Newcastle out of toon - Keegan outburst sparked by missing out on £17m Modric

Judging by some of the body language between Ashley and Keegan, they would not have chosen to spend social hours in such close proximity to each other had the cause and widespread affection for Sir Bobby not been so strong.

Sitting opposite each other on the top table, Ashley and Keegan had more to say to the other guests there — Alan Shearer, Gareth Southgate, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson, former England manager Steve McClaren and Niall Quinn — than to each other. Certainly the hottest football topic in town — the future of Newcastle United — was ignored.

When Ashley and his associates, including chairman Chris Mort, descended from the fourthfloor Bamburgh Suite behind the Milburn Stand, the mood was bullish.

'The meeting was positive, everything was positive, we're all here for next season,' was the message from one of the entourage as they left around midnight.

If only life was that simple for Newcastle fans. Keegan and Ashley might need each other at the moment — which means a parting of the ways cannot happen immediately — but what they want in the future is very different.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that what really prompted Keegan's amazing live television outburst after the defeat against Chelsea was the club's failure to land the brilliant £17 million Croatia player Luca Modric, who could be one of the stars of Euro 2008 before heading off to Tottenham rather than Tyneside.

Having missed out on Jonathan Woodgate to Spurs in January, this was even more galling. And there is talk that a third, unnamed Keegan target also prefers White Hart Lane — a team not significantly ahead of Newcastle in the Premier League table.

Modric was the young, energetic, bright midfield playmaker Keegan thought could spark new life into Newcastle. Such is his reputation, Chelsea manager Avram Grant travelled to Macedonia earlier in the season to check on Modric playing a Euro 2008 qualifier there, before being told by Roman Abramovich that other areas of the team took priority — notably strikers.

Keegan's sulky response to missing out on Modric — 'We're a million miles behind the top four' — was regarded as unnecessarily downbeat by Ashley, who knows this is the stage of the season when clubs send out letters asking supporters if they want to renew season tickets.

Ashley is known to have a fearsome temper but on this occasion he decided that King Kev is worth keeping on the inside. For his part, the Newcastle manager, who surely appreciates the financial implications of walking out on a job, has had to accept that there will be a limited budget to work with this summer.

Those restrictions also apply to players' wages, as demonstrated by the board's attitude towards £120,000- a-week forward Michael Owen. Although it was Keegan's Monday outburst which led to Friday's showdown talks, the manager's previous public assertion that Owen would definitely be staying at the club and would be offered a new deal was badly received in the boardroom.

Dennis Wise, who enjoys a director of football-style role at the club, believes Owen is no longer in the first rank of strikers — an opinion apparently shared by the Premier League's Big Four, who all passed on him when he left Real Madrid. Newcastle would be prepared to sell Owen for as little as £3m if the former European Footballer of the Year's pride prevents him accepting the £40,000 pay cut which is reportedly a condition of extending a contract with one year to run.

Keegan may even have to reduce his staff, with McClaren's former No 2 Steve Round under threat. Round may end up at Everton where there is a vacancy for a good right-hand man to David Moyes.

Even with so many famous names among the 600 guests at the charity dinner in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation — Italia 90 stars Terry Butcher, Bryan Robson and Stuart Pearce among them — all eyes were on Ashley and Keegan to see if anything could be gleaned from their behaviour.

At one stage, as they walked between tables, the extrovert Ashley, in an open-necked shirt and black jacket, did attempt to crack a joke with the more downcast Keegan. But when the applause rang out for the Newcastle manager when his name was read out from the stage, Ashley was not one of the cheerleaders.

"A fragile peace" is the best way Toon fans could describe the relationship. For now, Keegan has been forgiven for his undiplomatic outburst although he has been told in no uncertain terms not to do it again. Chairman Mort and executive director (football) Wise will continue to have better access to the owner than Keegan.

Former chairman Freddy Shepherd, who went to Spain after finding out the club's hierarchy would not make him welcome at St James' Park even

Sir Bobby Robson's Foundation dinner, doubts whether the truce between manager and owner can be maintained.

"Kevin is behaving like he always has done. He needs things to be done his way," said Shepherd. Where that leaves the Newcastle players is anyone's guess. Their one genuine homegrown talent in recent years, Steven Taylor, has just opened contract talks with the club but the Under-21 international will want proof of Newcastle's ambitions before he commits.

Even more worryingly, there must be serious doubt whether messiah-inwaiting Alan Shearer would actually want the job if he had to report to Wise and his cohort Tony Jimenez. It will be interesting to see if Keegan's name is chanted as loudly by Newcastle fans at Everton today as Manchester City fans sang for their under-fire boss Sven Goran Eriksson last weekend.

Significantly, the single biggest cheer at Friday night's dinner came when Sir Bobby Robson stepped on stage and passionately declared: "We have three Geordies in this room tonight who had great careers in football — Sir Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson and myself — and yet none of us played for Newcastle. That has to stop. Newcastle United in the future have to pick up the best young players in the north-east."

Before that can happen, Keegan and Ashley have to join forces — without requiring a charitable cause to do so.