Shepherd fails to make a case for the defence

But, rather than learning from their mistakes, Newcastle's board have got themselves into a similar mess with the search for Sir Bobby Robson's successor.

No centre-half, no manager and, with ample justification, it could be argued no clue.

Rooney's decision to snub Newcastle's advances in favour of Manchester United caused few ripples as the transfer window swung shut.

Nobody had seriously expected the England international to shun the lure of Champions League football for the circus currently masquerading as a football club on Tyneside.

But nobody had expected Newcastle to emerge from the end of August without defensive reinforcements either.

When Freddy Shepherd agreed to sell Jonathan Woodgate to Real Madrid last month, he did so knowing he was waving goodbye to the only person capable of holding Newcastle's slipshod defence together.

He might have been injury-prone, missing more than half of United's games during his 18-month stay at the club, but, when he played, he exuded an authority and poise totally at odds with the opening four games of this season.

Selling Woodgate was a risk - but it would have been a calculated one had Shepherd had a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings.

That was clearly not the case and, rather than a steely observer of the odds, the Newcastle chairman now looks like a compulsive gambler prone to costly whims.

Real Madrid get on the phone, the pound signs rattle up before Shepherd's eyes and, before you know it, a bad situation has just got worse.

Shepherd can realistically claim that an offer of £13.6m was too good to turn down for a player who spent half of his time on the treatment table.

And, with the transfer deadline still 11 days away when Woodgate departed, time was on Newcastle's side when the deal went through.

But what did United's chairman do next? Did he do the sensible thing and pour all of his time and energy into chasing the world-class centre-half who could have turned the club's fortunes around?

Or did he spend the best part of seven days pursuing a prodigious teenager playing in the one area in which Newcastle were over-staffed anyway?

The answer is clear and, while Sir Bobby Robson constantly maintained that United were working in two distinct areas, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that all the effort they poured into one pursuit detracted from the other.

Rooney was the kind of big-name, big-reputation star who would have shown that Newcastle were still able to compete with Arsenal and Manchester United when it came to attracting the top dogs.

But he would have done little to have helped them challenge the Premiership elite where it really matters - on the pitch.

It was a choice of style against substance and, some would say predictably, Newcastle's leaders chose the former.

With almost £25m to spend, the Magpies could have signed two world-class centre-halves capable of providing the kind of defensive solidity the club crave.

It is hard to imagine Tottenham knocking back a £15m offer for Ledley King or Valencia turning down a similar amount for Roberto Ayala.

But, instead, Newcastle's attempts to bolster their defence looked like an after-thought, something done almost under duress while the Rooney deal stuttered and stalled.

Chelsea were approached about the availability of William Gallas and Robert Huth, with United chiefs confident they would get the latter if the former proved hard to prise away. Jose Mourinho stood firm.

Celtic were offered £5m for Bobo Balde, only for Martin O'Neill to reject the bid, and Rangers were similarly dismissive when a £3.8m offer for Jean-Alain Boumsong was mooted.

With time running out, the search became increasingly desperate and it is understood Newcastle made a last-gasp approach to sign Juventus centre-half Igor Tudor on loan just hours before the transfer window shut.

Hardly the carefully-planned operation that looked to be on the cards when Woodgate was ushered out of St James' Park.

The centre-half was sold without a replacement in mind but, instead of that being an isolated incident, it increasingly looks as though Shepherd has backed himself into a similar corner this week.

Surely Newcastle would not have sacked Robson unless they knew what was going to happen next. Sadly, that looks to be exactly what has happened.

Five days have passed since Robson was relieved of his duties and the United board appear to be no closer to identifying his successor.

Approaching managers while they are under contract is in breach of Premiership regulations, but it is hard to believe that United chiefs had not sounded out their preferred options prior to Robson's dismissal.

Shepherd spoke of his surprise at the high calibre of the applications he had received this week, but United fans are simply shocked at the lack of progress that has been made.

A succession of managers have been lining up to comment on the Newcastle situation but most have been keen to distance themselves from events at St James' Park.

Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren insisted he had a job to do on Teesside, Sam Allardyce hinted he was more interested in staying at Bolton and O'Neill told sources in Scotland he would not be leaving Parkhead.

Steve Bruce also quashed reports linking him to Tyneside and, while the Birmingham boss is not understood to have ruled out a move entirely, Shepherd will have his work cut out if the Geordie is to be Newcastle's next manager.

The search has degenerated into an unseemly farce, with the emergence of Terry Venables as favourite for the position perhaps the biggest indictment of the lot.

While other clubs go for progressive, forward-thinking youngsters, Newcastle are understood to be lining up a manager intrinsically linked to the old school of football management.

Ironically, one of Venables' last acts as Leeds boss was to sanction the sale of Woodgate to Newcastle. He never got round to signing a replacement for the centre-half either. Perhaps the former England boss and United is a match made in heaven after all.

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