Joe Kinnear given contract until end of season

Former Wimbledon and Notts Forest manager Joe Kinnear was only supposed to be staying at St James’ Park for one month, while Mike Ashley found a willing buyer for Newcastle Utd.

Today it has been announced that Kinnear is to stay on as manager until the end of the season, implying one of two scenarios has occurred: either the Irishman has demanded more job security and denied potential new owners the chance to start with a clean slate, or Mike Ashley is set to stay at the club for a lot longer than he expected.

Given the very chilly economic winter of discontent we are currently experiencing, it looks like the patrirarch of the cockney mafia will be sticking around…

Spoiler bonus: Think Joe can help Newcastle beat the drop? Play our interactive relegation predictor to find out!