Newcastle chairman Chris Mort has admitted the club is unlikely to be able to persuade a manager already enjoying Champions League football to St James's Park, as talks of a partnership between former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier and Alan Shearer captured the imagination on Tyneside.

Mort insists he and owner Mike Ashley will appoint a man big enough to take on the responsibility of succeeding Sam Allardyce.

Writing in his programme notes ahead of tomorrow night's FA Cup third-round replay with Stoke, Mort said: "We need someone willing and able to take on, and cope with, Newcastle United.

"As a big club with massive potential, this is a fabulous club to manage, and some of the candidates we have talked to appreciate that fact.

"However, we are not currently a Champions League team, and in six seasons out of the last 10, we have finished in the bottom half of the Premier League.

"That means we are not necessarily going to interest a manager who is already at a team playing Champions League football or whose only ambition is to manage a top team in, say, Spain or Italy.

"We have also seen over recent months the pressures placed on Newcastle United and its manager by some of the press and occasionally by some of the supporters - we need someone who is willing and able to handle that."

Mort, whose comments would appear to rule out the possibility of Jose Mourinho arriving on Tyneside, also lists a series of criteria for the first managerial appointment under Ashley.  Among them are the ability to get the team playing winning, but stylish football, the vision to develop the club's youth set-up and to be able to speak English.

Houllier could argue with some justification he would meet those requirements, and the 60-year-old Frenchman's camp has indicated he is more than interested in the job and would not be averse to working with Shearer.

They have also admitted that informal discussions have taken place with associates of Ashley.

Newcastle have revealed they are speaking to a series of potential targets, and insist Harry Redknapp, who withdrew from the race at the weekend, was just one.

Sources close to Shearer have also suggested he could be willing to work with Houllier amid a perception that the "dream ticket" partnership with Kevin Keegan is unlikely to materialise.

The 37-year-old former Magpies striker was giving nothing away as he arrived back on Tyneside from his break in Barbados this morning.

Asked by Sky Sports if he wanted the Newcastle job, he replied: "Am I wanting it? One day, hopefully."

Questioned further about the possibility of him linking up with Keegan, he said: "I haven't spoken to Kevin for a long time. We will have to see."

Houllier is favourite with the bookmakers although Mort is adamant the decision will not be rushed.

He said: "There has been a great deal of speculation in the past week over who will replace Sam Allardyce as the manager of Newcastle United.

"The most important thing now is to get the decision right and lay solid foundations for the future.

"That is why we will take whatever time is necessary in making the decision."

Fans who have seen Redknapp, Blackburn's Mark Hughes, Keegan, Shearer and now Houllier figure prominently in recent days, may well receive the latest developments with caution.

However, they will certainly leave Mort in little doubt as to their preferred choice tomorrow night as caretaker boss Nigel Pearson's tries to negotiate a tricky FA Cup replay against Stoke in the wake of Saturday's 6-0 Barclays Premier League drubbing at Manchester United.