NORWICH City boss Glenn Roeder was given a £1.1m golden handshake when he left Newcastle 10 months ago.Roeder's payout was revealed after Newcastle's club's accounts were opened for the first time by new chairman Chris Mort.

NORWICH City boss Glenn Roeder was given a £1.1m golden handshake when he left Newcastle 10 months ago.

Roeder's payout was revealed after Newcastle's club's accounts were opened for the first time by new chairman Chris Mort.

The figures show some staggering sums of money being paid out by the Premiership club.

The cost of severing tries with Roeder - who has one of the best records of recent managers at St James' Park - has raised eyebrows on Tyneside, not least because it was reported at the time that he resigned from his post. However, the figures show that compensation totalling £1.1m has been attributed to "changes in team management".

Newcastle's accounts also show the club is still counting the cost of getting rid of Roeder's predecessor, Graeme Souness, with the sacking costing £3.2m.

Roeder took over from Souness as caretaker manager in February, 2006, and turned Newcastle's season around, taking them from the brink of the relegation zone to seventh in the Premiership.

He signed a two-year deal in May, but progress was hampered by a crippling injury list and after a run of just one win in 10 games, Roeder - appointed Norwich manager at the end of October - was said to have resigned with immediate effect. He had won 45pc of his matches, enough in a single season to qualify for European competition.

The pay-off is just one of a series of revelations coming out of St James' Park.

Former director Douglas Hall was also given a golden handshake of £1.1m when he left the club; Mike Ashley had to plough £75m into the club to keep it afloat and the club lost £5m in a failed casino scheme.

Newcastle made a loss of £32.9m in 2007 and have one of the highest wage bills in the Premier League at £62.5m.