The trophy guy
Over 40% of the Toon Army want Martin O’Neill to take over appointed as the next manager of Newcastle United.
The former Celtic boss quit Aston Villa just before the start of the season and has topped a poll carried out by the Newcastle Chronicle newspaper.
Newcastle is second only to Glasgow when it comes to rumours with speculation throughout the day that Alan Pardew is the man wanted by Mike Ashley for the St James Park hotseat.
The former Charlton and Southampton manager picked up less than 2% of the votes cast- 15 in total.
O’Neill collected 42.3% of the votes cast with former Ajax boss Martin Jol given the backing of 32.8% of the Toon Army.
BBC pundit and former caretaker manager Alan Shearer polled just 7.8% of the votes cast but has let it be known that he has no intention of working under the Ashley regime.
Unlike most out of work managers O’Neill has kept a near invisable profile since leaving Villa Park after four seasons in charge.
The word from Newcastle is that there is very little money to spend which which would be a very obvious deterrent for the former Celtic boss.
Getting handed a transfer budget has been essential in O’Neill’s previous managemt jobs allowing him to put his stamp on the club as quickly as possible.
Boardroom interference is a complete no go area where the Irishman is concerned but outwith Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger very few Premiership bosses enjoy the sort of job descriptions that would satisfy O’Neill.
At 58 years of age the chances of landing one of the top English jobs may have passed O’Neill by but the challenge of proving himself again may just fire up his competitive edge.
Latest odds from William Hill: Alan Pardew 1/25, Jurgen Klinsman 6/1, Ray Wilkins 7/1, Martin Jol 9/1Martin O’Neill 10/1, Paul Lambert 20/1, Gordon Strachan 40/1, Paul Gascoigne 100/1
Return of the captaincy debate
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