West Ham have described Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear as 'out of order' over his pursuit of Lucas Neill, but will not report the matter to the Premier League. Kinnear revealed on Thursday he had been talking to Neill's agent but the Hammers said no permission had been given to approach the player.

A club source told PA Sport: "Kinnear was out of order and we have made our feelings known to Newcastle in the strongest possible terms but we will leave it at that."