Football Dispatch

Wednesday Football
03 September 2008
by Jerrad Peters

The Newcastle rumor mill is turning faster than Mike Ashley can down a pint. In less than 12 hours, Magpies manager Kevin Keegan got the sack, left the club unilaterally, was never fired in the first place, and became “extremely important, both now and in the future.” All the while, journalists, pundits, and fans were left spinning. Spinning faster than… Mike Ashley can down a pint.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the only certainty is that Kevin Keegan remains in charge of Newcastle United – for now. While Tuesday’s speculation proved imprecise, it was not far off. King Kev is on a tight leash. And the rope is being firmly gripped by Ashley.

A self-styled “man of the people,” Ashley earned the reverence of Newcastle’s legions of fans when he brought Keegan back to St. James’ Park in January, 2008. The club owner has had an otherwise tumultuous relationship with the supporters, however, and embarrassed himself on national television when he chugged a beer during Newcastle’s 3-0 loss at Arsenal on Saturday.

The latest row between Keegan and Ashley was ignited as the transfer window drew to a close on Monday night. And when Keegan skipped a training session for the second day in a row on Wednesday morning, it was widely reported that he had resigned his position with the club.

Not so, asserted Richard Bevan. “He has not resigned,” stated the League Managers’ Association chief executive. “He is in a difficult position. He’ll be discussing really important issues with the Newcastle board over the next few days.”

Those issues are almost certainly connected to the club’s transfer policy – a policy over which Keegan has been unable to exercise control. Instead, Ashley has given club directors Dennis Wise and Tony Jiminez carte-blanche to sign whichever players catch their fancy. On Monday, they acquired Uruguayan midfielder Ignacio Gonzalez and Spanish Under-21 international Xisco, both of whom were previously unknown to Keegan. Similarly, the summer signings of Danny Guthrie, Fabricio Coloccini, and Jonas Gutierrez were spearheaded by Wise and Jiminez while their sale of James Milner to Aston Villa was vehemently opposed by Keegan. On Tuesday night, it was also confirmed that Ashley had attempted to sell striker Michael Owen without Keegan’s consent; and the two also clashed over the status of midfielder Joey Barton.

Infuriated, Keegan met with the Newcastle board on Monday evening for talks that Daily Mail correspondent Colin Young described as “explosive.” And when the manager failed to turn up for Tuesday’s training session at the club’s Benton facilities, rumors of his sacking were widely circulated. Reporters and fans were left waiting in front of St. James’ Park throughout the day in anticipation of a press release from the club. When it finally came, the statement only further clouded the situation.

“Newcastle United can confirm that meetings between members of the board and manager Kevin Keegan were held both yesterday and today,” read the official comments. “Kevin has raised a number of issues and those have been discussed with him. The club wants to keep progressing with its long-term strategy and would like to stress that Kevin is extremely important, both now and in the future. Newcastle United values the effort and commitment shown by Kevin since his return to St. James’ Park and wants him to continue to play an instrumental role as manager of the club. For the avoidance of doubt, the club has not sacked Kevin Keegan as manager.”

That was then. When Keegan missed another training session on Wednesday, the gossip only intensified further. In any case, the relationship between manager and club has been damaged, possibly irreparably. BBC Radio 5 Live commentator Ian Dennis admitted as much on Tuesday afternoon.

“My understanding is that Kevin Keegan has fallen foul of the board over the future of Joey Barted,” said Dennis. “Only he remains loyal to Barton… Keegan had a meeting with the owners on Monday night, he had a further meeting at St. James’ Park today, and I’m told things were not going well.”

Chris Waddle took it one step further, blaming the Tyneside chaos on the club’s congested front office.

“Dennis wise, as people have mentioned came in,” he told the BBC. “Then coach Chris Hughton came in. It has never been a happy relationship.”

It is a relationship which will be sorted, one way or another, by the time Newcastle host Hull City in their next match. Unfortunately, due to the international break, the madness could persist for another ten days. It is a state of disorder which the club can hardly afford. Newcastle have shown some promise on the pitch this season. It would be in their best interest to simply get on with the football.


Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.