Newcastle United face an angry backlash over the controversial departure of manager Kevin Keegan.As United reportedly line-up Tottenham's assistant manager Gus Poyet to replace Keegan at the helm, supporters have threatened to cancel season tickets, boycott matches and no longer buy official club merchandise after King Kev resigned and blamed football director Dennis Wise for buying players he did not want.
Wise and owner Mike Ashley, who has regularly snubbed the boardroom to sit among the fans in a black and white shirt, have been accused of turning the club into the laughing stock of the Premier League.
Season ticket holder Julie Kane, 44, of Byker, Newcastle, told the Northern Echo: “I don’t know about Ashley and Wise, they are more like Morecambe and Wise – a complete joke. They are treating us like a bunch of muppets.
'God help Ashley at the home game as there will be no one in the ground. We will be coming to the ground but not going in to show our support for Keegan.'
And Frank Gilmour, chairman of the Independent Newcastle United Supporters’ Association, added: 'I would expect the lowest attendance at St James’ for a long, long time at the next match,' he said. 'I’ve no control over it, but I would expect some sort of protest as well.
“Ashley clearly has no idea about the support for Kevin.'
Meanwhile, Tottenham will fight to keep Poyet as their assistant manager .
The Uruguayan has emerged as one of the leading candidates to take over at St James' Park following the final confirmation of Keegan's resignation on Thursday night.
The former England boss cited irreconcilable differences with the Newcastle board for his departure.
It is believed that he could no longer work with executive director Dennis Wise, who is responsible for player recruitment.
But Poyet has a close relationship with Wise having worked as his assistant manager when he was in charge at Swindon and Leeds, as well as playing alongside him for four years at Chelsea.
He is also close friends with Tony Jimenez, another of the Newcastle backroom team.
Rumours initially surfaced on Monday morning that Keegan, 57, had left his post, only to be followed by statements from both sides insisting he hadn't.
Keegan first walked out on the club on Tuesday and the split was confirmed in a statement released on his behalf by the League Managers' Association.
In it, he said: 'I have been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors, but sadly that has not proved possible.
'It's my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want.
'It remains my fervent wish to see Newcastle United do well in the future and I feel incredibly sorry for the players, staff and most importantly, the supporters.
'I have been left with no choice other than to leave.'
Poyet has impressed in his role at Spurs as well as in his jobs at Swindon and Leeds.
He was also targeted by Sir Alex Ferguson two months ago to fill the vacant role of No2 at Old Trafford after the departure of Carlos Queiroz to Portugal.
But Tottenham and Ramos are desperate for him to stay at White Hart Lane and hope his important role at the club will keep him in north London.
Wise and owner Mike Ashley, who has regularly snubbed the boardroom to sit among the fans in a black and white shirt, have been accused of turning the club into the laughing stock of the Premier League.
Season ticket holder Julie Kane, 44, of Byker, Newcastle, told the Northern Echo: “I don’t know about Ashley and Wise, they are more like Morecambe and Wise – a complete joke. They are treating us like a bunch of muppets.
'God help Ashley at the home game as there will be no one in the ground. We will be coming to the ground but not going in to show our support for Keegan.'
And Frank Gilmour, chairman of the Independent Newcastle United Supporters’ Association, added: 'I would expect the lowest attendance at St James’ for a long, long time at the next match,' he said. 'I’ve no control over it, but I would expect some sort of protest as well.
“Ashley clearly has no idea about the support for Kevin.'
Meanwhile, Tottenham will fight to keep Poyet as their assistant manager .
The Uruguayan has emerged as one of the leading candidates to take over at St James' Park following the final confirmation of Keegan's resignation on Thursday night.
The former England boss cited irreconcilable differences with the Newcastle board for his departure.
It is believed that he could no longer work with executive director Dennis Wise, who is responsible for player recruitment.
But Poyet has a close relationship with Wise having worked as his assistant manager when he was in charge at Swindon and Leeds, as well as playing alongside him for four years at Chelsea.
He is also close friends with Tony Jimenez, another of the Newcastle backroom team.
Rumours initially surfaced on Monday morning that Keegan, 57, had left his post, only to be followed by statements from both sides insisting he hadn't.
Keegan first walked out on the club on Tuesday and the split was confirmed in a statement released on his behalf by the League Managers' Association.
In it, he said: 'I have been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors, but sadly that has not proved possible.
'It's my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want.
'It remains my fervent wish to see Newcastle United do well in the future and I feel incredibly sorry for the players, staff and most importantly, the supporters.
'I have been left with no choice other than to leave.'
Poyet has impressed in his role at Spurs as well as in his jobs at Swindon and Leeds.
He was also targeted by Sir Alex Ferguson two months ago to fill the vacant role of No2 at Old Trafford after the departure of Carlos Queiroz to Portugal.
But Tottenham and Ramos are desperate for him to stay at White Hart Lane and hope his important role at the club will keep him in north London.
Michael Phelps coolly launched his bid for Olympic immortality by breaking his own Games record for the 400m individual medley with a calculated early surge in the opening day heats at the spectacular Water Cube aquatic centre.
The American, seeking to eclipse Mark Spitz's haul of seven gold medals set at Munich in 1972, recorded a time of 4mins 7.82secs to qualify fastest for the Sunday morning showdown with his compatriot Ryan Lochte. He admitted afterwards he had been determined to send a message of intent to his rivals from the outset. "I wanted to be in the middle of the pool for the final because that's going to give me an advantage," said the 23-year-old, who already holds the world record for one of the toughest races on the Games schedule. "I'm pretty satisfied with the time. I didn't think I'd swim that fast in the preliminaries."
There are a potential 19 further races still to go if Phelps wishes to edge past Spitz and become the undisputed emperor of the Beijing pool. Even at a Games being staged on such a monumental scale eight gold medals will take some collecting, but there was an ominous ease about Phelps's first outing. At the halfway mark he was only a fraction outside the world-record split-time and he was a second and a half quicker than his nearest qualifying pursuer, Hungary's Laszlo Cseh.
Known as the 'Baltimore Bullet' to his friends, it was clear Phelps meant business even before he mounted the blocks. Gone was the wannabe handlebar moustache he has sported during his initial days in the athlete's village, a further clue that Phelps is not here to muck about. There is even less body hair at an Olympic swimming meet than you'll find at the average alopecia clinic, and Phelps would be missing a trick if he did anything to encourage the myriad smooth operators around him.
All that remains now is to prove his fast start was not a premature splash in the pan. Mental strength will be every bit as important as the extraordinarily long torso which makes him unique in his chosen sport. It is Lochte's misfortune to be around at the same time as this veritable human fish but even the unluckiest swimmers have drawn first prize in terms of the venues at this Olympics. While others broil outside in humidity and heat of steaming intensity, the Water Cube is a spectacular oasis which can accommodate 17,000 grateful spectators. The organisers' problem is not so much keeping the swimmers happy as extracting them from the cooling water once their races are over.
Britain will be represented in the women's 400m individual medley final by Hannah Miley from Inverurie in Aberdeenshire who qualified from the neighbouring lane to Phelps's female counterpart Katie Hoff, the current world record holder. Miley, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Friday, finished eighth fastest after a hotly-contested sequence of heats but will do well to capture a medal against a high-quality field which also features the 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel of the US and the sleek Australian Stephanie Rice.
Hartlepool's Jemma Lowe sneaked into the semi-finals of the women's 100m butterfly by four-hundredths of a second and Christopher Cook also survived to fight another day in the men's 100m breaststroke. The women's 100m freestyle relay team also did just enough to qualify at the expense of Japan.
