Crisis on Tyneside: Newcastle rubbish Keegan's claims

Newcastle United went on the defensive late last night – a characteristic rarely seen by the team while under the command of Kevin Keegan –when the club issued an extraordinary statement in response to Keegan's claims that interference provoked his resignation last week.

"It is a fact Keegan was allowed to manage his duties without any interference," read the statement. "It is a fact he agreed not to talk to the media in relation to the acquisition or disposal of players."

The statement, issued on the club website late last night, stressed that Keegan was aware of his role within the club when he was appointed. "It is a fact that Kevin Keegan worked within that structure from 16 January 2008 until his resignation. It is a fact that Kevin Keegan, as manager, had specific duties in that he was responsible for the training, coaching, selection and motivation of the team."

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Reports suggested that Keegan was upset about the £12m sale of James Milner to Aston Villa, and the club stated: "It is a fact that NUFC is a business and operates, like all businesses, with financial constraints. It is a fact that NUFC's financial constraints inform its transfer dealings. The board of NUFC have responsibility to ensure that the club is able to meet its commitments which include the wages and the transfer fees for players."

Meanwhile an Indian-based group owned by the sixth-richest man in the world is being tipped to show renewed interest in buying Newcastle following Keegan's resignation and a plunge in popularity for the board. Anil Ambani of the Reliance petroleum, textiles and communications group was reportedly involved in talks this summer but found the asking price of £250m excessive.

That is the sum that the current owner Mike Ashley claims to have put into the club, having discovered after he took over that there was £100m of debt. Not that Ambani could notafford it: the 49-year-old is said to be worth more than £20bn.

He has also been linked in the past with Leeds United and Everton, where his son was spotted at a pre-season friendly match last month. There is even speculation that he would be keen to restore Keegan as manager, prompting bookmakers to drop their price on an astonishing return that would also have to involve dismantling the current structure under which he was overruled on transfer deals.

With Alan Shearer also ruling himself out, Newcastle will find it difficult, if not impossible, to find a new manager popular with supporters. Shearer has criticised the system of a three-man executive group over the manager's head, saying, "I don't think I would be comfortable working within a structure with a director of football who was picking and choosing the players for me.

"I would like to be a manager at some stage in my career, but that means controlling the players that go in and the players that go out." He feels the new man must be appointed quickly, saying: "I know the fans are very unhappy at the moment. They have voiced their opinions and they are more than entitled to do that because without the fans there is no Newcastle United. They are angry, hurt, and disappointed and everyone feels for them, me included.

"It's going to be a big task for them [the board] because the fans are very angry. There are going to be a million names thrown around and they are going to have to make a decision quickly, before the next game."

The League Managers Association have criticised Newcastle for suggesting that they may sue Keegan for walking out on them. Richard Bevan, the LMA's chief executive, said yesterday: "I'd like to see Newcastle saying that they need to correct their business model, improve lines of communication and ensure the next manager lasts longer than eight months.

"I've seen a lot of comment about directors of football, but I feel this case and Alan Curbishley's at West Ham have got far more to do with good business structure and organisation."

He does not feel that having a sporting director is necessarily a problem: "We have managers who are very happy with having a director of football, but you have to follow a couple of ways of proceeding: the manager should be involved in the hiring of him and shouldn't be reporting directly to him."

Optimistically, however, Bevan does not believe that last week's events and a probable increase in the number of foreign owners will lead to a widespread cull of managers this winter. "In the 90s the average tenure for a manager was 3.8 years," he said. "It's now down to 1.5 years and I don't think it can get much lower."