He may be public enemy number one on Tyneside at the moment, but one thing you can definitely say about Mike Ashley is that he's not afraid to make unpopular decisions.First of all he committed what many in the city saw as the ultimate sin when he forced Kevin Keegan out of Newcastle United. King Kev made it painfully clear that he would not work at a club which bought and sold players without his say-so. During all those crisis meetings, all Ashley had to do was say: ''OK, Kevin, you can have the final say on which players come and which ones go - after all, you'll be the one who has to work with them every day.''
Instead, he decided to side with Dennis Wise, the man he had brought in as his director of football - and the man most Newcastle fans blame for Keegan's decision to walk. Ashley is a very successful businessman with a very clever head on his shoulders, so he MUST have known what the reaction of the Toon faithful would have been. He must have known his name would be mud.
Of course, the inevitable happened and Keegan walked out. I wrote an article before the start of the season about how KK was joint favourite to be the first Premier League boss of the campaign to part company with his club. I said he had a long history of walking out on clubs and that I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he was on his merry way not long after the first ball had been kicked. After all, the bookies don't often get it wrong.
However, even I can't argue with his decision this time around. The restrictions being imposed on him were ridiculous in the extreme. Why appoint a manager and then give him no say in who he manages? Is it just me or is that the most incredibly stupid thing you've ever heard? Well, I suppose Alan Curbishley for one must agree because, as it turns out, the West Ham boss beat his Newcastle counterpart to the punch by 24 hours for the exact same reason.
But, if this morning's newspapers are to be believed, Ashley has just outdone himself in the stupidity stakes. Reports suggest he's about to appoint Gus Poyet as the next Newcastle manager. So, not content with flooring the Newcastle fans by forcing their Messiah to walk away, he's now sticking the boot in by replacing him with Wise's best mate! Like I said, Ashley's certainly not afraid to make unpopular decisions.
But if forcing Keegan out was an unpopular decision, then appointing Poyet takes things to a whole new level. I know he has been in the frame for the job ever since Keegan walked, but I never thought Ashley would be stupid enough to actually go ahead and appoint him. Talk about being a glutton for punishment!
I'm not a Newcastle fan and I can't speak for them, but if this had happened at my club, I'd see it as another huge slap in the face. How Ashley can have the gall to sit in the stands in his black-and-white replica shirt pretending he's just another fan is beyond belief. You'd be hard pushed to find a single other soul in a packed St James' Park wearing a similar shirt who agrees with him. These are not the actions of a Newcastle fan.
If Ashley has any semblance of sanity left, he might want to think twice about being in his seat for Newcastle's next home game against Hull on Saturday.
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.
Kevin Keegan has finally confirmed his resignation as manager of Newcastle United.
The news ends three days of intense speculation at St James' Park, with Keegan's
relationship with the club's hierarchy understood to have broken down
irreparably over the club's transfer policy.
The 57-year-old issued a statement via the League Manager's Association on Thursday evening, announcing his departure from the club.
He said: 'I’ve 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.'
LMA chief executive Richard Bevan said: 'The LMA has been supporting Kevin during a very difficult period. We share his great disappointment and frustration that the situation could not be resolved.'
Keegan, who returned to the club for a second spell in charge in January, had
not taken training since the transfer window closed.
No comment has yet been made by Newcastle.
Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet are favourites to take over at Newcastle after Kevin Keegan was sensationally sacked by the club this morning.
Following an explosive meeting at the club yesterday, owner Mike Ashley has decided to end Keegan's eight-month reign as club manager.
The pair are understood to have clashed over the club's transfer policy and the decision to try and sell controversial midfielder Joey Barton. After announcing the sale of England Under 21 captain James Milner last week, Keegan called on Newcastle supporters to judge him and the club after the closure of the transfer window.
Yesterday the club signed Uruguay international Ignacio Gonzalez and Spanish striker Xisco, two more deals from La Liga which are the handiwork of Wise and fellow director Tony Jimenez.
It is believed Keegan has not seen either player play.
And before that, Barton was in talks with a top 10 Premier League club, believed to be Portsmouth, but the moved collapsed yesterday afternoon.
The Newcastle manager had already caused concern in the boardroom with his unequivocal support for Barton, who returned to the Newcastle bench on Saturday after serving a six-month prison sentence for assault.
Ashley wanted to sack Barton while he was in prison and reduce his £85,000-a-week wages.
Keegan, 57, who walked away from his post as Newcastle boss in 1997 before returning for a second spell after Sam Allardyce's reign, has endured rather than enjoyed an acrimonious relationship with Ashley and the Newcastle board since he was asked to take over from Sam Allardyce in January.
Summer signings Danny Guthrie, Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez are all believed to be signed by Wise and Jimenez.
In addition, Keegan has tried and failed to sort a new contract for Michael Owen, despite calling for that issue to be resolved four months ago.
Owen has still to pen a new deal, and at the weekend Newcastle took the unusual step of announcing that the club captain had been offered an improved three-year deal.
It now seems unlikely the England striker, left out of Fabio Capello's latest squad, will sign a new deal without Keegan at the helm.
Ashley meanwhile faces an impossible task winning back the faith of supporters, with the attendance falling to their lowest in 10 years for the first home game against Bolton.
The billionaire businessman was pictured downing a pint of lager during the defeat at Arsenal on Saturday, and every Geordie has an affinity with that.
But he has alienated thousands of club fans by sacking the club Messiah.
Appointing Wise as his successor, or asking Poyet to quit Tottenham to work with his former Leeds boss, will prove just as unpopular.
Following an explosive meeting at the club yesterday, owner Mike Ashley has decided to end Keegan's eight-month reign as club manager.
The pair are understood to have clashed over the club's transfer policy and the decision to try and sell controversial midfielder Joey Barton. After announcing the sale of England Under 21 captain James Milner last week, Keegan called on Newcastle supporters to judge him and the club after the closure of the transfer window.
Yesterday the club signed Uruguay international Ignacio Gonzalez and Spanish striker Xisco, two more deals from La Liga which are the handiwork of Wise and fellow director Tony Jimenez.
It is believed Keegan has not seen either player play.
And before that, Barton was in talks with a top 10 Premier League club, believed to be Portsmouth, but the moved collapsed yesterday afternoon.
The Newcastle manager had already caused concern in the boardroom with his unequivocal support for Barton, who returned to the Newcastle bench on Saturday after serving a six-month prison sentence for assault.
Ashley wanted to sack Barton while he was in prison and reduce his £85,000-a-week wages.
Keegan, 57, who walked away from his post as Newcastle boss in 1997 before returning for a second spell after Sam Allardyce's reign, has endured rather than enjoyed an acrimonious relationship with Ashley and the Newcastle board since he was asked to take over from Sam Allardyce in January.
Summer signings Danny Guthrie, Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez are all believed to be signed by Wise and Jimenez.
In addition, Keegan has tried and failed to sort a new contract for Michael Owen, despite calling for that issue to be resolved four months ago.
Owen has still to pen a new deal, and at the weekend Newcastle took the unusual step of announcing that the club captain had been offered an improved three-year deal.
It now seems unlikely the England striker, left out of Fabio Capello's latest squad, will sign a new deal without Keegan at the helm.
Ashley meanwhile faces an impossible task winning back the faith of supporters, with the attendance falling to their lowest in 10 years for the first home game against Bolton.
The billionaire businessman was pictured downing a pint of lager during the defeat at Arsenal on Saturday, and every Geordie has an affinity with that.
But he has alienated thousands of club fans by sacking the club Messiah.
Appointing Wise as his successor, or asking Poyet to quit Tottenham to work with his former Leeds boss, will prove just as unpopular.
Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has admitted he will have showdown talks with owner Mike Ashley tomorrow.
Keegan called his press conference a day early after he was summoned to a meeting with Ashley and Dennis Wise, the club's executive director of football.
The trio are due to discuss Newcastle's summer spending plans but Ashley is also seeking an explanation from his manager following his extraordinary outburst on Sunday.
Keegan said he could not see Newcastle breaking into the top four of the Barclays Premier League but it was his dig at Ashley which raised eyebrows in the St James's Park boardroom.
Before starting his press conference at lunchtime today, Keegan insisted he would not take any questions about the pending meeting with his owner.
Keegan said: "The reason we have press conference a day early is so I can go to London tomorrow to talk to Mike Ashley.
"That is a good thing and I will look forward to that and that is the only comment I will make.
"I will only talk about Everton from now on so any other questions are for another day and I will try and answer them as honestly as I can at that time."
Keegan was unable to resist explaining himself once more, though, as he insisted Newcastle can be the fifth biggest club in the country but did not have the financial clout of the top four.
He said: "I was giving an honest answer to a question about how we had fared against Chelsea. I said we were a million miles away.
"We are the fifth biggest team in the country and I need to make sure we achieve that. Sunday against Everton will be a big test for us to see if we can reach that point. I won't say 'we'll win the League' because I'd be carted off to the nuthouse if I said that.
"Only Man United have bigger crowds than us. But they have a bigger global appeal because they have a bigger profile than us.
Everton, as Newcastle had done before them, briefly broke the stranglehold the big four clubs have had on the corresponding league places in recent years, and Keegan points to their development since as an illustration of what he means.
He said: "David Moyes has done a fantastic job there - I think they are the only team that has broken into that top four, so the best person to ask if it can be done is David Moyes.
"I remember the year after that, they finished down at the bottom because the problem then is you have more games and you need a bigger squad.
"There are other problems that come with success, but they are nice problems."
Keegan was presented with a potential problem of a different kind when he learnt that striker Mark Viduka could be sidelined for up to six months.
The 32-year-old went for a planned injection to address his long-standing Achilles problem knowing he was likely to be out for three months as a result.
However, the injury proved to be worse than feared and he will discover over the next fortnight whether or not he needs a minor operation and the extended period of rehabilitation that will involve.
Keegan said: "He went to have this injection. He had the injection and the problem is slightly worse than was feared.
"He goes back in 10 days to two weeks having had the injection, and that may well solve the problem, as was originally thought.
"But there is a chance, the doctor informs me, that he might need something more than that."
Keegan called his press conference a day early after he was summoned to a meeting with Ashley and Dennis Wise, the club's executive director of football.
The trio are due to discuss Newcastle's summer spending plans but Ashley is also seeking an explanation from his manager following his extraordinary outburst on Sunday.
Before starting his press conference at lunchtime today, Keegan insisted he would not take any questions about the pending meeting with his owner.
Keegan said: "The reason we have press conference a day early is so I can go to London tomorrow to talk to Mike Ashley.
"That is a good thing and I will look forward to that and that is the only comment I will make.
"I will only talk about Everton from now on so any other questions are for another day and I will try and answer them as honestly as I can at that time."
Keegan was unable to resist explaining himself once more, though, as he insisted Newcastle can be the fifth biggest club in the country but did not have the financial clout of the top four.
He said: "I was giving an honest answer to a question about how we had fared against Chelsea. I said we were a million miles away.
"We are the fifth biggest team in the country and I need to make sure we achieve that. Sunday against Everton will be a big test for us to see if we can reach that point. I won't say 'we'll win the League' because I'd be carted off to the nuthouse if I said that.
"Only Man United have bigger crowds than us. But they have a bigger global appeal because they have a bigger profile than us.
Everton, as Newcastle had done before them, briefly broke the stranglehold the big four clubs have had on the corresponding league places in recent years, and Keegan points to their development since as an illustration of what he means.
He said: "David Moyes has done a fantastic job there - I think they are the only team that has broken into that top four, so the best person to ask if it can be done is David Moyes.
"I remember the year after that, they finished down at the bottom because the problem then is you have more games and you need a bigger squad.
"There are other problems that come with success, but they are nice problems."
Keegan was presented with a potential problem of a different kind when he learnt that striker Mark Viduka could be sidelined for up to six months.
The 32-year-old went for a planned injection to address his long-standing Achilles problem knowing he was likely to be out for three months as a result.
However, the injury proved to be worse than feared and he will discover over the next fortnight whether or not he needs a minor operation and the extended period of rehabilitation that will involve.
Keegan said: "He went to have this injection. He had the injection and the problem is slightly worse than was feared.
"He goes back in 10 days to two weeks having had the injection, and that may well solve the problem, as was originally thought.
"But there is a chance, the doctor informs me, that he might need something more than that."
Newcastle have been linked with a surprise summer swoop for former Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes.
The 24-year-old, who made his name with Seville, is currently out of favour at Atletico Madrid and has been targeted by Toon boss Kevin Keegan as a man who can help bring back attacking football to St James' Park.
The Spanish international, who moved to Arsenal for £10.5million in 2004, never settled in the captial and was loaned to Real Madrid in August 2006, before being sold to city rivals Atletico at the start of this season.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is ready to give Keegan his full financial backing in the summer as long as the north-east club avoid relegation this season.
The 24-year-old, who made his name with Seville, is currently out of favour at Atletico Madrid and has been targeted by Toon boss Kevin Keegan as a man who can help bring back attacking football to St James' Park.
The Spanish international, who moved to Arsenal for £10.5million in 2004, never settled in the captial and was loaned to Real Madrid in August 2006, before being sold to city rivals Atletico at the start of this season.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is ready to give Keegan his full financial backing in the summer as long as the north-east club avoid relegation this season.
