Interim Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear has admitted his temporary position made it difficult to offer Gerry Francis a contract. The former Tottenham and QPR boss has now taken a job on the backroom staff at Stoke.
Kinnear told the Evening Chronicle: "It was a difficult one for Gerry because I can't give him a contract in any form or way. I think he has one at Stoke.
"So he doesn't want to burn his bridges (at Stoke).
"If something happens here in the next month and the club is sold, he knows that if the new people come in and don't want you that is the end of it.
"I told him that and he had to know that before he came in.
"In theory, it wasn't worth his while to leave his job at Stoke. The job there is more permanent.
"He was very interested, but there was no contract and certainly nobody is getting any contracts at the moment.
"Nobody knows how long anybody is going to be here at the moment - and that includes me."