"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. (more…)
Kevin Keegan yesterday.Today, the League Managers Association released a statement on former Newcastle United manager, Kevin Keegan, who is currently suing the club for £25,100,000 for alleged constructive dismissal. Meanwhile, Newcastle United are countersuing the pint sized ‘Mighty Mouse’ for breach of contract.
The statement reads:
25 Sep 2009
LMA STATEMENT REGARDING KEVIN KEEGAN
Following the conclusion of the arbitration process between Kevin Keegan and Newcastle United Football Club, Richard Bevan, Chief Executive of the LMA made this statement;
“Having heard the evidence from both sides, the Panel has reserved judgement and there will be no further comment on the process until the Panel have published their findings.” (more…)
£25m pleaseAccording to The Sun (titter ye not) Kevin Keegan is demanding that Mike Ashley pays him £25m to settle their compensation battle.
The figure includes £9m payable for the remainder of his 3 and a half year contract with Newcastle United plus £16m as compensation against the loss of future earnings.
This is of course the sort of thing that fuels fears the club will go into administration.
A ‘source’ apparently said:
“Keegan is crazy. Does he really want to bankrupt Newcastle?
“It is madness to think he should be paid that much but perhaps he sees this as a last big payday.
“For a bloke who says he loves the club, this is all very, very strange.”
I will eat my hat if Keegan is awarded £25m and I’m really quite fond of my hat. £25m is a significant proportion of the club’s value and there’s no way I can see Keegan justifying such a payout, no matter how wronged he may have been by the club. (more…)
Both good and bad?When Mike Ashley rode into toon he took the Freddy Shepherd Gang by surprise. Shepherd claims he was ambushed while he lay incapacitated on a hospital bed and before we knew it rumour quickly became fact and Ashley had bought Newcastle United, not exactly with a suitcase full of money but without any of the this due diligence nonsense that troubles most businessmen.
Thus began a new era in the club’s history and it’s one that has managed to divide fans almost throughout. The partisan divisions – often drawn along the lines of Ashley v Keegan – are, in my opinion, unnecessary. I believe it’s perfectly possible for a person to do some good things and some bad things and I don’t believe Mike Ashley is any different in that respect. With rumours once more circulating about the sale saga nearing a close I wanted to try and take a balanced view of Ashley’s time at Newcastle.
One of the main things I thank Mike Ashley for is prising the club away from Freddy Shepherd. I’ve heard arguments suggesting that we wouldn’t have been relegated if Shepherd had remained in charge and maybe that’s true, but I believe the club would have been in dire straits financially. (more…)
Edging close perhapsReports in The Mail and The Mirror are suggesting that Newcastle United may be sold by the end of this week. We’ve heard it all before of course but one of the newspapers will get it right one day and maybe it’s today.
Last week Newcastle issued a statement saying that Ashley’s £100m asking price has been met and all deals were now at the ‘sale and purchase stage‘ and apparently senior staff at the club have been told to brace themselves for ‘a big week‘ this week.
It was speculated that the sticking point was the loan facility with Barclays, so presumably – if a sale is imminent – that has now been sorted out and Barry Moat is in a position to take over the club.
If Moat takes over it is of course widely thought that Alan Shearer will be appointed as manager, although whether or not that’s a good idea still divides fans. At a function last week Shearer was indicating that he would not wait for Newcastle forever and was prepared to consider managing another club, but if the takeover is as close as the newspapers are suggesting it looks like Shearer won’t have to do that. (more…)
