NEWCASTLE UNITED were exposed yesterday as a football club where the manager was pressed to sign a player on the evidence of YouTube clips and as a “favour” to South American agents.
An independent arbitration panel upheld Kevin Keegan’s claim for constructive dismissal and awarded him €2.2 million plus interest. It also accused Newcastle’s former chairman and senior executives of telling untruths to fans about Keegan’s power of veto over player purchases.
The chaos at St James’ Park in the early part of last season was laid bare by Keegan’s claims about the role of Dennis Wise, the then director of football. The former England coach left in early September 2008, aggrieved that Wise was overruling him on transfers.
It emerged that on August 30th last year Wise told Keegan he wanted to sign Ignacio Gonzalez, a Uruguay midfielder, from Valencia on a 12-month loan, primarily to enhance relations with South American agents.
Keegan said he was told by Wise, who could not be contacted for comment last night, that it was a “commercial deal” and advised the manager to watch Gonzalez on YouTube.
“I resigned because I was being asked to sanction the signing of a player in order to do a favour for two South American agents,” said Keegan yesterday. “No one at the club had seen the player play and I was asked to sign him on the basis of some clip on YouTube.”
Gonzalez is now back at Valencia. He played 38 minutes for Newcastle, making two substitute appearances before sustaining a serious injury. His loan deal cost the recently relegated club €1.1 million in wages.
In a judgment which has ramifications for English football, the panel declared that, although it was not spelt out in Keegan’s contract, managers should normally have the right to veto transfers.
“We have concluded that the duties usually associated with the position of Premier League manager include the right, indeed duty, to have the final say on transfers,” the panel said in a statement.
Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner, had lodged a €2.2 million counter-claim for breach of contract, on the basis that Keegan had no such autonomy. The panel found club officials had misled fans by claiming the opposite.
In February 2008 Chris Mort, the former chairman, gave an interview to The Mag fanzine in which he said: “Dennis (Wise) and Jeff (Vetere, a scouting co-ordinator) will help identify players and then Kevin will say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.” Wise told Newcastle’s official programme: “I’m here to help Kevin, he has the final word.”
The panel said: “The club’s explanation for these statements which were simply untrue was that they were nothing more than an exercise in public relations.” Newcastle did not comment yesterday.
Keegan had lodged a claim for €27 million – €9.4 million for the remainder of his contract and €18 million for “stigma damages”.
The 58-year-old, who had a three-year, €3.3 million per annum contract, denied that he had turned down a €4.4 million offer from Ashley to settle out of court. The panel’s award could have been higher but it deemed a clause in Keegan’s contract imposing a €2.2 million ceiling on any pay-off to be enforceable.
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