• Premier League

Newcastle confirm Joe Kinnear appointment

After a couple of days of talk, Newcastle have confirmed Joe Kinnear has been appointed as the club's director of football.

The 66-year-old broke the news of his arrival on Sunday evening, amid a largely negative reaction from the club's fans.

Kinnear, who has been described as a "senior executive", is to undertake a role which will see him oversee the work of manager Alan Pardew and chief scout Graham Carr.

Managing director Derek Llambias said in a statement released on the club's official website on Tuesday: "The board are pleased to welcome Joe back to the club. Joe has many years of experience working within the game, and this experience will be of great benefit to the club in achieving our objectives over the coming seasons."

The move sees the former Wimbledon boss make a return to St James' Park after he served as interim manager at the club during the 2008-09 season.

Kinnear's tenure saw him pick up just five wins from 26 games, while his spell in charge was also marred by a four-letter tirade against a group of local journalists, as well as his falling out with Charles N'Zogbia after mispronouncing his name in an interview.

Those old failings returned to haunt him in what was a bizarre interview Kinnear gave to talkSPORT radio on Tuesday. In it he referred to Llambias as 'Derek Lambazee' and the club's star midfielder Yohan Cabaye as Yohan 'Kebab', as well as 'Hatem Ben Afra' [Ben Arfa], and Shola and Sammy 'Amemobi' [Ameobi].

However, despite such difficulties, Kinnear claims that Pardew has hailed his appointment as "great news", while Magpies defender Steven Taylor believes he is just what the club needs.

"I am really happy to see Joe back at the club and I think his return can only be positive for everyone connected to the club," Taylor told Sky Sports. "Joe was great for me when he was manager and I really enjoyed playing for him.

"We were in a great position under Joe in the league until he got ill and it was after that that things went wrong. Joe wears his heart on his sleeve and he tells it as it is and I think he is someone that Newcastle exactly need. Joe has lots of experience and he is very knowledgeable and I for one am really excited to see him back at Newcastle."

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