Swansea
v
Newcastle
Sat 13th Feb - The Liberty Stadium
Tue 9th Feb - Pride Park Stadium
Mort: Remaining realistic
Newcastle chairman Chris Mort says they club will not put their future at risk by overspending this summer.
Magpies boss Kevin Keegan claimed earlier this week that the club had no chance of breaking into the top four during his tenure because they could not compete with the league's big hitters.
Keegan also revealed that he did not know how much money would be made available to him for his summer transfer plans.
Mort insists the club will not push themselves into crippling debt in a bid to try and close the gap on the top four as he does not want to risk becoming "another Leeds" by spending too much money.
"We don't want to do a Leeds. It doesn't make sense," Mort told The Sun.
"This club had £100million-worth of debt which has now been cleared and it would be foolish to stretch it beyond its limits.
"I thought Kevin's comments were quite sensible.
"There are those who are naturally optimistic but it does no harm to come out with some realism and say that if we get fifth we will have done well. He's right.
"I wasn't taken aback by Kevin's comments. He says what he feels. We have just come out of a relegation battle so you can't have people surprised when the manager says we aren't going to get into the Champions League.
"This is a long-term building project and we are very happy with Kevin.
"He's a very enthusiastic character who has got the team playing good football.
"We were disappointed to lose to Chelsea but he's got the team playing well."
"We have started talking about who we will be bringing in and Kevin will have the final say. He has to have that," added Mort.
"We are very happy with where we are but Kevin is quite right to say we shouldn't expect Champions League football.
"It's going to be tough for anyone to break into the top four.
"Someone might sneak in there occasionally and there are a number of sides who will have a go but it is incredibly difficult."

Hughton taking nothing for granted
Newcastle 5-1 Cardiff - Highlights
Leicester 0-0 Newcastle - Hughton
Hughton hopeful over Moses move
Routledge raring to go
Newcastle 2-2 West Brom - players
Newcastle 2-2 West Brom - Di Matteo
Newcastle 2-2 West Brom - Hughton
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 13th February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 12:45 | Swansea vs Newcastle |
| Wednesday 17th February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 19:45 | Newcastle vs Coventry |
| Saturday 20th February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Preston |
| Tuesday 23rd February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 20:00 | Reading vs Newcastle |
| Saturday 27th February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Watford vs Newcastle |
| Saturday 6th March | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Barnsley |
| Saturday 13th March | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Middlesbrough vs Newcastle |
| Wednesday 17th March | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 19:45 | Newcastle vs Scunthorpe |
| Saturday 20th March | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 17:20 | Bristol City vs Newcastle |
| Tuesday 23rd March | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 19:45 | Doncaster vs Newcastle |
| Monday 29th March | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 19:45 | Newcastle vs Nottm Forest |
| Saturday 3rd April | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Peterborough vs Newcastle |
| Monday 5th April | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 19:45 | Newcastle vs Sheff Utd |
| Saturday 10th April | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Blackpool |
| Saturday 17th April | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Plymouth vs Newcastle |
| Saturday 24th April | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Ipswich |
| Sunday 2nd May | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| 13:00 | QPR vs Newcastle |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Tuesday 9th February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Derby 3 - 0 Newcastle | |
| Friday 5th February | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 5 - 1 Cardiff | |
| Saturday 30th January | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Leicester 0 - 0 Newcastle | |
| Wednesday 27th January | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 2 - 0 Crystal Palace | |
| Saturday 23rd January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| West Brom 4 - 2 Newcastle | |
| Monday 18th January | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 2 - 2 West Brom | |
| Wednesday 13th January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| Newcastle 3 - 0 Plymouth | |
| Saturday 2nd January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| Plymouth 0 - 0 Newcastle | |
| Monday 28th December | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 0 - 0 Derby | |
| Saturday 26th December | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Sheff Wed 2 - 2 Newcastle | |
| Sunday 20th December | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 2 - 0 Middlesbrough | |
| Saturday 12th December | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Barnsley 2 - 2 Newcastle | |
| Wednesday 9th December | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Coventry 0 - 2 Newcastle | |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 2 - 0 Watford | |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 3 - 0 Swansea | |
| Monday 23rd November | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Preston 0 - 1 Newcastle | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 3 - 1 Peterborough | |
| Monday 2nd November | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Sheff Utd 0 - 1 Newcastle | |
| Saturday 24th October | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Newcastle 2 - 1 Doncaster | |
| Tuesday 20th October | |
| The Coca-Cola Football League Championship | |
| Scunthorpe 2 - 1 Newcastle | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Bromwich Albion | 30 | 59 |
| 2 | Newcastle United | 29 | 59 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 30 | 55 |
| 4 | Cardiff City | 29 | 48 |
| 5 | Swansea City | 29 | 48 |
See all the goals and major incidents involving YOUR team, right here on skysports.com.
The arrivals of Jim Gannon and Brian McDermott has Peter Beagrie asking how managers are chosen.
Charlie Adam has beaten off stiff competition to win the PFA Championship Fans' Player of the Month for January.
Newcastle surrendered top spot in the Championship after crashing to a 3-0 defeat at Derby.
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton has challenged his players to bounce back after their defeat at Derby.
West Brom had plenty to cheer on Tuesday night as Newcastle and Nottingham Forest dropped points.
Brighton have completed the signing of young Newcastle winger Kazenga LuaLua on a one-month loan deal.
Newcastle United look to maintain their three-point lead at the top of the Championship table.
Comments (7)
Marcus Lazarus (Newcastle United fan) says...
Unlike Spurs fans, the Geordies tend to have a grasp on reality and KK is absolutely right in his aspirations. It's a shame we won't have a huge pot to play with this year, but by getting rid of some of the overpaid prima donnas in the summer would be a good start. Chris Mort seems to have a level head, and while we grew impatient of the Souness/Allardyce/Shephard era we can at least see that someone with an ounce of credibility is now steering the ship in the right direction at last. I'm sure we'll attract a few names, nothing major, but enough to get us stabilised and regain our credibility once more - something sadly lacking for the last couple of seasons. That would certainly be an achievement in itself.
Posted 12:25 7th May 2008
Victor Temple says...
I'd like to know if Keegan was promised big,big money when he signed his 4 year deal. I remember Kevin told the press that when he asked Mr Ashley what his aspirations were for the club he had just agreed to manage he answered "To win some silverware" Surely Mr Ashley knows he's not going to win anything with his present squad of players and i'm wondering if Kevin's latest outburst is because he's not going to be given the millions he thought he was going to get to bring in the new players that would help to bring some much needed silverware to the club. We need te be up there in the top 5 to attract the best players anyway !! Watching transfer activity with optimism Time will tell
Posted 11:54 7th May 2008
Matt Clarke (Newcastle United fan) says...
I think King Kev is spot on. The top four are running away with things at the moment and it will be very tricky to find any team to match them.
Posted 11:31 7th May 2008
Dominic Cheel (Newcastle United fan) says...
Sensible comments from Mr. Mort, why should we let other clubs know what our transfer budget is? If they think we have about £100m to spend prices will become even more inflated than they already are.
Posted 11:12 7th May 2008
Mark Scholes (manchester city) (Manchester City fan) says...
Well done Chris Mort. Realistic backing of the manager coupled with agreement on his expectations. Now, if only he has any friends who can buy us!
Posted 10:48 7th May 2008
Dave G says...
So what EXACTLY does Dennis Wise do there?
Posted 09:52 7th May 2008
Chris Kitley (reading fan) says...
Keegan's spot on. Course they're not going to break into the top four, I'd be very surprised if they break into the top six straight away. Newcastle fans need to lower their expectations otherwise they're just going to have another season of dissapointment.
Posted 09:50 7th May 2008