KK resigns - see OP for new club statement issued September 6th

[Slugsy]

With each day we are more like a circus rather than football club.

[Guest black n white]

NUFC now stands for Newcarstle United Facking Cants.

 

pmsl

[NJS]

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ted/7223479.stm

 

QUOTE

Wise explains role at Newcastle

 

Keegan wants to make it clear he is the boss of Wise

Newcastle executive director Dennis Wise has insisted that manager Kevin Keegan has the "final word" on all football matters at the club.

Wise left his role as Leeds boss earlier this week to take up his position with the Premier League club.

 

"I'm here to help Kevin, bringing young players through and also recommend certain players to him," said Wise.

 

"He'll say yes and no, he has the final word, no-one else. Everything that happens will be run past him."

 

 

 

 

Wise, who has previously managed Millwall and Swindon, added: "I'm not going to bring players in behind his back - I'm not into that.

 

"A lot of people have got mixed up with the reason why I am here. I'm not here to be involved in the first team, I'm not here to manage.

 

"I have to concentrate more on the academy, we need some young blood coming through of our own. We need to look abroad for players and that's my intention over the next few years."

 

 

One for the court if it gets that far

[Wullie]

Aye, I meant to mention Vetere there, Johnny. I'm not having anyone tell me that those three haven't scouted these players but Dennis Wise has.

[dinotheprehistoricgeordie]

Getting in Guthrie, as pointed out, hardly seems like the act of a manager who's actually got his eye on the likes of Lampard, Pelé, Bobby Moore's reanimated corpse and M. Bison from the Streetfighter 2 series.

 

Now that statement's just silly everybody knows M. Bison was the only character in the entire game who couldn't kick!

[Dave]

That True Faith piece sums up everything. 

 

Agreed.

[Wullie]

The best thing the club can do is get someone else in as that will go along way to putting this mistake behind us.

 

Now that I do agree with. We can do without more of this utter farce - the club still carries on and we need to starting salvaging whatever's possible of this season ASAP.

 

some people will NEVER forget and i am one

 

I'm not saying forget about it. I'm saying there is a game a week today.

 

and you would be behind the board appointing another manager, terry mac will be in charge

 

Apparently not - it'll be Richard Money.  He's too tight to mention, which'll go down well with the board anyway.

 

:lol:

[Big Geordie]

Apparently this is what Dennis Wise said himself about his role, back in February - interesting....;

 

Wise explains role at Newcastle

 

Newcastle executive director Dennis Wise has insisted that manager Kevin Keegan has the "final word" on all football matters at the club.

 

Wise left his role as Leeds boss earlier this week to take up his position with the Premier League club.

 

"I'm here to help Kevin, bringing young players through and also recommend certain players to him," said Wise.

 

"He'll say yes and no, he has the final word, no-one else. Everything that happens will be run past him."

 

"A lot of people have got mixed up with the reason why I am here. I'm not here to be involved in the first team, I'm not here to manage.

 

"I have to concentrate more on the academy, we need some young blood coming through of our own. We need to look abroad for players and that's my intention over the next few years."

 

 

Keegan has insisted that the appointment of Wise was made with his blessing and that he believes the new structure will be successful.

 

He said: "I am all for the changes and I approve of them. They want someone on the board who understands football, and Dennis understands football very well.

 

"It will work very well. Dennis reports to me - the chain is established.

 

"The club has become slightly fragmented. From my point of view, it's a positive thing - provided I get all the help I need.

 

"I know what Dennis is going to do, and the idea in principle is good - to look for new players, to bring youngsters through and do things which our academy isn't doing so much at the moment."

 

Keegan also revealed he was involved in the appointment after speaking to owner Mike Ashley before he returned as manager.

 

"I knew about it. It's not a surprise to me, it might be to other people," Keegan told BBC Radio 5 live.

 

"Two or three names were given to me when I first sat down and talked about the job with the owner. One of them was Dennis.

 

"I know Dennis. I know he's intelligent. I know his job here is to help me. He's on my side.

 

"How can any manager be against someone who is going to come to the club to try to bring in talent?

 

"It's right for this football club. A lot of people outside might be shocked about it. I think in the long term it's the right decision. It's something that needs to be done."

[indi]

NUFC have every right to air their views, looks like keegan's as much to blame

 

They've got another thing coming when Keegan will air his side of the story, especially if it strategically timed at a couple of hours before next Saturday's match.. Doubt if Keegan will stoop to the same levels as this bunch though..

 

Sorry, but if you think Keegan hasn't been having his say for months, then you're seriously deluded!!

 

Where do you think the media have been getting all their inside info from!?!

 

Who'd have thought naive old KK would have totally gotten the better of cynical hard-nosed businessman Mike Ashley in the manipulation stakes, f***ing hell man he's had us all fooled, the blokes a PR genius!! A media manipulator par excellence.

 

I have no idea what you're trying to imply here

 

That doesn't surprise me.

 

I'm not implying anything I'm saying that Keegan, or someone on his behalf or with his interests at heart, has been talking to the media for months planting stories showing things from his point of view. That's not an implication its a direct accusation. I was one of the people who had been saying it was bollocks and the press were just making things up and s***-stirring because they didn't know what was going on, but seeing as it's now obvious that they knew exactly what was going on - or at least one side of it anyway - I've had to reassess my view, I was wrong.

 

People have been talking about Keegan having signed a confidentiality agreement, but I'd expect that's a totally pointless exercise as his view will undoubtedly turn up in the papers anyhow.

 

Well, maybe the fact that you were "one of the people who had been saying it was bollocks and the press were just making things up" should tell you aren't a very good judge of characters. A few people on here had been sceptical about Ashley and his middle management long before any of this came to light. Maybe some people in the press are also better judges of characters than you. You were wrong before in judging this whole affair by your own admission, so what makes you so convinced you've got it all figured out now..?

 

Perhaps because I'm able to admit to getting things wrong and know that no-one gets everything right all the time, unlike the vast majority of people on here seemingly.

 

Are you saying that you've never got anything wrong before, because if you have then you may as well answer you're own question. If you "haven't" then... ...well I'll know not to bother continuing with this conversation.

 

As for the people who were questioning Ashley's middle management, it's not what they were doing, but why they were doing it that's important when deciding whether or not their judgement's any good or not. If they were doing it because they had thought about the situation and had analysed it and eventually come to the same conclusion that was being reported in the press then kudos to them, they're either a very powerful psychic or a club-insider. If they were simply swallowing everything they read in the press and then regurgitating it onto these pages then I would suggest that their judgement in general would be very poor and their judgement in this specific case would none existent as they had made no judgement, simply restated someone else's.

 

As for my ability to judge character, well nah, I'm not actually going to go into that, my judgement of character is telling me that's not a very good idea.

[johnnypd]

Aye, I meant to mention Vetere there, Johnny. I'm not having anyone tell me that those three haven't scouted these players but Dennis Wise has.

 

Leeds fans thought Wise's record in the transfer market was crap iirc

[tmonkey]

Absolutely gutted for the second time this week.

 

Read the thread title as KK re-signs - new club statement. Texted a few people with the shockingly delightful news.

[Guest elbee909]

Apparently this is what Dennis Wise said himself about his role, back in February - interesting....;

 

Wise explains role at Newcastle

 

Newcastle executive director Dennis Wise has insisted that manager Kevin Keegan has the "final word" on all football matters at the club.

 

Wise left his role as Leeds boss earlier this week to take up his position with the Premier League club.

 

"I'm here to help Kevin, bringing young players through and also recommend certain players to him," said Wise.

 

"He'll say yes and no, he has the final word, no-one else. Everything that happens will be run past him."

 

"A lot of people have got mixed up with the reason why I am here. I'm not here to be involved in the first team, I'm not here to manage.

 

"I have to concentrate more on the academy, we need some young blood coming through of our own. We need to look abroad for players and that's my intention over the next few years."

 

 

Keegan has insisted that the appointment of Wise was made with his blessing and that he believes the new structure will be successful.

 

He said: "I am all for the changes and I approve of them. They want someone on the board who understands football, and Dennis understands football very well.

 

"It will work very well. Dennis reports to me - the chain is established.

 

"The club has become slightly fragmented. From my point of view, it's a positive thing - provided I get all the help I need.

 

"I know what Dennis is going to do, and the idea in principle is good - to look for new players, to bring youngsters through and do things which our academy isn't doing so much at the moment."

 

Keegan also revealed he was involved in the appointment after speaking to owner Mike Ashley before he returned as manager.

 

"I knew about it. It's not a surprise to me, it might be to other people," Keegan told BBC Radio 5 live.

 

"Two or three names were given to me when I first sat down and talked about the job with the owner. One of them was Dennis.

 

"I know Dennis. I know he's intelligent. I know his job here is to help me. He's on my side.

 

"How can any manager be against someone who is going to come to the club to try to bring in talent?

 

"It's right for this football club. A lot of people outside might be shocked about it. I think in the long term it's the right decision. It's something that needs to be done."

 

Staggering.

[Unbelievable]

Absolutely gutted for the second time this week.

 

Read the thread title as KK re-signs - new club statement. Texted a few people with the shockingly delightful news.

 

[BlueStar]

Getting in Guthrie, as pointed out, hardly seems like the act of a manager who's actually got his eye on the likes of Lampard, Pelé, Bobby Moore's reanimated corpse and M. Bison from the Streetfighter 2 series.

 

Now that statement's just silly everybody knows M. Bison was the only character in the entire game who couldn't kick!

 

It depends where in the world you are.  In Japan, M.Bison was the Mike Tyson style boxer who couldn't kick.  In the West, M.Bison was the final boss, who could not only kick but kick with added big fuck off blue lightening shit.

[Baggio]

MADNESS OF KING KEVIN KEEGAN

 

KEVIN KEEGAN saw himself as the ultimate circus master commanding a line-up of superstar acts that would wow the soccer world.

David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Frank Lampard, Jonathan Woodgate and Anton Ferdinand were all on his £200million Newcastle United wish-list.

 

But his wildly ambitious plans were far too rich for his St James’ Park budget and so far removed from the reality of Newcastle’s plans that his departure was inevitable.

 

 

So while the Toon Army may be revolting over his demise, the key figures inside St James’ Park are truly amazed at how Keegan “lost the plot” during his ill-fated return to the North-East club.

 

 

And for the first time, the inside story of the meltdown on the Tyne can be told.

 

Both sides are bitter at the farcical way in which the strained relationship finally snapped this week and both the Newcastle camp and Keegan’s allies are squarely blaming each other.

 

 

One highly placed Newcastle source claimed: “If only people knew the real truth of what’s been going on . . . because in the end it was ridiculous.

 

 

“People inside the club joked about it, calling it ‘the madness of King Kev’ but no one was really laughing.”

 

Doubts over Keegan’s coaching ability and tactical prowess had surfaced just a few months into his return.

 

 

Billionaire owner Mike Ashley had given the Toon Army what they demanded after the sacking of Sam Allardyce even though Keegan had been a virtual recluse for three years following his exit from Manchester City. Three years without seeing a live game of football meant Ashley was taking a leap into the unknown but throughout his life, he has always been prepared to take risks.

 

 

A source close to the Toon owner admitted: “When Kevin was approached about taking over, everyone at the club knew it was a risk.

 

Gamble

 

“The upside was that he is a living legend here on Tyneside and remains hugely popular with the fans.

 

 

“He has charisma and an infectious enthusiasm and that was a major part of his attraction. But everyone was also well aware of his track record as a manager. He has this habit of walking out on the job if things are not going his way.

 

 

“Kevin did it in his first spell at Newcastle, at Manchester City and with England, so it was clearly going to be a gamble.

 

 

“That’s where the club was clever. They put a clause in his contract saying that if he resigned he would have to pay the club £2m in compensation. If he was sacked the club would have to pay him £2m in compensation.”

 

But despite the safeguards, it soon became clear Keegan was struggling.

 

 

A desperate start where Newcastle could barely buy a goal let alone a win prompted a series of crisis meetings within St James’ Park. The name of Terry Venables as a fire fighter alongside Keegan was mooted.

 

 

Ashley, though, had faith in his appointment and opted not to take panic measures. That faith was repaid as Keegan steadied the ship and brought a sense of confidence to the dressing room.

 

 

That, though, could not disguise the simmering tension between Keegan and vice-president Tony Jimenez, football director Dennis Wise and, once Chris Mort moved on, managing director Derek Llambias.

 

Massive

 

For no matter how many times Ashley’s executives explained the club’s structure and transfer policy, which was to be overseen by Wise and Jimenez, Keegan refused to accept he would NEVER be given the final say.

 

 

As a club insider explained: “Kevin just seemed incapable of grasping the situation, understanding the club’s policy and working to a budget no matter how many times he was told.

 

 

“Right from the start, at his interview for the job, it was made perfectly clear to Kevin the way the club wanted the job done.

 

 

“Jimenez chaired the meeting and laid it out plain for Kevin. This was not going to be a Chelsea scenario with Newcastle paying big money and massive wages for established stars.

 

 

“The club was going to be run like Arsenal and the emphasis would be on scouring the world for the best emerging young talent and bringing it to the North-East, like Arsene Wenger had done with Nicolas Anelka, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas. We talked of building the club up over the next three to five years so that we could compete at the top again. Kevin sat there and agreed and took the job on those terms. But then he wants to try and sign Beckham! It was unbelievable.

 

 

“You wondered what planet he was on.”

 

 

Ironically, Keegan has no real animosity towards Ashley, who he believes has always treated him decently and been willing to listen. His anger is aimed directly at Jimenez, Wise and Llambias, in that order.

 

 

They tried to pull Keegan back into line last May when he was called to London for a very public rebuke after he criticised the club’s transfer policy. Again, the club’s blueprint for the future was reinforced. It still didn't register.

 

Succeed

 

“Kevin was again told in no uncertain terms how things would be done,” claimed the source.

 

 

“Yet in June he tells us he’s spoken to Frank Lampard’s agent and claims Lampard wants to come to Newcastle . . . for £200,000 a week!

 

 

“On another occasion, Keegan and Arthur Cox sat in a meeting claiming that they’d just had Theirry Henry on the phone discussing a move to Newcastle.

 

 

“It was so bizarre you wondered if he was doing it on purpose to try and get sacked.

 

 

“There was no getting through to him. He’d say ‘We can get anybody. We have to do it if we want to succeed.’

 

 

“But what he wanted would have cost the club £200m in transfer fees and wages. Kevin had been told over and over again that he had around £12m to spend on buying players.

 

 

“We wanted him to use his expertise to spot the next Dimitar Berbatov or Cesc Fabregas but it just seemed like he didn’t know any young talent at all, only established mega-stars.

 

 

“Meanwhile Jimenez and Wise were on the trail of Sami Nasri, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Valmiro Valdo at Espanyol. They just lost out on Nasri to Arsenal and Schweinsteiger turned us down, even though he was offered £70,000 a week.

 

Suggestions

 

“They’re the sort of deals Kevin should have been chasing but he didn’t know anybody but the blindingly obvious.”

 

 

Sources close to Keegan, though, claim he made his own enquiries about Schweinsteiger and knew that Newcastle’s proposed deal of £3.5m was less than HALF of the amount other clubs had offered.

 

 

But the seeds of discontent were sown long before transfer deadline day as another Newcastle insider admitted: “It’s common knowledge we have been looking for a centre-half.

 

 

“Kevin’s suggestions? Jonathan Woodgate, Richard Dunne and Sami Hyppia! Now where’s the resale value of any of those players?

 

 

“To be fair, he also mentioned Anton Ferdinand and we tried hard to get him but he just wouldn’t come.

 

 

“Apparently, Anton’s brother Rio is not a big fan of Keegan as a coach after his stint with England, and that’s what scuppered us.”

 

 

Our top man on the Toon also dismissed Keegan’s protests about the sale of James Milner to Aston Villa for £12m. He said: “The truth is that Kevin sat in a meeting where the sale of Milner was discussed.

 

Acrimonious

 

“Kevin reckoned he was worth about £7-8m and the plan was to use the cash to buy Schweinsteiger.

 

 

“Everyone thought the £12m from Villa was just too good to turn down so the deal was done. The only disappointing thing was that Schweinsteiger wouldn’t come.”

 

 

Keegan now looks set to sue for constructive dismissal and stands to get a £2m pay-out if he succeeds. But it could be an acrimonious and costly case.

 

 

Our source admitted: “ In any business anywhere in the world people have to manage within constraints and budgets applied by the company.

 

 

“That’s the same if it’s the News of the World or Newcastle United. Kevin couldn’t or wouldn’t do that. He was trying to tell us how to run a company worth hundreds of millions when his own company was a million in debt.”

 

 

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/football/article22169.ece

[Wullie]

Getting in Guthrie, as pointed out, hardly seems like the act of a manager who's actually got his eye on the likes of Lampard, Pelé, Bobby Moore's reanimated corpse and M. Bison from the Streetfighter 2 series.

 

Now that statement's just silly everybody knows M. Bison was the only character in the entire game who couldn't kick!

 

It depends where in the world you are.  In Japan, M.Bison was the Mike Tyson style boxer, who couldn't kick.  In the West, M.Bison was the final boss, who could not only kick but kick with added big fuck off blue lightening shit.

 

Really, Balrog? I did not know that. Mind, until a fortnight ago, I didn't realise Dr Robotnik was known as anything other than that.

[NJS]

Looks like the same source (ie Wise) has been talking to the times and the NOTW.

 

 

[S.S.R.]

Assorted wummery

 

I don't care if Kevin asked to sign Donna Summer,  Ken Hom and the Four Tops. The owners are a bunch of despicable liars, who set out to asset strip us and sell us on at a profit.

[Guest Geordiesned]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=570005&sec=england&&cc=5739

 

Robson slams Wise's Newcastle role

 

Sir Bobby Robson believes ''no manager worth his salt'' will be interested in succeeding Kevin Keegan at Newcastle unless there is fundamental change at St James' Park.

 

Former Newcastle manager Robson, who was sacked in August 2004, insists he will not boycott the club as some supporters plan to, and he intends to attend the next home Premier League match against Hull next Saturday.

 

But Robson believes the ''all-powerful'' presence of executive director of football Dennis Wise on the Newcastle staff has been a major part of the problem which came to a head when Keegan quit as boss on Thursday.

 

Robson, the former England manager, claims any manager must have a major say in signings and the identity of anyone appointed to work with him, in a role such as Wise's.

 

He told the Mail On Sunday,''The breakdown between the different job titles has left Newcastle in disarray and it is time for Mike Ashley to sort it out. The owner or chairman is the most important person at a football club, the manager is second and everyone else third.

 

''If a director of football does not have the blessing of the manager, it does not work.''

 

When Keegan announced his resignation, he stressed it was his belief that managers ''must have the right to manage'' and must have the final say on any incoming players.

 

He may have known little of the moves which saw Xisco and Nacho Gonzalez come to the club on Monday, and Robson said: ''You cannot imagine Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Rafa Benitez being handed players they did not know anything about. And no manager worth his salt is going to take the Newcastle job with the current set-up.''

 

Robson is convinced the presence of Wise at Newcastle will remain unsettling, particularly if he continues to spend much of his time in London, and he has questioned the former England midfielder's credibility, citing his lack of top-flight experience as a manager.

 

Robson added: ''It is no surprise that Kevin Keegan left this week. For a proud manager like him, it must have been impossible to work under the control of Dennis Wise. First of all, the director of football was more powerful than the manager, which should never be the case. And secondly, they did not work in unison, which means communicating face to face. How could they, when Kevin was there at the club, and Wise was not?''

 

[BlueStar]

Getting in Guthrie, as pointed out, hardly seems like the act of a manager who's actually got his eye on the likes of Lampard, Pelé, Bobby Moore's reanimated corpse and M. Bison from the Streetfighter 2 series.

 

Now that statement's just silly everybody knows M. Bison was the only character in the entire game who couldn't kick!

 

It depends where in the world you are.  In Japan, M.Bison was the Mike Tyson style boxer, who couldn't kick.  In the West, M.Bison was the final boss, who could not only kick but kick with added big fuck off blue lightening shit.

 

Really, Balrog? I did not know that. Mind, until a fortnight ago, I didn't realise Dr Robotnik was known as anything other than that.

 

Yeah, they rotated the names of the bosses for the western release because they were worried that having a character who was clearly Mike Tyson called M.Bison could lead to a lawsuit.  In Japan Balrog is the spanish claw guy, Vega is the blue-lightening and red military uniform crime boss and the boxer is M.Bison.  Sagat's still Sagat though.

[GM]

What is worrying is the vicious smear campaign by the likes of NOTW against Keegan, similar to that which Gordon Brown is having to endure.

[Baggio]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=570005&sec=england&&cc=5739

 

Robson slams Wise's Newcastle role

 

Sir Bobby Robson believes ''no manager worth his salt'' will be interested in succeeding Kevin Keegan at Newcastle unless there is fundamental change at St James' Park.

 

Former Newcastle manager Robson, who was sacked in August 2004, insists he will not boycott the club as some supporters plan to, and he intends to attend the next home Premier League match against Hull next Saturday.

 

But Robson believes the ''all-powerful'' presence of executive director of football Dennis Wise on the Newcastle staff has been a major part of the problem which came to a head when Keegan quit as boss on Thursday.

 

Robson, the former England manager, claims any manager must have a major say in signings and the identity of anyone appointed to work with him, in a role such as Wise's.

 

He told the Mail On Sunday,''The breakdown between the different job titles has left Newcastle in disarray and it is time for Mike Ashley to sort it out. The owner or chairman is the most important person at a football club, the manager is second and everyone else third.

 

''If a director of football does not have the blessing of the manager, it does not work.''

 

When Keegan announced his resignation, he stressed it was his belief that managers ''must have the right to manage'' and must have the final say on any incoming players.

 

He may have known little of the moves which saw Xisco and Nacho Gonzalez come to the club on Monday, and Robson said: ''You cannot imagine Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Rafa Benitez being handed players they did not know anything about. And no manager worth his salt is going to take the Newcastle job with the current set-up.''

 

Robson is convinced the presence of Wise at Newcastle will remain unsettling, particularly if he continues to spend much of his time in London, and he has questioned the former England midfielder's credibility, citing his lack of top-flight experience as a manager.

 

Robson added: ''It is no surprise that Kevin Keegan left this week. For a proud manager like him, it must have been impossible to work under the control of Dennis Wise. First of all, the director of football was more powerful than the manager, which should never be the case. And secondly, they did not work in unison, which means communicating face to face. How could they, when Kevin was there at the club, and Wise was not?''

 

 

Is this the same Robson who let Shepherd buy and sell players behind his back?

[littlejimbo]

The problem with the NOTW article is that it states Jiminez chaired the meeting where the approach was set out to Keegan. But Jiminez was appointed after Keegan. "Madness of King Kev" I hope he sues them for this malicious and utter utter shit reporting.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

What's the fuss about? Keegan himself acknowledged at the time of Wise's appointment that he had agreed to a DOF structure at the time when he joined. This isn't news.

 

As with Owen and the story about them asking him to take a pay cut, they are simply correcting a false impression that's developed in the media.

 

This whole dispute is all about how much money the Board was prepared to spend on players. That's why Keegan walked out the first time. That's why he got into a dispute at Man City. That's why he's walked out this time.

 

Yet KK has never been about big money, KK likes to take a gamble and buy unknowns just as much as he likes to sign big stars. Most those he signed for Newcastle were journeymen, unknowns and gambles. Shearer was a superstar, Sir Les was the finished article, the rest were mainly a mixed bunch. Same at City.

 

I genuinly believe the sale of Milner has played a bigger part in this than transfer budget, players coming in and this DOF thing.

 

And I'll tell you why.

 

KK says publicly Milner is not for sale, that the chairman doesn't even want that (he must have heard this from somewhere given how cagey he has been all summer about talking for others), he raves about him and then he gets sold from underneath him, how must that make him feel? Like a complete c***. It undermines him in the eyes of the media, the press, his bosses, his players and the fans. I believe KK was reassured Milner would not be sold and when he did get sold, that's when he started to kick-off, that's when he started to question other things and other areas of the club.

 

And please people, don't say because we got 12m and Milner wasn't that good that KK is wrong on Milner, his trust and confidence was taking for granted. He stuck up for the player in public and made big noises about him. Selling him says to the team that their boss, their manager, isn't really in control and that to a manager is very bad and can cause huge problems. KK will ahve experienced dressing rooms that have gotten wind of a manager becoming less and less in control and will know fully what that usually brings about, anarchy.

 

Sir Bobby experienced the same, Woodgate sold behind his back, players being sought after without him even knowing, remember his comments on Rooney? He didn't even know we made a bid. I imagine KK didn't know we'd accepted a bid for Milner until it was done and dusted.

 

I do admire and respect your passion, but you're taking it too far here. Keegan did spend big first time around.

 

Milner's a particular case. He asked for a pay rise one year into his contract, and got a knock back. He then put in a written transfer request. We get an offer of £12 million. It'd be silly not to sell.

 

What's a bit disturbing is that, in all probability, Keegan put that statement out about Milner definitely not going at a time when he knew that Milner wanted to go. The Board then retaliated in the PR battle by saying that Milner had put in a transfer request. That's no way to carry on, and I think that's why the Board have said now that Keegan had previously agreed not to comment on transfer issues.

 

I've got a great book on NUFC and Sir John Hall says KK treated the club's money as if it were his own and while he could be demanding he would never ask for things they couldn't provide him with. Its a big myth that he spent massively when he was here, Liverpool, Arsenal, Blackburn and Man Utd spent more. He didn't even ask for Shearer, he didn't expect Shearer, it was Sir John Hall who phoned him and said would you like Shearer, to which KK obviously said yes please. Of course he spent money but the way people make it out its as if we were the Chelsea of our time, when we clearly were not.

 

Whether Milner deserved a new contract or not or was worth whatever money is irrelevant if the manager wants to keep that player. A player he had wanted to keep from day one and had said many a time publicaly, well before Milner handed in a transfer request. Indeed he said neither him nor Ashley wanted to sell before he handed in a transfer request and the way he said it you assumed Milner was going nowhere. His comments about Milner were different to his comments about Smith.

 

I agree 12m was good money for Milner but what good is it if it doesn't go back to the manager or if its too late? Milner hasn't been replaced and in all probability to borrow one of your words, he was sold behind the manager's back and KK was forced to toe the part line through gritted teeth which should show he was committed to the club, if not his bosses in light of the Milner sale.

 

That would have pained him to have to sit there and lie and it showed in the interview, his head never lifted once and his eyes were flicking from one side to the other, I knew then that there was trouble brewing that KK would not be happy about this, I actually posted it on the day I think.

 

If we know KK as well as we should do we should all know you do not sell players behind his back, behind any manager, this is what usually forces them to kick-off or to walk out and as such I firmly believe the sale of Milner acted as the catylist for all of this, a sale I believe Ashley must have told Keegan would never happen after all, he did say the owner wanted to keep him too and there is no way KK would have said that if he didn't feel he could, because all summer he has been very careful not to speak on behalf of others, very careful.

 

You of all people should know Bob given how long you've supported the club what usually happens when a manager is undermined in forced into some u-turn like KK was over Milner.

 

Imagine how he felt the next day going into that dressing room having to look his players in the eye and still say "I'm in control here", aye right. From that moment it was heading the way it transpired and for what, to make 12m that can't be spent?

 

If it is all over this whole Milner thing which the timing and KK's body language thereafter points to in my eyes, that 12m has been lost allready because a KK-less Toon is worth a hell of a lot less than it was with him which we'll find out as our promising start to the season peters out and we move into a tough old season, eventually either finishing in a relegation dogfight or in mid-table back to where we started.

[stozo]

The problem with the NOTW article is that it states Jiminez chaired the meeting where the approach was set out to Keegan. But Jiminez was appointed after Keegan. "Madness of King Kev" I hope he sues them for this malicious and utter utter shit reporting.

Jimenez had apparently been advising Ashley well before his official appiontment.