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Newcastle 'line up St Etienne manager Galtier'

Alan Pardew has admitted to feeling 'sad' over calls for him to be sacked by Newcastle's fans © Getty Images

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Newcastle have approached St Etienne manager Christophe Galtier about taking over from Alan Pardew, according to L'Equipe.

Galtier has guided St Etienne to fourth in Ligue 1 this season, with L'Equipe reporting that Newcastle officials have acted over the club's poor finish to the Premier League season.

A former assistant to Alain Perrin at Portsmouth in 2005, Galtier, 47, has been in charge of St Etienne since 2009.

Cisse facing long lay-off

Papiss Cisse has scored just two league goals this season © Getty Images

• Newcastle expect striker Papiss Cisse to be out of action for several months after he underwent surgery on his broken kneecap on Thursday.
• Cisse, who has managed only two Premier League goals in 24 appearances this season, was injured in the 2-1 defeat to Swansea on April 19.
• A club statement read: "Cisse will spend his rehabilitation period at the Clairefontaine Medical Centre [just outside of Paris] before returning to Tyneside to be further assessed by the club's medical staff."

Protests from Newcastle supporters against Pardew and Mike Ashley continue to grow with the club only just arresting a slide of six straight defeats - their worst in the top flight since 1987 - with the 3-0 home win against Cardiff on Saturday.

Last month Pardew was handed a three-match stadium ban, with a further four games suspended, after headbutting Hull midfielder David Meyler in March.

Pardew, who signed an eight-year contract in 2012, has admitted to being saddened by calls from the club's fans for him to be sacked, after he was booed whenever he entered his technical area against Cardiff at St James' Park.

Ahead of Sunday's final game of the season at Liverpool, Pardew told the Shields Gazette: "Obviously, I'm a little bit sad about the situation, but my resolve has to be strong to make sure the players are ready for Liverpool.

"We need to go to Anfield and put in a top performance."

Newcastle will finish no lower than 10th, a significant improvement on last season when they ended up 16th.

"We need to make sure that we start next season in the same position we started this season," said Pardew. "We had a strong team and were challenging for Europe.

"But towards the back end of the season, we have not been that good. We need to accept that, accept the criticism and make the right calls."

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