At least £6.6m downI must admit when I first read the Keegangate tribunal report I was staggered that Keegan had actually claimed £25m from Newcastle United. But as the Keegan-bashers grasped at that one remaining thing to hit him over the head with (I’m thinking about articles like this one in the Daily Mirror) I began to think about it some more and have now come to the conclusion that Keegan was actually robbed in all this.
First and foremost we have to bear in mind that Keegan has done nothing wrong. The tribunal ruled that he was constructively dismissed and was forced out of a job he didn’t want to leave.
So what would you estimate that has cost him? First of all it’s cost him the £8.6m outstanding on his contract, which is easy enough to calculate because it’s all down in black and white on the contract. Then there’s his claim for ‘stigma damage’. I do think that’s a fair claim because, let’s face it, this isn’t going to have Premier League teams jumping over themselves to employ him. It doesn’t matter that he’s innocent in all this – mud sticks. (more…)
Nacho: The intrigue continues.]In the wake of the Newcastle United / Mike Ashley / Keegan tribunal fiasco, the Daily Mail published a story asking if a Nacho Gonzalez video on ‘YouTube’ was the one Kevin Keegan was supposedly asked to watch by Dennis Wise? A video which was, supposedly, the only thing he had to go on in deciding whether he should be signed on loan for Newcastle United. However, the video linked to was only uploaded to YouTube 7 months ago, so that would be impossible.
After researching more closely, it is highly likely that it was actually this video, uploaded by Brazilian sporting agency, ADM Esporte well over a year ago.
Are they, perchance, the mystery Brazilian agents Dennis Wise and the NUFC recruitment squad sought to curry favour with in the one year loan signing of Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Gonzalez? The ones of which Keegan said:
“I was being asked to sanction the signing of a player in order to ‘do a favour’ for two South American agents. No-one at the club had seen this player play and I was asked to sign him on the basis of some clips on You Tube…” (more…)
Constructively dismissedThanks to Stardust for posting the breaking news about Keegan winning his constructive dismissal case against Newcastle United. However, I just thought I’d try to distil it into something more manageable and article-shaped.
In the simplest terms Keegan was constructively dismissed and has been awarded £2m as a result.
The player that kicked all this off was Nacho Gonzalez. Keegan was asked by the club to sign the player to ‘do a favour’ to two South American agents. No one from the club had actually seen Nacho play and all Keegan had to go on was a couple of YouTube videos. Keegan refused to sanction the signing of the player but the club went ahead and signed him anyway.
This was what tipped things over the edge but the bigger underlying issue was that Keegan was being denied the final say on transfers.
Keegan’s contract wasn’t totally clear on whether or not he had the final say on transfers, although it did contain a clause to the effect of “performing the duties expected of a Premiership manager“. (more…)
Keegan: £25.1 million claim.Kevin Keegan’s Statement:
1. I am delighted that the Premier League Manager’s Arbitration Tribunal has today formally announced that it has upheld my claim for wrongful dismissal against Newcastle United. The full details of the decision are on the Premier League website and will also be added to the League Managers Association website in due course.
2. I took the decision to resign in September 2008 only after very careful and anxious consideration. The decision to resign was one of the most difficult decisions that I have ever had to take in my life. I believe that anybody who knows me and my attachment to Newcastle United and the North East in general will understand how difficult this must have been. I very much hope that the decision of the Tribunal now confirms why I felt that I had no option but to resign from the position as Manager of the Club that I love.
3. The Tribunal has found the conduct of the Club in forcing a player on me against my wishes represented a fundamental breach of my contract of employment. I do not believe that there is any Manager in football who could have remained at the Club in the light of their conduct.
4. Since my departure there have been many untrue stories written about my resignation, my time at the Club and these proceedings. I do not blame the press for this: I know that the journalists concerned are only doing their job but I hope that the Tribunal’s decision will now conclusively put to rest a number of allegations made against me. (more…)
I'm no puppet managerThese 3 gadgies sitting on the Tribunal panel finished listening to the respective Keegan and Newcastle United sides of the story on Friday and then wanted to give it the weekend to mull things over. Well they’ve had the weekend and two days now and we’ve heard nowt.
We simply want to know who won and how much was awarded to Keegan (assuming the general factivity of that statement). How hard can it be?
Don’t these tribunal judges realise how much speculation, scaremongering and general bickering fans have to put up with while they sit around deliberating on these things? If they think it’s hard being on a tribunal panel they should try being a Toon fan for a few months.
I’m suspecting Keegan won the tribunal and will be awarded about £9m although sources close to me suggest he may get a couple of million extra for all the mental anguish he’s suffered. And then of course the club will have to fork out for costs, which I would imagine aren’t trivial. (more…)
