Although Kevin Keegan has not yet officially left his post as manager of Newcastle United, it seems likely that his second spell at the club is all but over. Louise Taylor chronicles the breakdown between ‘King Kev’ and the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley during Keegan’s third spell (and his second as manager) at the team.
Keegan is an old school manager in that he wanted “not only to be in control of transfers but to sign established, homegrown, Premier League players typically on the fringe of the England squad,” writes Taylor. Ashley’s vision, however, “was radically different,”geared towards the mainland European way of having Keegan in charge of team affairs and “leaving a football director in charge of scouting, recruitment and youth development.”
Ashley was also not keen to pay high transfer fees and salaries, “preferring to prospect for undiscovered, cheaper gems in far-flung corners of Africa and South America.” The arrival of Executive Director Dennis Wise “and his powerful sidekick, Tony Jimenez,” was a watershed move that put Keegan on borrowed time. Wise failed to find the left-back that Keegan wanted, and relationships deteriorated on all sides.