Kinnear was tasked with travelling to watch Birmingham play Swansea in the third round of the League Cup at the end of September and cast his eye over any potential transfer targets, with Big Joe duly identifying a real potential coup in the shape of Brum midfielder Shane Ferguson.

Sensing he’d uncovered a diamond in the rough, Kinnear even went as far as asking one of his Birmingham counterparts if the club would be willing to listen to offers for Ferguson and at what price they’d be willing to negotiate.

It was at this point that the Birmingham officials pointed out to Joe that Ferguson was merely on a season-long loan at St Andrew’s and that Kinnear would have to negotiate with the Irishman’s parent club if he wanted to strike a deal - that parent club, of course, being none other than Newcastle United