The Newcastle United managerial circus rumbles on. With the current Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp having bowed out with a polite no and the Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes also treading on similar lines, the focus has shifted to others. As if links to Alan Shearer and Kevin Keegan weren’t enough, former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier is now being touted as the main contender.
Sky Sports reports that Newcastle representatives have already approached Houllier although the talks have been informal at best. Sky Sports also understands that Houllier’s current job as the French Football Federation’s technical director wouldn’t be a deterrent to him in embracing the Newcastle post.
Houllier is of course not unfamiliar to top-flight English football. He laid the foundation for Liverpool in the late 1990s and early 2000s and is certainly one intelligent, practical and even romantic manager who would bring long term ideas and breathe a fresh air into the somewhat dilapidated atmosphere at St. James’ Park. But will the Frenchman accept the job if indeed he is offered the post formally? Would he be the best manager for Newcastle at the moment?