KaKa

Kevin Keegan reprimanded as Mike Ashley sets out vision George Caulkin Kevin Keegan will meet Mike Ashley this morning for talks aimed at “mapping out” Newcastle United's future. The manager, who has reiterated his long-term commitment to the club, can expect a reprimand over his recent comments but he, the owner and Dennis Wise, the executive director (football), will discuss transfer targets, funding and the separation of duties at St James' Park. A senior figure at Newcastle has confirmed that Ashley - who has played a hands-off role at the club - Keegan and Wise will sift through a list of potential acquisitions, the money available for new signings and how best to utilise the talents at their disposal. If there has been a lack of clarity concerning positions and communication, that will also be addressed. While the gathering, which will take place in London at 11am, has been billed as “not a crisis meeting”, Keegan's assertion last weekend that Newcastle are “a million miles” away from the “big four” clubs and his lack of input in their transfer policy or dialogue with Ashley has brought uncertainty back to Gallowgate. The billionaire retailer is not enamoured with the publicity that Keegan's statement has brought, particularly when he had, in fact, met the 57-year-old in the light of Newcastle's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea on Monday. Keegan has welcomed Ashley's participation in the discussions today as “a good thing”. The context is paramount. Ashley has owned Newcastle for less than a year, Chris Mort, the chairman and a lawyer, is new to football, while Keegan's appointment in January was closely followed by those of Wise, Tony Jimenez as vice-president (player recruitment) and Jeff Vetere as technical co-ordinator. With a new administrative structure in place, teething problems are inevitable. Keegan has also expressed frustration at delays in opening contract talks with Michael Owen and Steven Taylor, but the club recognise the need for urgency. Ashley should also be aware that, with his choice of manager in place, supporters expect Keegan - who has transformed the mood - to be backed, financially and emotionally. In turn, he understands that planning is needed. “I've never thought to myself, ‘What have I done by coming here?'” Keegan said. “I remember saying to Jean, my wife, after four or five weeks, when we'd not won a game, that there must have been a reason why I came back here and of course there is. It's a great club with a great support and a great future. But the future needs to be mapped out and planned. We all have to be working hard for that.” Given Ashley's lack of public utterances, his decision-making cannot be predicted with any confidence, but the club have been investing time and money on long-term projects. Keegan hinted that he may stay at the club beyond the terms of his present deal. “I've got three years, I am looking forward to the next three years - at least - and you know I'll only be 60 then,” he said. The gap between Newcastle and Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool has not seen his passion wane. “Definitely not,” he said. “The challenge is there for all of us. If you are a light-welterweight, you don't say you are going to win the heavyweight championship of the world. We have to build our muscles up first. “I have really enjoyed coming back to the club I love. It's like a big ship; when it's listing, everything is exaggerated and it is a major problem. But when you turn it round, the momentum starts to go with you and it can go quicker than most clubs.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3897715.ece

Liverpool fan? I disagree. Barry will replace Alonso if he is succesfully signed. It will be Mascherano and Barry with Gerrard behind Torres.

Still ... I respect Frank's game and he does score a hell of a lot of goals from midfield, but for me Barry is a better all round player right now even. If you put Barry on a team with the likes of Gerrard and torres and Mascherano he would be disgustingly good I feel. In the same way Lampard has greatly enjoyed the luxury of playing with Makelele, Essien and Drogba. In regards to Alonso I think Benitez wants someone with a bit more toughness which is where Barry comes in.

If Barry moves to a top 4 club he will surprise a lot of people I think. High quality player who has surprisingly continued to maintain a high standard of play despite being with Villa through their tough times, and despite being moved around a fair bit position wise. Carrick and Lampard we're seen to be okay players at their previous clubs too. I honestly think that of the three Barry has the most potential. He's fitter and more mobile and athletic than Frank and has more presence and strength than Carrick.

I like Barry. He's certainly as good as the Carricks and Lampards for sure.

There is no chance of us signing Huntelaar when teams like AC, Man Utd, Real Madrid and Barcelona are interested. I think it could be worth bringing Gudjohnsen back to England. I'm not so sure. The Huntelaar hype really does seem to have died down quite a bit. I think he will end up being one of those that goes to another team before the big clubs show any real interest.

Well I meant cost the club more in terms of higher wages and being of no further value to us after they are done, like you say.

What’s going on, United? May 8 2008 by Alan Oliver, Evening Chronicle KEVIN KEEGAN will meet Newcastle United club owner Mike Ashley and director of football Dennis Wise in London tomorrow. There are all sorts of theories that Keegan is going to be hauled over the coals after his comments on Monday night and the defeat by Chelsea at St James’s Park, when the manager questioned which way the club was going. But my information is that there will be no screaming match at tomorrow’s meeting and no parting of the ways from either party – and it is likely to end in handshakes all round. I am told that Keegan has been summoned to London by Ashley to be reminded that when he was appointed in January he was informed of the direction the club was taking, and that things have not changed. However, the situation is still bound to be causing the United fans concern and, after his Press conference for Sunday’s final match if the season at Everton was brought forward 24 hours to today, journalists were instructed only to ask questions about the proceedings at Goodison Park. But United fans will want answers on what is rapidly becoming a worrying situation for them, as there was no official comment from the club today. They have complete confidence in Keegan and they have welcomed Ashley and his No 17 black-and-white shirt into the fold. But those fans know that this is Ashley’s first big chance to act in the transfer market in the close season so that a squad can be built which will get the club back to the right end of the table and even further in time. One question often asked is if Keegan does leave St James’s Park, would Wise be installed as manager. Well I have been told today that having being a manager with Swindon, Millwall and Leeds United, this is the last thing on Wise’s mind, especially as he has a young family in London. Instead, Wise will continue beavering away in his role as director of football, and in the summer he will bring Geordie boy Alan Thompson back to St James’s Park. The 34-year-old Thompson will take a coaching role looking after a certain age group at the United Academy as he gets the badges necessary to move further up the ladder. Thompson was actually sold by Keegan to Bolton Wanderers for £250,000 in 1993 because he could not guarantee the local boy regular first-team football as he assembled a glittering array of inter-nationals. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2008/05/08/what-s-going-on-united-72703-20879530/ Now having read that and particularlyu the bit in bold, I can't help but feel that Keegan having been brought in and told of the direction i.e. younger upcoming talent, Keegan is now pushing for bigger and more established stars who cost more and who will not represent as much value.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11678_3537575,00.html Take that Bolton!

Yes and Cristiano Ronaldo. Nani came from there also. What kind of cretin writes off a player based on him coming from a club where one of our less succesful players came from. Bizare concept.

Now this would be some timely good news. Classy player with a fantastic left foot. His set pieces are a thing of beauty.

Maybe it's about time we hired a manager who can't speak English. Surely ths is the perfect solution?

I seriously doubt that. However it is more likely that while the club is happy to spend big money on a Gomis they will not on an Henry. This may be the sort of problem that is occurring.

It seems the players weren't too impressed by Keegans words either. No one likes to hear their manager publicly telling the world his team are a million miles away from Chelsea and that we haven't got a hope of finishing in the top four in the next three years. It might be true but you don't have to moan about it in public. Let me tell you what I found so surprising about all of this ... it's the fact that we played so well in the first half and we were actually the better team I thought! We all know why the second half was so different, it was due to Viduka going off and Smith coming on and then Duff being introduced as we switched to a more traditional 4-4-2. In other words all of this is Alan Smiths fault

Well at least it's the summer now so if we do have to start afresh with a new manager so be it. It'll be thanks for keeping us up Kev and we'll just have to move on swiftly.

Just when things seemed to be calming down with the club and we were becoming relatively normal ... hey presto! Pretty upsetting to be honest. I don't care what Keegan was trying to achieve, he really didn't need to go about it the way he did and cause all this.

Seems like there could be some truth in this going by the reports in the papers. Wouldn't be at all surprised considering the scouting staff we've brought in who are clearly well equipped to identify and recruit some top upcoming talent in the world of football. Keegan isn't likely to be aware of a lotof these players and with his mantra of not signing plaayers he hasn't seen and wanting prem experienced players first and foremost it could be a bit tricky. I just wish Kev could be a bit more open minded abou tthings tbh. I really would rather start brining in some top players of the right age rather than older established sorts who aren't going to be around for much longer. Come on Kev get with the programme!

I don't see it that way, he's made a few comments and people seem to be falling over each other to create something out of nothing. A few comments he didn't need to make in public, which he should have known would be twisted to discredit the club. That is the whole point.

This is exactly why Keegan should have never made all those comments. Drama at Newcastle once again and right when we should be focused on rebuilding the team. Just great!

Don't you dare ... Don't even let yourself believe it for one second. Pure fantasy.

He's lined up Kuyt to replace him.

What it all comes down too is the fact that Keegan is going to have to sit down with the new scouts and have a look at the players they have made a note of. He has to be open to this and I pray he will be. We are going to have to get players in who are not that familiar to everyone. Talented players who are still on the verge and haven't quite been pounced upon yet. When Sven was going after all theose players remember the stick he got? About how he scouted them all through yout tube. Well he had the last laugh didn't he. How about Eduardo? The media went on about how he wasn't fit for Arsenal coming from the Croatian league and how he could never eplace Henry etc etc etc. Well he was well on his way to looking like a hell of a player to me! We can do this and Keegan really ought ot be more up for it.

In all seriousness though, I have to agree with Baggio on this one. I have been somewhat irritated by the talk coming from Keegan lately. I personally am not really one to go for the whole "all the top layers are going to the top four talk", I know this is the case a lot of times, but there are just so many good players out there. Every season we see them come into the premier league and join teams that were much worse off than us while we spend big on some has beens. We are just going to have to go for the not so obvious targets. Yes it's a risk but as long as we do our homework we should be alright. Our new network of scouts seem like they can definitely identify the best talent all over the world , but the problem is with Keegan having the final say, will he only be familiar with the obvious names which we can't get at the moment due to the high interest in them? All the players who joined Man City last summer (MAN CITY!!!) would all still walk straight into our team but they went there didn't they and they all looked great to me. Santa Cruz was another one who I doubt would have turned us down. Boro took a punt on ALves and he is showing potential. When Kranjcar joined Pompey and has looked smashing. There are good players out there. Keegan might just have to be a bit more receptive to bringin in pople he might not be as familiar with. Someone like an Arshavin who is a bit under the radar at the moment is probably the type we should be looking at right now.

David Bentley turning us down?

This is hugely embarrassing and rather pathetic. Disgraceful behaviour from Shola. Man up and go and make something of yourself you wimp.