Magpies issue strong statement refuting Keegan claims
Sunday, 07 Sep 2008 10:32
Newcastle claim Keegan was able to do his job as defined by his contract
Newcastle United have issued a strongly-worded statement refuting claims made by former manager Kevin Keegan that the board were preventing him from doing his job.
Keegan resigned last week insisting that he should have had control of player transfers in and out of the club and he was also not happy about director of football Dennis Wise's role at the club.
However, the club have now moved to end speculation about what caused the falling out between Keegan and owner Mike Ashley.
The club claim they wanted to keep the dispute between Keegan and themselves private but have now chosen to issue a statement as they feel the club's fans were being given a "misleading impression" by comments made by unnamed sources and a briefing has been given by the League Managers Association.
"Newcastle United have no desire to engage in a war of words but inaccurate reporting of factual matters and inaccurate allegations have to be corrected," read the statement.
Key to the Magpies' argument are a number of issues that Keegan agreed to when he signed a contract to rejoin the club.
In that contract the club claim Keegan agreed to only be responsible for matters relating to coaching the first team and that he consented to working with a director of football who would handle the club's transfers.
The statement said: "Keegan, on appointment on 16th January 2008, agreed to report to a director of football and to the board.
"Keegan worked within that structure from 16th January 2008 until his resignation. Keegan, as manager, had specific duties in that he was responsible for the training, coaching, selection and motivation of the team.
"Keegan was allowed to manage his specific duties without any interference from any board member."
The acquisition of players by the club on Monday's transfer deadline which Keegan had not approved seems to have been the final blow that triggered his resignation.
However the club insist that it was not Keegan's role to talk about the matter and that they had to operate within the financial constraints of the club.
The club added: "Keegan agreed only to deal with the media in relation to club matters relating to the team and not to communicate with the media in relation to the acquisition or disposal of players.
"NUFC is a business and operates, like all businesses, with financial constraints. It is a fact that NUFC's financial constraints inform its transfer dealings."
The Magpies added that the structure of the club from the point at which Keegan took over as manager was clear, suggesting that they expected him to be able to fulfil his role as manager within that structure.