Freddy's fantasy - Shearer instead of Big Sam at St James' Park

"Newcastle United today announced that Glenn Roeder has offered his resignation as team manager with immediate effect and this has been accepted by the Newcastle United board," it said.

Scroll down for more

Like Roeder's reign, it was brief and left more questions than answers.

While the club were making as little as possible of Roeder's demise, chairman Freddy Shepherd was left searching for his sixth manager in a decade, with a heavy feeling that his club have not gone back to square one but far further.

Shepherd is once again pondering a host of choices from this country and the continent who can finally end the club's long wait for silverware and restore their status as qualifiers for a European campaign.

There are two obvious choices but the appointment of either would be complicated. While Alan Shearer remains committed to his television contract, still willing to put his ambitions to manage the club on hold for two to three years, Shepherd cannot help but wonder whether Sam Allardyce is really the answer.

Like Shepherd, Shearer, who was at Saturday's home defeat to Blackburn, has noted the impact his one-time nemesis Roy Keane has made across the Tyne at Sunderland and the chairman has not given up on persuading the former captain to take over.

Shearer has enjoyed his BBC work, far removed from the pressures of management, but he will acknowledge there may never be a better time to guide the club he loves from troubled waters.

Having already convinced the Premier League to allow Roeder to work without his UEFA prolicence 12 months ago, Shepherd would once again have to address the issue with Shearer, and the chairman knows he may struggle to win universal support from his peers this time.

But Shearer is continuing his studies, and he was openly contemplating his future as the club's manager years before hanging up his boots, even drawing up his preferred playing, medical and coaching staff.

The opportunity to work with Michael Owen could also sway Shearer, especially as he and Shepherd worked hard together to persuade the England striker to join Newcastle.

The sight of an increasingly dispirited Owen trudging round St James' Park on the side's lap of shame at the weekend had Shearer shifting uncomfortably in his seat, and he will know that only a big-name manager will appease his old striking pal.

That brings Shepherd round to Allardyce, who is on the list of candidates for a third time, only now he is unemployed and will be free from his Bolton ties when the season ends on Sunday.

His ability to wheel and deal will be appreciated at Newcastle, where many players need to be moved on.

Of more concern to Newcastle fans, aside from Allardyce's Sunderland background - he played there for one season 26 years ago - is the brand of football he was labelled with at Bolton, although the club have long lost their tag as the Premiership's entertainers.

There is also the complication of Allardyce's naming in the Panorama documentary, which led to Kevin Bond's departure from Newcastle in August.

The options beyond his first two choices are the same old faces. Mark Hughes, whose Blackburn side beat Newcastle 2-0 on Saturday, Gordon Strachan with his successful record at Celtic, and Steve Bruce's resurgence at Birmingham, along with those Geordie roots, will force Shepherd to consider them.

The chairman has insisted Sven Goran Eriksson will not be considered, but he may look abroad.

Roeder's downfall started with UEFA Cup defeat to AZ Alkmaar, and his deficiencies were exposed by Louis van Gaal, an experienced Dutchman known to want a crack at the Premiership. Shepherd and his influential sons have also noted Ronald Koeman's unhappiness at PSV Eindhoven.