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Newcastle name Kinnear as interim manager

  • Story Highlights
  • Joe Kinnear is named interim manager of Newcastle until the end of October
  • Kinnear accepts the position after Terry Venables rejects Newcastle's offer
  • Kevin Keegan could return to club if prospective new owners complete a deal
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(CNN) -- Newcastle United have named Joe Kinnear as their interim manager until the end of October after former England coach Terry Venables turned down an offer to join them.

Kinnear's last managerial post, at Nottingham Forest, ended in December 2004.

Kinnear's last managerial post, at Nottingham Forest, ended in December 2004.

But Kevin Keegan could be returning as manager, along with former striker Alan Shearer, if a deal to sell the club goes through.

Kinnear, the former manager of Wimbledon and Luton, has been out of football since resigning at Nottingham Forest nearly four years ago.

He said: "I am very excited. Newcastle United is a great club. When I was in charge of Wimbledon I always remember the passion of the fans up there and how great a stadium St James' Park is.

"It is a big challenge but one I am really looking forward to."

Kinnear revealed that club owner Mike Ashley, who is looking to sell Newcastle, had told him a deal would be concluded in early October and that the prospective new owners intended to reappoint Keegan and bring former club captain Shearer onto the coaching staff.

"I think the club's going to be sold at the beginning of October and (current caretaker boss) Chris Hughton needs all the help he can get," Kinnear said.

In a statement, Newcastle said the former Tottenham and Ireland defender Kinnear "has agreed to take temporary charge of first team affairs at St. James' Park until the end of October."

Newcastle have suffered three successive defeats since Keegan's resignation as manager.

Kinnear said: "Results have not been great of late, but there is a lot of quality in the squad and I am very confident the players are capable of climbing the league table.

The 61-year-old left Forest in December 2004 after a poor start to the season, but his most memorable achievement was taking Wimbledon to sixth place in the top flight in 1995.

In March 1999 he suffered a mild heart attack while warming up on the pitch at Hillsborough prior to Wimbledon's game at Sheffield Wednesday. Three months later he resigned because of ill health.

In 2001 he was appointed director of football at Luton. They were relegated to League Two but Kinnear steered them back up the next season. He moved to Forest in 2004 but resigned in December after a poor start to the season.

Meanwhile, Venables told The Sun newspaper that he had rejected the offer because it was on a game-by-game basis.

"There is one reason and one reason alone why I've turned down the chance to take temporary charge at Newcastle -- time," he told The Sun.

"Newcastle United means too much to too many people to take the job on a short-term basis. It demands total commitment and dedication from a manager who is prepared to throw himself heart and soul into the club," Venables added.

"I didn't want the fans to think I'd gone up there just to pocket a few quid from owner Mike Ashley. I didn't want to move up to Tyneside and find myself surplus to requirements before I'd even had the chance to get my teeth into the challenge.

"The way the job was offered to me meant that I might be working at St James' Park for two months, two years -- or two weeks. There was far too much uncertainty involved."

Venables, who has had spells in charge of Tottenham and Barcelona, was a leading candidates to become Newcastle manager when Bobby Robson was sacked in 2004, but the job eventually went to Graeme Souness.

Venables worked in the north-east of England when he helped Middlesbrough to avoid relegation in 2002 when he was asked to assist manager Bryan Robson.

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