JOE Kinnear has left St James Park for the last time with a blank farewell card.

Newcastle Uniteds departing director of football reported solid interest in the glossy A6-sized rectangle but it remained un-inked.

He said: To you this might look like a blank card with a picture of a downcast owl on it, but what you cant see is how close I was to getting Shola thingy to sign it or that other one, the French or Mexican lad?

Kinnear was an unexpected choice when he was appointed director of football last June, having previously been the least popular manager in the clubs history.

The ex-Wimbledon mans popularity if anything decreased when he mispronounced the names of several players and indeed the city of Newcastle, but he insisted he should be judged on his signings.

A bullish Kinnear subsequently inundated Lionel Messis general mailing address with letters, chasing Cristiano Ronaldo with a ballpoint pen and even insisting a deal for Ferenc Puskas was “all but done”.

However Messi never replied, Ronaldo was too fast and Puskas had passed away in 2006. Many fans felt Kinnears subsequent attempt to exhume the Hungarian legend was distasteful.

The low point for Kinnear came in the January transfer window when he unveiled himself as Brazilian winger Kinnearinho at a press conference sporting an unconvincing wig.

Few Newcastle United fans fell for the trick, knowing full well that Kinnearinho had just signed for Sporting Lisbon.