Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer will not be returning to Newcastle as Kevin Keegan's number two.

However, he could yet be handed a significant role on Keegan's staff after holding lengthy talks with the new Magpies boss on Thursday night.

A Keegan-Shearer dream ticket was the talk of Tyneside in the immediate wake of Sam Allardyce's departure earlier this month, and the 56-year-old's admission hea would be talking to the man for whom he paid £15million back in the summer of 1996 as he was officially unveiled a week ago sparked a fresh wave of optimism.

But the two men will meet again on Monday for fresh discussions having agreed that while the 37-year-old former England skipper could have a major part to play, it will not be as assistant manager.

Asked if he had spoken to Shearer, Keegan said: 'Yes I have.

'I had four hours in his company last night. We had an excellent meeting.

'We talked in detail about this club - I know all his views on it now, he knows all mine, and we will talk again on Monday.

'It was great to see him again because I haven't really been in contact with Alan for a year, and I think we both missed that.

'We will see what happens on Monday. It will not be as number two, I will tell you that.

'It will not be, and that's the conclusion we both came to. But it will be, if he decides to come in, a very worthwhile role.

'Alan doesn't come in here (to the training ground), he doesn't come in and around this place, and I would like to encourage the old players to come back.

'I used to get them all coming back at Manchester City.

'But Alan will come in, if he comes, and it will be a role that's worthwhile, or he will say, `No, not at the moment' because like we both said last night, if it is not worthwhile, let's not do it.That's where we are with it.'

The Shearer situation is not one which needs to be resolved urgently, however, with transfer deals to be done before next Thursday's deadline and the little matter of two visits to Arsenal to come inside four days.

Keegan appointed the former United manager Arthur Cox to the club's coaching staff on Monday and the Newcastle coach Terry McDermott this week said: "We would like to think that we now have three people who would absolutely die for this club [Keegan, McDermott and Cox] and, hopefully, there will be a fourth one before not too long."