Ashley leaves Newcastle in chaos

Notice you've waited until all the facts are straight before 'blogging'.

Well done. Have a journalism gold star.

Oooh, you're gonna get some stick for that 'over blown' jibe...

Actually, I do think I'd put a large amount of money on Keegan being manager for the Hull game, because the odds must be pretty wide at the moment.

I could really cash in. This could change my life. Why am I wasting time typing more sentances here? Must dash...

Good point there, will be very interesting to see where he watches the game against Hull from.

A lot of media outlets have been left with egg on their faces over this and yet, to mix my metaphors, not much humble pie is being eaten. Newcastle FC look bad because the media, hurting due to their humiliation yesterday, choose to portray them in that way. No one yet knows what has happened or what will happen and consequently who can say who is the true culprit: a hands-on owner or a temperamental manager?

i feel sorry for kevin keegan and the newcastle fans who want success at the club

the best thing the fans can do is boycott the next few games - leave the stadium empty

that will speak volumes

Class article... Im an Everton Fan... but have followed the news reports these last few days and totally agree with everything you have said.

Its sad to see this happen to such a big club and fan base!!

As a supporter of english football, i can say Kevon Keegan is an asset to the game and deserves more respect from those clowns at Newcastle!

Watch out Phil - haven't you noticed all the fans wanting to shoot the messenger before they sink back into denial !

think I'd have a little flutter on KK being in charge for the Hull game too, Ashley's too tight to pay him off...

Any manager who wants to keep Joey Barton in his side deserves the boot.
Ironically, Keegan and Ashley deserve each other. Dennis Wise completes the three unwise men of English football.

What was interesting is the 'over-blown' comment. We know we're a big club despite not winning anything for ages, we have a huge, loyal fan base, worldwide support, the media is obsessed with us and we are currently the 14th richest club in Europe.

Ashley should have never appointed Keegan in the first place.

From day one, Ashley has been more interested in winning the popularity contest. Downing pints with the fans, singing the songs and wearing his printed shirt with "pride".

Keegan has just been a pawn in the entire charade. Ashley got rid of the unpopular Allardyce and did what he knew the fans would want him to do - he brought in the "messiah".

Who cares if Keegan was the wrong man for the job? Bringing Keegan to St James' ensured that he'd be the most popular man in Toon - that's until it all came tumbling down.

what are they up to...

Why get him in if you weren't going to let him run the team? He might love the club but he wouldn't have been cheap.

Why have more faith in Dennis Wise than KK? It really doesn't make any sense... and it looks like we won't hear any more for a while.

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I don't anyone believes that this was a 'media invention' - but don't expect peope (well, like me anyway) to simply accept your apologies on behalf of the BBC and news media in general that information from 'the most reliable sources' was at the base of the journalism yesterday.
Face it, in a world of real-time news reporting and reaction, as well as audience participation in the making and shaping of news, yesterday was an example of how in the race to break a(nother) sensational story, the facts came second to the scoop.
(paraphrased from my blog https://www.theworldisntlistening.blogspot.com%29

What exactly qualified the minnows that Ashley appointed to be better judges of football talent than Kevin Keegan?

His record as a club coach has been good - with only the mild histrionics of his bust-up with Alex Ferguson as a black mark (although that is just part of his passion for the club) and he had the good grace to recognise he was not up to the England job and walked away (if only Steve McClaren had had the same integrity).

I am not a Newcastle fan - but am definitely a fan of Keegan. He has been treated pretty badly from the off but has stuck with it until his face was rubbed in it in this transfer window: as to how it all turns out - the right thing would be to give Keegan the opportunity to do the job and dump the minnows - but is Ashley strong enough to do the right thing and admit his mistakes? How on earth did he make his fortune with such poor judgement?

To be fair, you'd think the Beeb would have SOMEONE who knows someone who knows what the hell is going on. They get enough money to do a half-decent job of sports journalism.

No other club in the world can keep a secret, so how are the combined IQs of Ashley, Keegan and Wise managing it?

And Phil, you fountain of knowledge you, he hasn't been at training because he his having talks with the club. Doh.

I think the overblown comment is spot on. Newcastle are only a big club in the fact that 52,000 fans turn up each home game to watch the drivel that has been laid on for them in the last 10 years. They haven't won anything since Alf Ramsay was England manager.

Keegan won't stay and Ashley and Wise won't be allowed to stay by the so-called Toon Army, who have done as much as anyone to cause the problems with their over inflated ideas of what their club should be doing and therefore heaping the pressure on the staff and players.

Does the fact that Dennis Wise walked out on Leeds when they were doing well not surprise anyone?

Keegan was just a publicity stunt to let Ashley in, now the true regime is going to present itself. . And i suspect Wise will be the frontman!

Ah, the trusted old 'overblown' comment. Almost as lazy and ill informed as yesterday's reporting of events.

It was about as creative as the article got. zooombie

Personally I think Keegan is doing all he can to persuade the board to let him have total control and to get rid of Wise and the other assistants that Ashley's brought in. And on the other hand Ashley's trying to keep hold of them. The fact is though MA brought Keegan in to bring some excitement back to the club and hopefully get them advancing up the table and challenging for honours. How does he expect him to achieve this if he isn't allowed to run team affairs in the way he wants?

Another interesting point is the way Ashley seemed to slap Keegan down after KK said how difficult it would be to turn the club into a top-4 side or even a side challenging for trophies for a few years. Not long after we get to the transfer window and what do the board do to help their manager achieve this aim? Sell one of their better players, appear to try and sell one of their (and England's) better strikers and fund moves for a couple of players from Europe with no proven Premiership experience. If Ashley is serious about making Newcastle a big club again then he needs to show his manager that he has his full support. Financial support and trust in being able to handle which players he wants at the club.

It seems incredibly hypocritical to demand the club achieves certain aims but to not provide the means for this to happen whilst also undermining the person you've put in charge.

As for Ashley sitting with the fans for the next game, i'll be surprised if he even shows his face at the match!

"Keegan would be in a position of total power and authority with players and supporters."

That's exactly what we want.

so what if Ashley owns the club, we are the main income!

if i were him, being a man of business, i wouldn't see p***ing of the customers as too clever.

Wow, what amazing journalism yet again. I, for one, am glad that my license fee is subsidising such cutting edge journalism.

You reported something that wasn't true, and then have tried blaming the club for not denying your reporting - when they were apparently busy trying to put the pieces of a breakdown back together.

Any club that allows Titus Bramble to notch up 100 games deserves to be in this sort of mess. :-)

what credentials does a club need to be called a "big club"?
if it a large fan base then newcasle are indeed a big club.
if it is winning trophies or league possition are bolton,wigan,portmouth,sunderland,leeds,coventry,southhamton, middlesboro e.c.t. much bigger?(this list could go on and on and on)
i would you newcastle a fair to middlin club at best!!!
get over yourselfs.

It really is a sad state of affairs, Ashley and his motley crew are going to do more damage to this club than Dyer, Bowyer, Shepherd or Barton could ever hope to achieve. Wise is a horrid man who fans of other clubs he's managed sem to detest - Wise took some flak for leaving Leeds but it was Poyet's leaving them that probably ultimately cost them automatic promotion last year. I wish our board cared as much for the reputation and status of the club as much as Sunderland's seem to. Ashley has no class or savoir faire whatsoever and how he's managed to make himself into one of the UK's richest men baffles me - surely a case of luck rather than judgment?

I suppose the upshot of all this is that when the dust has settled, ultimately for the 3rd time in 16 months we're going to be looking for a new manager - I certainly wouldn't blame KK for walking away on this occasion, say what you like about 'bottling it when the going gets tough' but if he wants to leave this mess with his head held high, that is what he has to do. I've tried getting behind a team managed by a man I vehemently dislike before, it looks like I may have to do it again. Can I have a one-way ticket to oblivion please...

Phil - re: our over-blown perception this is another media myth that is peddled out time and time again by lazy journalists and know is believed to be gospel by people up and down the land. Yes we are a big club in terms of support and turnover. We know we haven't won anything for years, we don't think we deserve success so will journalists like yourself stop from perpetuating this myth further!

I'm amazed that everybody believes Keegan to be the innocent party here. He has a record of walking out when he doesn't get his own way.
If he can't sit down and agree a stategy with Wise and Ashley, like any good Managere would, he probably should leave!

Kingronnie - what exactly have Wigan, Sunderland and Southampton won in recent times?

Keegan is not taking training because he is in a meeting with the owner McNulty, what are you on about? The squad are not even preparing for a game today so it is a good time to sort out/discuss/argue about problems.

Why on earth would wise take training? Keegan has 2 assistants, one of them would take it, not the person responsible for signing youth team players

newcastle fanbase may be large but dont call them loyal. they get on everyone's back, never sing unless their team is winning and dont fill out the ground all the time. For instance before they were due to play Stoke in the cup last year, they had sold half of their ground - that was being blamed on the cup tie being expensive. then keegan took over and the ground was full. likewise, the ground is half empty for european nights against minnows but as soon as they get a decent side, the ground is full. so sick and tired listening to how loyal these fans are. as usual their club is a joke

Clearly, there was a major disagreement between Keegan and the Board yesterday. It was was sufficiently serious for people to start briefing the media on the expected outcome.

That Keegan remains in charge today seems likely to be due to one of two possibilities:

1: The lawyers are negotiating on his exit.
2: There has been a change of heart somewhere within the club or with Keegan.

We will soon see which one it is.

I do find it quite amusing that Mike Ashley is now reaping what he sowed. He hired Keegan knowing the love the Newcastle fans had for him and used that to try to win them over. Sadly, for him, all he can hear now is the sound of chickens coming home to roost.

Phil, your most reliable and informed sources were unreliable and uninformed so think you should change that.
Also, why as an impartial BBC 'journalist' are you "having fun' at the expense of a particular teams fans?

Ashley is a businessman. had anyone heard of him re football before he bought newcastle? Hes looking to turn a profit, and knows there are rich buyers out there. NUFC is a pretty attractive proposition to them except for the problem of a bombproof messiah as manager. Thats why Ashley introduced the management structure he did. To allow him to undermine Keegan should it be necessary.

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Whatever happens or has happened I can see Keegan coming out as the good guy; he didn't want to get back into football but couldnt turn down Newcastle in their time of crisis.

Since then he has been constantly undermined by the board and must be wondering why he even bothered, although I'm sure not as he wants/wanted to do everything to help the club he loves.

As for Barton, personally I think he's a complete waste of space but as with most misguided idiots like him, there has to be one person whos willing to work on him into a better person. After all, the board brought him to Newcastle knowing his track-record (and his at the time recent attack on Dabo), so they can't be claiming the high ground now when Keegan wants to keep him.

@Stockport Countyless

"never sing unless their team is winning"

Are you for real?

It's as simple as this. Don't talk about something you don't know anything about.

Laughing stock of the Premiership, carTOON army!

Its all a bit different to the stability- and subsequent progress- being made down the road by Quinn and Keane.

I don't understand how the owner of any club thinks he knows who should be in the team. Surely if you give responsibility for the results to a manager he should be able to choose the right people to work around him, which includes playing and non playing staff.

By the look of the photos of chubby Mike Ashley he should be taking part in NUFC training sessions, either that or get down the Dog and Duck and let someone who knows about football take over.

Sad days for the Toon once again...

I agree with most about what is being said about Ashley and Wise......

One is a bloke who knows nothing about the game ..? with a few bob the other is a drinking partner who doesnt know much either and is in a position made for him by Ashley.....?!!!!! I feel for the fans most of all as they can see through these non footballing people...
To cap it all too may clubs are now being run by people with a few bob who intafere with team matters and Players transfers as it all ends in tears look at LIVERPOOL,CHELSEA,MAN CITY ETC.......
They are ruining the game full stop.

Look at Whelan at Wigan now he's a football man and lets the Manager get on with it..........There needs to be more of these fellas running clubs not people like Ashley who sit with club shirt on amongst the fans....mmmm wonder if that happens next game.........? i think not.

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Now Phil, are you sure you have done your homework on this one before writing an article?

will-toon-fan

went to newcastle uni and had season ticket there. they dont sing. they just get on the players' backs. seen it first hand over the course of a season.

i was always beyond me why anybody BUT the manager of a team is in the transfer market as its the manager who picks the team from the available players! absolute madness!!!!

Meh, this situation is only as bad as the crap rafa is dealing with over at liverpool.

As a Liverpool fan I admire Kevin, but I do wonder what he thought he was getting into when only a week afterwards Denis Wise arrives as "Director of Football."

im sick and tired of the way clubs are being run right now. I dont mind all the money being pumped into the league but the way these chairmen are running their clubs beggars beyond belief.

You look at the following examples

Arsenal - So much money in their bank accounts, their manager doesnt want to know and continues to buy rough diamonds rather than the finished article. One of many clubs that can be applauded for the way the club is run.

Liverpool - American owners with no clue about football, UK Business or UK Economy. These guys dont know anything. They buy Torres and mascherano and think thats enough to win the league.. Duh! We need about 5 or 6 30million pound players to compete

Man U - again, although the board doesnt interfere with on pitch activity,its safe to say that if the Glazers went bankrupt tomorrow then United would be goners.

Newcastle - What exactly is happening? You have a chairman who wears a United shirt, backs the manager and then employs a director of football and recruitment guy. This isnt a Hedge Fund business, this is a football club. There is no need for Dennis Wise (why did he leave Leeds???) at this club or Tony Jimenez. If MA backs KK, then he should sack Wise and Jimenez and give full reign of power to KK. If i was KK, thats what i would demand. No one will blame KK if he decides to leave Newcastle. Their club is a mess

Chelsea - Brokered by a very powerful and rich man, but realising that just because he has money doesnt mean the players are going t come. Again like Man U, if Roman decided to leave tomorrow, they would be screwed.

Man City - Wow!!!! One day they got an owner who is about to go to Jail, the next minute they are owned by someone who is ridiculously wealthy and have bought probably one of the most exciting talents in world football. Money will buy them success but what if these players dont win anything for a year or two, will this Arab group pull out and sell up or are they prepared to build a new history and new dawn for this club.

Spurs - No idea whats going on there, no one is in control, poor Ramos, buys these lovely players to compliment Keane and Berbatov and then they leave!

"Newcastle are only a big club in the fact that 52,000 fans turn up each home game to watch the drivel that has been laid on for them in the last 10 years" .
Aye, but whitto, bonny lad, imagine a football utopia, where clubs were allowed to use only a proportion of their net profits on wages and where they were allowed to play only players who had been born within 50 miles of the stadium. Which club would have been champions since the year dot? Q.E.D. kidder.

34. At 1:33pm on 03 Sep 2008, Stockport countyless wrote:
newcastle fanbase may be large but dont call them loyal. they get on everyone's back, never sing unless their team is winning and dont fill out the ground all the time. For instance before they were due to play Stoke in the cup last year, they had sold half of their ground - that was being blamed on the cup tie being expensive. then keegan took over and the ground was full. likewise, the ground is half empty for european nights against minnows but as soon as they get a decent side, the ground is full. so sick and tired listening to how loyal these fans are. as usual their club is a joke


Complain about this comment

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what are you talking about? Newcastle haven't had a match against European opposition for a few seasons now so it seems rather bizzarre for you to comment on european nights against minnows that they've had. They also had the 3rd highest average attendance in the Premier League last season and for the previous few seasons before that. What more do fans need to do to prove themselves as loyal in your eyes?!?

The amount of nonsense in this article and the following comments is hard to believe.

The truth is no-one knows what is going on unless McNulty has been sitting talking to Ashley or Keegan this morning which he hasn't, ultimately not even Llambas will have the final say over these issues, forget information from so called contacts. Keegan is clearly unhappy about certain things, the club are obviously not in a position to say Keegan definitely won't quit over it because it is impossible to categorically know that given that they are discussing something like the structure of the club, so it can't be cleared up in public yet.

Hopefully later on today they'll sort everything out one way or another, release the information, and then people can come on here and slate newcastle and everyone associated with running the club when they know the facts.

As a Hull City fan I hope Keegan stays at Newcastle. How many times when a club loses/changes the manager do they win the next game!

I have watched Newcastle for many years now, this is just one more sad turn of the screw.

Ashley is proving himself to be a buffoon .. appointing Alardyce, then getting rid instead of giving him time, appointing Keegan and making his position untenable so that he goes too.

Whats the point in appointing a manager like Keegan, and constantly pulling the rug from under his feet .. he has to have the say so on players transfers or he ends up with a bunch of players he doesnt want or have confidence in ..

Newcastle are now officially a joke. If Dennis Wise is appointed .. the good news is he'll only last 9 months before he's out on his backside, meanwhile Newcastle will be lucky to still be in the Prem.

What a farcical mess.

We'll be in the top 4 once all this has blown over. The team know that the fans are suffering and will step it up to make everything better (still under Keegan).

You heard it here first - load your money on to the Magpies for a place in Europe next season!

Karim -

Man city will ruin football for good.

Phil - yet again, this was lazy, lazy journalism, of the sort that is becoming increasingly prevalent on blogs. As a journalist, you should check, check and check again - had ANYBODY at the BBC checked with Newcastle United's press officer, who was readily available, or Keegan's agent - the only "reliable" sources - they would have known this story to be hearsay and speculation.

"But would you risk a large amount of money right now on him being Newcastle United manager for their next game at home to Hull?"

YES! - if he was going to go, he would have gone by now. Had impasse been reached, KK is an emotional man who would have told us.

This is a media-inspired furore, fuelled by lazy journalists out for a quick headline - and I don't know about anybody else, but I am getting sick and tired of them.

Wow tell us what we already know your clever you

The funniest Ashley interference was ;

'There is no way that i am going to let Milner go. absoultely no way, he's staying'

followed the next day by

'we got a good bid, it was my decision completely to let milner go, i decided.'

he's making KK look like a buffoon!

kevin keegan is a lovely man but lets face it he has not achieved a lot as a manager.the owner very understandably wants to get joey barton off his books.joey has had various chances and seems not to have learned his lesson and has been convicted in a court of law and served his time in prison . he now has to face disciplinary charges yet again. despite the fact that the manager should have control over who is signed and who is sold there are times when the owner is entitled to make an exception in order to protect his investment and i think this is one of them. if kevin keegan wants to disagree with this then he is putting his neck on the block and creating a difficult situation with the board of directors. in my view kevin keegan would be best to let the board deal with this partcular matter in their own way.

suntjorge - Can i just point out to you that Freddy Shepherd appointed Allardyce and why give a manager you haven't appointed time to get you relegated?

Every time a manager doesn't take training does that indicate he has been or is about to be sacked?

I doubt theres a single manager in the country who attends every training session during a season. Indeed there are those who have little or no interest in taking training and leave it to their coaches.

That's what you get when you have an owner who has no knowledge of the game at any level or come through the ranks. In this case (eg what the Glaziers do) then butt out and leave the manager to manage. I just wonder what all these geeezers like Wise actually DO at a club. If they could cut out the fat from the club (including Ashley's belly) they might have the funds that KK needs. Very sad for the wee man-he deserves better than this crap.

Man U fan in peace.

what Can Ashley do??? Keegan said last season he's got no chance of ever achieving anything, so why should Ashley hand over £50m? For what?


Get someone else in with ambition

royalbluesman, your dim, saying keegan hasnt acheived much is ridiculous.

Took us from the bottom of the second tier of football to almost winning the premiership. He then went to transform the likes of Fulham and Man City winning honours with them. He then went to manage England which wasnt a great time it has to be said but at least he got us to a european championships unlike a certain Brolly-pusher.

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Another blog leading to over-sensitive fans getting far too emotionally involved!

I've lost count of the number of Newcastle fans accusing Phil McNulty/other BBC journalists of being categorically wrong and inventing things just to get a story.

Time to let your heads rule your hearts!

It wasn't just the BBC that reported yesterday's activity - all the major newspapers and broadcast media did. Were they all making it up or do you think there's just the tiniest of chances these sources may actually be genuine?

Reporting on breaking news, as opposed to waiting until the dust has settled, is what makes the British media so much more advanced than that of any other country. That can bring with it some inaccuracies, sure, but there's no smoke without fire.

McNulty has been predicatably quiet since the snide jab about Keegan not being in training.

At my local Sports World store I can buy kits and merchandise for the "Big 4" of the Premeirship, Real Madrid, Juventus, Barca and a few select others. Although this clown Ashley owns Sports World, I cannot buy any NUFC items. What does this say about his business skills? I thought Freddie Shepperd was bad. If there are any wealthy businessman reading this blog, please rescue us from this fool. Good luck Kevin in your next role, you deserved better.

toon army. i said kevin keegan has not achieved much as a manager. i am well aware of his achievements as a player and regard him in many ways as a breath of spring but in this situation i think he is wrong.

The "rumour" was probably true-seems like both parts are trying to figure out "the mess they´ve gotten themselves into",a well known phrase from a popular geordies other partner-Oliver Hardy!!and how to get out of it with some pride?some of these comments make me laugh.Toon Army is loyal to the club,as well known,no silverware since 68-69."Stockport countyless" seems to know a lot-of garbage!!!How often have wor lads been in Europe of late?playing Stockport County,was it?half empty-who the .... wants to watch them?

Is it me or have the alcohol laws a stadiums be relaxed, as far as I'm aware you're not allowed to drink beer in the stands anymore. Any normal fan would have been asked to leave wouldn't they??

what Can Ashley do??? Keegan said last season he's got no chance of ever achieving anything, so why should Ashley hand over ?50m? For what?


Get someone else in with ambition

---

For the record, this is not what Keegan said - his contract was for 5 years and he didn't feel that within the time he was contracted to the club that Newcastle could break the stranglehold that Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool have on the Premiership and with events this week at Eastlands it has got even harder. I see this as a hint that the club needs to see sustained investment both on and off the pitch in personnel and facilities and a lot of patience from the board and fans if we're ever to achieve anything - look at how Sunderland are doing it, they will be playing in Europe in 5 years time, I'm fairly sure of that, the structure of the club there is excellent.

So we're supposed to show ambition? Every time we do we just get shouted down by rival fans who accuse us of being 'deluded Geordies'.

Suntjorge (post 55) for the record Ashley did not appoint Allardyce

royalbluesman.....I was referring to his managerial acheivements???!!!

Typical Newcastle.

Sorry Geordies, but its not the fisrt time that one of your managers is treated abysmally. Remember Sir Bobby? One of the games finest gentlemen, treated like dirt by his Newcastle paymasters.

I actually feel quite sorry for Kev, for all his faults, I sincerely beleive he is a good guy and a genuine fan. Mike Ashley on the other hand, is the direct opposite of either or these people.

If any of us were in Kevin Keegan's shoes, with a playing record possibly unsurpassed by any British player in living memory, and a hugely creditable record in club management, how could we stomach the hierarchy as it exists at Newcastle?

Kevin is the "manager", ultimately responsible to the PLC, fans and media if results go wrong. Above Kevin, however, because surely an "executive DIRECTOR of football" places him above the mere manager, is one Dennis Wise, with a patchy playing record, and an even more patchy disciplinary and police record.

How could we report to, or be junior to Dennis Wise? Let alone this Jiminez character - anyway, shouldn't he be practising for the Ryder Cup?

Keegan really doesn't need this .... and it must only be love of the club stopping him from walking out without a backward glance.

Phil

I think just because most media outlets (in truth how many are there? I refer of course to Sky, The Sun and The Times for example actually representing just the one outlet, wouldn't you agree?) got it wrong, I don't think is any sort of excuse.

If the 'media' actually waited for an announcement rather than trying to be know it all authorities on what is going on in a boardroom, then the mistake wouldn't have been made.

Also, can I assume that the 'source' will not be used again?

In terms of the detail of the situation, surely we just do not know what it is. It may be that Keegan knew when he was appointed that there was to be a structure which included a director of football (a structure which apparently does work on the continent. Is it some sort of English pig-headedness that seems to may us think categorically that it won't work here?) and maybe it is Keegan that has changed, not the terms of the appointment.

Right now, Ashley has a record of sacking one manager only, and one he didn't appoint at that.

Keegan on the other hand has quite a track record of walking away when things don't suit him, rightly or wrongly.

So from the records themselves combined with your dodgy source, how is all the scorn being poured on the directors at Newcastle.

Can't quite fathom it myself.

p.s. why are these articles now presented as a blog rather than a 606 thread?

royalbluesman wants Keegan to let the board get on with sacking Joey Barton for a criminal conviction for a public assault and for attacking and inuuring a team mate. I am surprised that Mr Wise is not there defending Joey Barton with Keegan, and giving him a second chance as he has the same record - taxi-driver and Calum Davison? Oh, he got off after an appeal...!

LuigiGLFC

But mate - it has got to the stage in this country where nobody believes anything that is written any more. The media is so competitive that they break their own rules left right and centre in the vain attemtp to steal a march on their opposition, to get an "exclusive".
What blogs are fuelling is a culture where all opinion is considered valid, whether or not it can be substantiated.

And if you think the British media is progressive and better than its foreign counterparts - blimey! You are welcome to the likes of the Sun, Daily Mail, Sky and ITV News! One had hoped the BBC would be a last bastion of standards, but speculation is the new master. The British media pays more every year in settlements for wrong and injurious articles/reports than any other nation on earth.

I am certainly not a fan of Ashley but he is obviously a shrewd businessman and has not bought the club as a hobby. He would have to spend tens/hundreds of Millions of pounds to make Newcastle a top four club which he clearly does not intend to do.

It is difficult to guess what his future plans are for the club but it would appear that he is trying to grow the club at a sustainable rate. The transfer market is way out of line in relation to what clubs earn and not many can compete with the likes of Abrahmovic and Al-Fahim when it comes to finance. There are foolhardy clubs such as Villa and Spurs who will throw millions away in the pursute of glory but will ultimatley fail to compete with the Goliaths.

Unfortunatley for Keegan nothing will part Ashley with his cash outside a mayfair casino. 12 million pounds for Milner who is a grafter but also an average player is great buisness. Jonas and Colliccini are two of the best players brought to the toon in years. Maybe the scouting network may be bearing fruit.

And just now the Beeb reports Alan Curbishley has quit ...!

Er ... are we safe to believe this one?

This Newcastle "story" is really a story about the media. The British media, devoid of any characteristics such as integrity, honesty and, in particular, the willingness to do any actual work, accepted an unconfirmed and dubious "leak" about a problem and promptly bleated about it in a desperate competition to get readers, listeners and viewers. It is a sad indictment of the state of Britsh journalism: Sensationalism over facts and an acute laziness.

There may be differences between club and manager, a common occurrance in football, but the media hype, like a mob of fatties shouting their own names loudly at closing time on a Saturday whilst displaying their flaccid members, is of no help to anyone.

Pathetic, dumb, ethicless journalism from all concerned. What's new?

McNulty, you ask - "If Kevin Keegan has not resigned and he has not been sacked - why was he not taking training at Newcastle this morning?"

How many premiership managers take midweek training sessions 11 days before a match? I would wager not many.

Was Fergie or Wenger on the training pitch today? If they weren't, by your logic, we can only presume they have been sacked or resigned.

We know Keegan is in a meeting with the owners because (like maybe 17 or 18 other premiership managers) he is probably underwhelmed with the clubs movements in the transfer window.

He may be unhappy with the performance of Wise/Jiminez in capturing targets - but that doesn't mean he has had no say in the incoming players and doesn't mean he's dancing to Wise's tune.

Every club employs people in Wise's role to scout and get players in, it just so happens that Wise has a greater profile in the football world than the men in suits who normally do that job - so it makes for better copy and speculation.

Keegans departure may well come to fruition, but you have seriously jumped the gun and are now covering your blushes.

"not the first time that one of your managers is treated abysmally. Remember Sir Bobby Robson".

Totally agree, an absolute shaming disgrace. The muppets before him walked away with millions, and we not only sacked him (becuase the press said he had "lost the dressing room"!?) but then attempted to refuse to pay the money he was entitled to.

I'm a Newcastle fan, so an absolute optimist. And massochist. My take on this is that Keegan blew a gasket, Ashley took it badly - then realised that he needs KK and spent yesterday trying to convince him to stay.

Further unfounded speculation by me would say that part of Ashley's argument would involve opening up the clubs books for KK to look at and say.... what ****ing money ?

I'm at a loss to explain anyones (including possibly KK?) surprise over no big signings - he said in May there wasn't enough money. I'm then confused about Ashley being annoyed at KK saying we couldn't break into top 4 (now 5) without loads of cash. They all seem to be arguing the same point...

But did anyone, I mean anyone with half a brain, think that we would have a storming season this year ? Most of the people I know where thinking top 10 with maybe a QF/SF cup run would be overachieving this year..... Now NEXT year.... thats a different stoty, Top of the League.... (for the hard of thinking its a joke) Always next year :)

Sack Wise, let KK have responsibility for the team - that should resolve the problem.

Tomorrow's story:

Curbs to stay on with increased salary deal

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Mutara_Nebula

I agree to an extent - the media landscape is changing dramatically. News is so face-paced these days - not to mention competitive - that errors can be and are made. But that, to me at least, is the price to pay for the demands of society to have everything (not just news) in an instant.

I also agree that blogging has changed things. A blog is indeed an opinion, leading to a discussion. But you're quite right in the talking about the concept of perceived endorsement. We have been brought up to believe and trust in the BBC and news broadcasters in general - 'if it's on the news, it must be true!'

But when someone blogs, it is still opinion and yet, you're right - it does hold more weight and influence because it's a BBC blog.

I'd still prefer our system of on-the-spot reporting, even if occassionally inaccurate, than hearing everything a day late. (With the exception of some of our more notorious tabloids, of course!)

What is with Newcastle fans' "unique bond" with their team? In what way is it unique. Much like Newcastle's big club status and success, it's a complete myth. Newcastle is a one club city, of course they're going to have a big support, but their supporters are only distinguished from other clubs' supporters by their willingness to accept mediocrity in almost every facet of their club.

I notice Curbishley's just resigned from West Ham. Coincidence? What odds on him being the next "Toon messiah"?

Hold on a second. What is the odd for Alan Curbushley being in charge of the Toon's next game and King Kev in charge of West Ham b4 weekend?

reasonddebate; youve just said we accept mediocrity, yet we get blamed for demanding more from our team?

Curbishley the new Messiah?

"We've all had our fun with Newcastle fans about their over-blown perception of just how big and successful they are - or not as the case may be..."

You've had your fun with Newcastle fans have you?

Are these the Newcastle fans who think the club has a devign righ to win silverware every season?

Are they the Newcastle fans who are outraged by the fact that the club cant compete with the top four?

Could you name some of these fans please? Its just that Ive hardly missed a home game since 1992 and I can honestly say Ive never met or see any of them.

Ah, another anti-Newcastle blog well what do you know? Ok I admit Newcastle are currently going through a bit of a hard time but one gets the feeling this wouldn't take much to sort out. As we all know Keegan often says and does things in the heat of the moment and I would imagine later regrets them. I think this is the case now. However, soem things need to be sorted out. He needs to establish who is control of the transfers and who isn't. I personally like dennis wise but i think he would be better off as Keegans Number 2 rather than stuck looking for players. That way they get to know each other on a daily basis in training and secondly be able to knoe each others strengths. Football has changed a lot even in the last 5 seasons. Kevin I would imagine prefers the old fashioned way of dealing in transfers but we have to be real here and admit it's all agents and how much money they can make for themselves before any real deals are done. Also I don't think him and Mike Ashley are that different from each other and I really believe they both want the same thing for the club, success. We need to establish once and for all who's role is what and get on with it. I think the possibility of Barton leaving on transfer deadline day was something done behind Kevins back or something he didn't want happening. I agree with Kevin on this. I'm the first to admit that Barton has done wrong, no one denies that. However, he has done his time and is about to also get the book thrown at him by the F.A. Now, if we are to live in democratic society we have to then start afresh with our thoughts once someone leaves prison, otherwise the system is flawed. Lee Hughes served his time and now he's back playing but I don't hear cries from anyone about him, or lee bowyer, or craig bellamy or Johnathon woodgate, or kieran dyer, shall i go on? Newcastle are not in 'Chaos' as you mention, Keegan has lost his rag and stormed off but rather than the board sacking him they have let the dust settle knowing he's an emotional man and now he's back talking with them. He will be Newcastle manager for the Hull game and for many more games beyond that and In will take any bet from anyone on that too.
As for people slating Ashley. You can't win as a chairman, you sit in a directors box loking all miserable like Abromovic and you get accused of being aloof from the fans and not on the same level, Ashley joins the fans in the crowd and the pub before and he gets slated saying he's being false. I know what I would rather have. Good on him, the sad thing about this is they are both really likeable characters and you know with a bit of tinkering it could be a match made in heaven. It's easy, make Dennis wise No 2 and they can both be involved in the running of the club, together. It's a basic lack of communication, it's as simple as that. So stop this ongoing knocling of Newcastle, even when we got off to a great start against Man u and Bolton Keegans was always being interviewed in a way to try and unsettle him. Still the best club and by far the best fans in the country. Geordies !!

wrote a comment on the blog for this yesterday which seems to have mysteriously disappeared.....

Even though king kev is not apparently completely dead, i still feel the same about the situation at newcastle.

Basically, as many other posters have commented, Kevin Keegan is a class bloke and deserves alot better than what he is currently being subjected to at newcastle.

Its been obvious for a while that ashley

a) doesn't have a clue what he's doing

b) hasn't backed kevin keegan in his efforts to turnaround the club.

I personally have little respect for ashley. He smacks of a midlife crisis. Sitting amongst the common people, downing pints. He looks ridiculous frankly (although i guess his days of sitting amongst the crowd will be over now anyway, unless he's going to get one of glass booth's that the pope uses made up)

its a shame for newcastle because those of us who remember the glory days of kk, asprilla, andy cole etc hope for better things for what was and still can be a great football club.

I wouldn't hold kevin for leaving them though, he's cracking person and a football legend.

And to add to my post, unless you are from Newcastle, or lived there for any serious amount of time you will NEVER EVER EVER understand our passion and what that club means to us. It's something you cannot describe, only feel.

ToonArmy - I don't blame anyone for demanding more from their team. My point is that a club that clearly needs an overhaul from defense onward will never get one, because the supporters are easily appeased by a single big-name signing, usually a striker (Owen, Shearer, etc).

My problem is not with the fans per se, but with the constant posting of Newcastle as being a better team than they actually are, usually by the media. This discourages any real progress, because players, managers, and fans alike believe in a God-given right to success, without actually working sensibly to obtain it. See also the English team, and Manchester United in the Ron Atkinson days.

Once again we have an example of an academically challenged man with a lot of money thinking he can run a football club. Ashley is a nobody and never had a clue what to do after the takeover. If Kevin Keegan has a fault it was loyalty to the club. He should have gone with his head held high when thug Wise appeared on the scene. He should not be allowed to polish Keegan's shoes. What was his appointment all about? No matter what happens nobody will have helped the cause of Newcastle FC and they will continue to be an irrelevance in the Premier League. Big Club my backside!
Good blogg and no, Keegan will not be there. He has too much pride.

Well done phil the BBC's chief sports writer, what a joke. you must have hit the refresh button on sky sports a few times yesterday