Source: Telegraph
Joe Kinnear holds transfer crisis talks
Kinnear called for a summit with the club's top brass due to a spate of injuries that has sidelined 11 of his senior players and forced him to include six academy rookies in his squad for Wednesday night's FA Cup third-round replay against Hull on Tyneside. [LNB]The former Wimbledon manager, accompanied by coach Chris Hughton, met with club managing-director Derek Llambias and secretary Lee Charnley at St James' Park while Ashley had the final say by telephone from London. [LNB]"I have brought it forward because of the urgency of the situation," Kinnear said. "We need to act and act quickly. We need funds. The chairman [Llambias] was at home and I said â No, you need to come in.' Come up tonight, we need to talk and get cracking. [LNB]"The meeting was called very hastily after I explained on Monday the difficult position that we are in. We will sit and discuss what direction we are going. We will go through all the ideas we have for players and put the ball in Mike's court and see what the outcome is."[LNB]Such is Newcastle's plight that captain Michael Owen is expected to operate as a lone striker against Hull with Andy Carroll now sidelined with a hamstring problem along with fellow forwards Mark Viduka, Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi while untried Hungarian teenager Thomas Kadar is set to be drafted into Kinnear's defence. [LNB]He is hoping Danish winger Peter Lovenkrands signs a short-term deal until the end of the season on the eve of Saturday's trip to fellow strugglers Blackburn and two loan signings - unnamed Argentine and Italian internationals - are set to bolster the ranks. [LNB]"We're just four points ahead of Spurs. I think they are aware of it and that I have got the message across," Kinnear said. "Fingers crossed it may have a different slant after tonight. [LNB]"It's a test for everyone. Once I have explained the situation, they will make the decision, hopefully it is a favourable one which will allow me to bring players in."[LNB]He is also hoping to offload one player to generate £4.5 million-worth of transfer funds and then bank on Sports Direct founder Ashley digging deep despite, Kinnear said, "the finance he's lost up to now in the credit crunch". [LNB]"Mike is very level-headed, he's aware of the situation and if we don't get players in I will be disappointed but only disappointed and then I will get on with the job," Kinnear said. [LNB]"I'm as frustrated as the 11 players that are missing. I wouldn't even bother buying anybody if they were all fit. The squad is good enough. The situation has changed now because of what's actually happened to us. We have been cursed with the injuries."[LNB]Meanwhile, Hull manager Phil Brown is hoping to finalise the signing of West Ham midfielder Luis Boa Morte and Wigan's Kevin Kilbane ahead of Saturday's visit of Arsenal to the KC Stadium. [LNB]
