A source said today: “The talks are ongoing, but there could still be a way to go before there is an agreement signed. “Alan is desperate to help Newcastle and take on the job because of his love for the club. “The state of the squad is a part of the negotiations. “It desperately needs reshaping and freshening up – it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out. “The Championship is about pace and power, and this squad doesn’t have a lot of that. “It’s a long 46-game season and you have to get used to the rigours of it.” Shearer is also hoping to add to his backroom staff with the personnel he believes have the credentials to take the club forward. Big Al worked with close allies Iain Dowie and Paul Ferris throughout his eight-game spell in charge but, with Colin Calderwood and Chris Hughton on their way out of Newcastle, Shearer understandably wants his own backroom team. Former assistant boss John Carver, who helped the Magpies to the FA Cup final under Ruud Gullit, and to the Champions League under Sir Bobby Robson, is one candidate, while ex-captain and Toon icon Rob Lee is also understood to be on his hit list. And given that Ashley once bankrolled Sam Allardyce’s army of backroom staff that mushroomed into a 20-strong group, it isn’t unreasonable to accept that the club’s greatest ever player wants to bring in his own men. Last night Ashley issued an apology to supporters for taking the club back to second tier football for the first time since 1993. Reflecting on the statement, fanzine editor Mark Jensen, who writes the Mag, said today: “There are two ways of looking at it – one is that it’s too little, too late. “But he at least he is showing now he is willing to try to communicate rather than sheer silence. “At times when Freddy Shepherd or Sir John Hall used to come out and talk, a lot of it was rubbish. “If he means that he is trying to take the club forward, it’s very much a case of actions speak louder than words. “Getting relegated hasn’t just come out of the blue. “You can go back as far as 2006/07 under Glenn Roeder. Back then, had we not beaten Sheffield United at their place, we could quite easily have gone down then. “That was a season when we were relying on a Man United reserve in Seppe Rossi and a free transfer from Manchester City in Antoine Sibierski.” | 
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