Newcastle United's director of football Joe Kinnear has apologised to the club's supporters for being critical of them.

The 66-year-old claimed that he was more intelligent than the North East outfit's fans after he received a negative reaction to his appointment at St James' Park.

"I regret what I said about the supporters," the Shields Gazette quotes Kinnear as saying. "I can't get anybody to say that Joe has the utmost respect for the supporters, and they are the most important people at the club.

"I always go to their forums, and loved having the craic with them around the city when I was manager there. There are 10% I'm never going to win over, that is the point I was trying to make, but I regret what I said and if I offended any Newcastle fans I apologise."

Kinnear spent five months as manager of Newcastle before leaving in 2009 due to health reasons.