ROB LEE has urged Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley to appoint his former teammate and the fans’ choice Alan Shearer as the new manager.

The pair played at St James’ Park during the 1990s under Kevin Keegan, and Lee even compares Shearer to their mercurial former manager.

But Lee says the club remains in limbo as long as they delay appointing a manager, while yesterday Ashley confirmed his asking price for the club is £100m.

Via the club’s website Ashley asked for interested parties to e-mail St James’ Park or contact Keith Harris, chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce, who has been engaged again to try to find a buyer.

The statement read: “The Board of Newcastle United can today confirm that the club is for sale at the price of £100m.

“Interested parties should contact Newcastle United at admin@nufc.co.uk (or Keith Harris at Seymour Pierce) for further details.”

Lee was back in the region to play in Sunday’s Northern Masters six-a-side tournament and he said: “This is the first time I’ve been back up to Newcastle since they were relegated and it’s depressing.

“I’m devastated for the fans, but the club has been in decline for some time.

“This has been coming. It didn’t just happen overnight.

“The table doesn’t lie, they were one of the three worst teams in the league and the warning signs have been there for a few years now.

They just weren’t heeded by those who could have done something about it earlier.

“Now we have to pick ourselves up and try to get back into the Premier League as quickly as possible. As far as I’m concerned there is only one man for the job – Alan Shearer.

“He reminds me very much of the Kevin Keegan situation back in 1992. He came and lifted the club off its knees.

He brought in a lot of excellent players, the sort of players Newcastle wouldn’t haven’t been able to attract if it wasn’t him. That is what Alan will do.

“Hopefully the owners will see sense and put him in charge to run the club how he wants. He needs to be able to buy some players the club can be proud of.”

The season ended over two weeks ago and supporters have grown frustrated at the delay in giving Shearer the job on a full-time a basis.

Reports at the weekend suggested Shearer had been earmarked to replace Tony Mowbray should he leave West Brom for Celtic.

Lee admits he can imagine Shearer being offered a managerial job away from St James Park and he said: “Whether Alan is appointed Newcastle manager, as he should be, he will be a very good manager somewhere else. He has all the attributes needed to be a top manager.

He’s a strong personality, he can mix it with people but he can also be supportive of people when they need it.

“The guy is a legend and he is the only man who could come in after relegation and give everyone hope again.

“If Newcastle don’t want him I’m sure he’ll go and manage elsewhere because he’s got the bug now, I think he wants to be a manager and I think he’ll be a very good one and hopefully it’ll be at Newcastle.

“It should be a natural progression but sometimes things are not meant to be.

Hopefully everyone will see sense, they can work something out and put him in charge and the club can go forward.

“Until the situation is sorted out by the owner the club is going to stay in a bit of a limbo.’’