Mort Moves to Reassure Keegan As Wise Checks in on Tyneside

It has been an uncertain first 13 days back at St James' Park for Kevin Keegan, with the arrival of Dennis Wise as executive director (football) compounding the disappointment of defeat on the pitch and failure in the transfer market, but the Newcastle chairman Chris Mort today moved to reassure the manager that his position will not be undermined by the new arrival.

"This is all part of the vision that recently helped us to secure Kevin Keegan's return to the club as manager," said Mort. "Two of the conclusions of our strategic review were that the club would benefit from having a football person involved at board level, which it has not had historically, and that further senior resources are needed for recruiting players of the highest quality from this country and further afield.

"Dennis would like to move away from day-to-day football management to a board role and, with his considerable energy and intelligence, we believe he will do very well in this new position."

Keegan has declined to comment on Wise's arrival, prompting suggestions that he was unaware of the situation and could find himself under pressure from within. Wise will be joined the businessman Tony Jimenez and the former Real Madrid international scout Jeff Vetere at the club as vice-president (player recruitment) and technical co-ordinator, respectively

Mort, though, has attempted to head off the conspiracy theories by insisting the new men will complement Keegan rather than create conflict. "With Kevin able to devote his efforts to developing and running the first-team squad, Dennis, Tony and Jeff will help us to secure success for Newcastle United at all levels and for the long-term," he said.

Meanwhile, Keegan's frustrating week in the transfer market continued today after the Derby County manager Paul Jewell confirmed the Rams have turned down an offer from Newcastle for Giles Barnes. The central defender Jonathan Woodgate opted for a move to Tottenham over a move to St James' Park yesterday and Keegan's attempts to reinforce his midfield have also faltered.

"They did come up with an offer yesterday, a verbal offer, but it was nowhere near our valuation," said Jewell. "When I see other players leaving for £4m or £5m what we want for Giles Barnes is not unreasonable."

Barnes, a 19-year-old who can play across the midfield or in the 'Bergkamp role' behind the strikers, has been one of the bright points in Derby's otherwise miserable season. He has previously been linked with moves to Spurs and Aston Villa and though Jewell is keen to hold on to his prize asset he admitted that his young star may leave if the price is right.

"He is not going to leave here on the cheap because he is a player we would like to keep," said Jewell, who is still awaiting his first win after 12 games as manager. "But if Giles wants to go and play somewhere else, he wants to play in the Premier League, we won't stand in his way, as long as that is right for the club."

Barnes missed the early part of the season with a broken foot but has been a regular in the Rams line-up since late September. He was instrumental in their promotion campaign last season, coming off the bench in the play-off final to create the only goal of the game for Stephen Pearson, and has made nearly 100 appearances for the club.