Sure Keegan gets stick for some of his knee-jerk reactions to events but no-one can call him a fool for his stance over the last few days, seeing Milner leave after saying he had no intention of letting him go and then discovering that Newcastle’s board had agreed to let both Joey Barton and Michael Owen leave before the transfer window shut. All 3 are players that Keegan has supported and protected since he rejoined the Geordie’s in January. By 11am yesterday morning, almost everyone was talking about Keegan being sacked by the board after a furious row over the potential sales, which he blocked and no-one at Newcastle was available for comment. 7 hours later, the Newcastle board released a belated statement saying they had not sacked him, he was vitally important to the clubs future and how the valued everything he had accomplished since his return.
So why sell players behind his back, fetch in second rate replacements, dilly dally over contract renewals and employ inexperienced people to deal with transfers. I do feel sorry for the Newcastle fans, sometimes they get a little ahead of themselves with the we’re a massive club statements but they don’t deserve this at all. The only benefit I can see is Mike Ashley couldn’t afford to buy Tottenham, which as a Spurs fan he had looked into what was required and realised he couldn’t afford it. Thank god. The fans need someone to come in and buy him out because I don’t see the relationship ever being the same between Keegan, Wise and Ashley. Somethings gotta to give and I think Mike Ashley will not be looking forward to the reception he’ll receive in the next game, a massive home game against Hull City.
12 months later, a similar situation has arisen as at Newcastle, the board have been flogging players against his wishes, to clubs who West Ham will feel they are at least the very equal of. When your board sell two players to Sunderland that you want to keep, it puts you in a position of principle and make no mistake about what Curbishley has done today. Some people would have shrugged their shoulders and simply took the money and carried on through the motions but Curbishley wasn’t one of those people. He was distraught at what had happened and has resigned because he felt his position had become untenable. I applaud his principles and his guts to walk away from a job he clearly loved. Whilst his relationship with the fans had deteriorated over recent weeks, they’d still made their best start to a Premiership season in 9 years and a good chance of improving on their final position of tenth last year. Chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson has said that the parting of the ways was the best for both parties, but I think West Ham are in for a long year now. It will be extremely interesting to see the reception he receives at the next home game for the Hammers, ironically against Newcastle on September 20th. Slaven Bilic is heavily tipped to replace Curbishley, but I’ve also heard Paulo Di Canio could be a shock candidate. Looking at recent events, nothing would surprise me at Upton Park now and how the fans and the players deal with this could be crucial and both teams could be in for a very long season.
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