Keegan’s £25m claim – nonsense. Toon into administration – nonsense.

Posted on September 28th, 2009 | 49 Comments |

"I'm claiming this much"
"I'm claiming this much"
Kevin Keegan is not claiming £25m from Newcastle United according to The Sunday Express.

Keegan’s constructive dismissal claim, which the ‘judges’ retired to consider over the weekend, has been plagued with rumours of £25m claims that will put the club into administration.

Yet a ‘close Keegan aide’ told the Express: “That is just malicious nonsense. This figure has obviously been leaked to try to place Kevin in a bad light.”

Apparently what Keegan is claiming is the £8m he is owed on his outstanding 3 and half year contract.

I’m not really one for trusting ‘sources’, ‘insiders’ or ‘close Keegan aides’ but I believe the gist of this is correct. £25m is a quarter of the value of the club (at Ashley’s estimate of that value anyway) and there would simply be no justification for such an amount, no matter how wronged Keegan might be.

As to putting the club into administration – would a club on the brink of administration still be taking on players such as Harewood, Khizanishvili and Simpson if it thought administration was a realistic proposition? Sure, they’re only loan players but there’s still wages to pay.

We may get to hear the tribunal’s decision today and can then put all these rumours to bed for good but I’ll stick my neck out now and say that the club won’t have to pay £25m – or anything like that amount – and it won’t be going into administration either. Such suggestions are simply codswallop.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

49 Responses

  1. The one thing the entire summer has proven for United fans (if they didn’t already know it!) – is that the press in this country are totally out of control, can print what they like, plagiarise each others stories like mad (thereby making unfounded rubbish look credible), and basically can’t be trusted.

    Of course, it’s just co-incidence that most of them are cockneys……

    There…..I feel better now…..

  3. To be fair UTD111 that is how the media operate full stop, we just notice it more as we’ve been a long-standing target.

    I’m still far from convinced of Keegans motives though. He might have ‘feeling’ for the club, but he doesn’t love it like most of us do.

  4. UTD111

    “Of course, it’s just co-incidence that most of them are cockneys……”

    Get that chip off of your shoulder. The Northern Echo, Chronicle etc are just as bad. All English press are the same, they have the same goals, HIGH CIRCULATION. These men/women in the press have no vendetta against Newcastle UTD, they just put in the paper what the majorty of the country want to hear. Simple. I am not saying it is right, but if you are going to hold any grudges, hold it against the general British public. The majority of fans just don’t like NUFC or it’s fans and want to hear that the club are in a mess/joke/turmoil. That is just the way it is i am afraid.

  6. Not sure most fans dont like us. They just think we are a bit deluded.Maybe they are right….
    Where did 25m come from in the first place? One paper writes it then they all jump on the band wagon.

  7. Load of rubbish…

    Sick of these ‘insiders’ – when there’s a provable quote then maybe I’d believe it. Even then I’d have my doubts…

  8. United111

    My apologies then.

    Norn Iron Mag

    Personally i don’t think NUFC fans are deluded at all. I haven’t heard any fan say anything about silverware or playing in Europe for years now. Most just want to see football played the proper way…on the ground. Like CLough said, “If football was made to be played in the sky God would have put grass in the clouds”…Or something similar, hahaha

  9. This £25m/administration story was leaked to the press by someone. Now I cannot imagine it was KK so I can only presume it’s from Ashley’s associates to discredit KK.

    That’s Ashley all over. He’s like a politician who’s aids go round dropping poison in a journo’s ear to discredit the opposition party.

    The truth will out and then we can all move forward.

  10. jeez

    It cracks me up. People come on here, complain about the press and then speculate themselves.

    I am not a fan of Ashley, nor against him (nothing to base a judgment on either way, basically its all press speculation), but to say that the Ashley camp started the 25M rumour as you cannot imagine it coming from KK’s camp is a real stretch.

    In time we will learn what has gone on and by then it will be immaterial.

    BTW, I dont beleive there is any data out there to indicate whether all other fans hate us or not, anymore than there is data to support the theory that NUFC has the best/most loyal fans in the World.

    We need to focus on supporting our club, forget about speculation (as we will always be disappointed) and enjoy what appears to be a good spell on the pitch.

    As a Southern based fan who has had to travel great distance to watch home games I am getting a bit fed up of people knocking any fan outside of Newcastle. You want to prove you are a loyal fan, then pick yourself up, dump yourself in the middle of London and spout off to everyone you are a Newcastle fan and see how hard it is. It’s easy when you have a city behind you, not so much when you are alone and your club is going through a rough time.

    I am a Newcastle fan, and I live in London and I let everyone know it.

  12. Hopefully the compensation claim by KK (if he wins) has already been factored into any deal for the sale of the club if the sale was imminent as claimed before the Keegan tribunal.

  13. Jules, agree on the exiles point. I’ve put this point across many times to others, not on here I hasten to add, and not one person has come back with a sensible argument against it.
    I’ve actually stopped going to home games as my life has changed to the point where travelling up to Newcastle for every home game is just not possible. I don’t live as far south as London, can’t stand the place, so I have even more empathy for those who have to endure London on a daily basis. :-)

  15. Whats wrong with London, always thought it was a great city.
    As far as Newcastle exiles are concerned, get to see quite a few away games.
    In regard to cockney(whatever) and the southern press being anti Geordie, it`s a figment of some imaginations.
    Most football fans i have met recently from outside the north east have expressed regret on our recent relegation and have admitted to the fact they have always liked the team and enjoyed having them visit.
    So get over this nonsense that anyone outside the Newcastle area are anti Geordie, apathetic would be more to the point.

  16. chuck says:
    September 28, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    What’s wrong with London?

    You mean apart from loud mouth, in ya face cocky cockneys?

    Nothing at all!

  17. I have spent the larger portion of my life as an ‘exiled Geordie’ for one reason or another and I’ve rarely encountered rabid anti-Geordie opinions or much in the way of North v South divides.

    Either I’ve just been lucky or Chuck is right and it’s largely a figment of some imaginations (or some press sensationalists).

  18. Im a Durham lad (pensioner now) but have spent the last 40 years in the south about 25 miles from London and would echo and like Hugh and Chuck have never had a problem with guys down here.
    Have many real cockney friends (Mike Ashley isnt) and for the most part they are great company.

  19. StanHardy says:
    September 28, 2009 at 8:48 pm

    “Im a Durham lad (pensioner now) but have spent the last 40 years in the south about 25 miles from London and would echo and like Hugh and Chuck have never had a problem with guys down here.
    Have many real cockney friends (Mike Ashley isnt) and for the most part they are great company.”

    Well said Stan. I’ve lived in London itself for over 15 years now, and I love the people here, they’ve been absolutely wonderful to me ever since I arrived and opened up a whole new world for me. I have no clue where Stuart gets this “in ya face cockneys” thing from.

    You’re totally correct of course about Mike Ashley. He wasn’t born in London, he wasn’t brought up in London and he doesn’t live in London. The nearest thing to a “Cockney” at SJP is Chris Hughton from Stratford in the East. So I hope the idiotic, bigoted ingrates think about that next time they’re singing about Cockney bastards who should get out of our club.

  20. workyticket says:
    September 28, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    Worky,

    My previous comment did have more than a touch of sarcasm in it and wasn’t meant to offend our London friends.

    I indeed have had a lot of London collegues and the banter was great between us ‘Northern Bastards’ and them ‘southern softies’.

    But you cannot deny Ashley is slightly over weight. So the chant is nearly right.

  21. Stuart79 says:
    September 28, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    “But you cannot deny Ashley is slightly over weight. So the chant is nearly right.”

    That IS a difficult one to argue with, Stuart! :-)

    However, a few of the gadgies singing it were just as fat as him, and he did look much thinner when he was standing next to that “Beefy” gadgie in a gutbucket competition. Do you remember the photo?

  22. Trouble with blog entries Stuart is that wit and sarcasm are often conveyed by voice inflection or facial expression which one cannot get on here unfortunately.

    Would add that at least one of the guys with his shirt off on saturday made Mike Ashley appear Slimmer of the Year

  23. I’ve just been listening to Toon Talk and they have had Steve Brennan on from the Sun.

    He reckons he has been told by Mike Ashley’s associates that KK IS wanting £20-25M. Not just on the length of his contract but for future earnings.

    So is Ashley bein a d1ck by realising this info to certain journo’s or is this actually the truth?

  24. StanHardy says:
    September 28, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    “Would add that at least one of the guys with his shirt off on saturday made Mike Ashley appear Slimmer of the Year”

    That was probably the “Beefy” fellow that I mentioned. They did the usual close up of him on the BBC.

    Hows the Stag BTW, Stan?

  27. Stuart79 says:
    September 28, 2009 at 10:17 pm

    “So is Ashley bein a d1ck by realising this info to certain journo’s or is this actually the truth?”

    Stuart, that’s nothing different from what he’s saying in his grubby little story. An “Associate” could be any one of thousands of people, and he knows that he won’t be sued for saying that. It’s a stock answer.

  28. StanHardy says:
    September 28, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    “The Stag is is just fine mate.Certainly in far better condition than its owner”

    LOL Stan. I’ve probably mentioned this before but Stags always remind me of watching “Hadleigh” on the telly when I was a bairn. Not many of ’em left now!

  30. batty says:
    September 28, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    “if keegan is after 25 mill he will no longer be 1 of my toon ledgends but i cant see if meself”

    batty, he definitely isn’t after £25 million, and Ashley almost certainly didn’t leak it. It’s just been made up to stir the pot.

    ps Is that batty junior in your new picture?

  31. StanHardy says:
    September 28, 2009 at 11:13 pm

    “Thats right worky remember Hadleigh.Dennis Waterman also drives one in New Tricks”

    I remember them all, Stan. Jason King with his Jensen, Roger Moore with his little Volvo, Roger Moore and Tony Curtis with the Aston Martin and the Ferrari, Diana Rigg with her Lotus Elan…

  34. StanHardy says:
    September 28, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    “Do you have square eyes worky?”

    I did when I was a bairn, Stan!

    Diana Rigg was my favourite. I was in love with her, but my friend recently shattered all my illusions. He met her when he was a bairn and he said she was she wasn’t very nice to him and ordered him off the set (his dad used to work in film studios). He met Vincent Price though and said he was a wonderful man. He used to take him out for trips in his car when he was making his scary films.

  38. Funny isn’t it that a couple of weeks ago a story was leaked that painted Keegan in a good picture and some on here thought it was Keegan and his associates that had leaked it.

    When it’s the opposite way round it’s just journo’s making it up.

    Quite astounding.

  39. workyticket says:
    September 28, 2009 at 11:16 pm
    batty says:
    September 28, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    “if keegan is after 25 mill he will no longer be 1 of my toon ledgends but i cant see if meself”

    batty, he definitely isn’t after £25 million, and Ashley almost certainly didn’t leak it. It’s just been made up to stir the pot.

    ps Is that batty junior in your new picture?
    <<<<<< no worky its me waiting for MA and stardust outside sjp olo only joking aye m8

  40. Stuart79 says:
    September 29, 2009 at 7:20 am

    “Funny isn’t it that a couple of weeks ago a story was leaked that painted Keegan in a good picture and some on here thought it was Keegan and his associates that had leaked it.

    When it’s the opposite way round it’s just journo’s making it up.

    Quite astounding.”

    That’s a false comparison, Stuart. Who wrote that Keegan and his associates had leaked information to the press? I certainly didn’t. So why are you comparing what I’m wrote to what someone else wrote. Unless of course you are being deliberately vague in order to deceive?

    Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

  41. workyticket says:
    September 29, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    I didn’t mention you Worky!

    I was actually making reference to when there were stories about KK, and the likes of Stardust told everyone on Ed’s blog that it would have been KK who leaked it to paint him as a hero or something like that.

    Anyway newspapers are tossers and we know that, but they do print the info they are given.

    The local media have been told every week for 2 months that something will happen on the takeover and then nothing has happened.

    The people telling them this are the people involved at the club and Ashley will be aware of the blatent lies being distributed to various media outlets.

    Things like that and this latest story doesn’ mean it’s made up. Their just reporting what their told by Ashley’s mates ect…

  42. Stuart79 says:
    September 29, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    “Things like that and this latest story doesn’ mean it’s made up. Their just reporting what their told by Ashley’s mates ect…”

    Stuart, you don’t know that and I don’t know that for certain either way. However I DO know that Steve Brenner, like Simon Bird is a serial offender at this sort of thing. He is doing everything to sound as titillating and revelatory as possible while covering his arse legally with all the usual guff. If I saw some actual verifiable proof that either Keegan or Ashley had been leaking things to the press beyond any reasonable doubt, then I might beleive them. However, trial by gossip is wrong and always has been.

  43. Stuart – you really make me bilious.

    I stated last week re the KK story that it made no sense IF there was a leak for it to come from Ashleys side.

    Please put it into context in its entirity – you know I would normally post it for others to see how much of a misquoting out of context moron you are – but you know I am sick to death of the blogs and ground being full of the likes of you and your hate filled friends.

    Like I have said before – you’re more akin to dog dirt than dog dirt itself.

    I dont surround nor associate with that kind of person.

  45. Stardust says:
    September 29, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    That’s great!

    I don’t associate with fickle fans (I use that word rather than supporter) like you.

    Go get some dignity, although I hear you cannot buy it.

    Get a life – And get out of mine!

  46. Sturat

    To suggest I fickle – when you are the most hate filled negative leech – sorry fan of all – when you continuously post the most vile language and then state I need to get some dignity………….like I said a few days ago – A camel can not see its own hump.

    Re your last – I try to stay away from every thread with you on – you really are a scumbag and ruin every decent conversation.

    I can see you will be a drain on everybody in your real life, a person without any friends, a lonely lonely hate filled little boy – no doubt running from a hate filled, possibly abused, existence in your sad excuse for a life.

  47. Stardust says:
    September 29, 2009 at 11:28 pm

    ‘ – no doubt running from a hate filled, possibly abused, existence in your sad excuse for a life.’

    Classy, real classy!

    You stay away from all threads I’m on? That is only because I have an opinion that differs totally from yours.

    What does that say about you when you cannot engage in a debate with someone who has totally different views.

    If everyone was like you, this world would be a total disgrace!

    Grow up, stop thinking your view is ALWAYS right, accept other peoples view and then everyone has a good debate about NUFC.

  48. You never listen, you never hear, therefore you never debate, you never think BUT to be fair you can twist, hate whine and whinge with the best of them.

    Camel – Hump