Kevin Keegan resigned!

Alas, Kevin Keegan has resigned as manager of Newcastle United. The man, dubbed King Kev, had been in charge of the English Premier League club for only 7-8 months since he returned to the club earlier this year. Frankly, I'm shocked & very sad - & I'm not even a Newcastle fan!! I'm sure most Newcastle fans would be extremely depressed by the latest developments at their club. Who could blame them for feeling down in the dumps?

Keegan left because he was at loggerheads with Newcastle's billionaire owner Mike Ashley, & the club's managing directors, over what he feels to be a lack of control over player transfers & other football matters. Keegan feels that the owner & managing directors are interfering with his job as a football club manager. Recent developments have served to undermine Keegan's authority at the club. Basically, Ashley & the managing directors told Keegan which players he should sign, & they are having a say in which players should come & go at Newcastle. Recently, the club sold promising young midfielder James Milner to Aston Villa. He's only 22, is a key player for Newcastle & is expected to play for the senior England team sometime soon. The decision to sell him might have been for financial reasons, most probably not for football reasons, & it certainly was not a decision made by Keegan - after all, Keegan is a known admirer of Milner. Not only that, some players that Keegan has never heard of, nor want, have been recommended for him to bring to the club. And to top all that off, it has recently been revealed that the club has been trying to sell a couple of key players behind Keegan's back. How could Keegan work in such circumstances, when there are people trying to interfere & undermine his authority?

I find all of that appaling, & I just don't get it. Why were they doing all that to Keegan? Why can't Keegan be allowed to do his job the way he sees fit? Newcastle fans don't get it, & are upset by all this. Some have demonstrated against Mike Ashley, voicing their disapproval of the club owner. I don't blame them for that, & I have much sympathy for the fans. As football manager, Keegan knows the strengths & weaknesses of his squad. He should be the one who decides which players come & go to improve the squad. He should be the one who makes team selections & decide on tactics. The club owner & board should have no business interfering with such matters - they are not football managers & shouldn't try to be one. They should stick to their respective jobs, & let Keegan do his - let him be the football manager that he was paid to be. As Keegan rightly pointed out in a statement he issued on the day he resigned, "a manager must have the right to manage & that clubs should not impose upon any manager that he does not want". Very well summed up. With everything that has happened, Keegan felt he had no choice but to leave the club. His decision marks a sad day for Newcastle United, neutral football fans (including myself), & for football. He is a nice guy, never arrogant, very emotional perhaps, but I appreciate him for always trying to get his teams to play positive, attacking football.

Mind you, Keegan is not the only manager to have left in such acrimonious circumstances. Just a few days before Keegan's departure, Alan Curbishley resigned as West Ham manager for the same reasons. I don't think Newcastle or West Ham will find it easy to get a replacement. Who in their right mind would want to manage a club where its owners & board of directors interfere in footballing matters? Prospective managers will think twice before considering an offer to manage Newcastle or West Ham. Not a good situation for the clubs to be in. I hope both clubs eventually find the manager that can lead them to better things - & I hope that the "powers that be" at both clubs leave well alone & let the managers do their job without any undue interference.