NEWCASTLE UNITED”S SEASON looks like being a turbulent one even with the Premier League’s opening fixtures still over a month away.
Manager Alan Pardew today criticised his director of football (and predecessor) Joe Kinnear for mispronouncing the names of several Newcastle players last month.
In an interview with TalkSport - in which he also described speculation he would replace Pardew as “water off a duck’s arse” - Kinnear referred to Jonas Gutierrez as ‘Gaultierez’, Shola Ameobi as ‘Amanobi’ and Yohann Cabaye’s surname was pronounced “kebab”.
The bizarre, lengthy conversation also led to Kinnear suggesting he had signed Tim Krul in his time as manager with the Magpies, despite the goalkeeper having already spent two years on Tyneside prior to Kinnear’s arrival.
“Some of the things Joe said, he’s apologised for,” Pardew told BBC Newcastle. “Especially getting the names wrong of our players. That needs to be corrected, because there’s a certain respect needed there,
“I spoke to one or two players and my staff here and made them very aware of where the position lies.”
Limited role?
With confusion still clouding Kinnear’s exact role between Pardew and club owner Mike Ashley, the former West Ham boss moved to clarify the situation as he sees it, saying Kinnear will merely present his transfer targets to Ashley:
“If Joe can persuade Mike to invest in the football club in the right manner, then that would be the best outcome for us.
“As well as we’ve done on the transfer market, there’s always room for improvement and I spoke to Joe and told him where I think the weaknesses in the squad are.”
He added: “Between myself, [secretary Lee Charnley] and Joe we hope to get some transfers over the line, and some out by the way, because the squad is probably a little thick in some areas.“[Chief scout Graham Carr] comes up with one or two suggestions, I come up with the same, we probably have a list of four that myself and Graham think will take the team forward, we present that to Joe, and he presents it to the owner.
“Joe has to dress that up for the chairman in terms of the finance, in terms of how it will work and then Lee comes in and hopefully we get the player over the line.
“Mike feels Joe probably knows the scene better than Derek. That might be Mike’s opinion, but as far as I’m concerned the most important factor for Joe is transfers.”
So, football fans; how long before this all ends in tears for the Toon?
