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Dude, he said he'll spend all of that plus 20m. So if you say we could have spent 20m each season without him dipping his hands into his pocket then he's saying the manager could actually spend 40m each season.

And we would have if this board had been given time to sort out the financial side of things.

Was he not there on Sports Direct business? http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/09/06/newcastle-chief-s-booze-binge-as-kevin-keegan-quits-115875-20725877/ Doesn't sound like business to me. I don't know if the business story is true or not but are you not allowed to have fun on a business trip? Not allowed a night out in one the coolest cities in the world after finishing up your work during the day? Again, I stress that I don't know whether the business story is true but there are just so many possibilities.

What if KK made unreasonable demands and something just had to be done at the end of the window? Like trying to sell players behind his back you mean? Do you think KK is, at least, partly to blame for all of this?

What if KK made unreasonable demands and something just had to be done at the end of the window?

We should have a demonstration to ask Ashley to stay

Can you explain a bit more on that then? Not how you know but how Wise' cause the problem Keegan couldn't stand the site of Wise, yet Wise ended up actually being in charge of player recruitment and sales, and was bypassing Keegan over these. Which is what cause the implosion on deadline day. ...which was a rationale response to his failure to identify realistic targets? Who knows. Just because you know that Keegan and Wise fell out doesnt mean you know anything more than anyone else about why this happened.h Exactly. KK's come out of this smelling like roses. Perfectly played. Not to my mind, Keegan could have played the hand he was dealt whilst attempting to improve his position/situation over the course of the season. He threw the toys out of the pram and left the team (players) crushed. Don't smell like a rose to me. I mean to the majority of our fans, hence all the demonstrations (which I disagreed with, btw). He's come out of this smelling like roses for so many people and yet the funny thing is, like Chez said, we still don't know exactly what happened that triggered the events of the last day of the transfer window and the drama post-window.

Can you explain a bit more on that then? Not how you know but how Wise' cause the problem Keegan couldn't stand the site of Wise, yet Wise ended up actually being in charge of player recruitment and sales, and was bypassing Keegan over these. Which is what cause the implosion on deadline day. ...which was a rationale response to his failure to identify realistic targets? Who knows. Just because you know that Keegan and Wise fell out doesnt mean you know anything more than anyone else about why this happened.h Exactly. KK's come out of this smelling like roses. Perfectly played.

He's already said that he would have put in 20m a year without wanting it back so we wouldn't have been breaking even on transfers in the future. We've only done that for the past couple of seasons because we were up shit-creek financially with no way out.

Everything up until Colo's and Bassong's transfer was ok, but what happened? What did KK demand that the board wouldn't agree to? Why did Wise and co have to sign two players behind KK's back? Still quite a few unanswered questions but some people already see this is as a black and white thing, which it ain't.

I agree with pretty much everything in that statement. He says he would have put in 20m a season without wanting anything back, but that wouldn't mean that it would be our transfer budget. If the financial side was ran well and we maximise our potential off the field, we could be in profit and thus wouldn't actually need his 20m. The 20m would just be a top-up, which is surely more than enough. Sad to say, we're still suffering the effects from Freddy's time here and because some of our fans have unrealistic expectations of transfer budgets and how quickly we should challenge, we're now stuck in a really shit place. We haven't seen the way the club would actually be run if we didn't have all this leftover debt and revenue spent. Sad state of affairs that someone with a real plan for the club's short-term and long-term future has now been pushed out before he could even implement all his plans.

It is you who his holding "Nationality" against people with your remarks like 'hometown favourite' & 'prodigal son. You make it sound the like the club has never appointed anyone from afar. As for Roeder he got his job on the back of keeping us, should never of been given the job full time but there you go. You seem to have a real bee in your bonnet about the local thing regarding Keegan & the future, maybe that is the difference between a Geordie & Newcastle United fan, I personally used to think they were the same, maybe I was wrong. If I come across that way, then it's definitely not on purpose. I just hope the board are open-minded and assess each candidate based on their record. I want the club to be successful and if a Geordie fully merited the job (like Shearer may in the future if he's had experience), then I'd back him just the same as I've backed and will back any other manager of ours, Geordie or not.

Good to see fans of other clubs on the forum, btw A different perspective is always interesting, if nothing else.

If we limit our pool to Geordies or those with an affiliation with the club, then there's only so many Geordies or players who have played for us. We'll be fucked if this mentality dominates. Say only 10% or so of managers are successful, if we limit our pool, we'll need to be lucky to find that group from our limited pool. On the other hand, if we look for those with a good mentality, experienced, highly-rated etc. etc., we'll be fine.

Nationality shouldn't be an issue. KK was successful because he's a good manager. He only failed with England but everywhere else, he was successful. Same story with Sir Bob, who was actually more successful at other clubs (Ipswich and PSV). What about Roeder then, if you're so into people who have an affiliation with a club? His reign was an utter disaster and his team's style of play was eerily reminiscent of Souness'. Get a good manager in and we'll be ok.

And yet we've only one trophy in the past 40 years, even with all the resources - the huge fanbase, the stadium, the money, everything. There needs to a change of mentality and someone else, someone whose main quality isn't 'hometown favourite' 'prodigal son' etc, deserves a fair chance.

Smith? And you're the one who accused me of escalating a player's ability because of his absence?

Another case of a players ability escalating because they haven't played for a while syndrome. My point was that he actually likes playing at Upton Park. 2 in 2 and played well in both games. Will try to be clearer next time, mate.

If Martins plays, we'll win. If not, we won't.

I agree with most of it, except the fact about 'there's no coming back from this'. Hire a good, bright manager and a couple of wins will change the mood entirely.

At least I'm getting points from Arteta and Yakubu. Totally ruining my prediction, though.

Why do we need a Geordie manager? That is seriously limiting the pool of candidates and because there aren't that many Geordies and Geordie managers out there, we're obviously going to end up with a bum. Even though Bruce has a done a decent job at Wigan, there are far more qualified candidates out there and I'd be seriously disappointed were we to hire him. Keegan replaced by Bruce? Joke. What's up with this concept that only Geordies can run the club and only Geordies know what it's all about? This backwards closed-minded mentality is simply pandering to the sentimental and unreasonable folk and is why Shearer's always odds-on when there's a vacancy here. Why should the club and its management let themselves be dictated by a mob mentality? Why shouldn't we go all out for the best possible candidate, regardless of nationality or race? Why not hire someone who has an objective view of the club, someone who won't be swayed by the notoriously fickle fans that every club seems to possess (a group that seems to have particular sway over our club, for some reason)? Geordie shouldn't a qualification and I'd be seriously disappointed if it ever were.

I don't think it's down to regionalism at all, but it's just something that the people who dislike Ashley and co can use against them i.e. say 'they're not Geordies, they don't know what it's like'. If we were doing well, this wouldn't be an issue at all. These things always pop up from time to time when things are going bad. When we were doing well under Allardyce, he was 'big sam', then when were shit, he was 'fat sam'...

Loads of empty seats at the Camp Nou. What's going on? Guardiola been forced out or what? 'Adios Laporta' banner making its way through the stadium?

Yes, but the banner just keeps what the board would like to sweep under the carpet right in everybodies attention. Believe me, If we didnt protest, they'd think it is acceptable to treat us like this and continue to do so. Thats what protests achieve. Wouldn't it have been as effective if done before/after the game? You know the SSN cameras will be there, you know there'll be chanting outside the stadium, you know the papers are going to write about it tomorrow. It would have been in everybody's attention with or without the banner but the crowd contributed to our slow start to the second half because their attention was on something else, which is why I thought it was unnecessary.