Keegan back to the Geordies

[ShearMagic9]

True.

Mike Ashley has probably wrongly sat with the supporters, and knows how they feel and what they want.

However, everyone on Tyneside was down in the dumps, wondering if we were actually seriously going to get relegated, because it's still a possibility.

We'd only sold 15,000 tickets for the FA Cup match on Wednesday night after the 6-0 trouncing at Old Trafford until the announcement KK was coming home was made.

The attendance was a little over 35,000, which means we sold 20,000 tickets in just under 4 hours.

Now everyone is in high spirits again, which at least for the short term can only be a good thing.

How well Kevin Keegan does will be interesting. But when he goes it will more than likely be of his own accord. He's a great manager who commands the respect of his players, no-one can deny such.

However, the game has moved on since the last time he was in the game, which is why I think he needs to assemble a good panel of backroom staff to help him with such a development of the game.

New found optimism has been found, and although we're still in desperate need of a trophy, it's a good style of football that the Geordie faithful want to see the most. We should get this under Keegan.

 

[ShearMagic9]

Despite all the above I am looking forward to KK's comeback this week. I think the mood has lifted a huge amount up in the NE, and that will help the team. Bolton going up there at the worst possible time.

And just on that.

A trivia question will come up one day but this season:

Sam Allardyces first game in charge was against Bolton and Kevin Keegans first game in charge will be against Bolton.

 

[moomba]

Mike Ashley has probably wrongly sat with the supporters, and knows how they feel and what they want.

I think he does realise that now, and will be seen more in the directors seats. A shame, but a good move IMO.

How well Kevin Keegan does will be interesting. But when he goes it will more than likely be of his own accord. He's a great manager who commands the respect of his players, no-one can deny such.

His support staff will be interesting. I can see him agreeing to stay for a year or two, but grooming his successor in much the same way he tried to groom Pearce. If Shearer goes onto the staff I think it'll be a good indication that KK isn't in it for the long term.

However, the game has moved on since the last time he was in the game, which is why I think he needs to assemble a good panel of backroom staff to help him with such a development of the game.

Definately. There are thoughts it will be the old gang (Terry Mac, Beardsley, even a bit of talk about nicking Fazackerley off us). He relied a heap on Arthur Cox for scouting in the past but he's in retirement now so I think he does need an old head around. Either that or a young tactician looking to make his mark in the game, getting someone from outside the English game might not be the worst move either.

New found optimism has been found, and although we're still in desperate need of a trophy, it's a good style of football that the Geordie faithful want to see the most. We should get this under Keegan.

I hope so. I will say that in his final years at City our football wasn't too exciting at all, but I think he'd lost a hell of a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the game by that time. Probably will be a bit different on that front back at Newcastle.

 

[moomba]

And just on that.

A trivia question will come up one day but this season:

Sam Allardyces first game in charge was against Bolton and Kevin Keegans first game in charge will be against Bolton.

And KK's last game as a manager. At home to Bolton with Fat Sam as their manager.

 

[Shinboners]

We'd only sold 15,000 tickets for the FA Cup match on Wednesday night after the 6-0 trouncing at Old Trafford until the announcement KK was coming home was made.

Um, don't Newcastle fans go on about how loyal they are? How they're there through thick and thin, the best fans in England? And how it doesn't matter if Newcastle are flying or down in the dumps, the ground is always full?

 

[tribey]

i wouldnt be so quick to knock big sam

Bolton were a always a threat to finish anywhere from 4th-7th under him. Immediately after his depature we are fighting to avoid relegation.

Saying Bolton were 'always a threat to finish anywhere from 4-7' under Allardyce is like saying 'Newcastle were always a threat to finish 1-3 under Sir Bobby.

Did Big Sam have Bolton punching above their weight on a shoestring? Of course. Did he do it using anti-football tactics that ran counter to all that is good about the game? Yes.

But the main problem I have with Sam is, whether it was when he was in the frame for the England job or even in the aftermath of his sacking, the media and other football personalities eager to sink the boot into the club made it sound as if Sam Allardyce was some sort of managerial genius who would make Newcastle a great club (or England a winning team) if only he was given time.

What a load of shit. There was never anything special about Sam. Nothing.

There are countless examples of average/poor managers getting small or half-decent clubs up to the dizzying heights of midtable and beyond - or even to trophies.

• Howard Wilkinson won the league with Leeds.
• Joe Royle won the FA Cup with Everton.
• Brian Little won the League Cup with Villa.
• Steve McClaren won the League Cup with Boro.
• Graeme Souness won the League Cup with Blackburn.
• Alan Curbishley 'did a Big Sam' with Charlton for years.
• George Burley got Ipswich to 5th a few years ago.
• Glenn Roeder took a woeful Newcastle side from a relegation battle to winning the Intertoto Cup two years ago.
• Peter Reid got an ordinary Sunderland side to finish 7th two years in a row.
• Graham Taylor took Watford from the basement of the league to the first division in 4 years.
• Harry Redknapp is currently piloting Pompey to a UEFA Cup place.

And so on and so forth.

 

[Pessimistic]

On a slightly different note is keegan now more Newcastle than liverpool - I think so

 

[Cooldude]

On a slightly different note is keegan now more Newcastle than liverpool - I think so

Kevin Keegan can walk on water...

Forever Red

 

[belfast_bomber]

Keggy might be more Mag than Scouse these days... but there's no denying where his right hand man Terry McDermott's true alleigances lie.

 

[Vieira]

Piss away the title? Now I'm not sure if you actually know about the season in question, or have just heard about it. But, we didn't have that bad of an end to the year to be honest, stopped winning away from home, but Man Utd won that title, we didn't lose it. Man Utd won something ridiculous like 13 out of the last 15 games.

Sorry Jana but you are wrong! Newcastle lost the title. A team should never lose the title when they are 12-15 points ahead in January.

Taggart put the mental pressure on and KK lost it. Still talk about the interview he gave with the "I'll love it if they lose" comment with mates of mine.

Good luck to Newcastle at least he will be given time to turn things around.

 

[ShearMagic9]

You could say we lost the title, but Manchester United won 13 out of the last 15 games.

We won 5 out of the last 10.

A team should never lose, but how often does a side win 13 out of the last 15 games of an EPL season?

Happens very rarely.

 

[tribey]

You could say we lost the title, but Manchester United won 13 out of the last 15 games.

We won 5 out of the last 10.

A team should never lose, but how often does a side win 13 out of the last 15 games of an EPL season?

Happens very rarely.

Six 1-0's in that lot too. They were good, but they were also f#cking lucky.

On the flip side, our team bus must've driven under a ladder before slamming into one of those big up-yours telescope mirrors.

Every time we needed the rub of the green in that run-in we just couldn't get a jammy result go our way.

Losing at West Ham after Tino hit the post early.
Graham Fenton scoring not once but twice late on to steal all three points at Ewood.
Battering Man United at SJP and coming away with nothing.
The Liverpool 4-3 game. Twice lead at 2-1 and 3-2, but instead of running away with the game as we threatened to, Liverpool - with absolutely nothing to play for - just kept on coming.
Drawing at abject Forest thanks to a late Ian Woan strike.

Just bullshit.

 

[moomba]

KK press conference about to start.

 

[ShearMagic9]

Ahh Graham Fenton.

Brings up memories of my current FM game as Blyth Spartans

 

[Vieira]

You could say we lost the title, but Manchester United won 13 out of the last 15 games.

We won 5 out of the last 10.

A team should never lose, but how often does a side win 13 out of the last 15 games of an EPL season?

Happens very rarely.

The last time Arsenal won the title we went on one of "those" runs starting in January. Would love one this year but the glass half empty in me is saying ManU will win it.

If memory serves me correctly Fergie tried his level best to suck Keegan in and he did. Still remember seeing that interview for the first time and thinking what the ferk is Keegan doing? Your team is playing beautiful football and you come running into an interview, grab the cans and start having a go - youtube anyone?

Again love KK as a player and think his teams play an attractive brand of football. Will also be given some time to get it right but how long till he has had enough of it and how long till Shearer starts to white ant him??

 

[ShearMagic9]

[YOUTUBE]YXpUdBlRZe8[/YOUTUBE]

Enjoy

 

[moomba]

Spoke very positively, said he was the most qualified person to come here. Spoke about how he knows the club inside out, knows the area and the fans and thats why he is right for the club.

Said he thought the club wasn't going in the right direction before.

Said he had offers before (since Man City) but wasn't interested. Said Newcastle was the only club he'd come back for.

Seems to think that he has a bit of a headstart, knowing so much about the club.

Spoke positively about Owen, definite and deliberate start of a rebuilding of relationships there IMO. Said he wasn't bothered about the comments in his book.

Said that the game is pretty much the same, doesn't see a problem that he hasn't seen a game in three years. Said that sometimes it can be a bit of a help.

Had a go at a journo who asked about Shearer, said he had to wait his turn. Got a bit testy there, but had a joke about it shortly after.

Said he's fully concentrating on the game on Saturday, so avoided the assistant question. Said he wants to bring the best, said that if there is a role that would suit Shearer he would love to see him there. Said he would definately speak to him.

Said fantastic that Terry Mac was there.

Spoke positively about his time at City, said he wasn't sacked but was asked to leave after deciding not to sign a contract extension.

Spoke about the importance of entertaining.

Spoke about being here for 3 and a half years. I'm guessing thats the contract he's signed.

Said that it is possible to break into the top 4.

Didn't confirm rumours about Defoe or Wright-Phillips. Said that if the journo would ask him after the presser he would tell him. Said that he will try to sign 2-3 players, and said he thinks Newcastle are capable of getting in top players.

Didn't confirm £30m transfer budget rumours this window, just said "let's hope the papers are right".

Spoke about the Geordies preferring an exciting loss to a drab 1-0 win. Said, thats the way they are, "they just want us to have a go". Mort spoke about getting a combination of entertaining football and winning football.

Ashley very excited according to Mort, no targets set in terms of silverware but they are "an ambitious club".

KK spoke a bit about Barton, said that he had told Barton that he would support him 100%. Said that he'd given him that commitment before and Barton had let him down, but he's given that commitment again.

Nice bloke, good to see him back. Seems to have his enthusiasm back too.

 

[tribey]

If memory serves me correctly Fergie tried his level best to suck Keegan in and he did. Still remember seeing that interview for the first time and thinking what the ferk is Keegan doing? Your team is playing beautiful football and you come running into an interview, grab the cans and start having a go - youtube anyone?

Meh. In the grand scheme of things Kev's rant meant f#ck all except to ignite this myth that Fergie is some sort of Uri Geller-type figure who got inside Kev's head and ESP'ed the title from our grasp.

In reality, Kev's rant was after the scrappy 1-0 win at Elland Road - with only 2 games left to play and after they'd already overhauled us.

If anything, you could perceive it to be a last-ditch attempt by Keegan to try and throw Man U off their game. But they just kept on bloody winning.

 

[tribey]

Said fantastic that Terry Mac was there.

He must spend 100% of his wages on teflon - was brought back to the club by Souness and still doesn't have an official job description.

Survived the departure of Souness and his minions.
Survived the departure of Roeder.
Has now survived the departure of Allardyce to find his old mate Keegan is back in charge.

Amazing.

 

[tribey]

[YOUTUBE]YXpUdBlRZe8[/YOUTUBE]

Enjoy

It's funny, whenever I see the still of this clip I am always drawn to the bloke on the Euro 96 promotional calendar in the background.

What if instead of spending the collective £11.25 million on Tino and Batty in Feb/Mar 96 we'd gone a little bit further and bought Shearer home early to bolster the title challenge?

There is no way Blackburn could've refused such a huge bid with their season already petering out and Big Al would've leapt at the chance to snag a medal so late in the piece.

As far as any shock to the system goes Shearer - being practically a clone of Sir Les - would've been plug'n'play, rather than the awkward Jekyll'n'Hyde confusion bomb that Tino ultimately was.

 

[Pessimistic]

Incidentally Kev hails from ScuMthorpe which us to the east of england if anything. (how can you get that palce name past a swear filter)

Remember hating KK for what he did to the magpies in 75 ?? Mcdermott was definately a Magpie then.

In fact in the early 70s the magpies had quite a few players who went on to be superstars in the late 70s at liverpool = we could see the potential then but in true magpie fashion they pissed it all away

 

[Durham Eagle]

Started his career there, but actually from Doncaster if I remember his autobiography correctly.
His dad was from Stanley, Co.Durham I believe.

 

[Shinboners]

Six 1-0's in that lot too. They were good, but they were also f#cking lucky.

IIRC, Cantona either scored or created every goal in those 1-0 wins.

Battering Man United at SJP and coming away with nothing.

That was a ridiculous game. Peter Schmeichel was the only thing that stopped Newcastle from being 3-0 up in the first ten minutes (which would have stitched up the title for you). The look on Les Ferdinand's face when Schmeichel saved for the third time was priceless - he just had that wide eyed "how the f*(k did he save that?" look.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

IIRC, Cantona either scored or created every goal in those 1-0 wins.

If you read Keano's book he talks about how often Cantona came up with the piece of magic that secured a 1-0 result in crucial games.

 

[ShearMagic9]

No real need to bump this thread, apart from I came across the following on .com and it sums up the situation fairly well:

The Keegan appointment had taken me through the full range of emotions. Initial and genuine shock was soon followed by despair, denial and then indifference. And that was just the first 30 seconds.

The subsequent media hyperbole was genuinely nauseating with radio and TV mikes shoved in the faces of the usual suspects and members of the general public telling the world "it's what the Geordies wanted". I'm sure there were even folk claiming that it didn't matter if we lost every game 5-4, King Kev would win us summat....

Well, to be brutally honest, it wasn't what this Geordie wanted.

Supporting this club has turned me bitter and cynical. I don't think I was born that way, it's just been a natural consequence of years of disappointment and despair. The rest of my life has turned out pretty well so it has to be Newcastle United's fault.

My relationship with NUFC was in danger of turning stale after the Souness/Roeder/Allardyce years and recent fiascos threatened to have me turning to marriage guidance counsellors. We've said it many times before but indifference really is the biggest worry for football fans (and marriages).

But as the days wore on and the Bolton match approached something deep down in my core started to reignite. The return of Keegan had relit the pilot light and gradually the old bolier was starting to fire up again.

It was a plainly ridiculous appointment and once again left us open to national ridicule which seems to be our perpetual place in the football world and I thought I'd had enough of that. But as the outside media started to snipe and sneer it all started to make perfect sense.

We clearly have an owner who is as bonkers as we are and who seems to have got into our psyche incredibly quickly. The media gurus couldn't cope with Ashley wearing his shirt and sitting (standing) with the fans. Why not? It might not be what a Chairman should do but he's the owner.

People like Allardyce and Souness had no place here - they should never have been appointed. They weren't good enough to completely change the make-up of the club. Souness had found that out at Liverpool. But the appointment of Keegan - whether it works or not - was probably perfect. A crazy manager, for a crazy club with a crazy owner and crazy fans.

If we can't get Wenger or Mourinho to this club (both big enough and good enough to transform us) then the last thing we want is another Allardyce or Souness (e.g. Mark Hughes). What's the point in that?

The national phone-ins have loved it, loved it. People from all over the country, desperate to point out that it's ridiculous. Desperate to tell us we'll never win anything and that it'll all end in tears. We know! But we'll have some great memories along the way.

And what if it did work? What if he just went and bloody won something? Can you imagine...? As KK said himself, it's not impossible.

Newcastle fans have huge expectations apparently. Do we? Do we really? I expect us to win bugger all in my lifetime but I want to get that anticipation, that raw emotion of going to see a side in black and white give their all and try and entertain. And in doing that I want us to have the same chance as Spurs, Everton, Man City, Villa or even 2004 Carling Cup winners, Boro, of winning a trophy. That's not being unrealistic.

The top four will take a little longer but they're not invincible. Fergie can't go on forever, Liverpool seem intent on imploding, Grant may hit tough times at Stamford Bridge and even Wenger has had transitional seasons.

What I don't want is a team that will bore the pants off us and struggle in the short term with the promise of boring the pants off us and struggling a bit less in the long term. Why would any fan put up with that?

So, having gone through the full gamut of emotions in the days leading up to the Bolton match, I was right behind the appointment, striding to the game, genuinely expectant and full of hopes and dreams. Not quite as I'd been as a youngster on my way to Keegan's debut for Newcastle but not far off. The boiler was fired up and the hot water was pumping through the pipes....

I'm sure most of us felt like that but how many fans of the "big four" have gone to a televised match against Bolton feeling the same? None, I'd suggest. And that's what they resent. They can't cope with the love we have for our club because they simply don't understand it.

Football is not about winning trophies, it's about winning battles and you decide what the battles are. I'd rather be Alan Shearer than Gary Neville. Who's got the most medals? Who's the legend...?