Keegan: Was keen to resolve differences

He was really keen, massively keen to make it work.

Bevan on Keegan's position at Newcastle
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The League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan has confirmed Kevin Keegan was desperate to resolve his differences with Newcastle's hierarchy.

Keegan tendered his resignation at St James' Park on Thursday following showdown talks with the club's board over their decision to bring in two players on transfer deadline day without his say-so.

The club landed striker Xisco and midfielder Ignacio Gonzalez on Monday, although both players were allegedly not targets of Keegan.

Keegan called the LMA following the dispute to help with the mediation between both parties, but ultimately the fans' favourite was unable to continue in his position at the helm of the club.

"I had a call to meet Kevin. We were there to try and turn the situation into a positive one," Bevan told Sky Sports News.

"He was really keen, massively keen to make it work. He has discussions with the Newcastle board, but unfortunately yesterday a letter arrived answering some of the issues he had.

"He was very unhappy about that and felt he has no alternative but to resign. He was desperately sad and sorry for the players and staff and especially the fans."

Too many cooks

Bevan believes the club's complicated structure which includes the likes of director of football Dennis Wise and head of player recruitment Tony Jimenez clouded Keegan's role.

"As I said earlier it looked a little bit like an orchestra with four conductors," he continued. "They had everybody on the bus but they weren't on the same seats. It was going to break down sooner or later.

"I think 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 being signed who's leaving and who's coming it's a recipe for disaster.

"When you have someone as experienced as passionate and full of pride as Kevin is you're going to inevitably come to the situation that we all find ourselves in that is a great respected man not in the game at the moment. So hopefully that won't be for too long."

Clarify

Newcastle could sue Keegan for breach of contract following his resignation, but Bevan would much rather see the Magpies come out and state how they propose to clarify the managerial position for Keegan's successor.

"I'd like to see Newcastle rather than coming out saying they are going to sue Kevin Keegan for £2million, I'd like to see them talking about how to improve for the next manager.

"If you look at the successful clubs they have leadership at the top and a good recruitment process. They take on quality people that there is a process in place so that they have clarity of roles and they are all working together.

"The important thing is to make sure the structure is there. To make sure people that the people at the top understand their roles and to make sure they allow the manager time to build a relationship with his players and fans."