Just how farcical can the situation at St James’ Park become? Mike Ashley has seemingly done his level best to turn the club into a laughing stock, with virtually nobody interested in becoming Newcastle United under the current regime. The Magpies have found an interim manager in the form of Joe Kinnear, although it appears that one of the key members of the squad is not best pleased about it.
Setanta report that Shay Given is not holding back from what he truly thinks about the managerial situation on Tyneside. The Newcastle number one is clearly disappointed not to have seen the club appoint a permanent successor to Kevin Keegan, thus ensuring that uncertainty and instability remain for the month of October.
“Am I pleased? No,” Given told The Sun. “The club is still up for sale and we haven’t got a permanent manager so I wouldn’t say pleased.
“It’s going somewhere I suppose but I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.
“I don’t know the man. I’ve met him and said hello but that’s about it.
“The most important thing for the players is to concentrate on Blackburn and on Monday we’ll probably meet him.
“I don’t know what to say but in an ideal world we’d like the club sorted out and a permanent manager.
“Joe Kinnear’s just to oversee things until we get one. It is not an ideal situation.
“No senior players were asked about this as far as I know. I’d class myself as a senior player and no one has told me anything.
“The owner’s come out and said he wants to sell the club, so I think the sooner the better so we can move forward.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty around the club and it’s not helping anyone.”
The players clearly aren’t happy bunnies and Kinnear therefore already faces an uphill struggle to win over the dressing room during his time in charge. There seems little chance that the former Wimbledon manager is going to get this gig on a full-time basis, and it’s also quite clear that he was far from first choice to oversee first-team affairs over the next few weeks. However, will his stint in charge bring some much-needed stability to the club or not?
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