Venables linked with Toon job

Terry Venables today emerged as the new favourite to succeed Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle.

The former England coach is believed to be in talks with Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd about a shock return to the Premiership.

Reports on Tyneside claimed that Venables was due to meet officials at St James' Park today, but the 61-year-old's agent Leon Angel insisted his client was in London. Exchange firm Betfair have seen a flurry of bets on Venables today and he is now the 6-4 favourite.

Newcastle have been searching for a new manager since sacking Robson earlier this week. Other candidates such as Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce and Steve McClaren have this week indicated they are not interested in the job. Venables' last Premiership job was at Leeds, where he could not stop the decline in the Peter Ridsdale era, despite the presence of many star players.

He was sacked in March 2003 and replaced by Peter Reid. A television pundit, he is now employed less frequently by ITV after it lost the rights to show Premiership highlights.