Chronicle: "Keegan's transfer dealings could be complicated by chairman Chris Mort's impending departure and the installation of his successor, with newly-appointed deputy Derek Llambias the hot favourite to take over.
"That said, the two men are currently working in tandem under the watchful eye of owner Mike Ashley and it would be no surprise if the groundwork for what the club hopes to do during the close-season is already under way."It will be interesting to see how Ashley works, as we all know Freddy Shepherd didn't even consider any transfer until the summer was almost over.
Freddy's theory was that the later he signed a player the less wages he had to pay for a player on his Summer Jollies doing nothing.
That gave the player little time to get to know his new team-mates and get involved in pre-season friendlies, and less time for the manager to impose his ways on the new team.
Obviously the penny had not dropped with Freddy that players sign yearly contracts, and later he signed Joe Bloggs, when his contacted ended Newcastle would still be paying his wages AFTER the season ended.
How can we foget the pre-season when 'Dastardly and Mutley' toured the world (Holland, Spain, Australia and Brazil) supposedly trying to sign the likes of Emerton and Kleberson ... then Sir Bobby Robson said the following Christmas: "I was told I had no money to spend in the summer on players".
Will Ashley learn from Shepherd's strange ways? Hopefully. Let's get the players Keegan wants BEFORE the training starts, rather than scrounging around in the Bargain Bucket in August.