Joe Kinnear risked alienating Newcastle United fans from the start of his return by claiming to have "more intelligence than them".
Kinnear went on to defend his record as a manager, as he added: "I look at my record and they keep saying to me 'what did I do?'. Where have these people been, on another planet? I've been manager of the year three times, travelled the world as a manager.
"This job came up, a responsible job. Already they're jumping on the bandwagon, 'watch out Pards' (United manager Alan Pardew) but that's the snidey press around that area that have a grudge. I expect it, it's water off a duck's a***."
Kinnear, who made his name as a manager at Wimbledon as part of the 'Crazy Gang', went on to underline he did not see his presence as a threat to Pardew.
"This is not about some of the crap about me coming in and taking over," he said. "It's nonsense. I read an article saying 'watch over your shoulder Pards'. What a load of crap and they're feeding it to the Geordie fans. I hope they're not daft enough to believe it."
Approved
Kinnear insisted his shock appointment was approved by Pardew, and the former Wimbledon boss was adamant they could form a good working relationship.
"Before I had a meeting with Mike (Ashley), Derek (Llambias) said he's informed Alan, and Alan said 'Great news - I'm delighted with that. At last I've got somebody who's a football guy'," Kinnear said.
"I have the utmost respect for him and I cannot see any problems between the two of us. I am not the type of guy who causes problems for the sake of it. I want the best for all of us."
The 66-year-old former Magpies manager had met with the club's owner Mike Ashley to sign the agreement and told Sky Sports News he would deal mainly with player recruitment and transfers, on which he would have the final say.
And he had been quick to get involved by
insisting France international Yohan Cabaye was not for sale. Cabaye had been strongly linked with a move away from St James' Park, with a return to his homeland mooted, and in January 2014 he would leave for Paris Saint Germain.
Cabaye had done little to curb the speculation by publicly welcoming links to Manchester United and Monaco.
Newcastle were, however, reluctant to part with players considered to be integral to their future.
Kinnear told the
Evening Chronicle: "He will stay. We've got him under contract and we want to keep all of our top players here. We don't feel we have to sell our top stars.
"The only players we will move on are the ones that are coming up short. You can't have that at a massive football club like this.
"We will have to move them on. We can't have mediocre players at Newcastle United. But we won't be selling our best players."
