JOHN CARVER expects Newcastle United’s managerial uncertainty to be resolved before the weekend, with senior club officials having held face-to-face talks with former Lyon boss Remi Garde.

Garde is understood to be one of four candidates still being considered for the vacant head coach position at St James’ Park, but the Frenchman is currently believed to be the only person to have met members of the Newcastle hierarchy for personal discussions.

The 48-year-old met a Magpies delegation that included managing director Lee Charnley in London, having previously held a number of telephone discussions about the head coach vacancy at St James’ Park. Mike Ashley, who has delegated responsibility for the recruitment process to Charnley, has been kept abreast of developments.

Garde, who developed a reputation as an innovative and astute coach adept at developing young players during more than a decade as a coach, academy director and manager at Lyon, has indicated a strong desire to take over on Tyneside, but wants to travel to the North-East to see Newcastle’s training base and facilities at first hand.

Crucially, he is understood to be the only candidate still under consideration who is not currently in work and therefore in a position to take over immediately.

Christophe Galtier has ruled out leaving St Etienne until the summer, while Derby boss Steve McClaren has also insisted he will not be leaving his current position halfway through the season. Paul Clement and Frank de Boer, who have been heavily linked with the Newcastle job in recent weeks, are also on lucrative contracts at Real Madrid and Ajax respectively that would be difficult to break.

Charnley is determined to be as meticulous as possible as he weighs up the contrasting claims of those involved, and is still to rule out the option of postponing a long-term decision until the end of the current campaign.

The alternative would be to appoint Garde within the next few days, enabling the former Arsenal midfielder, who was Arsene Wenger’s first signing in English football, to work with his squad during the two-week hiatus that will follow Saturday’s home game with Southampton.

Caretaker boss Carver will remain in charge for the visit of the Saints, and continues to harbour hopes of replacing Alan Pardew, who received a congratulatory text from Ashley as his first home game as Crystal Palace boss resulted in a 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday night, on a permanent basis.

The former assistant is not being told the details of the ongoing recruitment process, and while the soundings coming out of St James’ Park appear designed to downplay the likelihood of a swift appointment, Carver can see the merit in resolving things one way or the other ahead of the Southampton game.

“I think that’s more than two weeks now (since Pardew left),” said Carver. “And by the time the break comes after the Southampton game it will be a month. That’s a long time to get to decide what you want to do. So I think a decision will be made by then.”

Newcastle have now played three matches since Pardew left – against Burnley, Leicester (in the FA Cup) and Chelsea – and have not won any of them, a run that has raised fears of a repeat of last season, when the Magpies’ form collapsed spectacularly in the second half of the season.

Tim Krul refused to use the ongoing uncertainty as an excuse for Newcastle’s defeat on Saturday, which came courtesy of goals from Oscar and Diego Costa, but admitted it would be preferable if the situation was resolved as quickly as possible.

“If the board have someone out there who they think is their best man, then hopefully they can resolve the situation quite quickly,” said Krul, who returned from a six-week injury absence at Stamford Bridge. “That would remove any of the uncertainty, but if that is not the situation, then John and Steve (Stone) continuing is a great option and the players will back them 100 per cent.”

Krul was quick to pay tribute to Carver’s input ahead of Saturday’s game, which saw Newcastle outplay Chelsea for more than half-an-hour before conceding two goals.

“John and Steve have stepped up to the plate, and everybody knows their jobs and what’s expected of them,” he said. “For me, that’s one of the most important things you want from your manager.

“It was really the case with Louis van Gaal in the summer as well. In that Holland squad, everybody knew their role really clearly and understood what was being asked of them. It was a straight line in terms of the direction you were getting, and that’s what John has done in the last few weeks.”