SAM Allardyce will be officially unveiled as Newcastle United's new manager at the start of next week.
But with the former Bolton boss unable to take up his post until the end of the season, Nigel Pearson will take control of Sunday's game at Watford following last weekend's dismissal of Glenn Roeder.
Pearson, who was installed in a caretaker capacity yesterday, will take charge of his first training session this morning, and will be assisted by both Lee Clark, who has been called back from a proposed scouting trip to Argentina, and Terry McDermott at Vicarage Road.
That is almost certain to be his only game in charge of the Magpies, however, with Allardyce already understood to have reached a verbal agreement with chairman Freddy Shepherd.
Despite previous speculation that Sven-Goran Eriksson was being lined up for the job, the one-time Sunderland defender was the only person to have been considered for the post once Roeder tended his resignation on Sunday afternoon.
Despite his previous reluctance to take charge of the Magpies - he rebuffed Newcastle's offer to succeed Sir Bobby Robson in the summer of 2004 - Allardyce has continued to enjoy considerable support within the corridors of power at St James' Park.
Shepherd remains an avowed admirer of the 52-year-old's tactical and motivational skills, and sources close to the Tyneside chief claim he is convinced that Allardyce is the man to restore Newcastle to their former place amongst the European elite.
Allardyce's availability is not a problem following his shock resignation from the Reebok Stadium nine days ago, but his contractual situation, which remains complex, effectively rules out an instant appointment in the North-East.
While Allardyce effectively walked out of his former post after eight years of service at Bolton, he still had two years of his contract to run and the two parties have subsequently been locked in detailed compensation discussions.
Newcastle will now have to become involved in those discussions themselves, but while the details of Allardyce's agreement have not been disclosed, it is understood that they preclude him taking on another job this season.
To further complicate matters, the West Midlander is currently on holiday in Spain and is not expected to return to England until the end of this week.
Provided discussions proceed according to plan after that, he could be officially appointed as Newcastle's 24th permanent manager next week.
His appointment, which could also lead to Gary Speed returning to St James' in a player-coach capacity, would hardly be universally popular amongst the Newcastle fans.
While Allardyce successfully established Bolton in the top half of the Premiership, and cultivated a reputation for getting the best out of obscure foreign signings such as Tal Ben Haim and Stelios Giannakopoulos, his side was also saddled with a reputation for unattractive and physical football.
However, given the voracity of the anti-Roeder sentiments that were expressed in the wake of Saturday's dismal home defeat to Blackburn, Allardyce's appointment would not lead to the kind of general disillusionment that might have accompanied it three years ago.
Roeder's departure has been greeted with a mixture of acceptance and relief, despite Shepherd claiming that the former Newcastle skipper was the "people's choice" when he appointed him on a permanent basis at the end of last season.
With the Newcastle squad not at the training ground yesterday, Roeder has not had the opportunity to meet his players for a final time.
He is not expected to make a public statement outlining his reasons for resigning, but is understood to have agreed a pay-off of around £1m and will not be returning to his former post of Academy director.
Charlton's relegation from the Barclays Premiership was confirmed as Tottenham defeated them at The Valley.
Needing two wins from their final two games of the season, Alan Pardew's men fell behind to Dimitar Berbatov's seventh-minute opener and never recovered.
Berbatov was fed a ball from Ledley King out of defence and managed to trick Talal El Karkouri before outpacing the centre-back.
El Karkouri got within range of a tackle but Berbatov finished with confidence to open the scoring. It was Spurs' 100th goal of the season and former Charlton striker Jermain Defoe made it 101 with an injury-time strike from a Berbatov pass.
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