Hughton: We will not get distracted

Sep 25 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

CHRIS Hughton says that a fresh round of speculation about the future of Newcastle United will not distract his players from their promotion goal.

United’s success on the field has only partially obscured the continued uncertainty off it, and this week has seen new claims about the club’s embattled hierarchy.

The latest reports asserted that United could be put into administration if Kevin Keegan is awarded sizeable compensation at the employment tribunal that is due to reach its conclusion today.

Those claims, attributed to sources within the club, look suspiciously like an attempt to paint Keegan as the bad guy and The Journal has been told that the former United manager has no intention of financially crippling the club.

Although administration is an option for Mike Ashley, it is hard to see how Keegan’s compensation claim – which United will have been aware of for months – would send them toppling into financial meltdown with Barry Moat’s consortium edging closer to taking over.

And sources close to the takeover branded any decision to put the club in administration as “financial suicide”, with Ashley set to lose out on the £100m that he has been asking for the club – a sum much bigger than any compensation claim that Keegan would make.

United managing director has consistently rubbished suggestions that the club could go into administration, saying that the suggestion was “unfair, unfounded and ridiculous” as recently as April.

For Hughton, who has steered the club through choppy waters to record a fine start to the season, it is a familiar situation to be in and he is certain that it will not chip away at the players.