Where do Newcastle go from here?

Kevin Keegan has walked away from Newcastle United for a second time, deciding that the board's meddling in transfer policy had pushed him over the edge.

“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,” Keegan said in a statement issued via the League Managers' Association tonight.

Keegan was upset over the club's sale of James Milner to Aston Villa, and it appears he has been unhappy not only over the arrival of Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez as directors above him, but in their decisions over which players the club was going to recruit.

Only yesterday, Alan Curbishley quit as manager of West Ham United under similar circumstances.

What do you think, Newcastle fans, did Keegan have to go or should he have stayed and fought his corner?

What does this mean for Mike Ashley, the club's owner?

Are you a season-ticket holder at St James' Park - will you continue to fill the Gallowgate End every home match or is this the final straw?

Is there a manager that Ashley could bring in to appease the fans - Gus Poyet, who was assistant to Dennis Wise at Leeds United, is currently the favourite with the bookmakers.

Whatever your opinions, please leave us a comment in the box at the bottom of this post.   

Comments

[Ian Jones]

There are too few comments from football fans on this blog and too may from pseudo business men who think they understand business. Businesses only work if they sell a product people want. No Geordie wants or will pay for a mediocre product and the money is in the Champions League - the policy of Ashley et al will only deliver a sub-standard product and no participation in Europes most lucrative competition. For proof of this, the best club in England is Man United and can anybody see Sir Alex allowing business men and clowns (Wise) determine alone who his squad is. Newcastle's best team of the modern era was delivered by KK and if that is what you want he should have been left to work his magic again.

[Mike Collins]

ASHLEY OUT! WISE OUT!

[Brian Lewis]

It was clear from the start that Ashley was only in it for the money... I don't recall any bids for any world class players. Even if we had no chance of signing them we should have at least tried...

I think a lot of people are missing the bigger picture though... All the top teams in the country are becoming owned by foreign outsiders.. Sure, they're loaded and can pump money into the club..but for how long?? I blame the british businessmen that decide to sell up!!!

[bill]

"Stop all this whining. Your club has is an entertaining little side show and nothing more. It was never that great, and the so-called knowledgeable fans are merely demonstrating their complete lack of understanding of the way the modern game is run."

What rubbish! Manchester United is the biggest and most successful club in the country, and how exactly are they run?That's right the manager signs and sells the players he wants. The financial director or whatever you want to call him does the business part of the deal. In fact the only clubs in this country who have this "continental style" of management are not very successful at all. At the last count there where about five of them, only two in the top division, I think. People like you should open their eyes and see what is going on rather than repeating garbage that they read in the press. I for one do not believe that this continental system is anything like it has been portrayed in the press. No "man" or manager would work in such a system where he has no control over what players come and go. How can you be held responsible for a teams performance if it not your team?

[Pete]

Not a massive football fan anymore or a Newcastle fan, but Keegan produced teams that people wanted to watch, and at the end of the day in the nut house that football now is was pretty straight up sort of bloke.
Say what you like but if you had managed three Premier League sides pretty well and England ! are really going to stand by and let Dennis Wise call the shots?
I'm afraid Ashley and his like are a classic example of everything that is wrong in the lar lar land of football, A pint swilling fool with more money than sense or taste.

[Neil]

Why do people keeping saying that new managers will never have complete control over the signings and the composition of their teams?

I think Roy Keane would disagree!

[will steer]

What 99% of people forget is that to get where he is, Ashley has had to trample on many people and stab many others in the back. A dispute with KK is nothing. He owns the club and if he wants to throw anybody out he will. Any new potential manager with an iota of common sense will know this. The club will be happier and better off in the Championship with British players and no ambitions.

[Sandra Halsall]

Mike Ashley you should hang your head in shame, you have just made the biggest mistake of your life. Newcastle is a very proud city, the geordies adore their football club, and Kevin Keegan is our idol, you should have listened to the fans and the manager, they are the important ones. This is a very special place, St. James's is like a shrine to the fans, we could have had a good season, brought in players that K.K. wanted, you have the money, but instead you waste it on people like Dennis Wise! If you have a conscience then do the right thing, go back down south where you belong, because we geordies don't want you here any more, you've made us a laughing stock, we could now be heading for relegation thanks to you, now we have to pick up the pieces. Who can save us now?

[Tim]

Stop all this whining. Your club has is an entertaining little side show and nothing more. It was never that great, and the so-called knowledgeable fans are merely demonstrating their complete lack of understanding of the way the modern game is run.

[Peter, London]

As a Spurs fan I'll not mock the Toon as we've had our moments in the past - however it is delusional for Keegan to believe he has absolute control (the Messiah!?). He has never cut it as a coach and the structure around him was never going to work. I fear this crisis can be traced to Ashley not doing due diligence and now trying to live within the limit of even his deep financial resources. Ashley made a mistake & he should stick with NUFC until they work out a strategy for operating the club - there appears to be no strategy at present. Don't think Shearer is the answer - he is inexperienced in the areas NUFC are weak - need a professional safe pair of hands like Houllier .

[Ian Christie]

NU fans are passionate and knowledgeable. They have to be given a voice in running the club. 50,000 of the Toon Army are daft enough to put £1k into the club. They would elect reps to sit on the Board. If this had been in place, NUFC would not have bought Bowyer or Barton, got rid of Bellamy and Dyer asap and insisted that the manager be allowed to buy and sell. Give the fans some real clout!

[Stuart Brown]

Fans, players and especially managers have to realise that the economic and business models of football have changed. no longer can managers demand complete control (with the exception of a few long-standing and successful ones). KK has been very naive to presume that he would be able to get everything his own way. The Wise appointment was his big test as a modern manager and he has failed. He could have stayed on and made an attempt to make the situation work, if not for the owner, but for the fans. The Toon fans need to realise that football is no longer the same as it once was, their club is not excepted and the sooner they adapt to the realities of existing in the Premier League the sooner we can all move on.

Sadly now it would appear that Newcastle fans want Shearer as manager to make up for this mess. Shearer was a legend at SJP but he's got no record as a manager. If Ashley appoints him we'll all be here again same time next year.

Oh and does no-one else appreciate the irony of KK's appointment at Fulham a few years ago as - wait for it - Director of Football and then took over the manager's job from Ray Wilkins...

[Steve]

All season we have waited for something to happen, it was knee jerk reaction in the first place by Ashley bringing Keegan in. He needs to sell the club quickly and get out, Keegan was never the right person for the job and has been used. finally he has stood up for himself but now it is the club who is suffering. Only answer clean break for everyone and lets get in some new owners who actually care

[Benny]

This smells money all the way. Mike Ashley, lower the cost, force his manager out, now maybe sue him for a lot of money to get some more cash into the club. Mike Ashley are going to sell with max profit. He eventually found out that its no money to earn in football.

I had enough of this bullshit! Been Nufc fan since I was around 4 years old, but I cant stand the feeling that someone is trying to ruin the club in my heart!

Sorry for my poor english, I'm from Norway!

[Dan Geroos]

The circus carries on,
the fat ring master sings his song;
the wise man can do no wrong,
The whole thing stinks
What a pong.

A rich Tottenham fan and a little cok(ney) got togethor and decide to have a laugh with the Toon.
They were speaking to each other and then they decided on the following procedure to maximise the pain:

1) Hire the most loved (possibly) manager and slowly undermine him
2) Hire the cok(ney) to ensure the beloved manager cannot get what he wants
3) undermine him by getting him to speak to the media stating Milner will not be leaving when actually the whole of his squad was up for sale.
4) Then get him to tell the media not to worry about Milner, wait and see!
5) Buy and loan players who the manager does not want whilst not getting a left back
6) Make the beloved resign by dragging him through hell.
7) Leave the toon with no fit left back and no manager
8) Leave the supporters in a state of shock, affecting their performance
9) leave the supporters with difficult choices of how to react to this diabolical situation
10) Job Done
11) Start new plan to ensure relegation

The odds on relegation are 9/1 although betfred are still offering 16/1

[JAY -NEWCASTLE]

CAN'T BLAME KING K FOR GOING,WHAT KND OF BUSINESS MAN LETS HIS CASH COW GO.LET THE MAKEMS LAUGH THEY'RE USED TO IT WITH A TEAM LIKE THEIRS!

[Christopher Wright]

If NUFC go down, as is quite possible, at least the city authorities and the fans could then afford to buy a club which at that stage would be worth nearer 100 million rather than the current 200 million plus.

However, as long as Ashley is there I shall support Hartlepool.

[Monty Carlo]

Ii am not NUFC fan, but it strikes me that this is really no more than Keegan having one of his usual tantrums. This time it was about how much he had to spend in the transfer market, but I just checked the total spent by Newcastle on players in the transfer window and it looks like he spent over £30m. How can he complain about not having any money for players when he has spent that much? You really can't play fantasy football manager all of the time. Sometimes you have to stop signing strikers and invest in your scouting system and youth development...

[russ coleman]

The London based bean counters win. No club is going to work with 2 or more idiots installed above the Manager. Wise and Jimones are obviously not even good at scouting and recruiting on the evidence of their transfer debarcle, only turning a buck. Newcastle are doomed while scouting and dealing is done in a foriegn field where there is less scrutiny, over priced players who nobody knows from a place where players are owned and traded on the furtherest bounds of legality. While there is vast sums of money to be made off the football pitch there is always going to be snakes in the grass. Spanish manager next mark my words.

[Peter Amazed]

So Newcastle and West Ham fans . .the managers have stood up for what they believe is right and good on 'em.

So what are the fans going to do?
Empty seats?
Protests?

Hah ..In footballing terms, sweet FA.

[martin]

I'm not a Newcastle fan but I do respect Kevin Keegan. Seems to me the only way Ashley can possibly continue and regain some faith with the fans is to get Shearer in to manage the first team with Wise either out or staying in but reporting to Shearer. Bottom line, its a fans club and that's where the power lies. Back to basic rules of life Mr Ashley - "FiFO" ... Fit in or F... off !

[Peter Frost]

Ashley is a fraud as the NU fanmag guy stated. He has had difficulty getting good leaders to work with him his SWI business. He prefers cronies like Wise/Jimenez. KK was appointed before them and you could see how he felt about Wise back in Jan.
Some pundits have talked about the 'modern European/committee management' style. Well there is no successful evidence in UK. Chelsea (post Mourinho), Spurs, West Ham. Pompey (pre Harry) and now NU have all failed v the classic Man U, Arsenal and Mourinho models. As suggested get Shearer to head up a NU consortium, buy out Ashley and bring back KK asap.

[t w spark]

Mr Ashley, something is rotten in the state of Den(niswise)mark. How can a person of the calibre of Kevin Keegan be subservient (in the choice of players) to the wishes of a former (mediocre) player, who you have promoted beyond the level of his competence? I have been a supporter of NUFC for 70 years.

[Alan Sims]

I predicted 8 months ago that Keegan would be there 8 months at most and that it would all end in tears but keegan would not care as he will walk away with another few million in the bank. stand by during the next few weeks for 30,000 Geordies to be present at the another next unveiling of the new 'messiah' HA HA HA HA - It makes supporting the Totties a pleasure.

all the best, the fog on the tyne is all mine all mine the fog on the tyne is all mine.

[ray]

kevin keegan is a true football man and he has been associated with newcastle united for over a quater of a century so he has every right not to be some billionaire's puppet, who "just wants to have some fun" thanks Kev for standing up for yourself and good luck to you.