Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan and owner Mike Ashley will meet face to face in London on Friday in order to find the way forward for the Magpies.A club with a unique capacity for attracting unwanted publicity has found itself in the media spotlight once again this week amid speculation that the manager is at loggerheads with the billionaire owner he hopes will bankroll his second attempt to reel in the big boys.

The meeting was called in the wake of the 57-year-old's admission that his side will not be able to compete with the Premier League's top four for years, even with significant investment.

Just how that message and the underlying issues it presents were received by Ashley is a matter for conjecture, but there is little doubt that the air needs to be cleared.

However Keegan, who was in typically upbeat mood as he prepared his side for Sunday's final-day trip to Everton, remained unrepentant about his comments made following Monday's 2-0 home defeat by Chelsea.

He said: "I wasn't asked about the top four, I was asked 'how do you think you fared today against Chelsea'?, and 'how far away were we from that'?

"That was the question I was asked and I said 'a million miles'. You can go round and get thousands of opinions from the fans, who I think are always a good barometer.

"You can go to the fans, not just of Newcastle United, but of most other clubs and say 'can your club get into the top four next year'? They would probably say 'we would like to think so, but if we are honest, that top four has been the same for a long time'.

"I have seen what other people have come out and said, like [Premier League chief executive] Mr [Richard] Scudamore, to defend or try to put a different slant on it, and I fully understand that.

"But what I expressed was my view, and I stick by it.

"The majority of people you talk to who have a knowledge of the game, they realise by looking back over the last six years that that top four has been the same."

Keegan is hugely popular among the club's fans, particularly after guiding the Magpies away from the relegation zone with a strong finish to a difficult season, and they will hope for a positive outcome to today's meeting.

That could amount to an assurance that the manager and owner share the same ambition and are ready to go into battle with the rest of the Premier League to land their summer transfer targets.

In the meantime, Newcastle will head for Everton without Joey Barton and with Emre having been released early for Turkey's pre-Euro 2008 training camp.

In addition, they will be without Australian striker Mark Viduka, who is facing between three and six months on the sidelines after his persistent Achilles problem proved to be worse than first feared.

Keegan said: "We will know more in two weeks. Mark has been great for us, so that's a blow. But if it is three months, it won't be a major blow."

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