TERRY Gennoe is expected to follow Alan Irvine to Newcastle after quitting the Ewood staff, following a 16-year stint with Blackburn Rovers, writes PETER WHITE.

And Gennoe, 44, who has been the club's education officer and goalkeeping coach since he ended his playing career, said the club had not been "positive enough" in their efforts to keep him.

He was expected to become full-time goalkeeping coach at Ewood but talks over that have broken down.

And, while he would not comment on where his future might now lie, I understand Kenny Dalglish is ready to add yet another of his former Rovers colleagues to the St James' Park staff.

There has been other interest shown in Gennoe, with Shrewsbury - his home town - believed to have considered making him an offer to take over as their manager.

But the lure of joining Dalglish and Irvine on the Newcastle staff will probably win the day.

Gennoe said: "It has been an extremely difficult decision for me to take to leave the club.

"But I gave Blackburn the chance of keeping me as full-time goalkeeping coach and their response was not positive enough for me.

"The subject first cropped up just after Christmas and I am not satisfied with the way things have progressed. "At the same time, there has been speculation in the newspapers that Mike Kelly might come in as goalkeeping coach with the new manager.

"Even though there's a lot of things in the newspapers that don't mean anything it hasn't helped to make me feel settled.

"In football you have to look after yourself and I have to secure my future."

Rovers chairman Robert Coar, who has seen a manager, two players and now two memers of staff go to Newcastle said: "There was a mutual agreement that we needed a full-time goalkeeping coach and we offered him that job.

"But he has decided to leave."

Rovers supporters are beoming increasingly concerned about a situation where key personnel can just up and leave and are not, apparently, secured under contract.

That is an open invitation to other clubs.

Rovers' Learning through Football programme, set up by Gennoe, will be unaffected. Because of his coaching commitments, he had already delegated most of the duties to others and they would have been taking over if he had stayed at Ewood.

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