Glenn Roeder welcomed the class of player being linked to replacing retiring skipper Alan Shearer at Newcastle, but suggested there was probably little truth in any of the speculation.

Ahead of tomorrow's home game with Liverpool, Roeder also revealed he wasn't aware a search for a natural successor at St James' Park had begun in earnest, despite the clock ticking ominously towards the end of Shearer's playing career

Early last week Newcastle were reported to be lining up a summer swoop for out-of-favour Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy as a direct replacement.

A subsequent move for Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres was also mooted, quickly followed by a supposed £10m interest in former Old Trafford misfit and Villarreal striker Diego Forlan.

The speculation would seem ridiculous considering the Magpies don't have a permanent manager. However, the transfer of Michael Owen from Real Madrid was dismissed as mere fantasy yet he still arrived in a £17m deal.

"Alan is retiring and what the new manager will need to do is replace a record goalscorer.

"But it's impossible to find someone in the mould that Alan is, as a player and as a person," said United's stand-in boss, who takes charge for the eighth time tomorrow.

"I'm not surprised we're linked with those sorts of players, we should be.

"But until there's a permanent appointment made I wouldn't have thought there would be too much truth in it, though it would make sense to be looking at that quality of player."

Roeder suggested that in the past United may have been too guilty of throwing money at players without doing their homework first and insisted this must change.

The former Magpies skipper certainly has a point and there is little doubt this applies to the panic signing of Albert Luque last summer.

Several summer targets failed to materialise and with the deadline transfer window about to close, the little-known Spain international arrived at St James' Park from Deportivo La Coruna in a £9.5m deal.

Since then Luque has struggled to cope with the rigours of the Premiership and looks to be winging his way back to Spain at the end of the season in a cut-price transfer.

This season chairman Freddy Shepherd has already written off £10m spent on Laurent Robert, £8.5m on Hugo Viana and looks set to do the same with Jean Alain Boumsong (£8.5) and Luque in the summer.

Roeder believes Newcastle should resist making mistakes endemic in the club's past and look to the policy favoured by Marcello Lippi in Italy, Frank Arneson in Holland, now at Chelsea, and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

"Alan (Shearer) himself has said that he finds it strange people who spend so much money on players don't employ someone to find out about their characters when they invest all this money," said Roeder.

"It would make sense to me. I told him that Lippi does that - he identifies the talent and then their personality - otherwise he doesn't buy the player.

"There's no other industry like this when it comes to splashing out five, ten and £15m, and you sometimes wonder how much background work clubs have done. I don't think it would happen in any other business."

Roeder revealed he came across Lippi's ideas while part of Glenn Hoddle's England coaching staff at the 1998 World Cup in France.

"Anyone who gambles knows there is a lot of luck involved," said the former West Ham manager. "I've always maintained that if I was in that position again I would prepare.

"It's a very true saying - fail to prepare, prepare to fail."

Roeder believes much-criticised Arsenal chief Wenger is a perfect exponent of the art.

"Wenger has taken a lot of criticism in the last few weeks but he is a champion of identifying talent, checking on the personality of the players and, if they match, he brings them to the club.

"He's doesn't look at what passport they hold, and I know how hard they work to find English talent because my son (William) was there for three years.

"He looks hard for English talent but if it's not there, his remit is to make an Arsenal team successful and if he has to go elsewhere he'll do that.

"He's the top man for me.

"Frank Arnesen at PSV is another.

"He's been there done it and got the badge.

"He does it the other way and finds them before anyone else - before they are a big name.

"He has a great track record for that.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that while Frank was at Tottenham they bought these young players who are now performing well in the Premiership.

"Martin Jol is an excellent coach but Frank identified a lot of these players who are now performing in the first team.

"Anyone could buy very expensive players.

"Has this club been guilty of not doing its homework?

"I can't answer that and it's something I wouldn't want to talk about," said Roeder.