Keegan on breaking into the top four, and fifth as a target next year

[Nate]

I don't think anyone is disputing what he said in the interview. The only concern would be wether he truly appreciated it before taking the job, because those comments are quite a significant come down from the quotes he was coming out with when he arrived.

 

Missing out on two of his top targets to another team outside of the top four seems to have served as quite a reality check.

[Guest Dr. Richard Kimble]

That was an awful interview. Forgetting about the money Kev sounds as though he thinks he lost his ability to suss and smoke out gems like Ginola anymore; thats Kev's strength and he sounded like somebody else there.

[Mick]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/match_of_the_day/7384594.stm bbc interview KK seems quite down, just telling it like it is thou

 

He doesn't sound down to me, he's laughing at the end.

[Consortium of one]

I thought it was a combination of brutal honesty darkened by a poor second half.  I heard what the majority of people heard:  that Keegan doesn't think there is enough money to overtake the top four from where they are right now.  He's right.  Looking at Chelsea's bench in the 2nd half had to be disheartening.  So, if Newcastle (and the rest of the EPL) can't catch up with the top four, a team has to maximize it's own resources by developing young players, scouting aggressively for young players on the rise and make prudent purchases of big name players when possible.  The other factor is how many of the top four are doing a financial high wire act?  Which or how many of them will cave in under the financial pressure to remain top four and get severely overextended?

[S.S.R.]

What Keegan actually meant we were too far behind the top teams to bridge the gap in just a year, mainly because we'd have to sign so many players to do so, and the quality of player required wouldn't come to us in our current position.

 

 

 

[Guest Stephen927]

Makes some very fair points in that interview.

 

I think 5th place next season would be an incredible finish. There's no reason why we can't challenge the top four, it just ain't going to happen in the next 2 or 3 years.

 

We could go out and splash £60m, but chances are Man United, Chelsea would do the same but sign better players. We need to get ourselves into a position, by having sustained European football and gradually improving the playing staff, to be able to truly compete with clubs like Tottenham for the likes of Modric and Woodgate.

 

The next step is hopefully getting into the UEFA Cup next season, or even just being in a position to be able to take part in the Intertoto.

 

Nothing is certain with Keegan, he'd love to get us right back up there in the title fight, missing out on Modric has given him a huge reality check I reckon.

[nfrederi]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/match_of_the_day/7384594.stm bbc interview KK seems quite down, just telling it like it is thou

 

He doesn't sound down to me, he's laughing at the end.

 

Nor me listened to it again just telling it how it is, we have had a good run but lets keep our feet on the ground even with money to burn in the summer we are not going to break into the top four. With the champions league cash they have been getting stronger every year quoted the fact that Ashley Cole didnt get a game and SWP was in the corridor rather than the 16 to emphasise the strength in depth that they have. Did however sound optimistic that we could challenge the mini league below the top four which sounds to me like Kev just trying to keep everyones feet on the ground not wanting the owner, board or fans to get too carried away.

[Cronky]

It sounded like Keegan was making excuses tbh - 'there was nothing I could do about it' - as though defeat was inevitable from the start. Well yes, they are better than us, but they changed their formation in the second half, were overruning us in midfield and Keegan did not react to it until it was too late. That side and that formation has served him well over the last few weeks, but it wasn't working in that situation. I think he bottled the decision and then was annoyed at himself afterwards.

 

 

[Wullie]

It sounded like Keegan was making excuses tbh - 'there was nothing I could do about it' - as though defeat was inevitable from the start. Well yes, they are better than us, but they changed their formation in the second half, were overruning us in midfield and Keegan did not react to it until it was too late. That side and that formation has served him well over the last few weeks, but it wasn't working in that situation. I think he bottled the decision and then was annoyed at himself afterwards.

 

We didn't have enough on the bench to change things when Chelsea stepped it up, especially when the ball kept coming back at us after Smith came on and failed to win a single thing.

[Guest Knightrider]

KK is absolutely spot on, it would take £150m or more from the position we are currently at to reach the levels of Chelsea and even then, it may not be enough. Chelsea bridged the gap by spending those kind of figures of course, however they did so from a really strong vantage point in that they already had a very good side to add to, a side that had finished in the top 4. All this during a period when Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool were rebuilding. Furthermore ourselves, who were a top 4 club alongside Chelsea at that time, were on the slide and KK now has to arrest that never mind reverse it. And having spent such figures, Chelsea followed it up with another £100m or so soon after and of course, can spend the same again whenever they fancy. You can't compete with that man.

 

We have money, and KK will spend it, but we don't have that kind of money, not all in one go. That doesn't mean it is impossible to break into the top 4 or that KK doesn't think we're capable, despite what he may say to the media, he is however being realistic, and given the heights of optimism and usual up and down nature of this footballing Toon of wors, who could blame him. Someone has to keep a lid on it all. Don't be down about things though because in KK we have just the right man to get us back into the top 4. It won't happen over night and it won't be easy, it will be damned tough and will require lots of money, time and some luck. And even that might not be enough.

 

We are heading in the right direction though and in the right way and that given the position we are in and all the changes that have occured in the past few years, is something we can all be positive about.

 

Oh and don't believe everything KK says, he's a clever man when it comes to the media, far more clever than he's giving credit for.

[Guest Knightrider]

Btw it's only when you look at Chelsea's bench and then ours that you realise just how far off we are. They are a formidable team when it comes to strength in depth and most of it is of the highest quality. There is no shame in losing 2-0 at home to a side that will go into the final game of the season with a chance of winning the league and who a week later could well be European Champions. I thought Chelsea were magnificent and despite the flack the amiable Avram Grant gets from the media and his own fans and all the whispers, they play better football now than they did under Mourinho and seem to have the same character and will to win, if not more. We were simply outclassed, but in a footballing way which I can accept. We fought hard, kept going and give it a good go, those are qualities we can build on and add to which together will make us much stronger. We have the makings of a decent team and at times Chelsea struggled to break us down and had to work extremely hard for their victory. A few months back teams were beating us easily and in return we were doing nowt going forward to make it at least competitive. We've made some big strides. Roll on next season.

[Guest ObaStar]

The thing is that 2 players can make a huge difference. take away gerrard and torres from liverpool and they are not top 4 anymore. If we can add 2 excellent midfielders and a striker to replace Viduka then we can be top 5.

[Guest ObaStar]

plus next year we will not have any European cup distractions so the need for a big, deep squad isn't as essential. Our defence has looked great in the last 8 games. And if we can replace butt and geremi with 2 class midfielders and viduka with someone like berbatov there is no reason why we cannot compete with the best teams in the league.

[ianovthetoon]

If KK didn't think he was going to be given enough money to spend, he'd walk - simple as. He's just realistic enough to know that we aren't going to catapult in to the top four from where we are now.

 

If he gets £50m, he will be looking to buy players that would get in the squads of the top four, and they aren't cheap. As far as I'm concerned there will still be a fair few quid spent this summer, not just on signings that will go straight to the first team, but a few young signings to bolster the squad a bit. Mort has already been quoted as saying they are looking at the medium to long term success of the club, so it would be ludicrous to suggest that Ashley expects KK to go with what he's got, having just witnessed what's happened this season.

 

Just from seeing the papers about Ashley's £1.3m roulette win suggests he likes a gamble so I'd be more than surprised if he doesn't bankroll decent spending sprees for the next few years, with a view to the club getting success back and eventually becoming self sufficient. At the end of the day Chelsea are fine as long as Roman Abramovich stays because they are living way beyond their means, if he pulls the plug they are well and truly in the brown stuff.

 

I for one am still more excited about this summer than any for a long long time

[Guest Knightrider]

The thing is that 2 players can make a huge difference. take away gerrard and torres from liverpool and they are not top 4 anymore. If we can add 2 excellent midfielders and a striker to replace Viduka then we can be top 5.

 

Liverpool are the weakest link in the top 4 and the one to target. In fact there is almost two elite leagues, the top 2, and the 2 underneath. Man Utd and Chelsea are so far apart from everyone else, it's ridiculous. They have built themselves up so well, they don't need to spend £50-60m a season on 4 new players, they can spend that on 1 or 2 or 1 if they fancy, and keep those high levels of consistency. Plus their status enables them to attract the very very best of players and indeed managers, which I don't think Liverpool and Arsenal are quite capable of.

[Dave]

Just seen the Sky interview and I'd like to repeat my disgust at the knee-jerk reactions that spawned this thread. Load of bollocks.

 

KK just says what we all know; there's no way we can bridge the gap for the immediate future. We spend £100m? They'll spend £200m. We sign from the rank of second best players in the world? They sign the best.

 

Maybe playing them today made KK realise it's just not as feasible as last time he was here.

[Dave]

Oh, and I can't see where he looks 'down' or any of that shit. He was smiling and laughing.

[Jamie]

I recon he's probably only saying that becuase the top players won't want to sign for us.

The top players will want at least Uefa Cup football, we can't offer that, so Keegan is probably just warning the fans really not to except us to sign superstars

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Oh, and I can't see where he looks 'down' or any of that shit. He was smiling and laughing.

 

He's practically gone Dave, only a fool can't see it.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

If we were offered 5th place now for next season we'd all take it. Chelsea's bench today would probably cost around £100 Million.

[Joe_F]

The most telling bit is when he said:

 

"Maybe the owner thinks we can bridge the gap, but we can't"

[Liam Liam Liam O]

The most telling bit is when he said:

 

"Maybe the owner thinks we can bridge the gap, but we can't"

 

Why?

[Cajun]

I said as soon as someone commented on this that they were probably reading far too much into it, shock they were!

 

Jesus wept its threads like this that make me want to chuck myself or at least the laptop out the window.

 

 

[Martin Lol]

Just seen the Sky interview and I'd like to repeat my disgust at the knee-jerk reactions that spawned this thread. Load of bollocks.

 

KK just says what we all know; there's no way we can bridge the gap for the immediate future. We spend £100m? They'll spend £200m. We sign from the rank of second best players in the world? They sign the best.

Maybe playing them today made KK realise it's just not as feasible as last time he was here.

 

Maybe, but if his pre-match talk to the players resembled the post-match press conference, then there was never any danger of a home win being achieved.  Chelsea have quality throughout the squad, everyone knows that, but the players, and the manager, have to believe that against all the odds they can beat Chelsea.  I didn't see anything today which made me think the Newcastle players believed they could pull off an upset.  That Chelsea team wasn't a million miles from the one that Spurs beat in the Carling Cup.  I know that nine times out of ten Chelsea will beat Spurs, as KK said, they are too strong for the opposition to beat them.  But you have to believe that the 10th match when we win will be today, if you don't you will lose.  Guaranteed.

 

KK might have been honest in his post-match press conference.  It still doesn't make it right that he should say what he did publicly.  If the two teams were playing again tomorrow, the Chelsea players would know that KK expected his team to lose, the Newcastle players would know that as well.  In my honest opinion, I think it was a mistake for KK to say what he did.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Just seen the Sky interview and I'd like to repeat my disgust at the knee-jerk reactions that spawned this thread. Load of bollocks.

 

KK just says what we all know; there's no way we can bridge the gap for the immediate future. We spend £100m? They'll spend £200m. We sign from the rank of second best players in the world? They sign the best.

Maybe playing them today made KK realise it's just not as feasible as last time he was here.

 

Maybe, but if his pre-match talk to the players resembled the post-match press conference, then there was never any danger of a home win being achieved.  Chelsea have quality throughout the squad, everyone knows that, but the players, and the manager, have to believe that against all the odds they can beat Chelsea.  I didn't see anything today which made me think the Newcastle players believed they could pull off an upset.  That Chelsea team wasn't a million miles from the one that Spurs beat in the Carling Cup.  I know that nine times out of ten Chelsea will beat Spurs, as KK said, they are too strong for the opposition to beat them.  But you have to believe that the 10th match when we win will be today, if you don't you will lose.  Guaranteed.

 

KK might have been honest in his post-match press conference.  It still doesn't make it right that he should say what he did publicly.  If the two teams were playing again tomorrow, the Chelsea players would know that KK expected his team to lose, the Newcastle players would know that as well.  In my honest opinion, I think it was a mistake for KK to say what he did.

 

I'm guessing it didn't.  What a fucking stupid thing to suggest.