Shepherd to solve the crisis?

Having admitted defeat in the race to sign Wayne Rooney from Everton, the Magpies are armed with the cash from the Jonathan Woodgate sale as they try to plug the huge gap left by the Real Madrid man.

Now Shepherd, after relieving manager Sir Bobby Robson of his duties yesterday, must attempt to bolster his defensive ranks without the guidance of the former England boss.

The Magpies board have already been told to forget about trying to take Celtic's Bobo Balde south of the border but their chances of signing Jean-Alain Boumsong from Old Firm rivals Rangers appear to be a little stronger.

A £3.8m bid was rejected by the Ibrox club over the weekend but they are resigned to losing Boumsong if Newcastle return with an increased offer of around £4.5m today.

The French international, after only six appearances for the club, has told Rangers he no longer wants to stay with them after Alex McLeish's men failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Boumsong arrived from Auxerre earlier in the summer on a free transfer and rules stipulate no player can sign for two clubs during a transfer window. However, UEFA can waiver that on grounds of compassion.

That is why Newcastle, desperate to buy before the closure of the window at midnight tonight, have a list of targets and Juventus' Igor Tudor has also caught the eye.

Juve completed the signing of Fabio Cannavaro yesterday and are willing to listen to offers for their Croatian centre-back, who was close to a move to Tottenham earlier in the summer.

Tudor's injury record in the end cost him a switch to White Hart Lane and Tottenham boss Jaques Santini opted instead to sign experienced Moroccan Nourredine Naybet.

But, following the arrival of Cannavaro at Juventus, Newcastle may turn to the unwanted Tudor as a last resort to boost numbers defensively.

If the Premiership outfit fail to add at least one more man to their squad then whoever does succeed Robson will have their work cut out in trying to improve a leaky defence.

Newcastle have already conceded nine goals in their opening four league encounters and Aaron Hughes, a right-back last season, steady Andy O'Brien, the inconsistent Titus Bramble and youngster Steven Taylor provide the only options.

The next Newcastle boss will not have to contend with having to accomodate five quality strikers at St James' Park, however, after pulling out of their bid to capture Rooney.

Two bids from Tyneside, the last of which was £23.5m over the weekend, were rejected by Everton and that was as far as Newcastle were prepared to go. Shepherd said: "We made a genuine offer. It is better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all."

But that means the futures of Shola Ameobi and Craig Bellamy look more secure, while Patrick Kluivert and Alan Shearer will continue to fight it out for the right to be the club's targetman.

Manchester United are now clear favourites to land Rooney and are hopeful of pushing a deal though later today.

Old Trafford officials met with their Everton counterparts at Old Trafford yesterday - after the two sides' goalless draw - in an attempt to reach a breakthrough in negotiations.

But Toffees chairman Bill Kenwright said last night: "We had a chat but nothing has been resolved. Wayne Rooney remains an Everton player. Will something happen in the next 24 hours? I don't know. I truly don't know."

Manchester United's last tabled bid was a deal worth £25m, to be paid in instalments, but Everton are still holding out to receive nearer the £30m they rate Rooney at.

The two clubs will talk again today and hopes are still high that an agreement can be reached after Rooney suggested it was his intention to play for the Red Devils.

l Calum Davenport, a defender considered by Newcastle, is on the verge of a £2.5m move to Tottenham.

The Coventry City youngster was in north London yesterday for a medical after the two clubs agreed the fee.

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