Kinnear to fight FA charge
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Your support makes all the difference.Joe Kinnear will fight his latest Football Association charge after claiming he has "done nothing wrong".
The Newcastle manager was charged by the FA this week with using abusive and insulting words towards an assistant referee at St James' Park at the weekend.
But Kinnear, who was sent to the stands by referee Mike Riley after the outbursts, will not accept he is guilty.
He said: "I'm going to defend myself against any charge because on this occasion I have done nothing wrong and I'm determined to clear my name.
"I still haven't been told exactly why I was sent from the dug-out, but I believe it was for supposedly saying something to the linesman.
"I will fight this because I'm frustrated and disappointed it has happened. The thing that I find strange is I've no idea how the linesman has heard what I've supposedly said from where he was standing and with all the noise that was going on.
"Chris (Hughton) was having his say and I did say something, I know what I said, but I'll wait until I have to give my defence before I talk about that any more.
"There was plenty of noise around, the fans behind the linesman were absolutely furious and they were saying plenty to him as well, the whole place went crazy."
The incident happened after visitors Stoke were awarded a free-kick towards the end of Saturday's match. The Potters went on to equalise and the match finished 2-2.
Kinnear added: "The free-kick should never have been given, it wasn't a foul, there was barely any contact at all and I couldn't believe it was judged to be foul play. Mistakes happen though."
Kinnear is already facing a separate charge of improper conduct for calling Martin Atkinson "a Mickey Mouse referee" after a 2-1 defeat at Fulham on 9 November.
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