Newcastle United hit out at Gary Lineker's transfer claim

Newcastle United have admitted they may have to wait until the summer to appoint Alan Pardew’s successor as managing director Lee Charnley hit back at criticism of their transfer strategy from former England captain Gary Lineker.


In his first interview since becoming Newcastle’s managing director last summer, Charnley also claimed the club are unlikely to buy or sell anyone in this window, although he admitted he could never rule out the latter.

Speaking about the search for a head coach Charnley said: “We’ve got a number of options: clearly my preference is to try and find someone to bring in now.

“However, because it will be a long-term commitment, if I have to wait until the summer for what I believe is the right individual then I would rather wait than actually take someone now who I think isn’t the best fit.

“I’m not going to take someone who is free and available now if we have a better option and options by waiting until the end of the season.

“I know that won’t be an entirely popular point of view but for me that is the most sensible thing to do. It is about the medium to long term and ensuring we get the ‘right one’.

“I hope that by the end of this week I will have a better indication of where we sit.

“I’ll know the really, really credible individuals who would be of real interest to us and from there, whether a decision can be made now or whether that decision can wait until the summer.

“There’s a wide range of options. There are some people who genuinely can’t move now, whether that be for personal reasons, contractual or a whole host – they can’t come now.”

Charnley has risked upsetting supporters by revealing the club had never intended to sign any players this month, even though Pardew had repeatedly declared in press conferences that they needed to bring in a new striker in this window.

“In all honesty, the January window is not one we ever envisaged being particularly active in,” Charnley told the Newcastle Chronicle. “That’s partly because of the amount of business we did in the summer but also because. January is a difficult market to operate in.

“I saw the stuff Gary Lineker tweeted saying we’re hanging back from appointing a head coach so we don’t have to sign anyone which isn’t correct. Are we delaying to get through the January window? Absolutely not.

“I would never, ever rule out selling anyone because the worst thing I could do is over-promise and under-deliver. You will never, ever get me saying never but I would say we’re very difficult sellers. We make it very difficult for people to get our players. We put them on long-term.


By Luke Edwards,Telegraph