HOWARD Wilkinson, the League Managers' Association chairman, insisted yesterday he could have foreseen the events which have prompted widespread rancour on Tyneside over the past few days from the moment Dennis Wise was installed as an executive director above the head of Kevin Keegan at St James' Park.
Likewise, Wilkinson's colleague, Richard Bevan, the LMA chief executive, suggested that the presence of Wise – who was recruited by owner Mike Ashley without Keegan's say-so – had made the manager's position at Newcastle virtually untenable before th
e 57-year-old finally resigned on Thursday.
The extent of Wise's influence had been a bone of contention among the club's passionate supporters ever since he was surprisingly lured from his managerial post at Leeds United just a fortnight after Keegan returned to the helm amid a wave of unbridled excitement eight months ago.
The fact the Londoner felt inclined to leave a Leeds team he had guided into a challenging position in League One led sceptics to suspect he was being brought in with a view to ultimately replacing Keegan. While that scenario seems an almost unthinkable one now in light of the brickbats currently being aimed his way, it appears to be a given that the former Chelsea player has already enjoyed a hands-on role at St James'. Wise's increased influence, alongside Jimenez, is understood to have marginalised Keegan's activity in the transfer market to the point where he had virtually no say in which players would be coming and going.
Matters duly came to a head this week when, after three days of talks with the board aimed at repairing the damage, Keegan quit his post citing a strained relationship with the club's directors. His resignation came in the wake of a transfer-deadline day which saw the recruitment of Xisco and Ignacio Gonzalez – two players he hadn't identified as signing targets – as well as a sneaky attempt to punt Michael Owen and Joey Barton behind his back.
Wilkinson insists such a situation should never have been allowed to manifest itself, claiming he could see from the outset that the appointment of Wise at the end of January was "a recipe for disaster".
"If you are going to work in a football club then the most prominent person in that club is the man called the manager or the guy who is responsible for the first team," he said. "So to create a position which is going to result in friction through lack of communication, through a failure to communicate what the role is etc, seems to be a recipe for disaster, particularly if you bring someone into that position between manager and board after you have appointed a manager."
Bevan offered up a similar observation of events, claiming that a "too many cooks" situation was always destined to spoil Keegan's broth. "Newcastle failed to create a structure where Kevin Keegan could flourish," he said. "It was like having an orchestra with three conductors and sooner or later it was going to break down."
The vociferous backlash against Ashley and Wise shows no sign of abating any time soon, and a boycott of Newcastle's next match, at home to Hull City a week today, is already being planned by outraged supporters. Behind the scenes, the search for a new manager has begun, but short of appointing Alan Shearer – the only man who can match Keegan in the city's popularity stakes – there appears little Ashley and his men can do to stem the flow of disapproval from the baying mob.
Regardless, Shearer has already distanced himself from the job, saying he couldn't work under such circumstances. "I would like to be a manager at some stage in my career," said the former Newcastle forward. "That means managing the players who come in and managing the players who go out. I don't think I would be comfortable in the structure with a director of football who was picking and choosing the players for me."
Gustavo Poyet, Tottenham's highly-rated assistant manager, remains the favourite to be handed the reins. The Uruguayan was No2 to Wise at Leeds and is widely perceived as the brains behind the Elland Road side's remarkable start to last season, but his association with Wise would surely kill any hopes of him being accepted by the Geordie hordes.
Other front-runners to fill the vacancy include David Moyes, Didier Deschamps, Roberto Mancini, and Spanish duo Marcelino Toral and Miguel Angel Lotina. Motherwell manager Mark McGhee and his Celtic counterpart Gordon Strachan also appear worthy of consideration in the eyes of bookmakers at least. The pool of managers who will consider taking over will undoubtedly be reduced by the fact that there is no inclination on Ashley's part to alter his management structure to allow his chosen man full autonomy.
Reports suggest the club's fallout with Keegan could intensify, with a court battle over compensation potentially in the pipeline. It is understood that his three-and-a-half-year contract contains a clause stipulating whichever party terminates the deal owes the other £2million. Keegan, however, may argue that he has a case for constructive dismissal after finding himself unable to work alongside Wise.
Meanwhile, on the playing front, Barton, the club's controversial midfielder, saw his week lurch from bad to worse yesterday when he was banned for 12 matches – six of them suspended – and fined £25,000 yesterday after pleading guilty to an FA charge of violent conduct. Having already been rocked by the departure of Keegan, one of his few allies in the wake of his numerous misdemeanours, Barton admitted attacking his then Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo at City's Carrington training ground on 1 May last year.
The 26-year-old was prosecuted and given a suspended jail sentence – imposed while he was serving time in prison for a Liverpool city centre attack on a teenager – for his assault on Dabo, but the Football Association decided further action was necessary.
Barton will be suspended with immediate effect, starting with the Hull match. All of the suspended matches will be invoked should Barton be found guilty of any similar charge involving violence or be sent off for violent conduct, although not for serious foul play.
Barton hoped to call on Keegan, his manager at both Manchester City and Newcastle, to be a character witness, but his resignation from his job at St James' on Thursday made that impossible.
Classic moments from Kevin KeeganTOP FIVE
HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE1979: Pleasant disco pop ditty peaks at No 31 on the UK hit parade.
SUPERSTARS BIKE CRASH1976: Spectacular crash followed by eye-watering dust and grit slide during popular TV show. Kev just dusts himself down and goes again.
OFF IN BLADES OF GLORY1984: Kev retires in style, leaving the St James' Park centre circle in a helicopter still in his Newcastle kit.
I WOULD LOVE IT1996: Fergie's mind games take their toll and Keegan loses it live on Sky in an unforgettable TV moment.
SPURS BURIED2004: After his Man City side comeback from 3-0 down at half-time to win FA Cup tie 4-3 at White Hart Lane, Kev declares: "This game will be remembered long after we're buried...or cremated...or whatever we decide to do with ourselves."
The full article contains 1227 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
