Tottenham Hotspur are facing a battle to hold onto assistant manager Gus Poyet, who is reportedly being targeted by Newcastle to replace the departed Kevin Keegan at St James’ Park.
Poyet is one of the main contender’s to take over the Magpies after it had been confirmed on Thursday night that Keegan had resigned from United for the second time in his managerial career. This time after only eight months at the helm of the North East side.
Keegan cited irreconcilable differences with the board at the Toon for his exit from St James’ Park, with it understood that the former England chief could not work with executive director Dennis Wise, who is in charge of player recruitment for the club.
40-year-old Poyet has worked with Wise before at Swindon Town and more recently at Leeds United, where the pair were looking like an ideal management partnership before Wise departed for the North East. Poyet also played alongside Wise in the heart of the Chelsea midfield for four years between 1997-2001.
The Uruguayan also has a close relationship with Tony Jiminez at Newcastle, who was also believed to have been involved in the decision of Keegan to resign.
Keegan walked out on Newcastle on Tuesday, amidst rumours that the board had tried to offload England International Michael Owen behind his back. It has also been reported that Wise and Jiminez had signed players without his knowledge on transfer deadline day.
On Thursday, Keegan confirmed that he had resigned from the Magpies for a second time, with the former Liverpool and England player insisting that he had no choice but to take the decision to quit.
Keegan said: “I have been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors, but sadly that has not proved possible.
"It's my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want.
"It remains my fervent wish to see Newcastle United do well in the future and I feel incredibly sorry for the players, staff and most importantly, the supporters.
“I have been left with no choice other than to leave.”
However, Spurs are sure to resist any attempt by Newcastle to lure Poyet away from White Hart Lane, with the North London side hoping he will stay at Tottenham and continue the good work he has done at the Premier League club alongside manager Juande Ramos.
This is not the first time Poyet has been courted by another club, with Manchester United supremo Sir Alex Ferguson targeting the Uruguayan earlier in the summer to take over the vacant number 2 post at Old Trafford, following the departure of Carlos Queiroz to mange the Portuguese National team
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