This is an accepted version of this page Joseph Patrick Kinnear (27 December 1946 – 7 April 2024) was an Irish professional football manager and player.
After his playing career, he managed India, Nepal, Doncaster Rovers, Wimbledon, Luton Town, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle United.
[3] Learning his footballing skills under the managership of Bill Nicholson,[5] Kinnear made his Tottenham debut on 8 April 1966 in a 4–1 home defeat by West Ham United.
[6][7] Kinnear had just played his first international game and three days later, in February 1967, Phil Beal broke his arm, which put him out of the rest of the season.
[18] Kinnear briefly took charge of Doncaster after Mackay's departure in 1989, but was replaced by Billy Bremner after a consortium completed their takeover of the club.
[19] He was voted Premier League Manager of the Month three times by the end of the season as Wimbledon finished above more established teams including Liverpool, Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.
[21] It was reported that Kinnear turned down the chance to replace Jack Charlton as manager of the Republic of Ireland national team in 1996 because the FAI did not offer him enough money.
[25] Before returning to football management with Luton Town, Kinnear was a front runner to replace Martin O'Neill at Leicester City,[26] and also considered taking over the struggling Sheffield Wednesday.
In the summer of 2001, Kinnear released the majority of the relegated squad, and brought in a number of his own men over the course of the season, including future captains Kevin Nicholls and Chris Coyne, along with winger Jean-Louis Valois.
A 3–0 defeat by rivals Derby County at Pride Park,[35] signalled the end for Kinnear, with his resignation coming on 16 December 2004.
[35][36] Nottingham Forest were 22nd in the Championship table following Kinnear's departure, the club appointed Mick Harford to take over as interim manager.
[38] On 26 September 2008, Kinnear was named as the interim manager of Premier League side Newcastle United until the end of October,[39] following the shock resignation of Kevin Keegan who had publicly berated the owners and directors of the club, suggesting corruption and lack of clarity over who was in charge of the squad.
[40] The initial one-month period was extended for an additional month, keeping Kinnear at St James' Park until the end of December.
[54] Following a 5–1 defeat by Liverpool on 28 December, Kinnear re-affirmed his belief that the Newcastle squad lacked strength in depth – with the manager having fielded a makeshift side due to injuries and suspensions resulting from the 2–1 Boxing Day defeat by Wigan Athletic – and stated that he was looking to improve the side with transfers in the January window.
N'Zogbia had frequently stated in the press, via his agent, that he wished to leave after Kinnear mispronounced his name during an interview in which he called him "insomnia".
[63] It was later announced Kinnear would require a heart bypass operation[64] and that Alan Shearer would take over the managerial role for the remainder of the season.
[67] In a Talksport interview over the telephone on 17 June 2013, Kinnear stated he had replaced "Derek Lambesi" (mispronouncing the name of Derek Llambias) as the club's director of football, had signed Dean Holdsworth at Wimbledon for £50,000 (actually £650,000), sold Robbie Earle (who retired a year after Kinnear left), signed goalkeeper Tim Krul when he was previously manager (Krul was actually signed by Graeme Souness three years prior) and had been awarded the LMA Manager of the Year award three times despite only winning the award once.
[72] The confusion around Kinnear's appointment to the role was criticised by former club chairman Freddy Shepherd in an interview with BBC Sport.