'What is the plan?' - Paul Merson slams Newcastle United owners over ongoing managerial hunt

The Magpies were once again overseen by Graeme Jones in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat against Chelsea, and there is still no concrete indication on who will come into the dugout on a permanent basis.

Speaking on Soccer Saturday, Merson pulled no punches in his assessment of the current situation on Tyneside.

He said: “I don’t know what’s going on there. What is the plan?

"They’re in the bottom three, haven’t won a league game this season. They’ve come in with all this money, it’s all this, ‘hurray hurray hurray’, but they haven’t got a manager.

"They’re going into a Premier League game [against Chelsea] and they’re second bottom in the league.

"They’ve got all the money in the world – this should have been done. They knew full well they were going to get rid of Steve Bruce. They knew a week before they even came in, so do the job. Get someone in.

"You’re putting someone in charge here who’s not a manager. They’re second bottom in the league!”

The former Arsenal man added: “It’s all gone a bit quiet.

"They came in it was all bang bang bang. They were going to buy him and him, they’re were going to win the league in five to ten years, and now it’s gone quiet and it’s gone back to normal again.

"I worry for them. I didn’t buy into this when it first happened, and I certainly don’t buy into it now. They need to sort this out lively.”