Former Newcastle United director Denis Cassidy has revealed why Mike Ashley went with Kevin Keegan two years ago.
Cassidy was a director and later chairman of Newcastle United's plc board.
He told the Evening Chronicle: "Remember that Ashley is, and probably always will be, a retailer at heart. He did what any good retailer would do in such circumstances.
"He shopped for someone the fans would find irresistible, so that whatever went wrong afterwards he, Mike Ashley, would nevertheless remain in their good books.
"He unveiled not a new manager but an old hero Kevin Keegan, popularly and irreverently known as The Messiah.
"Everyone wanted to know my view on the great news, but it was an unequivocal: 'Sorry, it was the right move 17 years ago but it is the wrong move now and it will end in tears.' It did too."
