oldtype

It would not have been ideal at any time, but he chose the worst time possible. Or he chose his principles over the club... simple as that. And that makes him better how? Have a word with yourself for crying out loud. I'm sure he didn't think to himself "hey you know what, I'll resign just when the window shuts so it leaves the club in the s***". On your second point, principles are a lot different to egos. If someone quits their job to suit their ego, then they are obviously putting themselves first. If someone leaves their job out of principle, that would suggest that they didn't really want to have to leave, but felt they had no choice. You're not addressing the core of this argument at all. a) he could have presevered at least untill the off-season b) he decided that his own preferences (whether it be principle or ego or whatever you want to call it) was more important than the club's future. You always have a choice. a) would you perservere with your job if you believed you were being undermimed or not allowed to do the job properly? You can't just perservere with something that you know isn't working or just paper over the cracks. Surely it's more honest of him to leave rather than taking his £10,000 a week out of the club (or whatever his wage may have been). b) what's your point? So he chose to leave the club because of his principle which is "having the right to manage". What's wrong with that? It hasn't left us in the lurch. Surely the reasons leading to his resignation have left us in the lurch. No amount of unhappiness from my job, no violation of ANY of my principles would make me leave Newcastle United knowing that my departure would lead to meltdown and possibly even relegation of the club. Is it simple enough for you now? I understand your point, but I just don't agree with it. Life is too short for staying in a job in which you are unhappy. There's more to life than football and making your piss poor bosses happy. (You're argument about relegation is kneejerk to the extreme) I can understand all that perfectly. Which is why I think it's fair to argue that Keegan never loved the club as much as we thought he did.

It would not have been ideal at any time, but he chose the worst time possible. Or he chose his principles over the club... simple as that. And that makes him better how? Have a word with yourself for crying out loud. I'm sure he didn't think to himself "hey you know what, I'll resign just when the window shuts so it leaves the club in the s***". On your second point, principles are a lot different to egos. If someone quits their job to suit their ego, then they are obviously putting themselves first. If someone leaves their job out of principle, that would suggest that they didn't really want to have to leave, but felt they had no choice. You're not addressing the core of this argument at all. a) he could have presevered at least untill the off-season b) he decided that his own preferences (whether it be principle or ego or whatever you want to call it) was more important than the club's future. You always have a choice. a) would you perservere with your job if you believed you were being undermimed or not allowed to do the job properly? You can't just perservere with something that you know isn't working or just paper over the cracks. Surely it's more honest of him to leave rather than taking his £10,000 a week out of the club (or whatever his wage may have been). b) what's your point? So he chose to leave the club because of his principle which is "having the right to manage". What's wrong with that? It hasn't left us in the lurch. Surely the reasons leading to his resignation have left us in the lurch. No amount of unhappiness from my job, no violation of ANY of my principles would make me leave Newcastle United knowing that my departure would lead to meltdown and possibly even relegation of the club. Is it simple enough for you now?

It would not have been ideal at any time, but he chose the worst time possible. Or he chose his principles over the club... simple as that. And that makes him better how? Have a word with yourself for crying out loud. I'm sure he didn't think to himself "hey you know what, I'll resign just when the window shuts so it leaves the club in the s***". On your second point, principles are a lot different to egos. If someone quits their job to suit their ego, then they are obviously putting themselves first. If someone leaves their job out of principle, that would suggest that they didn't really want to have to leave, but felt they had no choice. You're not addressing the core of this argument at all. a) he could have presevered at least untill the off-season b) he decided that his own preferences (whether it be principle or ego or whatever you want to call it) was more important than the club's future. You always have a choice.

It would not have been ideal at any time, but he chose the worst time possible. Or he chose his principles over the club... simple as that. And that makes him better how?

Shame too, because he seemed to be an excellent Assistant by all indications. Just like Roeder used to be a pretty decent Academy manager. Some people just shouldn't be given the big chair.

Just to add, I do not side with Ashley in any way, shape, or form. I think I've made that relatively clear. Read the OP before you make your automatic "OMFG he's talking s*** about KK" reactions.

Nice one mate, I was just waiting for someone to pull the "he's not a Geordie so he doesn't understand" card. By the way, where was Keegan born again?

Any person's opinion on this topic either way hinges on whether they still trust KK or not. I certainly don't.

Kevin Keegan is a coward. He's deserted us, betrayed our trust, and left us for dead. "If" we are relegated this season, he should be remembered as one of the great villains in club history. I don't care how bad the situation was. There was no justification for walking out when he did. It's simply a case of him putting his pride (or principles, or whatever you want to call it) before the good of the club he claimed to love. What situation if any would convince YOU to resign as manager of Newcastle United on September 1st? He should have never taken the job in the first place, walked out the moment he was undermined in the transfer window, or saw out the season. For those of you who say he couldn't have known what would happen. Really? Is it that hard to imagine that KK walking out would cause massive fan discontent, which would make Ashley's position untenable? Many of us on the board were predicting the exact situation we are in now the moment the news broke. For those of you who say he simply had his bluff called by Ashley and never really meant to leave. That changes nothing, the fact is, at any point he could have come to his senses, swallowed his pride, and come back. Now, I'm not saying that the blame for our current crisis lies solely on KK's door. He and Ashley and Wise/Vertre/Llambias are all equally culpable. But you know what? I don't hold those other people to the same standards I used to hold KK. I trusted that man absolutely, unconditionally, unequivocally. He's betrayed that trust and left us in freefall. He's gone down in my estimation.

KK is a coward. I will never forgive him for betraying our trust and leaving the club for dead. Discuss.

I want to die. I'm not even joking.

One of our best players, both in ability and attitude. I love him. It has to be said though, with all the muscle strains he gets that puts him out for 2~3 weeks at key moments, he's deceptively injury-prone. With that and his already erratic play style, he's not really a player that can be depended upon week-in week-out.

As hard as it is, think for a moment. Under what circumstance would you EVER leave the club you love knowing perfectly well what would happen if you did? And on September 1st? Keegan valued his own pride over the good of Newcastle United. I can understand that, the man's human. But he certainly no longer has my unconditional trust.

I've been changing my mind on this so many times while trying to make some sense out of what's happened but why did Keegan leave the way he did? Does it tell us that he wasn't that bothered about the club? I wouldn't like to be undermined at work but I think I'd put up with that if I was doing something I loved rather than something I had to do to pay the bills. As far as I'm concerned it must have been that bad for him to leave. Knowing how he feels about this club. I disagree. I think Keegan showed that his connection to the club possibly isn't as strong as all of us would like to think it is. How bad would it have to be for you, or anyone else on this board, to quit managing Newcastle United ON SEPTEMBER 1ST? Even if Dennis Wise was wanking my dog, I'd at least see the season through. Utter rubbish. That would be you.

I've been changing my mind on this so many times while trying to make some sense out of what's happened but why did Keegan leave the way he did? Does it tell us that he wasn't that bothered about the club? I wouldn't like to be undermined at work but I think I'd put up with that if I was doing something I loved rather than something I had to do to pay the bills. As far as I'm concerned it must have been that bad for him to leave. Knowing how he feels about this club. I disagree. I think Keegan showed that his connection to the club possibly isn't as strong as all of us would like to think it is. How bad would it have to be for you, or anyone else on this board, to quit managing Newcastle United ON SEPTEMBER 1ST? Even if Dennis Wise was wanking my dog, I'd at least see the season through.

While we're on the topic... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=573301&sec=england&cc=5901

Considering that it matters very little exactly where we're finishing when we're finishing 10th~17th, I'd take it. We're obviously not getting into the UEFA cup this year, so I'd take any way of avoiding relegation, which is the only significant result possible this season.

I've decided to just close my eyes till June. Hopefully we won't be in the Championship when I open them.

More I see the more I'm resigned to the fact that football will now just be an epic pissing match of "my owner is richer than your owner." Why do I even bother anymore.

This is a fucking joke. I hate these matches where it's only "satisfactory" if we win and gutting when we lose or even draw. You just know this is going to end 0-1.

Best manager of all time (DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to be grossly biased), and the only public figure on Earth I love as much as I used to love Keegan. Getting him would be the only thing that could actually make me happy about this situation. It's also completely impossible, by the way.

Obviously someone continental, who won't be put off by the current structure. The way things are looking it seems we'll be going Spanish. Also, judging from the posts in this thread, it better be somebody with some pretty thick skin... Tell you what. I think the next manager will resign within a year. But it won't be because he can't work with the board. The problem is that a large segment of the fans will almost want to see him fail. They'll say "we should back our manager" at first yeah, but at the slightest sign of trouble they'll turn on him. So is the fate of anyone who follows a manager like Keegan.

It's also worth noting that booing/heckling Ashley at the match is probably one of the worst ideas ever.

Idiot. The whole point with KK is that what you see is what you get - take that away and you're left with a pale imitation. He would never compromise his principles and I wouldn't want him to, especially in order to suck up to some f***ing cockney shitbags. Believe what you want. "But I'll tell you what, he's gone down in my estimation." THere is no f***ing excuse for leaving the club on September 1st. Even less so when Ashley's setup which seems to be so unberable to him has produced some very good results so far. And it's not like he didn't know what he was getitng when he came here

Fuck. Screw you "King" Kev. (Soon to be replaced with something like "Kowardly Kev," I'm sure.) I can't believe a man who I loved and respected would just screw us like this. If he really cared about the fans he'd have sucked up whatever problem he was dealing with at least until the end of the season. Today is a sad day for the club. Not only have we been royally screwed for the forseeable future, but we've also lost a legend.