Thursday, October 2, 2008

Now South Africans move for Newcastle

A South African group have reportedly offered Mike Ashley £300million to take Newcastle off his hands, following claims a staggering eight consortia have held talks with the Toon supremo.

According to BBC Sport, the South African group has five members who are "thought to be keen to bring back" Kevin Keegan. It has been claimed Keegan could be offered a five per cent stake in the club in order to entice him to return...again!

The South Africans are apparently the front-runners and, as Ashley has no shareholders to consult, they could take control of the club within weeks - and certainly well before the January transfer window. Whether signing new players would actually help Newcastle's situation is a matter of debate.

Given all the talk in the press is of the shaky global financial position, and how we may be heading for the worst period since the Great Depression of the 1920s, it's staggering to think people are currently prepared to make such a punt on perennial underachievers Newcastle - but there seems no reason to doubt there really is interest.

However, in general terms the idea of offering a manager a stake in the club seems a sensible one. Whether it is a sensible thing to offer Kevin "The Quitter" Keegan is another matter, but that will be for the owners to decide. Hopefully a boss would only accept such an offer as a display of stability, rather than to line their own pocket.

But as even Newcastle fans can't decide whether they would want Keegan back (or whether Michael Owen is worth keeping, but that's another story!), who are the rest of us mere mortals to give our opinions?!?

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