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Kinnear: I'm head and shoulders above my rivals

Joe Kinnear is confident in his abilities © PA Photos

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Newcastle United's Joe Kinnear believes his managerial experience puts him 'head and shoulders above' any other director of football currently employed in English football.

The 66-year-old recently agreed a three-year-contract to become the club's director of football, an appointment that was heavily critcised by fans of the club. After remaining in London in the immediate aftermath of his appointment, Kinnear has now returned to Tyneside to begin work on the club's summer recruitment strategy.

Those plans will likely include a renewed bid for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Saint-Etienne striker considered the Magpies' first choice target this summer. With James Perch also looking increasingly likely to be departing St James' Park for Wigan Athletic, Kinnear feels his role and more importantly his experience are vital in helping Newcastle achieve success.

"Every top club in the land has got one," Kinnear told the Shields Gazette. "We haven't - that's the difference.

"The manager can't do everything. I'm probably the only football manager to be a director of football. I don't know any other ex-managers who have. I've been a manager for 35 years. I've been manager of the year. I've won every award there is in football as a player. I think all those qualities put me head and shoulders above every other director of football."

"Some directors of football have never played the game," added Kinnear. "I'm lending my experience as a manager for all those years - 10 years at Wimbledon, two years at Nottingham Forest, two years winning promotion at Luton and, of course, almost two years at Newcastle.

"I would still be there had it (a heart attack) not occurred."

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