Nicky Butt thinks Newcastle United should make Chris Hughton their permanent manager.

The Magpies skipper, like all the St James Park faithful, expected the board to appoint Alan Shearer in the summer, but the uncertainty surrounding the club made this impossible.

United have instead stuck with caretaker boss Hughton and his assistant Colin Calderwood, and they have lost just one of their opening Championship fixtures.

Butt now believes the time has come for the board and supporters to forget about Shearer returning, and instead let the current regime continue their work.

“I think we were all set up and we all thought it was going to roll into a new era under Alan. It was all worked out,” the former England ace told the Evening Chronicle.

“The training regimes for the summer were drawn up by Alan and we were sent away with them by him and his staff. When we came back nothing was happening.

“Although everybody was upbeat when Alan Shearer came in and thought it was a new era, Colin and Chris have taken over the mantle and probably deserve the job now.

“I think they deserve the job. I wish somebody would come out and say to Chris ‘you are the manager.’ It would put everything else to bed.”

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