LEE CHARNLEY has confirmed Newcastle United are willing to wait until the summer if their preferred candidate for the role of head coach is currently unavailable.

It is now almost a month since Alan Pardew left to take over at Crystal Palace, but Newcastle continue to search for his successor with even caretaker manager John Carver admitting that the current inertia is proving disruptive.

With a number of leading candidates, most notably St Etienne head coach Christophe Galtier and Derby County manager Steve McClaren, refusing to leave their current position until the end of the season at the earliest, it has been suggested that Carver could remain in temporary charge until May.

Charnley is hoping to have identified the “really credible” candidates by the end of the week, but admits he could hold off appointing a permanent head coach until the summer.

“We see this as a long-term decision,” said the managing director. “We’ve got a number of options – clearly my preference is to try and find someone to bring in now.

“However, because it will be a long-term commitment, if I have to wait until the summer for what I believe is the right individual then I would rather wait than actually take someone now who I think isn’t the best fit.

“I’m not going to take someone who is free and available now if we have a better option and options by waiting until the end of the season.

“I know that won’t be an entirely popular point of view, but for me that is the most sensible thing to do. It is about the medium to long term and ensuring we get the right one.”

The new head coach will have an input into transfer matters, but will not have the final say over recruitment decisions with Charnley confirming that a recruitment team headed by himself and chief scout, Graham Carr, will dictate policy.

“The new head coach will have to set out to us what his playing his style is, what his philosophy is and what he looks for in his team because that then impacts on what we look for in terms of recruitment,” he said. “It all works together.

“The head coach picks the team, we don’t interfere in that. When someone says, ‘Does he have any say (in transfers)?’ Yes. Does he have the final say? No he doesn’t. There’s a difference there.”

There is a perception that Newcastle will only recruit a head coach willing to acquiesce to owner Mike Ashley’s demands. Charnley refutes that, but accepts that a certain degree of submission will be required.

“I don’t think anything works, and you’re never going to move forward if you have ‘yes’ people in key positions,” he said. “I know people label me as someone who says yes all the time, but believe me, if I said yes to everything suggested I wouldn’t last very long.

“It doesn’t work that way. But do I want someone in who will continually try to change our strategy or put obstacles in our way? Clearly not. They will have to be aligned with what we are doing.”