Keegan, sentiment, reality.

[OzzieMandias]

 

Keegan is the man for the moment, whether we go down or not.

 

This is his last job in football. He'll either succeed, or walk away if the club don't back him or somebody sticks their nose into his job.

 

 

In other words, whatever happens, appointing him was the right thing to do. If he succeeds, he's a genius,  if he fails, it's someone else's fault.

 

Easy fodder this for NE5. Like you say, if Keegan succeeds, he's right. If Keegan fails, he'll claim he's right about our new board.

 

Aye, as a general rule of thumb on Planet NE5, if The Magnificent Shepherd is in charge, anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault. But if someone else is in charge, everything is their fault.

[TRon]

 

Keegan is the man for the moment, whether we go down or not.

 

This is his last job in football. He'll either succeed, or walk away if the club don't back him or somebody sticks their nose into his job.

 

 

In other words, whatever happens, appointing him was the right thing to do. If he succeeds, he's a genius,  if he fails, it's someone else's fault.

 

Easy fodder this for NE5. Like you say, if Keegan succeeds, he's right. If Keegan fails, he'll claim he's right about our new board.

 

Aye, as a general rule of thumb on Planet NE5, if The Magnificent Shepherd is in charge, anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault. But if someone else is in charge, everything is their fault.

 

[Guest optimistic nit]

In this order:

 

Gutted (as I made clear on here and to friends when it was announced).

Worried.

Questioning myself.

Sentimental.

Excited.

Worried.

 

Cautious is where I am now. I'm dying for Keegan to do well, not just for me and us all, but also for him. I love the bloke. But I have plenty of serious concerns.

 

pretty much my reaction, although i've been pretty angry of late as well. got to say though, i haven't celebrated and newcastle goal like i did owens for some years.

[jimmymag]

I was, and still am, overjoyed at Keegan's appointment as manager. As NE5 said, he's the man for the moment, especially as we're still not sure of the new regime's intentions.

 

I feel that the club is safe in his hands because having Keegan as manager is like having the Club's biggest fan as manager, if he's not backed in the transfer market this summer, at a level he thinks is appropriate to take the club forward, he will tell the board in no uncertain terms because he knows that he has the overwhelming support of the fans. There is no other manager that we could have appointed that would have had that sort of clout in the boardroom.

 

Ashley and Mort were aware of this when they appointed Keegan and this makes me feel that their stated intention to get us challenging the top 4 is genuine, and that they're prepared to bankroll the Keegan revolution, because, if they're not, Keegan will expose them and probably walk away, the fans will turn on the board, and then how much will Ashley's £250 million investment be worth?

[NE5]

 

Keegan is the man for the moment, whether we go down or not.

 

This is his last job in football. He'll either succeed, or walk away if the club don't back him or somebody sticks their nose into his job.

 

 

In other words, whatever happens, appointing him was the right thing to do. If he succeeds, he's a genius,  if he fails, it's someone else's fault.

 

Easy fodder this for NE5. Like you say, if Keegan succeeds, he's right. If Keegan fails, he'll claim he's right about our new board.

 

Aye, as a general rule of thumb on Planet NE5, if The Magnificent Shepherd is in charge, anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault. But if someone else is in charge, everything is their fault.

 

you'd even blame Shepherd for your clueless comment in my sig wouldn't you Ozzie  mackems.gif mackems.gif mackems.gif

[NE5]

 

Keegan is the man for the moment, whether we go down or not.

 

This is his last job in football. He'll either succeed, or walk away if the club don't back him or somebody sticks their nose into his job.

 

 

In other words, whatever happens, appointing him was the right thing to do. If he succeeds, he's a genius,  if he fails, it's someone else's fault.

 

Easy fodder this for NE5. Like you say, if Keegan succeeds, he's right. If Keegan fails, he'll claim he's right about our new board.

 

my stance is as always.

 

The board need to back their manager like the trophy winners if we want to match them, like the old board tried to do, which resulted in us getting closer than most especially those who didn't bother attempting it. Paying peanuts for johnny averages and saying it is "good business" that brings the biggest relegation struggle since eerr ... before the Halls and Shepherd....... is the fault of nobody but the people who think it was "good business".

 

Keep making things up though.

 

And keep changing your view depending on the personalities involved too. 

[NE5]

Problem is that in the Premier League the stakes are simply too high to take a chance on a lower league British manager. These aren't charities, and the same applies with players. Even the likes of Barnsley have a load of foreign players. Simply because they're generally better, not to mention cheaper.

 

Depends.

 

There are still only 3 trophies. If everyone has a trophy winning foreigner as manager only 3 will still come out on top. For every success there is equally failures ie Christian Gross for one. And the Chelsea boss won't last much longer either, as he's failing in respect of the money they are bankrolled with.

 

What too many people fail to grasp, is the simple fact that not appointing one of the trophy winners doesnt' mean you are completely totally incompetent. Qualifying for europe regularly is a degree of success, and Newcastle United have did this and doubled their crowds to prove it.

 

 

[Dave]

Going off at a tangent.

 

I was just saying, that's why people mention foreign players and managers. They're usually better.

[NE5]

Keegan will succeed here where others have spectacularly failed. By succeed I don't mean winning titles but in turning this club around and that is good enough for me and this club. I trust him 100% with my club and respect the man immensely as a football manager, a club legend and importantly as a person. I love the man full stop and can't quite put into words why. All I will say is my love of football and therefore my club is down to one man only, him.

 

For me he embodies everything I love about the game and my club. He shares my passion for Newcastle, probably even more so. He shares my footballing ideals and philosophies. He thinks like I think where NUFC is concerned and in his first spell here, gave us all what we wanted. A team that we could be proud of, a team capable of winning the biggest trophies and doing so by playing the kind of football we could connect with as people. He built the club up in a certain image that will have a lasting impression on us all that no trophy (and I really mean that) could ever top. Indeed no trophy could ever replace what he achieved here which to those that really don't know or understand take a good look at the club we are today as opposed to that tin pot club that almost went down to the then 3rd division and probably with it bankruptcy.

 

He saved us and gave us a new life as a club, as fans and as NUFC is so important to the city, that too. There are numerous books out there, some football related some not that prove NUFC's rebirth if you will in the 90s played a major role in the rebirth of the city too. One foreign investor would only invest in the region if he could watch us every match so Sir John Hall gave him a free box at St. James' Park. The club was chartering flights and boats for foreign fans who all partied in our city taking back great tales to their countrymen who today, visit every year for a night or two out. KK played a hand in that as much as any councilor, mayor or advertisement on the telly. Probably more so.

 

KK the 3rd coming? I for one am excited and happy to have him here. He belongs here and even if it doesn't work out there will be no hard feelings between KK and myself as he owes us f*** all. Even if we went down!

 

"There is no room for sentimentality in football"

 

Is that so...

 

Bull s***! Without it the game would collapse tomorrow. It's what keeps fans turning up every week, hoping for the good times again or to see new players take on the mantle of previous stars. When I'm down the pub or with mates and football crops up, what gets talked about the most.... today or the past? The past. Past players, past wins, past defeats, past times. That's what people do, they reminisce and football being an emotional game, we get sentimental about it all. You have to. You want to. You need to. You love to. I do I know that.

 

Does that mean a leave of all reality? Does it f***. I doubt there are many fans out there who thinks KK will weave all that magic in the same way he once did or believe that the entertainers are just around the corner, on the way back. I doubt anyone considers Keegan to be a world-class manager either or that he is going to succeed here even.

 

But what's the alternative to Keegan? Deschamps? What guarantee would he bring? Houllier as one Liverpool fan in here pointed to? Big Sam with a French accent who won a few cups at Liverpool before getting sacked for boring the tits off everyone and in some, inciting murderous thoughts. Aye right. How about Mark Hughes then whose side were outplayed by our misfits a few weeks back, whose side are only a few places and points above us despite KK having won zero games yet as manager? Redknapp? What's he achieved that Keegan hasn't? Alan Shearer? Sorry but each and every manager comes with warning signs, bagage or no real guarantees of achieving here what KK started only for others to have f***** up.

 

With KK you know what you're getting, you know what he's not capable of, what he is, what he will do and what he won't do. And my money is that he will do a damn site better than everyone else who has tried since he first left (Sir Bobby excluded) and in a style more palatable to fans. And speaking of those times and Sir Bobby's achievements, is it really out of the realms of possibility that KK, a pretty similar manager in terms of thinking and an eye for talent, can't do the same with some good old fashioned time and money?

 

We'll find out won't we.

 

Me, see my sig.

 

All the managers you name are said to be "tactically superior" to the "tactically inept" Keegan. The same as the 4 trophy winners who have succeeded him, plus Roeder the coach with the club at heart as an ex captain, and Allardyce, the modern visionary. Yes I backed Allardyce and saw merits in trying a different approach in Roeder and the fact that he did well as caretaker, before anybody starts.

 

However, NONE of these "tactically superior trophy winners" have bettered Keegan at Newcastle. Only one of them got close. I think it is absolutely correct that some managers suit certain clubs, Keegan suits us, Alex Ferguson would suit us, so would Wenger, but I'm not so sure that managers like Houillier and Eriksson would for example.

 

Makes me laugh when people nominate these foreigners and others, not one of them is as qualified as Dalglish was to manage Newcastle, nor Bobby Robson. Its a hoot, in fact. Same as the romance that surrounds these expensive foreign players.

 

Keegan is the man for the moment, whether we go down or not, although make no mistake about it, it will a disaster if we do despite the bravado [or idiocy in some cases] in the other thread.  There is a few ghosts to exorcise here, and i like the phrase "unfinished business" it will be absolutely brilliant if he turns the tables on all the southern dickhead cockney hacks who are laughing at the moment. You don't lose the ability, the only question is if he is backed enough to do the trick and does he have the hunger to really succeed.

 

This is his last job in football. He'll either succeed, or walk away if the club don't back him or somebody sticks their nose into his job.

 

 

Are you saying you think the new board made an excellent appointment then, given they decided to overlook these "tactically superior trophy-winners" in favour of Keegan?

 

I've answered this before. I think "tactically aware" is playing to your strengths, and anybody who puts together a team like Keegan did and challenged for the title like that team did, has nothing to prove to anyone.

 

As I said, how many of these tactical geniuses have matched it. Simple fact, is quality players win games and its far more important to have that than "tactics". Quite unbelievable this question is even being mentioned, after the last 3 years of Souness, Allardyce's efforts this season and not so much Roeder who had the best idea by far but in the end was probably out of his depth.

 

I think that a board can appoint the best manager in the world, but if they don't back him to make these despicable "trophy" signings, they still won't succeed.

 

 

[NE5]

Going off at a tangent.

 

I was just saying, that's why people mention foreign players and managers. They're usually better.

 

Not necessarily.

 

Rooney, Terry, Gerrard would hold down a place anywhere for instance, to name 3.

 

So would Shearer, Beckham, Giggs, and Keane too in their prime in recent times.

 

Avram Grant and Benitez won't match Alex Ferguson either.

 

 

 

 

[NE5]

 

Keegan is the man for the moment, whether we go down or not.

 

This is his last job in football. He'll either succeed, or walk away if the club don't back him or somebody sticks their nose into his job.

 

 

In other words, whatever happens, appointing him was the right thing to do. If he succeeds, he's a genius,  if he fails, it's someone else's fault.

 

Well, it was certainly Shepherd, Hall Jnr and Fletcher who were responsible for appointing him the first time round. Shame that the majority shareholder Sir John decided to float the club on the Stock exchange which resulted in losing him.

 

 

[Guest alex]

Keane and Giggs are foreign I know what you mean though. Most of the top clubs here and abroad (and by that I mean the ones that win things) are made up of more foreigners than British and Irish players. A blend of foreign and home-grown players seems to work best though (in England), but if you went back to the 80s the top teams were not only almost exclusively made up of British and Irish players, they were also (pre-Heysel) dominating Europe. The managers were all home-grown then too. It's a bit of worry and indictative of the decline of talent in the British Isles that that is no longer the case. Football has changed too and the Premier League is a 'global product' etc. I accept that.

[Dave]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

[Parky]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

Sadly this is the case atm, but it goes in cycles.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

The picture's a bit distorted though isn't it? I mean the best players from all over the world come to England to play now, the Premiership is the most attractive league to play in.

 

So we shouldn't really be thinking of 'English players vs Foreigners', maybe 'English players vs Spanish players' etc is a better comparison. In those terms we aren't so badly off... it's a lot closer anyway.

 

Obviously when managers have the whole world to pick from, there's a high chance the player they pick will turn out to not be from England.

[johnnypd]

there's 6 billion people on earth and only 60m are british so a foreigner will be better almost every time. likewise if you compared french vs everyone else you'd get the same result, or even did the sam e with brazil, a huge country that produces shedloads of good footballers. with the premierleague a global spectacle, very competitive and offering the best wages more and more foreigners will come here. whereas 20 years ago a young footballer succeeded in getting a first-team place by being amongst the best in the country, he now has to be amongst the best in the world. a tall order for young, inexperienced kids.

 

the only thing that distorts this rule are cultural differences on and off the field. a young kid from paraguay might be a better player than his english equivalent but isn't neccessarily going to adapt to life in burnley or birmingham as well as his british counterpart. similarly, the british player will probably be better suited for the idiosyncracies and style of his national league whereas there are no guarantees the foreign player will adapt. this is probably why the best UK sides tend to have a mix of british and foreign talent, with the british providing fast, no-nonsense, aggressive, direct blood and thunder, and the foreigners providing skill and subtlety. as a consequence of this England only produces certain types of footballer - a surfeit of the former types as that is what the clubs demand and cant get elsewhere, yet a lack of the latter as it is easier to buy from abroad.

 

the same is true for managers but there is a further complication at this level. top flight european football with the uefa cup and champion's league, similar makeup of nationalities, similar coaching fitness and tactical advancements, means that the footballing culture and professionalism of two big clubs like deportivo and newcastle might well be more similar than between newcastle and notts county. so juande ramos moving from sevilla to spurs has to adapt less (in a footballing sense) than if a manager moved from southend to spurs. it is not like the managers themselves have to go out on the pitch and physically change their style of play so it tends to be easier for them to succeed. language is more important in this role but since you have to be intelligent to be a top class manager it doesn't provide a huge obstacle.

 

so when people on here go on about some exotic name from abroad as the next manager to next right-winger, it's not cos they have jungle fever for some swarthy creature from the tropics, it's cos they want the best and the best will usually be found abroad.

[Cronky]

The thing that worries me about Keegan is he seems to be a trial and error man. He's not very good at working out problems and solutions in his head beforehand, but tends to take plunges and then react to what's happened. That's why he couldn't hack it as an international manager, where there's only a very limited scope to learn from your mistakes. You only have to get it wrong in one game to be out of a tournament.

 

There's that famous story from Scott Sellars, about when Keegan announced to the team that they were going to play 3-5-2, an hour before the kick-off, having never practiced the formation in training beforehand. The formation on Monday felt a bit like that - a bit desperate and impulsive. The players looked completely lost in the first half, but finally managed to get it together, to some extent, in the second. It would be nice to think that it was some words of wisdom from KK at half time that made the difference, but it really looked to me like the players were having to work it out for themselves.

 

Keegan only has a limited amount of time to get things right, and so far there's no progress. Neither the results nor the performances have improved. No amount of philosophising about how much better or worse some other manager would have been is going to change that.

[NE5]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

the finance generated in the premiership now means that the very best players will come here as well as to the top Italian teams and Real and Barcelona.

 

It used to be Italy where this happened albeit a long time ago, and the 2 Spanish teams.

 

The players you list ie Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo are 3 great players, but so are Tevez, Drogba and Fabregas for instance.

 

Of these 6 players, 2 are Spanish, 1 African, 1 Portuguese, I Argie and Vidic is ? [Czech - not sure of this it just escapes me].

 

Rooney is just as vital to manu as Ronaldo, as is Terry re Drogba and Gerrard re Torres to their clubs

 

Its just a global game.

 

I know England haven't qualified, and therefore played shite, but I think they could and should have done better.

 

Foreigners v British players is a big debate, much bigger than this.

 

 

[NE5]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

mate of mine [ie a Leeds supporter it has to be said] thinks that Fergie has underachieved, on the basis that he should have won the European Cup more than once, because of the advantages he has had at manure, citing Brian Clough, Bob Paisley in comparision.

 

Fair point like, but he just hates manure............

 

 

[NE5]

The thing that worries me about Keegan is he seems to be a trial and error man. He's not very good at working out problems and solutions in his head beforehand, but tends to take plunges and then react to what's happened. That's why he couldn't hack it as an international manager, where there's only a very limited scope to learn from your mistakes. You only have to get it wrong in one game to be out of a tournament.

 

There's that famous story from Scott Sellars, about when Keegan announced to the team that they were going to play 3-5-2, an hour before the kick-off, having never practiced the formation in training beforehand. The formation on Monday felt a bit like that - a bit desperate and impulsive. The players looked completely lost in the first half, but finally managed to get it together, to some extent, in the second. It would be nice to think that it was some words of wisdom from KK at half time that made the difference, but it really looked to me like the players were having to work it out for themselves.

 

Keegan only has a limited amount of time to get things right, and so far there's no progress. Neither the results nor the performances have improved . No amount of philosophising about how much better or worse some other manager would have been is going to change that.

 

completely disagree with that like

[STM]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

the finance generated in the premiership now means that the very best players will come here as well as to the top Italian teams and Real and Barcelona.

 

It used to be Italy where this happened albeit a long time ago, and the 2 Spanish teams.

 

The players you list ie Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo are 3 great players, but so are Tevez, Drogba and Fabregas for instance.

 

Of these 6 players, 2 are Spanish, 1 African, 1 Portuguese, I Argie and Vidic is ? [Czech - not sure of this it just escapes me].

 

Rooney is just as vital to manu as Ronaldo, as is Terry re Drogba and Gerrard re Torres to their clubs

 

Its just a global game.

 

I know England haven't qualified, and therefore played shite, but I think they could and should have done better.

 

Foreigners v British players is a big debate, much bigger than this.

 

 

 

He's a serb mate.

 

I agree the English pool of players isn't half as bad as it's been made out. I believe you could pick about 3 first 11's that could have qualified for the euro's, shit managment is to blame (McClaren).

 

However, i think the youth in this country is a huge problem. We have adequate youngsters compared to the likes of France and Brazil. I believe this again down to poor coaching and management at lowel levels.

 

For me there's too much emphasis on physical (which is understand) rather that technical and mental.

[NE5]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

the finance generated in the premiership now means that the very best players will come here as well as to the top Italian teams and Real and Barcelona.

 

It used to be Italy where this happened albeit a long time ago, and the 2 Spanish teams.

 

The players you list ie Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo are 3 great players, but so are Tevez, Drogba and Fabregas for instance.

 

Of these 6 players, 2 are Spanish, 1 African, 1 Portuguese, I Argie and Vidic is ? [Czech - not sure of this it just escapes me].

 

Rooney is just as vital to manu as Ronaldo, as is Terry re Drogba and Gerrard re Torres to their clubs

 

Its just a global game.

 

I know England haven't qualified, and therefore played shite, but I think they could and should have done better.

 

Foreigners v British players is a big debate, much bigger than this.

 

 

 

He's a serb mate.

 

I agree the English pool of players isn't half as bad as it's been made out. I believe you could pick about 3 first 11's that could have qualified for the euro's, shit managment is to blame (McClaren).

 

However, i think the youth in this country is a huge problem. We have adequate youngsters compared to the likes of France and Brazil. I believe this again down to poor coaching and management at lowel levels.

 

For me there's too much emphasis on physical (which is understand) rather that technical and mental.

 

there's no escape from the physical aspect of competing in the premiership.

 

It's all down to extremes of weather, temparature, amount of tough games, pace of the game ie the natural habitat and environment of Britain. The best team really does win the premiership, they are the best team because they have the players who adapt to all these extremes over 8-9 months of the year.

 

Abroad its a slower paced game for obvious reasons.

 

Kids will only improve technique by playing on 5 a side pitches from as young an age as possible and staying that way until their teens at least.

 

Getting a 10 year old kid to hoof the ball down a full sized pitch is absolute bollocks f**k knows why this still goes on.

 

 

[fredbob]

I don't think anyone will ever match Ferguson; he's a complete one-off.

 

You name probably our best three players there, yet I could name Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo who are easily as good/better. The standard of foreigner is far higher IMO, that's most of the reason there are so many here. And also the reason why the home nations teams are crap. The players just aren't that good.

 

the finance generated in the premiership now means that the very best players will come here as well as to the top Italian teams and Real and Barcelona.

 

It used to be Italy where this happened albeit a long time ago, and the 2 Spanish teams.

 

The players you list ie Torres, Vidic and Ronaldo are 3 great players, but so are Tevez, Drogba and Fabregas for instance.

 

Of these 6 players, 2 are Spanish, 1 African, 1 Portuguese, I Argie and Vidic is ? [Czech - not sure of this it just escapes me].

 

Rooney is just as vital to manu as Ronaldo, as is Terry re Drogba and Gerrard re Torres to their clubs

 

Its just a global game.

 

I know England haven't qualified, and therefore played s****, but I think they could and should have done better.

 

Foreigners v British players is a big debate, much bigger than this.

 

 

 

He's a serb mate.

 

I agree the English pool of players isn't half as bad as it's been made out. I believe you could pick about 3 first 11's that could have qualified for the euro's, s*** managment is to blame (McClaren).

 

However, i think the youth in this country is a huge problem. We have adequate youngsters compared to the likes of France and Brazil. I believe this again down to poor coaching and management at lowel levels.

 

For me there's too much emphasis on physical (which is understand) rather that technical and mental.

 

there's no escape from the physical aspect of competing in the premiership.

 

It's all down to extremes of weather, temparature, amount of tough games, pace of the game ie the natural habitat and environment of Britain. The best team really does win the premiership, they are the best team because they have the players who adapt to all these extremes over 8-9 months of the year.

 

Abroad its a slower paced game for obvious reasons.

 

Kids will only improve technique by playing on 5 a side pitches from as young an age as possible and staying that way until their teens at least.

 

Getting a 10 year old kid to hoof the ball down a full sized pitch is absolute bollocks f**k knows why this still goes on.

 

 

 

I think theres a culutural difference as well whichi hinders the youths develeopement. Its pretty widely accepted that the english youth are generally regarded as being quite lazy and not as motivated to suceed as there forigen counterparts.

 

 

 

 

[chicago_shearer]

I really, really wish we'd gotten Deschamps instead.  That would have been a really exciting appointment.

 

Having said that, I really don't understand this media driven consensus that Keegan is past-it, a tactical idiot, purely a sentimental appointment etc.  Or that football is a completely different game from when he last managed in the Premiership in 2005.  The man almost won the fucking Premiership, built a very impressive team and he gets treated like a clown.  He has a different personality, but I can't imagine he's the fool that the media try and make him seem.

[Mick]

The thing that worries me about Keegan is he seems to be a trial and error man. He's not very good at working out problems and solutions in his head beforehand, but tends to take plunges and then react to what's happened. That's why he couldn't hack it as an international manager, where there's only a very limited scope to learn from your mistakes. You only have to get it wrong in one game to be out of a tournament.

 

There's that famous story from Scott Sellars, about when Keegan announced to the team that they were going to play 3-5-2, an hour before the kick-off, having never practiced the formation in training beforehand. The formation on Monday felt a bit like that - a bit desperate and impulsive. The players looked completely lost in the first half, but finally managed to get it together, to some extent, in the second. It would be nice to think that it was some words of wisdom from KK at half time that made the difference, but it really looked to me like the players were having to work it out for themselves.

 

Keegan only has a limited amount of time to get things right, and so far there's no progress. Neither the results nor the performances have improved. No amount of philosophising about how much better or worse some other manager would have been is going to change that.

 

We've had plenty of managers who have recently taken plunges and created problems, at least Keegan will react, unlike Souness, Roeder and Allardyce.