Source: Daily_Mail
Revolting Newcastle! Players will walk away unless Shearer is appointed boss
Newcastle are bracing themselves for a player revolt unless Alan Shearer is appointed manager in the next fortnight.
As the sale of the club drags in to a third month, senior players at the club have reacted angrily to the apparent lethargy and lack of urgency behind the scenes.
Geordie Steven Taylor is among those believed to be demanding that Shearer is appointed as the club's permanent boss immediately.
Sportsmail understands he leads a group of several players including Nicky Butt, Alan Smith and Habib Beye who have threatened to put in transfer requests unless there is movement on the managerial front at St James' Park.
French defender Sebastien Bassong is even on the verge of handing in his request on Monday when the team return from a pre-season camp in Dublin.
That will immediately alert Arsenal, Sunderland and Tottenham, who monitored his impressive debut season in England following a £500,000 move from Metz 12 months ago.
The difficulty for owner Mike Ashley, who has appointed former Football League chairman Keith Harris to deal with the £100 million sale of the club, is that he does not want to appoint Shearer before completing the sale.
The billionaire owner believes imposing a new manager on his successors would be unfair, and similar to the situation he inherited with Sam Allardyce two years ago.
Caretaker boss Chris Hughton is currently taking the squad through its paces in Ireland, ahead of the first pre-season friendly against Shamrock Rovers in Dublin on Saturday.
But while the former Spurs No 2 remains a likeable and efficient understudy, the squad are looking for the sort of guidance Shearer gave them for his brief two months in charge at the end of last season.
Managing director Derek Llambias said yesterday he had received 'more than two' bids for the troubled club.
But while they may meet Ashley's asking price, they are still some way from completing the complicated legal formalities which will enable them to wrestle the club from Ashley's clutches, and appoint Shearer as the manager.
