Dead or alive?As I awoke today my head was still spinning – I am gut wrenchingly saddened at what we have become, as many are aware I have a particular stance re the whole Keegan affair – ultimately that he shouldn’t have walked – many are vehemently against my stance.
I awoke needing to write, to quantify why I sit here uncomfortable with the views of the majority – well the majority of the most vociferous anyway.
I always awaited this verdict to finalise my views – I had advocated he shouldn’t have walked – so I expected big things to break, big shocks, serious undermining if he won……… I never expected a technical K.O.
As we all know in September last year – Kevin Keegan walked out of Newcastle. As the tribunal stated he was constructively dismissed. Keegan was victorious and released his statement about the club he loves.
Again I squirm and sit uncomfortably. “A club he loves?”.
Newcastle United is more than a business, more than a company – its a living breathing collective of individuals and energy all who come together to play their part in helping each other succeed in the game we all love – surely that’s what we all want? Personalities come and go, just as players, the seasons, games, referee decisions and results come and go – but the club and the love for the club remains. (more…)
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…)
£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…)
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…)
Damning emails?It’s the News of the World, so don’t take it too seriously, but they claim that Keegan has a bunch of emails that will prove Mike Ashley made his position untenable and he was therefore constructively dismissed.
‘Sources close to Keegan’ (hmm) claim that the emails will blow Ashley’s case out of the water. One such source said:
“There are emails people have never seen. If the truth comes out about what went on, then Ashley and Wise will be decimated. The last thing Kevin wanted to do was walk out but his position was impossible.”
The article then goes on to claim that all parties in the tribunal have signed a declaration stating that they will not leak information, although that doesn’t seem to have prevented the leaked information that somehow seems to have found its way to the News of the World. (more…)
