Newcastle football manager Mark Sargent has resigned from the Knights after he and coach Michael Hagan publicly aired their concerns about the future of the club.

Knights chairman Michael Tyler hauled Hagan and Sargent before the football board in response to the duo's comments the Knights would perish unless they spent at least $500,000 on improving staff resources and player facilities.

"The events of the last three or four days have brought to a head a situation that has been an issue for a period of time," Sargent said in a statement released by the club.

"My professional opinion regarding the future direction of the club is at odds with senior management and has reached the point where my continued employment with the Knights is untenable.

"Whilst I admit the timing of this decision is not ideal, I feel strongly that it is in the best interests of the club to move on.

"I will cherish my time with the Knights, both as player and as an administrator and I consider myself very lucky, in particular, to have continued my 20-year relationship with Michael Hagan during that time."

The simmering tension threatens to further divide the Knights, who are win-less at the halfway point of the competition and battling an horrific injury toll.

Knights chairman Michael Tyler praised the manner in which Sargent had conducted himself over the past 48 hours and added that chief executive Ken Conway had the full support of the board.

"I think it is also worth noting that both Mark and Ken have assured me that they bear no personal ill-feeling toward each other," he said.

Queensland Origin coach Hagan was evasive when asked whether he would also quit the Knights if management did not make fix the problem of a lack of resources.

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