Should I stay or should I go nowThe press are reporting that Barry Moat has made a ‘substantial’ offer for Newcastle United.
If I had a pound for every time I’ve quoted the press about someone being just about to take over Newcastle United I’d probably be able to buy the club myself. And then there’d be changes I can tell you. If however I had to pay a pound every time such a story turned out to be untrue I’d have to sell my wife and eat the dog to hold off starvation.
Still, if George Caulkin of The Times is to be believed, Barry Moat has successfully negotiated the continuation of the club’s overdraft with Barclays and has tabled a bid of ‘slightly less than £100m’. The Mail and The Mirror are reporting similar things, although all these stories probably have their origin in the same rumour. None of the stories even quote ‘insiders’ or ‘sources’ let alone anyone who might actually be in a position to reliably know anything, so the usual caution is advised.
Nevertheless it makes a certain amount of sense in terms of timing. It was generally surmised that Keegangate was an ‘obstacle’ to the take over and with that now out of the way we could perhaps expect things to start moving again.
The question being asked though is: will Mike Ashley actually sell? (more…)
Keegan: 'There's nothing been hidden'.Speaking in an inverview with Ray Stubbs in his new role as a pundit for ESPN, former Newcastle United manager, Kevin Keegan, spoke in some depth about his £2 million pound payday from the club, and his possible future in football.
When asked by ‘Stubbsy’, “would you ever consider returning to a club you love so much?” Keegan replied:
“I don’t think it’s on to return back there now, I think the fans have had enough of that but you never know in football.
Meanwhile, over on rival, Sky Sports News, old sparring partner, ex NUFC DOF, and Geordie Pantomime villain, Dennis Wise, gave his own thoughts on Mike Ashley’s plans for the future of Toon. More on that story after the Keegan show.
What follows is a full transcript of the Kevin Keegan interview.
Stubbsy:Kevin, a Premier League arbitration panel ruled in your favour in regard to the situation at Newcastle United. I’m sure you’re relieved it’s all over. What was the main purpose of your claim?
Special K:Well, really to clear everything up. It wasn’t a great situation. I don’t think there are really any winners in it but we’ve got to move on now. The club have got to move on and I’ve got to move on. It’s out in the open. An independent arbitration panel have made a judgement. People can read it, it’s out there for everyone to read so there’s nothing been hidden.
Stubbsy:“Was it important to you that the truth came out?” (more…)
Foghorn LeghornFormer Newcastle United owner Freddy Shepherd has been having his say on Keegangate, as is his wont in such situations these days, and of course that called for a comparison with his time at Newcastle and how things were so much better back then.
Freddy said:
“There are no winners [I say no winners, you listening to me boy] in this case. There are only losers – the club and its fans. Kevin Keegan and Mike Ashley are just passing through – it is the institution of Newcastle United that is damaged by this episode.
“During my time at Newcastle, when a manager left we always managed to sort it out amicably and agree on a settlement.
“And when Ruud Gullit left he agreed to waive all his rights to compensation. Gullit is the most honourable man I have ever met in football.
“Things weren’t going well and he came to me and told me he had lost the fans. He told me he wanted to go quietly and didn’t want a penny paid into his bank account. There aren’t many men of that calibre in the game. He showed he had true class and integrity [and I aint no chickenhawk, chickenhawk that is].” (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…)
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…)
