The Times name shortlist of 3 for Newcastle United manager as Steve Bruce waits for his £8m | OneFootball

The necessity to appoint a new Newcastle United manager has become even more acute.

The new owners had allowed Steve Bruce to have his one thousandth match as a manager / head coach in English football.

Yet were rewarded with an absolute shambles.

Despite getting off to a dream start with a Callum Wilson goal inside two minutes, both Newcastle fans and the new owners were then subjected to arguably the most clueless set up so far (against some considerable competition!) from Steve Bruce.

It was all but impossible to work out what the plan was on Sunday, if indeed there ever was one. So many players where it was difficult to work out where they were supposed to be playing and indeed, certain NUFC players clearly looked as confused as those watching.

This complete mess coming despite Steve Bruce having the luxury of an entire two weeks to work with all eleven players in the team, as none had been on international duty.

No surprise then that on Monday morning The Times have reported that the Newcastle United owners are urgently stepping up their search for a new Newcastle United manager to replace Steve Bruce. The Head Coach with no wins in nine games this season and only seven wins in his last 38 NUFC matches.

The Times name Roberto Martínez, Steven Gerrard and Unai Emery as the three candidates now heading the thinking of the new NUFC owners.

Yasir al-Rumayyan, the new Newcastle United chairman, was at Sunday’s game, along with Amanda Staveley.

Their joy at the opening goal perfectly captured on both TV and photos…only for their reaction to the rest of the match to be similarly caught on TV and photos, as they were made to suffer along with the rest of us.

All three potential candidates to be the new Newcastle United manager are currently in jobs and would need to be released and compensation paid, if any of the trio were indeed to take over from Steve Bruce, the NUFC Head Coach who is refusing to resign and waiting for his reported £8m compensation.

Roberto Martínez is currently the Belgium manager and has previously worked a number of times with the Newcastle assistant coach Graeme Jones, so it wouldn’t be difficult to sound him out you would imagine. The Times also raising the possibility that Martinez could even in the meantime combine club and country responsibilities.

Steven Gerrard of course is currently the Rangers manager, whilst Unai Emery is with Villarreal and won the Europa Cup only five months ago.

A massive decision for the new owners to make but this club is desperate to see a Newcastle United manager appointed who can help these new owners start to rebuild things out of the mess created by Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce.