City No2 Lee Clark has ruled himself firmly out of the running for any vacancy that might emerge amidst the chaos at St James' Park.
Like his big pal Alan Shearer, Clark is happy to bide his time and to continue to learn his trade at Glenn Roeder's side rather than risk incurring the wrath of his beloved 'Geordie Nation' and be seen to take the Ashley shilling in the wake of Kevin Keegan's bitter exit.
The blood-letting continued on Tyneside today as Keegan's No2 Terry McDermott and the Magpies' first team coach Adam Sadler – widely linked to the Canary vacancy before Paul Stephenson stepped into the role – were both bundled out of the door.
And with club owner Mike Ashley, his 'executive director (football)' Dennis Wise and the 'vice president' with responsibility for player recruitment, Tony Jiminez, insisting that the club's managerial structure was not about to change, so the great north-south divide between the Toon Army at one end of the A1 and the London-based Ashley and Co at the other threatened to rip the club apart.
Into that poisonous mix Clark was not about to step. According to veteran Newcastle Chronicle reporter Alan Oliver who caught up with Clark over the weekend in Canada: “Clark has gone on record as saying he would love to manage his home town team one day. However, like his other big pal Alan Shearer, there will be no CV from him on this occasion.”
Oliver will have known Clark for the best part of 20 years – since the Geordie teenager first burst onto the first team scene under skipper Roeder. He will have the nod. Or rather the shake of the head: 'Nah, not this time… Olly.'
It would also ring true with everything that Clark has said and done since his arrival in Norfolk last November. That, yes, he would love to manage his beloved Newcastle – but only when the time was right. Once he had learned his craft; managed by himself elsewhere; won his spurs at a lower level.
Then, and only then, would he step into the biggest job of all – leading the Toon Army out of their trophy wilderness.
“I'm a very ambitious man,” said Clark last autumn, quizzed as to what persuaded him to follow Glenn Roeder to the foot of the Championship table – particularly given that he was already part of the Newcastle coaching set-up under then-boss Sam Allardyce.
“The position I held at Newcastle was a great position, but to come to a Championship club that really should be in the Premiership in terms of the facilities that it's got and be the assistant manager was something that I wanted to do because Glenn knows what my ambitions are – that I want to one day become a manager myself so this is the next step in line for me,” said Clark.
This weekend and both Clark and his fellow Geordie Stephenson were pursuing the next step on the coaching ladder – making full use of the World Cup break to jet off to Toronto to team up with two more former St James' Park faces as part of the 'overseas' experience required by the UEFA 'Pro' licence.
Ex-Newcastle first team coach John Carver and fitness coach Paul Winsper are now in charge of team affairs at Toronto FC. It was there that Oliver caught up with the four exiled Geordies on a weekend of high emotion on Tyneside.
The 'third coming' of King Kev had ended in brutal and bitter fashion; the air was thick with accusation and recrimination as Ashley and Co began their search for a replacement as all the good 'ol Geordie boys did their best to distance themsleves from the London mob now running the show at St James'.
“To say the four of us were stunned by the news of Kevin going is a vast understatement,” Clark told the Evening Chronicle's veteran reporter this weekend.
“We have all had dealings with him in our time and we could hardly respect him more,” added the City No2. “It was the opinion of all of us that he was the only person who could turn around Newcastle United.
“We are all Geordies and, like all Geordies, we were very disappointed at what has been happening at St James's Park this week.”
That disappointment will only deepen today as news of McDermott's exit spreads. That promises to be another interesting conversation for Clark to have as United prepare for their home clash with Hull City and the Canaries gear themselves up for the long haul down to Plymouth.
“Terry McDermott is my big pal, but to tell the truth I will not be speaking to him until things have settled down a bit when I get home early next week,” said Clark, well aware that the atmosphere is likely to be a little 'frosty' towards the current St James' Park board. Perhaps not the game for Ashley to be downing pints in one amongst the Gallowgate's finest.
“We have all kept a watching brief on St James's Park, and I have to say it is going to be a very interesting game with Hull City next Saturday,” said Clark. “It is going to be a very difficult game for whoever takes over from Kevin because there will be so much hostility towards him from the fans.”
Defusing that sort of hostility inevitably raises the prospect of Ashley giving the Toon Army 'one of their own' by way of compensation for KK's exit.
Among the 30-something generation, the two most obvious candidates remain Shearer and Clark – potentially, as a pair.
But with Shearer using the BBC 'Football Focus' sofa on Saturday to rule out his interest in the role under the current regime, the only way either would consider a return to Tyneside would be if any in-coming consortium swept Ashley, Wise and Co from power and ushered in a couple of local heroes.
Both of whom would expect, if not demand, to have a full say in the club's transfer policy – something that was clearly ripped from Keegan's hands as James Milner went out of the door as two, unseen Spaniards came through it.
“I would like to be a manager at some stage, but that means controlling the players who go in and the players who go out,” said Shearer, speaking on Football Focus. “I don't think I would be comfortable working within a structure with a director of football who was picking and choosing the players for me.”
And nor would his big pal, Lee. Both will be staying firmly put – happy, for now, to sit and watch as the beer-swilling, champagne-guzzling Ashley is thrown to the Tigers when Hull City arrive on Tyneside this weekend.
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