Keegan will get the time he needs

Mar 3 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

KEVIN Keegan has again been promised the time he needs to carry out his part in overhauling Newcastle United after chairman Chris Mort witnessed an encouraging performance but another St James’s Park defeat.

The Magpies lost a game they should have won easily, Matt Derbyshire’s 90th-minute breakaway goal following a host of misses by the misfiring home attack.

But while some are starting to ask questions of a manager yet to win any of his seven games since returning to Tyneside, Mort has seen enough from the style of play Keegan has brought to Newcastle to earn him time.

“Of course the board are still 100% behind Kevin,” said Mort when asked. “He has come into a club where we changed the manager (sacking Sam Allardyce) midway through the season because we were playing very poorly. Kevin came in knowing it was going to be a very difficult job. He is capable of getting our team playing in a manner everyone appreciates. Against Blackburn they played good football, created a number of chances, missed open goals, saw some great goalkeeping saves and Kevin has got them playing very well. He will keep getting them playing in that style and results will follow.

“I’m very pleased with the number of chances we created (on Saturday) and the effort put in. Clearly Kevin wants to turn the results around so that aspect is disappointing, but it will come.”

Mort has tried to restructure the club at all levels, including the controversial appointment of Dennis Wise as “executive director (football)”.

Although Keegan was appointed before Wise, Mort ran the possibility past Keegan. And just as the manager declared himself comfortable working alongside Wise, so Mort is unconcerned the former midfielder has based himself in London.

“When we interviewed Kevin he knew the structure and we had narrowed it (the new post) down to two or three names so we made sure the manager was comfortable with whoever came in and that they could work well together,” Mort explained.

“He (Wise) splits his time between Newcastle, London and a whole host of other places. He travels Europe looking at players and his day job is not to spend his time at St James’s Park on a matchday,

it’s to go off and watch other players. I am perfectly comfortable with the way he is operating.”

Mort also reiterated the club’s stance made in The Journal last week that the initiative to appoint Chris Hughton assistant manager came from Keegan, and that owner Mike Ashley is not looking to sell the club.

“People have called us and say, ‘Are you interested in selling Newcastle United?’ and the conversation will not go any further because we are not,” he insisted. “It would be ridiculous to stand here with any credibility and say whatever the price it would be impossible for us ever to sell, but Mike is not keen to sell it.”

Mort has also come under fire from defender Steven Taylor, who voiced his frustration that negotiations over a new contract appear to have ground to a halt. “My dad (Alf, also his agent) has been mucked about,” said Taylor, whose deal expires in June 2009. “For things to have dragged on this long is a joke. I get on great with Kevin but I think it is the people upstairs who don’t rate me. I just want this sorted out.”

Keegan stood by his players after seeing them concede seconds after losing possession from their own corner on Saturday. “We had a point and got a corner and while you can criticise them in some ways you would be disappointed if you didn’t try to get a win,” he argued. “It could have been avoided but every goal can be.”

Meanwhile, The Journal understands there is little chance of a pre-season friendly in China between Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur this summer. The Chinese authorities are unwilling to host any sporting event which could distract the focus from August’s Olympic Games in Beijing.