Kevin Keegan

[Incognito]

"In the semi-final awaited a Real Madrid side containing “Black Lightning”, the Englishman Laurie Cunningham. A 2-0 defeat at the Bernabéu left HSV reeling, but the loss merely served to set up one of this team’s hallmark performances. Given license to do so by Zebec, the German side took off the handbrake in the return leg. They played the match at full tilt, with only one thing in mind: scoring goals. Against a defence shielded by Vicente del Bosque, Keegan and HSV ran riot, swarming all over the Madrid outfit from the moment the game began. Less than 20 minutes had passed and the deficit had been erased through goals from Kaltz and Hrubesch.

 

With HSV still pouring forward, Cunningham pulled one back, but it was for nothing. The players walked off at half-time with the score reading HSV 4-1 Real Madrid. Full-time brought a 5-1 finish, a 5-3 aggregate win for HSV. That night, they had played “football from another planet”. It was, as described by Netzer: “the funniest and best thing I’ve ever seen from HSV.” The team he had sculpted would contest the 1980 European Cup final against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.

 

Central to it all was the little man from the north of England, a scampering dribbler with a bubble-perm taking on and beating Europe’s best. As much as anyone else, Keegan was the catalyst for HSV’s rise. Yet, in his typically forward-thinking way, he was already pondering the next step. As it had been for his Liverpool career back in 1977, the European Cup final would be a curtain call for Keegan at HSV."

 

 

The above is what football is all about.

 

Some good players in that Hamburg side as I recall. Manny Kaltz was a fine sweeper, Horst Hrubesch an excellent centre forward, and foil for Karl Heinz Rummenigge in the National side, plus the midfield artistry of Felix Magath. Keegan was the jewel in the crown though, I don't think I've ever seen such work rate from a player save maybe Peter Beardsley. Keegan never stopped running, and was brave as a lion too.

[sempuki]

Great man.

[Kanj]

"In the semi-final awaited a Real Madrid side containing “Black Lightning”, the Englishman Laurie Cunningham. A 2-0 defeat at the Bernabéu left HSV reeling, but the loss merely served to set up one of this team’s hallmark performances. Given license to do so by Zebec, the German side took off the handbrake in the return leg. They played the match at full tilt, with only one thing in mind: scoring goals. Against a defence shielded by Vicente del Bosque, Keegan and HSV ran riot, swarming all over the Madrid outfit from the moment the game began. Less than 20 minutes had passed and the deficit had been erased through goals from Kaltz and Hrubesch.

 

With HSV still pouring forward, Cunningham pulled one back, but it was for nothing. The players walked off at half-time with the score reading HSV 4-1 Real Madrid. Full-time brought a 5-1 finish, a 5-3 aggregate win for HSV. That night, they had played “football from another planet”. It was, as described by Netzer: “the funniest and best thing I’ve ever seen from HSV.” The team he had sculpted would contest the 1980 European Cup final against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.

 

Central to it all was the little man from the north of England, a scampering dribbler with a bubble-perm taking on and beating Europe’s best. As much as anyone else, Keegan was the catalyst for HSV’s rise. Yet, in his typically forward-thinking way, he was already pondering the next step. As it had been for his Liverpool career back in 1977, the European Cup final would be a curtain call for Keegan at HSV."

 

 

The above is what football is all about.

 

Some good players in that Hamburg side as I recall. Manny Kaltz was a fine sweeper, Horst Hrubesch an excellent centre forward, and foil for Karl Heinz Rummenigge in the National side, plus the midfield artistry of Felix Magath. Keegan was the jewel in the crown though, I don't think I've ever seen such work rate from a player save maybe Peter Beardsley. Keegan never stopped running, and was brave as a lion too.

 

What pissed me off reading that is football today can be that simple, yet, it becomes over complicated by manager's who think their stats and tactics they read in some fucking book or tape, or hell, do what Mourinho did some time ago and think that is how it should be done.

 

We had an opportunity to go guns blazing against Benfica in the Europa League, at a rocking SJP with everyone fit and ready to play and the idiotic manger we had decided to keep it tight for 70 mins and then unleash some attackers for 20 mins of magic when we needed goals.

[Robster]

The fucking best.

[cp40]

The fucking best.

[kirkwdavis2001]

The f***ing best.

[Tisd09]

"In the semi-final awaited a Real Madrid side containing “Black Lightning”, the Englishman Laurie Cunningham. A 2-0 defeat at the Bernabéu left HSV reeling, but the loss merely served to set up one of this team’s hallmark performances. Given license to do so by Zebec, the German side took off the handbrake in the return leg. They played the match at full tilt, with only one thing in mind: scoring goals. Against a defence shielded by Vicente del Bosque, Keegan and HSV ran riot, swarming all over the Madrid outfit from the moment the game began. Less than 20 minutes had passed and the deficit had been erased through goals from Kaltz and Hrubesch.

 

With HSV still pouring forward, Cunningham pulled one back, but it was for nothing. The players walked off at half-time with the score reading HSV 4-1 Real Madrid. Full-time brought a 5-1 finish, a 5-3 aggregate win for HSV. That night, they had played “football from another planet”. It was, as described by Netzer: “the funniest and best thing I’ve ever seen from HSV.” The team he had sculpted would contest the 1980 European Cup final against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.

 

Central to it all was the little man from the north of England, a scampering dribbler with a bubble-perm taking on and beating Europe’s best. As much as anyone else, Keegan was the catalyst for HSV’s rise. Yet, in his typically forward-thinking way, he was already pondering the next step. As it had been for his Liverpool career back in 1977, the European Cup final would be a curtain call for Keegan at HSV."

 

 

The above is what football is all about.

 

Some good players in that Hamburg side as I recall. Manny Kaltz was a fine sweeper, Horst Hrubesch an excellent centre forward, and foil for Karl Heinz Rummenigge in the National side, plus the midfield artistry of Felix Magath. Keegan was the jewel in the crown though, I don't think I've ever seen such work rate from a player save maybe Peter Beardsley. Keegan never stopped running, and was brave as a lion too.

 

What p*ssed me off reading that is football today can be that simple, yet, it becomes over complicated by manager's who think their stats and tactics they read in some f***ing book or tape, or hell, do what Mourinho did some time ago and think that is how it should be done.

 

We had an opportunity to go guns blazing against Benfica in the Europa League, at a rocking SJP with everyone fit and ready to play and the idiotic manger we had decided to keep it tight for 70 mins and then unleash some attackers for 20 mins of magic when we needed goals.

The atmosphere was fantastic and the players should have been told to use that as energy.

 

I remember a performance against Chelsea in the FA Cup when Kluivert scored, the crowd were electric that day and the players fed off that. Could you imagine  Keegan team talk, the players would have come out feeling like Ronaldo and the fans would have encourage that feeling.

 

I miss the Keegan days.

[TRon]

Can you imagine Keegan going to Burnley and settling for a point?

 

 

[Tisd09]

Can you imagine Keegan going to Burnley and settling for a point?

 

 

 

Only if we were 2-0 down with 5 minutes left

[Guest firetotheworks]

Can you imagine Keegan going to Burnley and settling for a point?

 

 

 

Keegan once picked fault in a 4-0 win man. He was absolutely relentless in his love for attacking football. Just brilliant.

[BottledDog]

"In the semi-final awaited a Real Madrid side containing “Black Lightning”, the Englishman Laurie Cunningham. A 2-0 defeat at the Bernabéu left HSV reeling, but the loss merely served to set up one of this team’s hallmark performances. Given license to do so by Zebec, the German side took off the handbrake in the return leg. They played the match at full tilt, with only one thing in mind: scoring goals. Against a defence shielded by Vicente del Bosque, Keegan and HSV ran riot, swarming all over the Madrid outfit from the moment the game began. Less than 20 minutes had passed and the deficit had been erased through goals from Kaltz and Hrubesch.

 

With HSV still pouring forward, Cunningham pulled one back, but it was for nothing. The players walked off at half-time with the score reading HSV 4-1 Real Madrid. Full-time brought a 5-1 finish, a 5-3 aggregate win for HSV. That night, they had played “football from another planet”. It was, as described by Netzer: “the funniest and best thing I’ve ever seen from HSV.” The team he had sculpted would contest the 1980 European Cup final against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.

 

Central to it all was the little man from the north of England, a scampering dribbler with a bubble-perm taking on and beating Europe’s best. As much as anyone else, Keegan was the catalyst for HSV’s rise. Yet, in his typically forward-thinking way, he was already pondering the next step. As it had been for his Liverpool career back in 1977, the European Cup final would be a curtain call for Keegan at HSV."

 

 

The above is what football is all about.

 

Some good players in that Hamburg side as I recall. Manny Kaltz was a fine sweeper, Horst Hrubesch an excellent centre forward, and foil for Karl Heinz Rummenigge in the National side, plus the midfield artistry of Felix Magath. Keegan was the jewel in the crown though, I don't think I've ever seen such work rate from a player save maybe Peter Beardsley. Keegan never stopped running, and was brave as a lion too.

 

What p*ssed me off reading that is football today can be that simple, yet, it becomes over complicated by manager's who think their stats and tactics they read in some f***ing book or tape, or hell, do what Mourinho did some time ago and think that is how it should be done.

 

We had an opportunity to go guns blazing against Benfica in the Europa League, at a rocking SJP with everyone fit and ready to play and the idiotic manger we had decided to keep it tight for 70 mins and then unleash some attackers for 20 mins of magic when we needed goals.

The atmosphere was fantastic and the players should have been told to use that as energy.

 

I remember a performance against Chelsea in the FA Cup when Kluivert scored, the crowd were electric that day and the players fed off that. Could you imagine  Keegan team talk, the players would have come out feeling like Ronaldo and the fans would have encourage that feeling.

 

I miss the Keegan days.

 

For many reasons.

 

/lack of ear hair, no beer gut, a vague sense of optimism etc...

[Ronaldo]

Can you imagine Keegan going to Burnley and settling for a point?

 

 

 

Absolutely not. He'd probably end up with one, mind.

[afar]

Can you imagine Keegan going to Burnley and settling for a point?

 

 

 

And being "Pleased as punch" about it, lol 

 

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30303265

[TRon]

Can you imagine Keegan going to Burnley and settling for a point?

 

 

 

Absolutely not. He'd probably end up with one, mind.

 

We might have lost the odd away game to a shite team but by and large we won quite a few as well. I always thought about Keegan's teams even if we didn't win some of the crunch games against bigger sides, we usually wiped the floor with the rest.  It was good enough to keep us round the top of the table for his first stint here.

[Interpolic]

I might be wrong here but I have gift for recalling useless football information from that time period so maybe not. I'm pretty sure we only got beat by more than 2 goals during his first reign once - a 0-3 at Loftus Road. Twice if you include the Charity Shield. None of this getting smashed 10 times a season.

 

[Paully]

 

"From my previous experiences with Newcastle United I knew it was a massive club. It wasn’t just a sleeping giant, it was scarcely breathing. But I knew, because of those incredible supporters, that it could be turned around. I am not talking with the benefit of hindsight. You only have to look at my programme notes after we were promoted to the Premier League, in which I warned Alex Ferguson that we were after Manchester United’s title. We always set targets but they were realistic. If your ambitions are merely to consolidate – a word I despise – that is simply an excuse for accepting mediocrity.

 

Since I had made it clear I had no interest in club management there had been no serious offers. Anyway, who would want someone who had been out of the game as long as I had? The answer, of course, was Newcastle United – the only club which could have made me change my mind. I would not have even contemplated turning to management with Liverpool, but the whole ethos of Newcastle triggered something in my mind. The sheer energy bubbling below the surface gave St James’ Park more potential than anyone had dared to dream. All that untapped potential, pent up passion and the willingness of the supporters to really get behind the side made it a frustrating club to play for, but managing it would be something else. There was a strong chance of success. Everything that had gone before had been so mediocre that it could be attained very easily.

 

My first programme notes for that season summed up how we felt and the optimism circling the club “The Premier League must be our number 1 priority this season”. To some it seemed an outrageous statement, after all we’d just avoided relegation by only 4 points, but we wanted to tell everyone at the club – not just the players – that we were a massive club with ambitions to match. Our aim, I added, was to become another Liverpool and dominate football. We tried to turn all the past events at Newcastle on their head by thinking and talking positively. I’d spend hours reading books on positive mental attitude, management skills and the advanced thinking of experts like Vince Lombardi, and I still read them now.

 

At last I had the chance to put all this theory into practice. I was not promising the supporters a false dawn, what I was saying was that promotion was our main target and it was achievable. If we fell short of that, like a good politician, we’d address that at the time. We couldn’t expect to win every match, but we’d try.

 

We went out to entertain a Geordie public who crave entertainment, and that required players of flair and imagination who dared to perform in a certain way. My side and the Geordie fans were a marriage made in heaven. Teams are usually all about defence. All the coaching manuals tell you to build from the back, that if you don’t concede a goal you can’t lose. I preferred to believe that if you didn’t score you couldn’t win.”

 

[Mick]

 

"From my previous experiences with Newcastle United I knew it was a massive club. It wasn’t just a sleeping giant, it was scarcely breathing. But I knew, because of those incredible supporters, that it could be turned around. I am not talking with the benefit of hindsight. You only have to look at my programme notes after we were promoted to the Premier League, in which I warned Alex Ferguson that we were after Manchester United’s title. We always set targets but they were realistic. If your ambitions are merely to consolidate – a word I despise – that is simply an excuse for accepting mediocrity.

 

Since I had made it clear I had no interest in club management there had been no serious offers. Anyway, who would want someone who had been out of the game as long as I had? The answer, of course, was Newcastle United – the only club which could have made me change my mind. I would not have even contemplated turning to management with Liverpool, but the whole ethos of Newcastle triggered something in my mind. The sheer energy bubbling below the surface gave St James’ Park more potential than anyone had dared to dream. All that untapped potential, pent up passion and the willingness of the supporters to really get behind the side made it a frustrating club to play for, but managing it would be something else. There was a strong chance of success. Everything that had gone before had been so mediocre that it could be attained very easily.

 

My first programme notes for that season summed up how we felt and the optimism circling the club “The Premier League must be our number 1 priority this season”. To some it seemed an outrageous statement, after all we’d just avoided relegation by only 4 points, but we wanted to tell everyone at the club – not just the players – that we were a massive club with ambitions to match. Our aim, I added, was to become another Liverpool and dominate football. We tried to turn all the past events at Newcastle on their head by thinking and talking positively. I’d spend hours reading books on positive mental attitude, management skills and the advanced thinking of experts like Vince Lombardi, and I still read them now.

 

At last I had the chance to put all this theory into practice. I was not promising the supporters a false dawn, what I was saying was that promotion was our main target and it was achievable. If we fell short of that, like a good politician, we’d address that at the time. We couldn’t expect to win every match, but we’d try.

 

We went out to entertain a Geordie public who crave entertainment, and that required players of flair and imagination who dared to perform in a certain way. My side and the Geordie fans were a marriage made in heaven. Teams are usually all about defence. All the coaching manuals tell you to build from the back, that if you don’t concede a goal you can’t lose. I preferred to believe that if you didn’t score you couldn’t win.”

 

Why did you have to post that? I now feel worse than I did about our current situation, the club has so much potential which is totally pissed down the drain.

[Guest firetotheworks]

I might be wrong here but I have gift for recalling useless football information from that time period so maybe not. I'm pretty sure we only got beat by more than 2 goals during his first reign once - a 0-3 at Loftus Road. Twice if you include the Charity Shield. None of this getting smashed 10 times a season.

 

 

0-4 in the Charity Shield is the biggest loss I remember, but then a couple of months later was the 5-0

[Paully]

 

 

 

Why did you have to post that? I now feel worse than I did about our current situation, the club has so much potential which is totally p*ssed down the drain.

 

Ha ha ha! Yep, I felt the exact same mate!

[Mattoon]

You only have to go back to Keegans last stint before he was shafted to see what he can do for a club. On the precipice of relegation, playing poor football and he turned us around with attacking intent. For those not old enough to remember the Entertainers that should be enough to show how shit the current management team are! One day we will have a Sir Bobby or Keegan to raise the Phoenix from the SJP ashes, it's all there is to hold on to when enduring this regime.

[Kanj]

We will be back one day. New owner. Manager worth a damn and people will be going mad at SJP enjoying football again.

[Ronaldo]

We certainly weren't 'on the precipice of relegation' when we appointed Keegan the last time, mind. No need to exaggerate that much.

[TheGuv]

We certainly weren't 'on the precipice of relegation' when we appointed Keegan the last time, mind. No need to exaggerate that much.

 

I think we were heading that way...

We had the easiest start to a season in many a year and were hopeless

[Mattoon]

We certainly weren't 'on the precipice of relegation' when we appointed Keegan the last time, mind. No need to exaggerate that much.

 

I think we were heading that way...

We had the easiest start to a season in many a year and were hopeless

 

Maybe not on the precipice but certainly freewheeling towards the cliffs edge if you want to be a pedantic tart about it.

[Ronaldo]

We had 26 points when Allardyce was sacked in early January and finished on 43. There was no precipice, freewheeling or cliff. I totally go along with the contempt for Allardyce and appreciation for Keegan but the notion that the former was dragging us towards relegation before KK showed up, saved us and transformed the team into a really good outfit is bollocks.