Joe Kinnear has claimed that he has been offered reassurances by Mike Ashley that there will be no interference in his running of Newcastle United's first team after signing a contract extension until the end of the season. Similar promises were made to Kevin Keegan and the former manager left St James' Park when players were bought without his approval.

It was that controversial episode that led to Kinnear's appointment, initially on an interim basis, and having been granted a new deal to replace his previous rolling, monthly arrangement, the Irishman stated that he had sought and received guarantees on the matter from Newcastle's owner. Whether he will fare any better than Keegan will shortly become apparent.

As The Times reported this month, Ashley has been eager to consolidate Kinnear's position to give a sheen of sturdiness to Newcastle's predicament. The club are up for sale, in the relegation zone, have a small squad, and have a number of senior players falling out of contract next summer and their hand-to-mouth existence has not been conducive to stability.

With the club's two prospective American buyers unlikely to complete any takeover before February, according to Keith Harris, the investment banker handling Newcastle's sale, there is a logic to formalising Kinnear's role. He can now make decisions regarding possible buys and sales during the transfer window and offer guidance on contracts.

Those decisions, he said, will be his alone, in spite of concerns among supporters at the influence of Dennis Wise, the Newcastle executive director (football), during Keegan's tenure. “I have asked for assurances and that will not happen to me,” Kinnear said. “That was one of the things I spoke about. Every signing who comes in at new year will be a Joe Kinnear signing, absolutely. One hundred per cent.

“I have cleared that at boardroom level. I just said I feel it is much easier and healthier when everyone knows what their job details are and my job is to get the players that I want in to make Newcastle a lot better team than it is at present. But then the board make money available and they will give the task to Dennis Wise to go and negotiate and hopefully bring the player in. I put that to the board and they were happy with it.”

Does the same apply to outgoings? “Yes, no one will go without my say-so,” Kinnear said. “All football matters as far as transfers are concerned will totally be down to me.”

Was he aware that Keegan was told the same? “I cannot comment on that,” he said. “I just sat down and explained how I felt about the job. If I am going to be here until the end of the season, I have to be in total control.

“I stressed that I had to be the one who made the final decision. Nobody else is going to make them. If I am to take the job, I have to be in charge of getting players in, but obviously I need help, so Dennis is in a position to chase up the people I want. But I will hang my hat on those players. There isn't going to be any mix-up about who signed them. Only me.”

Kinnear has identified three possible new additions and has been told he will be granted limited funds. “I wouldn't know what price the club would be worth if it went down, but it would be a massive loss, I would have thought,” the former Wimbledon and Nottingham Forest manager said. “I explained to Mikey, he needs to protect that. The only way to protect that asset is to invest and make sure we are not in the bottom three at the end of season.”

Kinnear, who has claimed ten points from a possible 24 in charge, wants “the job for keeps” and has received an apology from Alan Shearer after reports suggested he was manoeuvring for the role. He “will be trying to sort out Nicky Butt and Michael Owen”, who are entitled to negotiate moves to other clubs from next month. “I hope to have an 80 per cent chance of keeping Michael,” he said.