Kinnear claims Newcastle return imminent

Former Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear claims he has been offered the chance to resume his role at the beleaguered Championship club.

Kinnear managed Newcastle for eight months last season before stepping down due to heart problems, but he revealed on Wednesday that he has been offered a new two-year contract by owner Mike Ashley.

In Kinnear’s absence, former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer took charge of Newcastle on an interim basis but was unable to stop the club being relegated from the Premier League.

Shearer’s contract ran out at the end of the season and Newcastle assistant coach Chris Hughton has been running the squad since then while Ashley tried to sell the club.

But with no takeover on the horizon, it seems Ashley has decided to turn to Kinnear again, even though the former Nottingham Forest, who was forced to leave Wimbledon in the 1990s after suffering a heart attack, won’t be able to return to work for at least three months as he continues his recovery.

“I have been offered a two-year contract and it is something I am mulling over at the present time,” Kinnear told BBC Radio Five Live.

“I have told Mike I am not going to go back to football for at least another three months and we will look at the situation then.

“I told him I would refuse to go back for pre-season friendlies as I was not up to it for medical reasons.

“I needed to take time out and re-assess the situation and take it from there. But obviously in another three months the picture might be completely different.

“In the meantime if Newcastle feel the need to go and get another manager then so be it.”