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NEWCASTLE, England (AP) -Joe Kinnear was appointed short-term manager of Newcastle on Friday and predicted that Kevin Keegan will return in tandem with former Magpies great Alan Shearer.
The former Wimbledon manager will take charge of Newcastle until the end of October with the task of stabilizing a team which is next to last in the Premier League.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is searching for someone to buy the club, however, and Kinnear believes that will be finalized soon with Keegan returning to the club as manager and Shearer as his assistant. Both Keegan and Shearer are idolized at St. James' Park.
Former England coach Keegan quit three weeks ago and Kinnear is confident that he will team up with Shearer, currently a TV analyst, in a new coaching setup at the ailing club.
"I think the club's going to be sold at the beginning of October and (current coach) Chris Hughton needs all the help he can get," Kinnear said.
"So, if I can get in there and get a few results together until obviously the two main people are named ... I assume from the new people coming in they will be Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer."
Keegan left St. James' Park angry that he did not have full control over player recruitment and the Magpies fans staged protests calling for Ashley to sell up and fire executive director of football Dennis Wise.
Ashley agreed to sell but wants to make a profit on the 134 million pounds (US$245 million; ?169 million) he paid last year. No full-time mangerial appointment is likely to be made until a new owner is found.
"It's a shame to see the team and the club in the state it's in at the moment," Kinnear said. "So I'm hoping I can go in there and lift the gloom, get a few results, and hopefully it will be in a better state and makes things easier for Kevin when he comes back.
"(Ashley's) got two or three buyers interested in it and he's trying his hardest to get out himself."
Kinnear's last job was in charge of Nottingham Forest four years ago. The Irishman, who turns 62 in December, will be given the job of lifting Newcastle away from the Premier League relegation zone.
"I am very excited about the challenge in front of me at Newcastle United," said Kinnear, who had a heart attack before a game when he was manager of Wimbledon but returned to football management with Luton.
"Results have not been great of late, but there is a lot of quality in the squad and I am very confident the players are capable of climbing the league table."
Newcastle has lost four league and cup games in a row and Chris Hughton, who has been selecting and coaching the players since Keegan and Terry McDermott quit, received a further blow on Friday when striker Obafemi Martins was ruled out for up to six weeks with a knee injury.
Kinnear, who spent 10 years as a leftback with Tottenham and helped Spurs win the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and two UEFA Cups, played 25 times for Ireland. As a manager, he guided Wimbledon to sixth place in the Premier League in 1994.
"Newcastle United is a great club. When I was in charge of Wimbledon I always remember the passion of the fans up there and how great a stadium St. James' Park is," Kinnear said. "It is a big challenge but one I am really looking forward to."
The appointment came after former England coach Terry Venables, who also was assistant to Steve McClaren until both were fired last November, turned down a Newcastle offer on Thursday.
"I didn't want to move up to Tyneside and find myself surplus to requirements before I'd even had the chance to get my teeth into the challenge," Venables was quoted as saying by The Sun. "The way the job was offered to me meant that I might be working at St. James' Park for two months, two years or two weeks. There was far too much uncertainty involved."
