Kinnear named as Newcastle's interim boss

Joe Kinnear was surprisingly named as Newcastle United's interim manager yesterday when he agreed a short-term contract until the end of October.

The struggling Premier League club, who are at home to Blackburn Rovers today, have been without a manager since Kevin Keegan resigned earlier this month. Chris Hughton had been acting as caretaker.

"I am very excited about the challenge in front of me at Newcastle," 61-year-old Kinnear said in a statement on the club's website.

"Results have not been great of late, but there is a lot of quality in the squad and I am very confident the players are capable of climbing the league table."

Former Wimbledon boss Kinnear, who has been out of football for four years, faces a huge task to win over the Newcastle fans still seething at Keegan's departure.

The club are second from bottom in the Premier League and owner Mike Ashley has put it up for sale after saying it was no longer safe for him to take his children to the stadium.

Fans blame Ashley, and director of football Dennis Wise, for Keegan's decision to walk out.

Former England manager Terry Venables was reported to have turned down the chance to take the St James' Park hotseat on Thursday, a day after Newcastle's lowest crowd for 15 years watched them lose to Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup.

Kinnear, who spent the bulk of his playing career with Tottenham Hotspur and was capped 26 times by Ireland, cut his managerial teeth with Wimbledon who he kept in the top flight against the odds.

He suffered a heart attack during the 1998-99 season and was replaced by Egil Olsen.

Kinnear returned to management with Luton Town in 2001 and then took over as Nottingham Forest manager in February 2004, although he was sacked after just 10 months in charge.

The announcement of Kinnear as manager prompted an immediate barrage of angry emails and text messages to television stations and websites.