AP -This is a November 6, 2004, file photo of Joe Kinnear. Kinnear has been appointed short-term manager of Newcastle .

NEWCASTLE, England (AP)

Joe Kinnear was appointed short-term manager of Newcastle yesterday and predicted that Kevin Keegan will return in tandem with former Magpies great Alan Shearer.

The former Wimbledon manager will take charge of Newcastle until the end of October with the task of stabilising a team which is next to last in the Premier League.

searching for buyer

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is searching for someone to buy the club, however, and Kinnear believes that will be finalised soon with Keegan returning to the club as manager and Shearer as his assistant. Both Keegan and Shearer are idolised at St James' Park.

Former England coach Keegan quit three weeks ago and Kinnear is confident that he will team up with Shearer, currently a TV analyst, in a new coaching set-up at the ailing club.

"I think the club's going to be sold at the beginning of October and (current coach) Chris Hughton needs all the help he can get," Kinnear said.

"So, if I can get in there and get a few results together until obviously the two main people are named ... I assume from the new people coming in they will be Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer."

Keegan left St James' Park angry that he did not have full control over player recruitment and the Magpies fans staged protests calling for Ashley to sell up and fire executive director of football Dennis Wise.

Ashley agreed to sell but wants to make a profit on the £134 million (US$245 million) he paid last year. No full-time managerial appointment is likely to be made until a new owner is found.

"It's a shame to see the team and the club in the state it's in at the moment," Kinnear said. "So I'm hoping I can go in there and lift the gloom, get a few results, and hopefully it will be in a better state and makes things easier for Kevin when he comes back.

"(Ashley's) got two or three buyers interested in it and he's trying his hardest to get out himself."

exciting challenge

Kinnear's last job was in charge of Nottingham Forest four years ago. The Irishman, who turns 62 in December, will be given the job of lifting Newcastle away from the Premier League relegation zone.

"I am very excited about the challenge in front of me at Newcastle United," said Kinnear, who had a heart attack before a game when he was manager of Wimbledon but returned to football management with Luton.