Joe Kinnear in X-rated rant

2008-10-03 18:01

London - Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear launched into a torrent of X-rated abuse at reporters ahead of his first game in charge, cursing 52 times in a tirade that was the talk of football on Friday.

The 61-year-old former Wimbledon manager tore into reporters from the daily papers at the news conference ahead of Sunday's Premier League game against Everton.

Out of football management for four years, Kinnear believed they had ridiculed him after he showed up at the training ground and none of the first-team players were there. Thursday's news conference became a full-scale argument filled with swear words - 52 of them - according to reporters who were there and who recorded the exchange.

Kinnear accused them of undermining his position, even though he has not yet take charge of the team in a game.

Kevin Keegan quit as manager last month with owner Mike Ashley appointing Kinnear in a caretaker capacity as he tries to sell the club. Kinnear has already said he expects Keegan to return, possibly with former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, currently a TV analyst, as his assistant.

Kinnear, a former Tottenham and Ireland defender, said he is being ridiculed by the media.

"You are out of order. Absolutely XXXXing out of order," he told one reporter. "If you do it again, I am telling you, you can XXXX off and go to another ground. I will not come and stand for that XXXXing crap. No XXXXing way, lies. XXXX, you're saying I turned up and they (Newcastle's players) XXXXed off."

"I will stand up and fight for myself in any corner. You're not going to frighten me in any manner," Kinnear told them in one of his few sentences not sprinkled with obscenities. "Whatever you do, or whatever headlines you run, you're not going to embarrass me. I'm not going to stand for it. I've come up here for a simple chance to prove myself. Get off my back and let me get on with my job. That's all I ask."

- SAPA