Kinnear is Newcastle's shock choice

Appointment of former Wimbledon manager brings more confusion to Tyneside

(GETTY IMAGES)

Newcastle United supporters finally got their "wow signing" yesterday and quite a few were left staggered at the enormity of it. Joe Kinnear is the new manager of Newcastle. That might be worth repeating, Joe Kinnear is the new manager of Newcastle.

Just when fans thought it could get no worse at St James's Park, when their stock had fallen beneath laughter and into national ridicule, the flailing runner that is Mike Ashley's regime came up with an unseen uppercut of an appointment.

It may only be for six weeks and it is surely the last act of a desperate seller but the reaction on Tyneside, and across the country, was one of understandable dizziness. Kinnear is 61, has a worrying medical history and has not been involved in football for almost four years. Then it was at sinking Nottingham Forest in what is now the Championship.

By comparison, the other names that had been mentioned as an interim manager in succession to Kevin Keegan, such as Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle possess plausibility.

The silver lining is that when Kinnear spoke yesterday it was to say that he has been told by Ashley that he will sell Newcastle "at the beginning of October" and that Keegan is "parked around the corner" by the prospective new owners, whom Kinnear intimated will be Nigerian. Kinnear then claimed Alan Shearer would be coming back with Keegan.

It may have been confidential information Kinnear was broadcasting but then it was a strange day.

At Newcastle's training ground even employees schooled in restraint were blowing out their cheeks. It is understood some players guffawed when told by caretaker Chris Hughton while Shay Given tried to talk around the shock but still managed to say of Kinnear: "I don't really know that much about him. Am I pleased? No, we're still up for sale and we still don't have a permanent manager. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

"I don't really know what to say or where to start but in an ideal world you'd want the club to be sorted out and get a permanent manager.

"The owner has obviously come out and said that he wants to sell the club and the sooner the better. Would I like to see Kevin Keegan come back? I didn't want to see him leave. That answers that question."

Newcastle fans already in revolt at Ashley's decision-making will today leaflet St James' before the match against Blackburn and one of the organisers, Michael Martin, conveyed a common reaction.

"It's astonishing," Martin said. "It's a joke appointment from an owner who has completely lost the plot. There is a considerable distance between Joe Kinnear and Terry Venables. At least Venables had a shred of credibility from what he's done in his career and he has some standing in the game. But Joe Kinnear?"

Even Kinnear acknowledged that view: "The fans are going be disappointed, I understand that, but I can't do anything about it."

Kinnear said he met Ashley in London yesterday morning after Venables had informed the club on Thursday afternoon that the uncertainty was too much for him. "He [Ashley] said I had a good track record of keeping teams afloat and I've never been involved with a side that's been relegated in my life."

Newcastle sought clarification of Kinnear's coaching credentials yesterday morning from the Football Association – Kinnear does not have the Pro Licence but was given a coaching qualification in 2003 that enables him to work at Premier League level. He has not done that since March 1999 when in his seventh season at Wimbledon Kinnear suffered a heart attack at Hillsborough following Wimbledon's 2-1 victory.

That left Wimbledon sixth in the league and Kinnear was a large part of the small club's over-achievement. But it was a long time ago. He will only watch today's Blackburn game, then take charge at Everton away next Sunday.

"It's a massive challenge," Kinnear said of Newcastle. "I understand the reason why I'm there – I'm no fool – it's because all the previous managers they've asked have turned it down."

Don Roaming?: Kinnear's key facts

*Joe Kinnear was appointed Wimbledon manager in 1992.

*He took the Dons to a sixth place in the Premier League in 1994, as well as to the semi-finals of both domestic cups in 1997, but left following a heart attack in March 1999.

*Took over at Luton Town in 2001 and won promotion from the Third Division in 2002. Left in acrimonious circumstances and had an unhappy spell at Nottingham Forest in 2004 as they fell out of the First Division.

*After four years out, Kinnear returns in 2008 as interim manager of Newcastle.