Door’s still open for Anita and Gouffran
wanted to sell him. But Manchester United came in with an offer in the January worth a British record £7million which we accepted.
Kevin had told me the bombshell news before training and although there had been no rush to get him out of the door, it was good money, added to the fact that we had talked about trying to sign Les Ferdinand (inset right) from QPR for some time.
Coley’s sale would arm us with the money to tie up Les, who was a fantastic striker.
If it had been my decision I wouldn’t have kept Andy Cole either. As far as we were both concerned, he had lost something. Kevin always had the final decision, but I knew where he was coming from on this.
Kevin, though, wasn’t going to let Manchester United have things all their own way in the transfer. The move came with a stipulation – Keith Gillespie would have to be included in the deal.
If Manchester United hadn’t have agreed to that, Kevin wouldn’t have sold Andy Cole. I didn’t know too much about Keith but Kevin did and he had liked what he had seen. As far as Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson were concerned, he was one for the future, but they were prepared to let him go. Even so, Coley’s sale didn’t go down well with the fans. The announcement had been made that Andy was leaving the club and Kevin and I were upstairs in the office at St. James’ Park when fans started gathering on the steps below. This could only happen at Newcastle.
The crowd was growing and growing. What could we do? By about 5pm there were even more fans there. People were finishing work and going straight to St James’ Park, upset by Cole’s transfer.
Kevin said he was going outside to talk to the fans. “You’ve got to be joking,” I told him. “What are you going to tell them?”
“The truth,” he answered back. “They’ve got a right to know. They pay good money to watch us.”
Freddy Shepherd, who was with us, couldn’t believe it, but Kevin insisted they needed to explain their actions. He told Freddy that he and I would go down. I must admit I wasn’t too keen, but I admired Kevin. Only he would do something like that. It’s why most people like him. He’s so honest. He’s got time for everybody. These fans were hurt and they couldn’t believe what Kevin had done.
He just said to the supporters: “Listen guys, you are going to have to trust me. I’ve made a decision, it’s not been easy.”
They were yelling back ‘why Kevin, why have you done this?’ Kevin replied: “I’ve done it for the benefit of this football club. I’m prepared to take the flak. I’m not getting rid of someone I don’t like or anything like that. We just think it will be best for the club in the long run. Just wait and see who we bring in.”
He thought he would be able to go and sign Les Ferdinand from QPR straight away. In the end, he had to wait until the summer for Les, so in the meantime we had players like Paul Kitson up front, which probably cost us because we ended up finishing sixth with Andy still finishing as joint-leading scorer with Peter Beardsley on 15 goals.
But name me another manager who would have stood on those steps, explaining a decision to the supporters? No one would do it. It was brave of him, but typical of the man. ■■Terry McDermott Living For The Moment, RRP £18.99, only £15.99 on sportmediashop.com. Hardback and ebook available. On sale Thursday, March 30. Meet Terry signing copies in Waterstones Newcastle Saturday, April 8 at 11am. VURNON Anita and Yoan Gouffran may yet have a future at Newcastle United – if they are prepared to accept revised contract offers if the Magpies go up.
Anita and Gouffran are into the final months of their contracts at St James’ Park and the prospect of agreeing similar terms to their current deals are remote.
But Rafa Benitez has been impressed enough with the application of both to recommend new contracts if they are prepared to accept reduced terms to stay at Newcastle.
There have been some preliminary talks between the pair and the club, although much will depend on achieving promotion to the Premier League.
United have put together transfer plans in the event of going up and have ambitious targets, with Benitez keen to strengthen the spine of the side significantly.
But planning for next season is playing second fiddle to trying to earn promotion, with Benitez demanding all hands on deck for the next eight games.
The fact remains he wants to build a squad for next season if the team do go up, and Gouffran and Anita have plenty of Premier League experience and would offer relatively cheap options if they were prepared to sign on.
Benitez is likely to let some players who have not figured much go, but Anita and Gouffran have both been heavily involved.
While he is looking for an injection of quality if the team do go up, he believes building a strong squad is important. Newcastle have been left short on options in the past.
Whether they do that or not wil depend on their options elsewhere, with Gouffran attracting interest from France and some interest in Anita from Holland too.
But the pair have enjoyed working under Benitez and, even with reduced terms, English football may still be more lucrative than alternatives on the table.