Should be good for a few more 4-3's at Anfield, in any case. I'm going to that one! Seriously though ... what madness. He'll spend 18 months or so tarnishing his God-like reputation amongst the Geordies and then resign, telling the world that "I've taken this club as far as I can". Still, at least he'll have an 18-month headstart on the Newcastle branch of his Soccer Circus business. They're out of the Fizzy Drinks Cup, they'll be out of the FA Cup after the game against Arsenal in a couple of weeks and, at best, he'll lift them to 8th or so in the Premier League. Not even the daftest Geordie could contend that that's a season's work beyond Sam Allardyce. Meanwhile, the club spends another 18 months drifting. Still, at least their owner sacks one manager before speaking to another ...
i wonder why anyone would choose to be cynical about this. football is about emotions and this decision has brought all the best feeling from people who matter the most, Newcastle fans . in a time where there's too much rationality and cynicism in football i love what the newcastle owner has done . they love and enjoy football and they just couldn't enjoy what was played under allardyce.
Maybe at some point they should give one of their managers more time than one single season to completely turn around a hopeless club. But hey maybe around this time next year when Keegan has been fired they will manage to bring in Shearer, that'll make the fans happy for a few weeks again.
Is it cynical to consider this a less than smart move on the rational level? No one doubts the emotional value of this appointment. And it'll be fun of course, for everyone. I love Kevin Keegan and his whole-hearted, good-natured naivety about The Beautiful Game. But I wouldn't have him manage my club for all the tea in China. No, let Newcastle wallow in this, we'll enjoy it with them and then, when it all falls apart, who cares? We don't support Newcastle. Of course, when it does happen, it'll happen because Newcastle fans will have woken up to the fact that their Messiah has got them no closer to where they (preposterously) think they should be. And they'll turn on him - just like Spurs fans turned on Hoddle, their own Messiah, when they realised that for all the chat about thrilling football and heritage of "playing the game the right way", they were mid-table nobodies. At some point, Newcastle's ownership, board and fans are going to have to ask themselves whether they want a successful football club or whether they are content with something that basically amounts to nothing more substantial than a sentimental plaything for thousands of daft Geordies. But beyond that, you're right: it's great for the neutral, we can just take it all as it is and enjoy the ride whilst it lasts. No skin off our noses!
I thought it quite amusing to hear the pundits on match of the day last night talking about how once news of Keegan's return hit the streets, Newcastle fans beseiged the ground, with queues stretching more miles with fans locked out of a full house... ...cut to the match action, with nearly 20,000 empty seats in evidence. Good of the BBC to devote the tail end of their FA Cup coverage to talking about a story entirely of their own making - namely that BBC pundit Alan Shearer would listen to offers if Keegan was to hypotheticaly give him a call - rather than actually devoting any time to the actual FA Cup story of the night.
In fairness to the BBC the game was utter bilge and hardly between two glamorous clubs either. I couldn't blame them for taking advantage of a bigger story. A bit more cynicism would have appopriate though. Why no mention of Keegan's managerial record at England and Man City? There was no exciting football there, it was fairly bland and uninspired.
Keegan going back to Newcastle will be amusing in so many ways and it will all end in tears. Having said that I'm a little bit miffed that yet again Bolton are the first opponents for Newcastle under a new manager. I guess I can write today's game off.
And I'll file that under "Don't come crying to us in 3 years when you've still won nothing, Keegan has quit and your long, unimpressive run of mediocrity continues"
Oh come on, Newcastle are a broken record, here is how it goes- 1. Manager had to go. 2. New manager, promises success and silverware. 3. Big money spent on players. 4. Those players almost immediately get injured, imprisoned, kidnapped by pirates, etc. 5. Another poor season or two passes with Newcastle doing nothing of any note. 6. Manager had to go...
I count one full, unrepentant Geordie amongst my circle of close friends. He sent me a text on Wednesday which read "Fucking Keegan, what a joke."
These are problems that the club suffers but doesn't really relate to any Newcastle fans going crying to anyone. The vast majority of Newcastle fans would prefer if the national media and anyone not with a vested interest in the club would kindly piss off and leave us to do anything we want.
I think Keegan being made manager is probably the dumbest thing I've ever seen and I don't think we will anything at all but I don't really care about the opinion of a journalist from London. Which is what really irks me and just makes me stand behind Keegan and the club.
No one gives a fuck what the media thinks, that's not the point. This should still be a scandal for any self-respecting football fan. But it's very obviously not, people are drooling like imbeciles over this appointment up there.
Keegan is good for football & a great personality but compared to last time he was at Newcastle - there is one thing missing on the pitch - one of the best players of his generation - Alan Shearer. In many games it was often Shearer + 10 others (Ginola, Gillespie, Ferdinand etc) If Keegan can find another Shearer he could break into top the 4 BUT there isnt one. Best he can hope for is top 6 & a Uefa Cup place (as would Sam Allardyce). Nice bloke, but very naive & with no Shearer on the pitch, no success.