NEWCASTLE UNITED are drawing up a four-man shortlist in the search for Alan Pardew’s successor – and are keen to land a progressive and relatively young head coach.

The Magpies have considered a number of options since allowing Pardew to move to Crystal Palace and have had plenty of interest from abroad.

And while the likes of St Etienne’s Christophe Galtier, Mainz’s Thomas Tuchel and ex-Lyon boss Remi Garde are being considered, it is understood there are also candidates from elsewhere in Europe, including Germany, being discussed at St James’ Park.

Newcastle’s managing director Lee Charnley has the role of sifting through the options and he hopes to have whittled the contenders down to four within the next couple of days.

There are also those based in England, such as Glenn Hoddle and Steve McClaren, being regularly linked, as well as caretaker boss John Carver, who has admitted he would like the job on a full-time basis.

Whoever comes in, Charnley has the task of finding the right man to operate in the model which owner Mike Ashley has created, whereby the man in charge of the team is responsible for developing players spotted and signed by chief scout Graham Carr.

It is because of Carr’s success stories on the continent – the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko – that Newcastle are keen to have a coach willing to work in their system. Not all managers, particularly English-based, would be willing to take such a backseat on transfer dealings.

But foreign coaches are more familiar with the sporting director-style approach, even though it has become more fashionable in England in recent years.

Both Sunderland and Middlesbrough have appointed a foreign head coach over the last 15 months, although Gus Poyet has wanted more of a say on arrivals than Paolo Di Canio had and Aitor Karanka has identified a number of players for Boro to sign himself.

After Newcastle finally secured a reputed £3.5m compensation package for Pardew’s switch to Selhurst Park, there is a willingness to pay for the right man to replace him if required.

In the past Ashley has tended to make internal appointments or selected from those out of work, but this time Newcastle have not ruled out having to pay for a top target.

For now Carver will continue to lead training this week in preparation for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea. He will be helped by coaches Steve Stone and Peter Beardsley on the training ground.

Garde is the bookmakers’ favourite for the job on a full-time basis. The former Arsenal midfielder is under 50 and he quit his job at Lyon last summer after guiding them to French Cup glory in 2012.

If Newcastle can make a quick appointment then the new man will have to deal without Cheik Tiote. The Ivory Coast midfielder joins his country this week ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in Equitorial Guinea.

The 28-year-old – joined at the tournament by Senegalese team-mate Papiss Cisse - played his last game before the finals against Leicester on Saturday is banking on Newcastle turning in good results while he is away.

Tiote told the club’s website: “I hope that we do great when we’re away. We have some good players in the squad and we want to be here to play for Newcastle, but we also have to play for our country. I hope we’ll do a good job.

“There are tough games for us – they won’t be easy. There is no small team in football anymore. Everyone has got a lot of players that play at the top level so it’s a tough group and a tough competition. I hope we can do everything to get in to the final.”