I can't believe they sacked him.

He took them back to the Premiership and had them sitting comfortably mid-table spending very little money in the process.

O'Neill won't take it- the reason he left Villa was because the chairman refused to give him additional funds to strengthen. He wants to manage a club capable of winning the premiership and where is provided with the resources to do so. Everybody knows Mike Ashley is not the chairman to help a manager realise that dream.

It'll be Curbishley or Pardew.

With out funds to strengthen the squad no manager will take over from Hughton and outperform him.

I agree he wont take it without total control and some funds.

You can argue Newcastle have the potential to make enough money that they can compete for the top prizes, they have many things in their favour, huge local following, decent stadium, no other big clubs in the region, global recognision to cash in on (to a point), and Ashley might be delusional enough to think ONeill is the man to get them there and be willing to hand over control and funds to do that. Maybe its nervousness about what Huyton would do with a lot of money that was behind this, with a more seasoned name there are more reassurances.

Whether ONeill is a good enough manager to do that is still open to question. He's undoubtedly pretty good, but maybe not as good as he thinks he is given the track record

What about Martin Jol? He looks like he might be the man.

If I was a Newcastle fan then of the British based managers "available" O'Neill would probably be my first choice.

I still can't see him being lured there. He had better, younger players at Villa and walked away.

I don't think Newcastle has much global appeal- hasn't Mike Ashley been trying to sell it for several years now???

By the way Liverpool are 2-0 up against Villa. I think Liverpool would be foolish to sack Hodgson. Again a good manager who has had no funds and inherited an ageing team.

I love Martin Jol & Martin Jol love's me! Interestingly they were just talking about him on ESPN being the Newcastle Boss!

Isn't Mourinho on about returning to England and continuing his rivalry with Ferguson?

And he loves Robbie Keane so a straight swap for Andy Carroll in Jan?

He's available now..........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...pe/9262338.stm

Interesting. Martin Jol would be alright, but frankly I prefer Hughton in the circumstances. Ashley is mad. OK the last two away games at Stoke and WBA have been awful, but they drew with Chelsea in between and have Nolan, Barton, Williamson and Collicini (plus several others) out on either injuries or suspensions. Sacking the only manager around who is (was) willing to try his hand without a budget or complaints about not having a budget is ludicrous.

Ah well. it was quite nice in the Championship.

This bloke's available

I doubt anyone with top-flight credentials wants to manage anything other than a top-flight club, which Newcastle are nowhere near at the moment. Newcastle probably need to settle for a manager who has solid mid-table Premier League ambitions to match the owner's, or one the the top five Coca-Cola Premier managers.Championship managers.

If Huyton was acked due to limited Premiership experience, surely Ashley knew that when he hired him. How does one get Premiership experience without managing a Premiership team?

How about Steve McClaren? He's done pretty well since leaving England. I suspect the likes of Jol and O'Neill will be waiting for the Liverpool job to become available.

Looks like its Pardew. Very strange.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/r...ewcastle-rein/

I only hope that I live long enough to look back on this idiocy with an indulgent smile.

Strange is not the word. He has two years of Premiership experience, during which he managed Wet Sham's worst run of results in 70 years and Charlton's relegation.

It's not exactly inspiring.

He'll make a smashing manager. My only regret is that he wasn't scooped up by Arsenal first.