Newcastle next manager: Steve McClaren could face sack tonight as Magpies turn to Rafael Benitez - reports

The Magpies, in the Premier League relegation zone with 10 matches remaining, have staged crisis talks this week

The Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren leaving training on Wednesday (PA)

Steve McClaren remains on the brink of the sack at Newcastle United with reports this afternoon suggesting he could depart the North East club as soon as today.

The Magpies, marooned in the Premier League relegation zone by one point with 10 matches remaining, have staged crisis talks this week to decide upon the merits of dismissing their manager so close to the end of the season.

The calamitous manner of their recent 3-1 home submission to Bournemouth, however, appears to have triggered panic among the Newcastle hierarchy with the threat of relegation to the Championship becoming an acute possibility.

Rafael Benítez, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager, remains the primary target to replace McClaren but the Spaniard, the Independent believes, would insist upon a clutch of assurances about their ambition going forward before taking the post.

Despite reports by Sky Sports this afternoon suggesting the Champions League winning boss is closing in on a three-year contract at St James’ Park, there remains to be little suggestion that he would be willing to commit to such a deal.

The 55-year-old is reportedly on a three-man shortlist comprising of David Moyes and Nigel Pearson but Newcastle refuse to leave themselves without an established manager ahead of a vital run-in of fixtures.

Alan Pardew’s departure to Crystal Palace last year left the Magpies with John Carver, an unpopular figure among many supporters, until the end of the campaign – one which could have resulted in relegation if there had been a different pattern of results on the final day.

Newcastle face leaders Leicester City on Monday evening before the Tyne-Wear derby with Sunderland and a trip to face survival rivals Norwich City a fortnight later.

McClaren will not hold his weekly press briefing on Thursday in a decision which adds further fuel to the theory of thought that his time is up in the North East.