Kinnear 'D-Day' cancelled

Joe Kinnear's expected meeting with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley following Saturday's match at Chelsea has been postponed. Kinnear had referred to the meeting as "D-Day", when he would discover the state of the sale of the club and from there his future. But yesterday Kinnear said: "I said it would be after the Chelsea game but the goalposts have moved."

Kinnear said he knows little about the state of Ashley's proposed sale or the two American "serious contenders" Keith Harris has mentioned. Harris has been commissioned to sell the club, preferably by December.

"Every time it gets nearer to being sold a problem pops up, the credit crunch or whatever," Kinnear said. "They [Ashley] keep saying we are that much away but obviously we have not seen any finances coming from the American group."

The sale of the club affects Kinnear's contract. He said he will be in charge for Chelsea and next weekend's game at Middlesbrough and added that if the club is not sold in January, he has two loan targets "in Italy".

The Newcastle caretaker then described the Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni as "disrespectful" for mentioning Shay Given's worth to possible buyers in Serie A. "It is disrespectful to the club," Kinnear said. "Shay has got a long contract and he is very happy. He is a top-class goalkeeper. He is the last person we'd want to lose."