Kevin Keegan

[Big Geordie]

He wasn't tactically flawed.

 

Agreed. As someone who watched through it all, those years.

[Rafalove]

How good does he look for a 69 year old btw, looks about ten years younger.

[Happinesstan]

We were a soft touch at times when we blew the league. Forget the games we usually think of that season, away games at Wimbledon, West Ham, Man City & typically Southampton spring to mind where we dropped points either through not being strong enough mentally or we just didn’t turn up.

+

 

think it was mental to be honest. Not that we lacked it but we lacked the history to back up our belief. I don't think anybody expected Keegan's belief to be tested so soon.

[Disco]

On Pav:

 

 

Writing in his new book Srnicek has given his most detailed account yet of the iconic game. He said: “It may have been christened the greatest Premier League match of all time, but for me it was the worst moment and memory of my entire career. I wouldn’t care, I used to love going to Anfield.

 

My first game for the reserves was at Liverpool and I performed magnificently.

 

“I always seemed to have a good game when I visited the red side of Merseyside so I was really looking forward to the contest.”

 

The ex-Toon star then explained a twist in the story. He said: “Kevin was going around the dressing room prior to the kick off, having the odd word of encouragement with some of the players.

 

Admittedly, we’d had a mixed bag of results before this fixture but we were still confident of winning. Then, just before we went out onto the pitch, Keegan turned to me and said ‘Pav, why can’t you be more like Schmeichel, and win a game for us?

 

 

I was astounded! Those words killed me! I was deflated! After he said that, I couldn’t play.

 

I felt as if I’d just been smashed on the head. Anything I’d been feeling prior to that comment: adrenaline, excitement and anticipation, all of the emotions you generally experience before you run onto the pitch prior to a match, had evaporated!

 

“I had nothing! No strength; no confidence; no will; nothing. Keegan might as well have said ‘You’re s***! I have no faith in you’.

 

“I was thinking, I can’t go and play now. I needed to tell him but then I thought I have to go and play.

 

My head was all over the place. I couldn’t concentrate on the game. I resented Kevin at that point.

 

“This was one of the biggest games of the season. And he’d more or less told me I was a second rate goalkeeper.

 

“I had never been given any words of encouragement in all of my time at the club.

 

“I thought what have you ever done for me? Every time he knocked me on the floor, one way or another, I had to pick myself up, dust myself down and get on with it.”

 

In a crazy game at Anfield, Newcastle were twice ahead at 2-1 and 3-2 before Stan Collymore’s influence won the game for Reds.

 

An equaliser on 68 minutes tied the game up at 3-3 and even a point wouldn’t have been a bad result.

 

However, as John Barnes and Ian Rush started to exchange passes Collymore lashed home to squeeze the ball between Srnieck’s near post and his body.

 

Pav reflected: “Were any of the goals my fault? Maybe one of them was down to me; perhaps one of the Collymore goals.

 

“I just tried to spread myself the best I could but I wasn’t mentally right during the game.

 

The last words Kevin said to me just kept going around and around in my head all the way through the game.

 

“Losing the match, conceding the goals and in essence throwing away the title, they weren’t the worst things for me. It was Keegan’s words prior to going out to play; they were a hammer blow.

 

“I have never watched a replay or any highlights of that game because it is too painful a memory. I can still hear Kevin saying those hurtful words now. It makes me sad.

 

“I don’t know whether the score would’ve been any different and the course of history would’ve been changed but I would’ve been up for the game more.

 

“I have never discussed this with anyone before. It’s been a burden I’ve carried around with me ever since that fateful night.”

 

Where’s that from?

 

Odd how the ghost of Pav is so much more into commercial deals and quotes than when he was with us.

[Superior Acuña]

Was absolute stuff of dreams when world superstar KK signed for 2nd division US as a player.

 

Just been looking back pages trying to find some story about him going to play in the US...American.. 2nd division before I realized what this was saying.

[Rafalove]

It’s from the chronicle who were quoting his book

[Tsunami]

Pav was loved up here but between him, Hooper & Shak you’d struggle to make the keeper we needed. Those quotes from Pav suggest how fragile he was & I very much doubt that KK delivered those words in a negative way.

 

Look up the game at Southampton the year before we blew the league. I vividly remember sitting in my car waiting to pick my girlfriend up listening to the end of the game, 1-0 up, thinking at last we’d win down there (obviously not knowing there’d be years more disappointment) and we conceded 3 goals in the last 4 minutes. All 3 goals were comedy, Pav should have been replaced at the end of that season.

[Robster]

Look up the game at Southampton the year before we blew the league. I vividly remember sitting in my car waiting to pick my girlfriend up listening to the end of the game, 1-0 up, thinking at last we’d win down there (obviously not knowing there’d be years more disappointment) and we conceded 3 goals in the last 4 minutes. All 3 goals were comedy, Pav should have been replaced at the end of that season.

How on earth do I not remember this game !

[Hughesy]

Pav was loved up here but between him, Hooper & Shak you’d struggle to make the keeper we needed. Those quotes from Pav suggest how fragile he was & I very much doubt that KK delivered those words in a negative way.

 

Look up the game at Southampton the year before we blew the league. I vividly remember sitting in my car waiting to pick my girlfriend up listening to the end of the game, 1-0 up, thinking at last we’d win down there (obviously not knowing there’d be years more disappointment) and we conceded 3 goals in the last 4 minutes. All 3 goals were comedy, Pav should have been replaced at the end of that season.

 

People always talk about our defence letting us down in the Keegan era, but actually a top class keeper would have made a massive difference.  Had we had a Schmeichel/Seaman/Martyn level keeper we would have won the league.

[Superior Acuña]

Not dismissing the discussion, but we only conceded 2 more goals than ManU, whereas we scored 7 fewer.

[Guest]

Ferdinand went off the boil second half of the season (compared to the first-half anyway) just as Man U seemed to be winning every other game 1-0 - Cantona.

[Scoreboard82]

Was absolute stuff of dreams when world superstar KK signed for 2nd division US as a player.

 

Just been looking back pages trying to find some story about him going to play in the US...American.. 2nd division before I realized what this was saying.

Sorry for the confusion. Still amazed that he'd had such an illustrious career and joined NUFC at the time, when we'd struggled for years and seemed devoid of hope.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

Not dismissing the discussion, but we only conceded 2 more goals than ManU, whereas we scored 7 fewer.

 

Pav and Shaka were perfectly fine keepers, rarely conceding goals that they 'should' have been saving. However they also rarely put in performances where they were pulling out saves that they shouldn't be making, and that in a few games that season could have made all the difference. 5 of our 8 defeats were by 1 goal with a further 6 draws (4 being 1-1)

 

I'm not sure Martyn would have made that much of a difference, but a Flowers or Seaman probably win us the league.

 

 

[Wallsendmag]

Martyn was at least as good as Flowers like. Certainly won far more England caps. Seaman would have made a huge difference and would have won us the league imo.

[Rafalove]

Seamen definitely would. Better than any keeper we’ve ever had. A little bit forgotten about but he was class.

[Guest]

Not dismissing the discussion, but we only conceded 2 more goals than ManU, whereas we scored 7 fewer.

 

Pav and Shaka were perfectly fine keepers, rarely conceding goals that they 'should' have been saving. However they also rarely put in performances where they were pulling out saves that they shouldn't be making, and that in a few games that season could have made all the difference. 5 of our 8 defeats were by 1 goal with a further 6 draws (4 being 1-1)

 

I'm not sure Martyn would have made that much of a difference, but a Flowers or Seaman probably win us the league.

 

 

 

Southgate for £3-4m from Palace in 1995 would have been handy.

[Cronky]

Not dismissing the discussion, but we only conceded 2 more goals than ManU, whereas we scored 7 fewer.

 

Pav and Shaka were perfectly fine keepers, rarely conceding goals that they 'should' have been saving. However they also rarely put in performances where they were pulling out saves that they shouldn't be making, and that in a few games that season could have made all the difference. 5 of our 8 defeats were by 1 goal with a further 6 draws (4 being 1-1)

 

I'm not sure Martyn would have made that much of a difference, but a Flowers or Seaman probably win us the league.

 

 

 

Southgate for £3-4m from Palace in 1995 would have been handy.

 

I agree. That was a big miss.

[Ketsbaia]

Always thought it was a shame that Given, Speed and Solano came in just afterwards, as we starting turning shit.

[Guest]

Not dismissing the discussion, but we only conceded 2 more goals than ManU, whereas we scored 7 fewer.

 

Pav and Shaka were perfectly fine keepers, rarely conceding goals that they 'should' have been saving. However they also rarely put in performances where they were pulling out saves that they shouldn't be making, and that in a few games that season could have made all the difference. 5 of our 8 defeats were by 1 goal with a further 6 draws (4 being 1-1)

 

I'm not sure Martyn would have made that much of a difference, but a Flowers or Seaman probably win us the league.

 

 

 

Southgate for £3-4m from Palace in 1995 would have been handy.

 

I agree. That was a big miss.

 

Even if it was a budget thing, could have signed him rather than Warren Barton, Watson first-choice right-back and kept Hottiger or Venison as back up for an extra year? All obviously with hindsight, like.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

KK was tactically way ahead of his time when he was our manager first time around and we were not poor defensively, we were brilliant a both ends, we just lacked leadership and experience. Had he stayed we would have eventually won a title and been a force in Europe.

[Guest]

I hate how Tino gets scapegoated as well. In the 14 games he was here that season he scored 3 and had 7 assists. He was probably our best attacker during the run-in.

[Karjala]

Wasn't there a transfer window where Flowers and Hendry were strongly rumoured to be coming?

 

 

[JeffJ]

Wasn't there a transfer window where Flowers and Hendry were strongly rumoured to be coming?

 

No transfer windows back then. Hall says he went to Keegan and told him we should sign a centre half, rumour was Hendry but KK said no, we started the run with Howey, Peacock and Albert and we were finishing with them. He was right too, as mentioned earlier the goals drying up from Sir Les and Bobby Lee, the injury to Gillespie and Ginola going off the boil is what really cost us.

[kingxlnc]

For me, Keegan leaving in 1997 is the biggest what-if moment in football, given what's happened since. A proper sliding doors moment.

If he didn't leave then, or got replaced with Robson immediately, the way football looks today would have been completely different, to the extent where I feel NUFC would have continued to be a force, or at least still relevant instead the shell of a club you see today.

 

[Guest]

I don’t think Robson would have seen us stay a top force tbh. I think as a club we’d peaked. We’d became a plc, our top players were having to be sold to balance the books, I don’t think Bobby coming in would have changed that. I don’t think we’d have plummeted to 13th like under Dalglish, probably around 7th-8th as the likes of Chelsea, Leeds and even Aston Villa were starting to strengthen. If he’d came in then, would he have still been around early 00s to take us back to that sort of level after the stadium extension and additional income?