Keegan establishes chain of command

Former Leeds manager Wise has agreed to take up the role of executive director (football) at St James' Park on Tuesday, and chairman Chris Mort was quick to stress Wise will have no day-to-day involvement with the playing squad but will instead concentrate on assisting the board on football matters - including player recruitment and the development of the Academy.

Keegan welcomes the policy, saying: "I am all for the changes and I approve of them. They want someone on the board who understands football, and Dennis knows very well. I think it will work very well. He reports to me - the chain is established."

The Magpies went down 3-0 at Arsenal on Tuesday night, in their second visit to the Emirates Stadium in the space of week - with Wise watching from the directors' box.

It is a result which leaves Newcastle only seven points off the Barclays Premier League relegation places, and in desperate need of a confidence boost following a wretched run of results.

Keegan maintains he has no problem with the appointment process, which represents the latest phase of owner Mike Ashley's efforts to restructure the club he bought in a £134.4million takeover last summer.

"I had a chat with Dennis and I knew that he was in the frame for the job. That was in place before I joined the club, and it would have happened regardless. It's been very open in that sense," the manager continued.

"I know what Dennis is going to do, and the idea in principle is good - to look for new players, to bring youngsters through and do things which our academy isn't doing so much at the moment."

Keegan, though, knows the fortunes of the north-east club are not set for a quick fix.

He said: "Our fans have common sense and they know it won't happen overnight. Things take time. Sometimes there's an 'uplift' with a new manager. But our fixtures have been tough, and we could have played much better against Arsenal and been beaten."