Pardew In Talks To Become Palace Boss

30 December 2014, 11:16 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Newcastle are unlikely to make a swift appointment as they look for a replacement for manager Alan Pardew after ruling out skipper Fabricio Coloccini as a candidate.

Pardew is set to be unveiled at the new Crystal Palace boss after the Eagles were given permission to talk to the 53-year-old on Monday evening following an offer of compensation.

Argentina international Coloccini emerged as a surprise bookmakers' favourite to succeed him at St James' Park overnight, but it's thought he is not being considered for the vacancy.

Owner Mike Ashley, who remains on holiday in Barbados, and chief executive Lee Charnley have drawn up a short-list of potential candidates, but it is likely that Pardew's assistant John Carver and first-team coach Steve Stone will take charge for Thursday's Barclays Premier League clash with Burnley and the FA Cup third round trip to Leicester 48 hours later.

Newcastle are unlikely to deviate from Ashley's masterplan as they look to full the gap left by the impending departure of their manager after more than four years on Tyneside.

Whoever slips into the St James' hot-seat in his wake will have to buy into the same model under which Pardew has operated during his time at the club.

Reports have suggested that Pardew decided to call it a day after being told there would not be significant investment in the squad during the forthcoming transfer window, and fearing that key players, midfielder Moussa Sissoko among them, could be sold next month.

But it is understood that Pardew had been given assurances that the Magpies would remain extremely strong on that front and would not be allowing the likes of the France international, who has been linked with Paris St Germain and Arsenal, to leave in January.

Former Palace boss Tony Pulis and current Hull manager Steve Bruce have been touted as prospective replacements, and sources close to the pair have indicated an approach would not be unwelcome, although the fact that Bruce, like Derby's Steve McClaren, who signed a new three-year contract in August, is currently in a job may not play well with Ashley, whose track record suggests he does not want to pay compensation.

The Magpies have conducted most of their recent transfer activity in Europe and have strong contacts on the continent, although Ajax boss Frank de Boer has already distanced himself for a vacancy with which St Etienne's Christophe Galtier has been linked repeatedly in the recent past.

But what is clear is that the man who eventually gets the job will have to operate under the same conditions as Pardew, who had made little secret of his desire to bolster his squad next month.

That blueprint, which involves recruiting players with potential, developing them and selling them at a profit, as the club did with Yohan Cabaye and Mathieu Debuchy, is managed by chief scout Graham Carr, who, like the manager, was handed an eight-year contract back in 2012, and he is likely to have a significant influence in identifying the number one choice.