on their website that the controversial owner wants to approach the right candidate whether they are in work or not – after back-to-back appointments of Rafael Benitez and Steve McClaren.
The Chronicle report that Lee Charnley is assessing the potential of some of Europe’s brightest young coaches before the Magpies come to a decision.
Despite the claims, many free-agents have been linked with the job at St James’ Park, including Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Laurent Blanc.
Alongside them, OGC Nice boss Patrick Vieira, and Rangers’ Steven Gerrard have also been considered for the role.
OPINION
This comes as a shock to all, that Ashley is actually considering putting money on the table to persuade a manager to leave their club to join Newcastle. The owner’s history only leads to suggest that the Magpies will be happy to line up the free-agents and see who fits the best. They got incredibly lucky last time around that Champions League winner Benitez was willing to take over. Especially because the Spaniard had just left Real Madrid and that Newcastle were headed for Premier League relegation. It now may be the time to try and poach a young and upcoming manager such as Vieira, who could come in and deliver a fresh start – something that could give the fans something to believe in after a disastrous month or so. The Frenchman proved he can handle top competitions when finishing seventh in his first campaign in Ligue 1. This is the one of the most pivotal moments in the recent history of Newcastle and one wrong decision could see it all collapse in the North East.
