If you're in his camp, you love him, if you're on the outside, the chances are you hate him. That's how it's always been for Dennis Wise and he couldn't care less.

You'll rarely meet anyone as brave or as thick-skinned. He confronts challenges head-on. He thrives on them. Look at the way he used Leeds United's 15-point penalty to bond the squad when he was manager there last season. But “us against them” is one thing, “us against us” another. It's hard to envisage how Dennis can continue working for Newcastle United.

He developed as a player at Wimbledon in the 1980s and some of their attitude has travelled with him everywhere since: can be cheeky, can be nasty; tough, ambitious and ruthless. I played with him at Chelsea. If he thought he could needle an opponent, he would.

Not that you were always safe from his mockery if you were a team-mate. I recall when my name was booed by Chelsea fans when it was announced to the crowd. It left me feeling, well, about as big as Dennis. But he ran over from 30 yards away to tell me: “They really hate you, don't they!” Cheers.

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Another time at Chelsea, he stuck two fingers up at his own supporters when they jeered him. But so many at Newcastle are so passionately against him, he can't ignore or defy them much longer.

It seems to be a lost cause because he's so closely linked to Mike Ashley, even if it's the owner who has made a mess of the club. Dennis's appointment as executive director (football) was a massive gamble considering his lack of experience, although he was a successful manager. But all you can judge him on is the players Newcastle have brought in and they look decent, even if they weren't to Kevin Keegan's exact requirements.

The apparent lack of dialogue between Keegan and Dennis doesn't make sense. Dennis played for England under Keegan; I can't believe they didn't have serious discussions when Dennis arrived at Newcastle, and since. There is a big similarity between the two - they are hard to work with if they don't get their own way.

Dennis walked away from the Millwall job because he wanted transfer funds to push for promotion and the board wouldn't give him the money. Sounds similar to Keegan, but the difference is that if he doesn't get what he wants, Dennis will roll up his sleeves and prepare for battle. He'd have no sympathy for the sort of cry-baby, toys-out-of-the-pram attitude that Keegan has been often accused of.