Joe Kinnear might not be back at NUFC until Anfield match
Mar 27 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
“If anything, we are going to have to hold him back at times because he’s so enthusiastic. We can’t have him leaping around on the touchline.
“The good news, though, is he’s looking good and is feeling a lot stronger. I’ve been to see him this week and he was back to his old self really.
“He goes for a load of tests on April 6 which is the big one for him. As long as the results come back ok he will be back at the training ground for a couple of
days before the Stoke game and we’ll take it from there.
“That might have to be how we do it for the first three games when he is back at work, a few days at the training ground in the build up to the game and then a little involvement on the matchday itself.
“We’ll have to wait and see, it will all depend on how he feels and what the doctors say to him after the tests. He’ll have everything he needs at his disposal though.”
Kinnear has still not signed the two-year contract he was offered before Christmas and The Journal understands he will not make any decision about his long-term future until the end of the season.
Even though the heart operation is thought to have been a success, Kinnear does not want to commit himself to anything long term at this stage and he wants to discuss the implications of moving permanently to Tyneside with his family before deciding whether to accept the extension.
However, he is adamant he will be able to return to the training ground in the next couple of weeks and the club – as revealed by The Journal almost fortnight ago – have once again denied reports they are trying to appoint Terry Venables as an interim manager for the remainder of this campaign.
Meanwhile, Damien Duff could be miss next week’s game against former club Chelsea after the Newcastle winger flew back to England yesterday with a hamstring strain which has ruled him out of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria.
Duff, who has only just returned to the Newcastle side following a calf injury, had been due to train with the rest of the Ireland squad yesterday afternoon but instead boarded a flight to London for treatment after picking up a problem the previous day which is estimated will sideline him for eight to 10 days.
Newcastle’s Kazenga LuaLua has joined Doncaster on a month’s loan. The 18-year-old, the younger brother of former Magpies striker Lomana, could make his debut against Watford on April 4.
