Kinnear to roll on as United takeover stalls

10:16am Friday 21st November 2008

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JOE Kinnear is not expected to hold a face-to-face meeting with Mike Ashley this weekend after admitting the “goalposts had moved” in the Newcastle owner’s attempts to sell the club.

Kinnear had previously described tomorrow’s trip to Chelsea as “D-day” in terms of his own position at St James’ Park.

His current month-bymonth contract is due to expire after the trip to Middlesbrough at the end of the month.

However, Ashley’s ongoing takeover discussions having stalled in recent days.

And with neither of the two American consortia who are currently in talks with investment banker Keith Harris having tabled an acceptable offer for the club, Kinnear is expected to begin a new rolling one-month contract on December 1.

The uncertainty means that Newcastle’s managerial situation remains fluid.

Kinnear last night admitted that he no longer expected to meet with Ashley in London after tomorrow’s game at Stamford Bridge.

The interim Magpies manager is clearly unhappy at the lack of permanence in any of the club’s off-field dealings.

It is a problem he has exacerbated with contradictory remarks over his own contract situation, but he insists he remains committed to the parttime post he accepted at the end of September.

“I said it (a meeting) would be after the Chelsea game, but the goal-posts have moved since then,” said Kinnear.

“Every time it (the club) gets nearer to being sold, a problem seems to pop up, the credit crunch or whatever else.

“They (the club’s hierarchy) keep saying we are not that far away, but obviously we have not seen any finances coming up from the American group.

“That is all they tell me.

Until something concrete comes up, it is not sold.

“My contract is month to month, so the last game of the month is Middlesbrough.

Then we start another month if it’s not sold. Obviously we’ll not start another month if it gets sold this week.

“Who knows? They (the American consortia) have to come up with the money, I suppose, but I only know what you know. It’s not easy, but I can’t say I didn’t know about it when I took the job.”

The increasingly farcical situation whereby Newcastle are in a state of perpetual limbo, limping on from month to month with a caretaker manager and an owner who is no longer seen at the club, is not of Kinnear’s making.

However, it is affecting his ability to manage the club, and must surely be sapping much-needed morale from a group of players who are uncertain about their futures.

To Kinnear’s credit, he is continuing to combine the immediate task of preparing Newcastle for tomorrow’s daunting trip to the Premier League leaders with the longer-term job of sourcing potential new signings for the January transfer window, even though he is far from certain that he will still be in his current post at the turn of the year.

Kinnear claims to have approached two £10m-rated players based in Italy, and has received assurances that they would be willing to move to Tyneside on a loan basis in January, with a view to a permanent transfer next summer.

He will discuss his plans with Ashley “some time before the window opens”, and provided the sportswear magnate is still in control at the turn of the year, is hopeful that funds will be available to facilitate at least two high-profile arrivals.

“I have already drawn up a hit list,” said Kinnear, who revealed that Steven Taylor will see a specialist on Monday in an attempt to resolve his stomach problem.

“Whether I get to implement it I’m not sure, but there’s no point in me being here unless I make an effort to bring new players in.

“Depending on the finances, we might have to pay decent money for a couple of top-of-the-range loans, like a couple of million for someone who is very special until the end of the season.

“I’ve looked at what I consider would enhance us in two areas of the pitch.

Two top-class players.

“I don’t think they will come here – I know they will, on a loan basis from January to June. I have spoken to their agents and we would be 100 times better off if we got them.”

With Ashley’s hopes of a quick sale receding by the day, there is every likelihood of Kinnear being in a position to oversee transfer dealings in January.

But having guided the Magpies to two wins, three draws and two defeats in his seven games in charge, he is already looking even further into the future than that.

“I think I have the ability to do this long-term,” he said. “I’ve had a long career, a good career, and who knows where I’d be if it wasn’t for ill health.

“When I had my heart attack, I was out for two-anda- half years, and when you’re out, it’s difficult to get back. But I’m aware of that.

Every avenue I tried, it was ‘How’s your heart?’ I was Manager of the Year three times, and that’s not too bad is it?”

■ Carlisle are expected to complete the loan signing of Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul ahead of tomorrow’s League One clash with Cheltenham. The move comes after Tottenham opted against letting former Sunderland keeper Ben Alnwick extend his loan at Brunton Park.