FA PREMIER LEAGUE: ONE OF the most protracted, and painful, farewells in football was confirmed last night when Kevin Keegan finally resigned as the manager of Newcastle United.
An increasingly acrimonious three-day stand-off between Keegan and Mike Ashley concluded with the club's billionaire owner refusing to be backed into a corner by the former England coach's demands before forcing him to walk out.
A source yesterday revealed that a clause in Keegan's contract made him liable to pay Ashley €2.5 million in compensation if he quit. However, it is thought that with the 57-year-old having a case for constructive dismissal this demand has been waived in exchange for Keegan signing a confidentiality agreement.
Gus Poyet, Tottenham Hotspur's assistant manager and a close ally of Dennis Wise, Newcastle's powerful director of football, was immediately installed as the favourite to succeed Keegan but Marcelino Garcia Toral, the Real Zaragoza coach, is much admired by the club's hierarchy and also looks a strong candidate.
Just eight months after returning to St James' Park for his second stint as manager to a hero's welcome, Keegan's tenure ended with a statement issued by the League Managers' Association.
"I've been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors but sadly that has not proved possible," Keegan said in that bulletin, released shortly before 7pm last night.
"It's my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want.
"It remains my fervent wish to see Newcastle United do well in the future and I feel incredibly sorry for the players, staff and, most importantly, the supporters. I have been left with no choice other than to leave."
That was a clear reference to the breakdown of relations between Keegan and Wise, Newcastle's recruitment supremo. Trouble festered almost from the day, in late January, when Wise was installed at St James' as Ashley implemented a two-tier continental-style managerial system.
Wise's brief was transfers and Keegan's coaching but the latter was distressed to find he had virtually no influence on who was bought and sold. Newcastle's squad, who almost all liked and enjoyed working with Keegan, were angry that no director explained the situation to them.
Slaven Bilic, the Croatia coach, has categorically ruled himself out of contention for the vacant manager's job at West Ham United and committed himself to his national side until the 2010 World Cup finals.
Guardian Service
