Knives Out for 'disaster' Club Newcastle

Newcastle United's hierarchy came under scathing attack yesterday from both Alan Shearer and Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers Association, as Tyneside struggled to come to terms with life after Kevin Keegan.

Indeed Joey Barton being banned for six games, rather than an expected 15, by the Football Association represented just about the only bit of good news for the club's directors.

As Newcastle began the process of replacing Keegan, who resigned on Thursday, the board's modus operandi faced a twin attack, with Shearer not only ruling himself out but stating: "I'd like to be a manager at some point but I want to control who comes in and out of the club."

Describing the internal structure at St James' Park as "strange" the former Newcastle captain, added: "If you've got three, four or five players waiting for you and you don't know who they are, then you've got the right to ask yourself, 'can I manage this club?' A manager lives and dies by his decisions. If he can't do that is there any point in him being there? It's dangerous when you go into a club and the director of football is not appointed by you."

Shearer was clearly referring to Keegan's emasculation at the hands of Dennis Wise, Newcastle's all-powerful director of football, and Mike Ashley, the club's owner. He also expressed sympathy with disillusioned fans who have called for the removal of Ashley and Wise.

"They are angry, hurt, and disappointed and everyone feels for them, me included, because we all want the same thing - success at Newcastle United," he said. "It's going to be a big task for [the board] because the fans are very angry."

Bevan insisted that Ashley's largely London-based management structure was doomed to failure: "If you look at a football club when people are running it from different parts of the country, when you've got a manager who doesn't know who is being signed, who is leaving and who is coming in, it's a recipe for disaster.

"Newcastle looked a bit like an orchestra with four conductors. It was going to break down sooner or later."

As Keegan yesterday briefed lawyers to counter-claim against Newcastle for constructive dismissal, Barton also received a £25,000 fine and a potential additional six-game ban, suspended until the end of the 2009-10 season, for his training-ground attack on Ousmane Dabo, then a Manchester City team-mate, in May 2007. The midfielder is scheduled to return on October 25 and can expect a hot reception as Newcastle are at Sunderland.

While the favourite to become Barton's new manager remains Gus Poyet, Tottenham's No2 and a close ally of Wise's, Zico is also under consideration. Even so, the former Fenerbahce coach and Brazil luminary seems a less likely candidate than one of Wise's old Chelsea pals such as Poyet, Gianluca Vialli or Gianfranco Zola. Another strong candidate is Marcelino García Toral, the Real Zaragoza coach.

Dark horses include David O'Leary. The former Leeds United and Aston Villa manager is a close friend of Derek Llambias, Newcastle's managing director, and watched Newcastle's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal last Saturday as Llambias's guest.

Despite his travails Keegan faxed information in support of Barton - who has served time in prison for a separate assault - to the FA's independent regulatory commission which included the former England manager Graham Taylor.