TRon

Depends if Keegan was hired as a coach or a manager. If it's the latter, he's every right to throw his toys out of the pram. If Keegan being 'manager' means keeping the likes of Smith and Milner out of some misplaced loyalty then I'd rather he stuck to coaching...which he's done very well I should add.

There are some very good posts in this thread rather than the reactionary rubbish being spouted by a lot of people. Regarding Ashley, I ask myself the question "What has Ashley done wrong?" Attempt to sell Barton? Attempt to sell Owen? Successfully sell Milner for £12m? Unearth players like Colo, Jonas, Guthrie and these new guys? Make Keegan Manager? You could argue that Owen shouldn't be sold, but he's been offered a contract and doesn't seem committed to sign it yet. Like someone else said in this thread, Keegan seems to be fighting the wrong battles, and if he'd just stick to what he's good at this could all work very well.

Fuck Ashley, I'm sure Keegan will not walk away and will do a Niall Quinn and buy out the club...show Ashley how to do it properly by investing his own millions in the squad and building a crack world-wide scouting network led by Arthur Cox and Terry Mac.

Like what?

None.

I'm sure he has his reasons. For all we know, he may be at training as normal first thing in the morning. He should have been there today if he wanted to keep this private.

When the chips were down and KK was struggling, good to see some were offering their unreserved support when it mattered

No, we need a scapegoat, so let's follow the media bait I say.

Not sure KK is convinced (assuming he knows who they are).

The club have made their announcement, they want Keegan to be part of their "long term strategy". We are now waiting to hear from KK on whether he wants to be part of it is how I read it. I don't think there's any doubt he wants to be part of the club's long term strategy but whether he wants to continue working wth a bunch of hapless cockney fuckwits is a different matter. He had similar problems working with hapless Geordie fuckwits last time he was manager IIRC. That's your lot as a football manager I suppose.

The club have made their announcement, they want Keegan to be part of their "long term strategy". We are now waiting to hear from KK on whether he wants to be part of it is how I read it.

I hope Keegan appreciates us as much as we appreciate him. We aren't going to win the league just yet, but we seemed to be putting together a canny team, so it would be a shame if he just walked out again.

Not that i'm disagreeing (or agreeing) but how can you pin all of the blame on Ashley? there are two sides to every story and we don't even properly know one side yet! The 2 most important things to any club should be the fans and the first team. KK knows that, Ashley doesn't seem to have grasped it and is doing things in a kind of bargain basement way. Phrases like long term strategy are there to buy time & will only gain credence if short & medium actions pave the way. Ashley has given false hope and allegedly false promises to supporters - Wow. He's made KK look like a tit and we all know where that road leads. Keegan himself has said there was money to buy regardless of the sale of Milner. We don't actually know that Ashley buying bargain basement is the root of the problem.

I don't agree, I think Wise, Vetere and Jiminez are doing an outstanding job judging by the players being brought in. If KK gets his way, who is going to scout Europe for these players? Terry fucking Mac? I hope it's just a case of Keegan throwing his toys because Barton was nearly sold behind his back. That needs to be sorted, apologies accepted and hopefully Keegan will cool down and realise this is where he belongs.

That just says he hasn't been sacked....do we know whether he's resigned/ still it looks hopeful.

No I think I'll support Putin in his quest to obliterate Georgia instead

I don't go along with the Anti-Ashley campaign that's been waged so long and hard, but if the club loses Keegan, they can't complain if there is a backlash. Keegan is the only man who will be accepted here and just as importantly can make things work. Sort it out Ashley. You fat bastard.

As one of the vanguard who stuck by Keegan when the s*** was flying last season, nothing depresses me more than the thought he's gone. Unfortunately for all his virtues, KK is a man who wants his own way even when he is wrong sometimes. Wise and Co have done very well in the transfer market and they should be trusted to get on with it, and KK should stick to doing what he does best, coaching, motivating and leading his players. When you start questioning the guy who is bank-rolling the club or demanding certain players are kept you are stepping on serious toes. It would be great if all this could be smoothed over but with it becoming public, I don't think there's any chance. We all know how highly strung he is and how high maintenance he is too. He's stubborn, cantankerous and is emotionally up and down, that's the price you pay with KK though, he's worth the hassle. You do not sell players behind a manager's back though or try to, or make promises and break them, not with KK not with anyone, regardless of the setup. This if anything is the core issue I feel. Assuming that is the case (no one really knows ATM) it's still not as cut and dried as that. At the end of the day it's Ashley who has to fund any deals, so he's obviously going to have the final say on who stays and goes. If it's been done behind KK's back then he can't really blame KK for getting the hump and will have to deal with the backlash. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now.

Bringing some pretty decent players to the club so far by the looks of it.

As one of the vanguard who stuck by Keegan when the shit was flying last season, nothing depresses me more than the thought he's gone. Unfortunately for all his virtues, KK is a man who wants his own way even when he is wrong sometimes. Wise and Co have done very well in the transfer market and they should be trusted to get on with it, and KK should stick to doing what he does best, coaching, motivating and leading his players. When you start questioning the guy who is bank-rolling the club or demanding certain players are kept you are stepping on serious toes. It would be great if all this could be smoothed over but with it becoming public, I don't think there's any chance.

It's devastating if it's true. At the end of the day though, the club can't be run on the whim of a manager, it has to be done by the paymaster. KK's thrown his toys out of the pram again - now watch him become the media darling again rather than the hapless clown he's been since returning as Newcastle manager.

Not too worried about the LB situation, because I rate Enrique, and Zog is very capable of covering when he's out. I am disappointed we didn't get in a Diarra type for CM though. We will struggle against the top sides with our current engine room, so the way to go would be 4-3-3 I guess. Oh, and I think the Xisco kid is going to be a bit of a revelation...could turn out to be our most important signing given our shit options up front when Viduka is inevitably out injured.

Yes and no. I am very happy with the quality of the players brought in considering the amount of money actually being spent. Wise, Vetere and Jiminez deserve kudos rather than the bile they've had chucked at them from a lot of quarters. On the flip side, after two transfer windows with Keegan in charge, I really did think we would have a bigger squad of quality professionals to pick from. It's become pretty obvious now tha we will buy big, but we are looking to move on a lot of wasters at the club to make room, e.g., Barton, Smith, Duff, Ameobi etc. Fair enough, but it will probably be another season before we see a strong enough squad to really cause any of the better teams to be concerned. I still think we'll do ok this season though, once our injuries have cleared up.

Yes and no. I am very happy with the quality of the players brought in considering the amount of money actually being spent. Wise, Vetere and Jiminez deserve kudos rather than the bile they've had chucked at them from a lot of quarters. On the flip side, after two transfer windows with Keegan in charge, I really did think we would have a bigger squad of quality professionals to pick from. It's become pretty obvious now tha we will buy big, but we are looking to move on a lot of wasters at the club to make room, e.g., Barton, Smith, Duff, Ameobi etc. Fair enough, but it will probably be another season before we see a strong enough squad to really cause any of the better teams to be concerned. I still think we'll do ok this season though, once our injuries have cleared up.

Unless Nacho is the dog's, we've definitely let ourselves down in the centre of midfield. To bid all that cash for Modric and Aimar then only bring in Guthrie (though I like him) is not on. Guthrie looks a good buy regardless but unless Barton is going to turn himself round instantly, we look weak in the centre of the park. I don't have any problem with the two lads we've signed, I've a feeling both will do well. With money available though, we should have pursued someone to challenge Butt for the holding role and a right winger to replace Milner.