NEWCASTLE chairman Freddy Shepherd will step up his search for Graeme Souness' successor this morning after admitting he would prefer to have a permanent manager in place "sooner rather than later".

And, while the Magpies chief insists he is yet to draw up a shortlist of candidates for the post, he has revealed the new boss must enjoy the instant support of the club's demanding fans.

Shepherd spent yesterday reflecting on yet another turbulent week on Tyneside. Souness' dismissal followed Newcastle's worst performance of the season on Wednesday night, but the despondency was at least partially lifted by Saturday's 2-0 win over Portsmouth and Alan Shearer's record-breaking strike.

The Newcastle board are hoping to maintain that forward momentum by making significant progress on their search for a new manager before the Magpies travel to Aston Villa this weekend.

A meeting has been convened for this week, in which Shepherd will confirm the identity of his favoured targets. Those bosses will then be approached to ascertain their interest in the post.

"Everyone wants to know (who the new manager will be)," said Shepherd, who can ill afford to appoint the wrong man following a number of unsuccessful appointments in the past. "But we had to leave it until the Portsmouth game was out of the way.

"It was so important that we got the right result, we had to put it on the back burner until Monday, but we're not ruling anybody in, we're not ruling anybody out.

"We'll find out the next step when we have another meeting in the week, but we don't want to react too hastily. We feel that the team is in safe hands with Glenn (Roeder) and Alan, but I'd prefer to get things sorted sooner rather than later."

Martin O'Neill is still at the forefront of Shepherd's thinking and, while some weekend reports suggested the Irishman has ruled himself out of the running, this is categorically not the case.

O'Neill quit his post at Celtic last May in order to care for his sick wife Geraldine, who is currently battling against cancer.

He is still to publicly confirm that he is ready to return to the game but, tellingly, sources close to the former Wycombe and Leicester boss suggest he is hoping to be back in work by the end of the summer.

Newcastle will face stiff competition for his signature, though, as FA chief executive Brian Barwick sees O'Neill as one of the few men capable of succeeding Sven Goran Eriksson when he stands down as England manager following this summer's World Cup.

The FA are keeping a close eye on Shepherd's search for a new boss and will approach O'Neill themselves if he shows any interest in a move to St James' Park.

Crucially, O'Neill topped a local newspaper poll on Tyneside last weekend - a survey in which another leading candidate, Bolton boss Sam Allardyce, received a paltry two per cent of the vote.

Former manager Kevin Keegan was also prominent in the poll and, while Souness suffered from a lack of popular support throughout his troubled reign, Shepherd has admitted his replacement must be the fans' choice as well as his own.

"Unfortunately, Graeme never really clicked with Newcastle fans," he admitted. "It's a fact of life and everybody knows it. I'm not saying anything that I wouldn't say to his face, but the fans just didn't take to him.

"It's vitally important that the new manager is popular, that the supporters like him. It goes without saying, but it's part and parcel of the game that you get somebody in who the supporters are happy with."

Interestingly, one supporters' website has thrown its weight behind German Ottmar Hitzfeld, while current Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari attracted further support in the betting market over the weekend.

With Eriksson also a possible contender, Shepherd is casting his net far and wide in an attempt to land the right man. In the past, he has underlined his preference for a Geordie candidate but, with homegrown options appearing few and far between, foreign managers are back on the agenda.

"In the past I have expressed a preference for a British manager, but I feel that at this difficult time we have to look at every option open to us," said Shepherd.

"That means we will be looking at every available candidate, no matter which country they coach or manage in.

"It's a World Cup year and that could throw up some interesting possibilities. Ideally, I would like to have it sorted out sooner rather than later but, if waiting until after the World Cup led to getting the right man, I would be prepared to bide my time."

In the meantime, Shearer and Roeder will continue to lead the team into action. While it is dangerous to read too much into one result - especially one achieved against a team as poor as Portsmouth - Saturday's vibrant display suggested the duo have won the instant support of the club's players.

"The whole atmosphere seemed to have lifted, I'd agree with that," said Shepherd. "Confidence had been lost and unfortunately, without showing any disrespect to Graeme, it (Souness' sacking) did give the lads a lift (on Saturday).

"Glenn had only had one day with them, but of course Alan's a great influence in the dressing room as well.

"Footballers need certainty and they know what's happened now. That's why I went to see them on Thursday, to keep them up to date. I made sure they were the first guys to know what was happening because players react to events, and they'll be the first to know when we appoint a new manager."

While Shearer and Roeder failed to make wholesale changes to Saturday's side, the alterations they did oversee had an immediate effect. Shola Ameobi appeared to be far happier in an out-and-out striker's role, while Nolberto Solano and Charles N'Zogbia caused havoc as genuine widemen as opposed to the narrow midfielders they had become under Souness.

The Scot will be remembered for consistent under-achievement but Shepherd, no doubt conscious of his role in appointing him, refused to criticise his efforts.

"It's probably been the worst week in my life, but at least it ended well," he said. "When I say it's been the worst week in my life, I mean it, without a doubt.

"I like Graeme, I got on well with him, but it was one of those things that had to happen and it happened. There's no way that I'm going to criticise Graeme. He came here to do his best and unfortunately it didn't work out."