Alan Shearer left in limbo as Newcastle put up ‘for sale’ signs

Club make whole squad available for transfer
Newcastle United have delivered another painful snub to Alan Shearer after effectively putting their entire first-team squad up for sale.
Sixteen days after their relegation to the Coca-Cola Championship, Newcastle remain in turmoil, with no manager and no summer transfers in place. They invited further ridicule by inviting offers for the club by e-mail.
Shearer, their increasingly frustrated manager-in-waiting, returned from a four-day break in Portugal yesterday still eager to embrace the challenge of restoring lustre to his home-town club, but has no meetings planned with Mike Ashley, the owner.
Last week Shearer was granted a single conversation with Derek Llambias, the managing director. He had hoped to hear on Friday that Barclays Bank had effectively extended the club’s overdraft, making £40 million available as working capital — to buy players and pay wages — but has been told nothing. “Alan is completely in the dark,” one associate said.
Shearer was attempting to discover last night whether Ashley’s backing for his appointment has waned, as the club’s dallying would suggest. He will not impose any deadline on Newcastle and nor will he walk away while there is a possibility of the job materialising, but he wants every opportunity to make it work.
That includes having the means to restructure the squad and Shearer will be dismayed to learn that his blueprint for achieving promotion next season, which included building a side around the likes of Steven Taylor, Steve Harper and Sébastien Bassong, has been ignored.
A number of agents, as well as other clubs, have been informed that offers would be considered for Newcastle’s entire playing staff. It has also been reported that First Artists, the agency, has been charged with finding buyers for high earners including Obafemi Martins, Joey Barton and Fabricio Coloccini.
After his only day of face-to-face negotiations with Shearer, Ashley described hiring their former striker for the final eight games of the season as the “best decision” he has made, while Llambias stated that “we want him to be the manager 110 per cent”. It is an opinion still held by supporters, who recognise that Shearer provides them with credibility as well as offering emotional resonance.
In the immediate aftermath of relegation from the Barclays Premier League, Shearer continued to work for the club without pay, speaking to players and agents about potential signings and compiling a programme for pre-season. His treatment since then appears shoddy and fans, who will receive their season-ticket packs this week, have called for the owner to end the impasse. “It is vital that Mike Ashley acts quickly to quash the rumour and hearsay that surrounds the appointment of Alan Shearer as our manager,” Newcastle United Supporters Club said in a statement.
Yet Ashley’s regime continues to provoke embarrassment. Yesterday the club — who are set to lose 120 members of staff — confirmed on their website that “the club is for sale at the price of £100 million”. Interested parties were asked to “contact Newcastle United at admin@nufc.co.uk”, which led to them being inundated with abusive e-mails from Sunderland fans.
Sources close to the sale have suggested that Ashley will be lucky to attract £80 million for a club he bought for £134 million two years ago and in which he subsequently invested a further £110 million to reduce debts.
Source:The times