Wise man at the court of Keegan

IS there anyone out there in football land who believes Kevin Keegan actually sanctioned the appointment of Dennis Wise as executive director at Newcastle United - or even knew about it before the news was announced?
To be fair to Wise, those who know him to a man speak highly of his intelligence. Clearly he has greater attributes than his ability to thump mouthy taxi drivers. And he has done a good job at Leeds United where no one thought a stroppy little Cockney would be accepted by one of the most critical and viciously partisan set of supporters in the land.
But Keegan-Wise is not a match made in heaven.
Still, it's good work if you can get it - a £1.5 million salary package and he doesn't even have to live in the frozen north. Wise will operate out of London and I far as I can see will be overseeing Newcastle's scouting network and academy. He's one of a number of new appointments made by chairman Chris Mort, one of whom - Jeff Vetere -has the title of Vice-President (Player Recruitment) or some such moniker.
Keegan insists he will have the final say on new signings (yeah, course you will Kev) but the bookies are taking loads of money with good odds on the messiah chucking it in by the end of the season.
I know it's totally irrational, but I want Newcastle to lose every game just to see King Kev throw his toys out of the pram again. I even found myself cheering for Middlesbrough when they scored what could have been the winner in the Tyneside derby on Sunday before it was ruled offside.
If Keegan does lose it again and do another "I'd really love it if ..." routine, Wise is warming up on the London sidelines and super-rich owner Mike Ashley has a quick successor.
But whether the mighty Toon Army would agree to swapping one little man for another - no matter how wise - remains to be seen.

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I APPRECIATE there's no room for sentiment in football, especially at international level, but I am sorry that David Beckham will not be getting his 100th cap in next week's England game against the clockwatchers of Switzerland.
New boss Capello is flexing his muscles to send out a message to players, supporters and his bosses at the FA: "I will do it my way."
Former manager Steve McClaren made the mistake of discarding Goldenballs when he took over from the Swedish playboy and lived to regret it. I wonder whether Capello might do the same.
I think he would have been better advised to have picked Beckham, give him the captain's armband and substitute him as early as possible. Then he could tell him: "That's it. Go back to America and play your pub football and keepy-upy on a Brazilian beach."
Despite his ridiculous celebrity status, fuelled by his wife's obsession with Brand Beckham, the talented arm of this double act has been a good role model for young, would-be footballers. Which is more than I can say for the majority of the rest of the England squad which are a pretty unsavoury lot wit somw notable exceptions (Owen, Gerrard, etc).
I know fitness if the all-important key factor and Capello says he will keep an eye on Beckham when he returns to Galaxy in Los Angeles. Hmm! I wonder. I didn't see a great deal of fitness when I saw England play in their pathetic performance against Croatia. In fact, I didn't realise Frank Lampard was on the pitch until his scored a penalty.
Becks looked like the only player who wanted to win when he came on as a substitute to claim his 99th cap. After the final whistle, Beckham stayed on the pitch at Wembley to milk the adoration from a grateful crowd whilst his colleagues skulked off the pitch with their heads held low and boos ringing in their ears. Much deserved.
I thought then that he somehow knew this was his last game in the shirt containing the Three Lions.

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I WAS ten years old when the Munich air disaster happened. I immediately became a Manchester United supporter and Bobby Charlton my first boyhood hero.
Many years later, after Charlton was appointed a director at United, I met the great man himself and always thought that he was carrying a great sadness. As indeed he was - the guilt of being one of the Busby Babes who survived that fateful day in February 1958 whilst so many of his talented colleagues perished.
With the 50th anniversary of Munich approaching, Charlton has now become the public face of the grief that is still felt so intensely in the football mad city of Manchester. It is a burden he will carry to his grave, the memories of the tragedy having touched every era of his glittering career and his elevation to football's world statesman.
We can only try to appreciate the pain that Charlton must feel as he remembers so publicly the day that a generation of talented sportsmen and journalists, who were travelling with the team, blazing a trail through Europe, were snatched from their prime.

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WHEN I worked in the media in London I rarely missed a fight if I could get a ticket. Watching my first professional bout at York Hall in Bethnal Green, sat in the front row, an early punch split an eye and blood spurted out all over chinos. "Welcome to a man's world," said my companion who had grown up around the boxing gyms of the East End.
I was in the crowd at White Hart Lane in 1991 when a blow from Chris Eubank put Michael Watson in hospital and a wheelchair for life. It was one of the most frightening experiences of my life as the crowd went berserk, tossing chairs around the arena. Me and my guests managed to get out just before it turned nasty as an ambulance was arriving for Watson. I went away thinking that was the last fight I would watch. But it wasn't, such is the attraction created by the hype generated in the world of professional boxing.
Boxing isn't for the feint-hearted and Watson wasn't the first or indeed last to have his life ruined by the noble art of fisticuffs.
But there's no denying that the sport has saved many a young hoodlum from a life of crime and incarceration and occasionally along comes a young boxer who makes you realise that this sport is not just about violence and thuggery.
One such man is Amir Khan. I watched his latest fight on television on Saturday night - his toughest test to date. This former Olympian fought 12 near perfect rounds to retain his Commonwealth lightwight title against the experienced Australia-based Gairy St Claire. Surrounded by his family - every on of whom he embraced after winning the fight - Khan was interviewed ringside by Jim Rosenthal. He was humble, respectful and full of praise for his brave opponent. Here is a world champion in the making - and a nice bloke to boot.