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

[ChezGiven]

The timing of the comments has to be relevant. Did he really need to wait until the team were playing and winning (then lost to a top 4 side) to make these comments?

 

I dont think anyone could believe he didnt think there was a gulf in class when playing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U earlier in the season, especially as he made the point about only Everton breaking in in the last 6 years. If, as everyone has agreed, its a fairly obvious point, then he could have made it earlier. He didnt though.

 

Fair point. What do you think the relevance of the timing is then? Just a nudge at the chairman/owner, or something more sinister?

 

Possibly to the owner, it felt more like a message to the fans though.

 

"keep your feet on the ground"

 

If he is as in touch with the club as he we all think he is, then he knows that fan expectation plays a big part in the feeling of well-being at the club. If they are too high, then the half full glass becomes half empty very easily.

 

Only the man and his nearest really knows.

[Yorkie]

Comfortably in the top ten would be an achievement, depending on how much money we spend. But then, even if we do spend a lot, we'll have to go abroad if we're buying big - we'll get taken for mugs in this country - and it'll take those players time to adapt and settle. Looking into the crystal ball, things don't happen overnight and next season won't be the season.

 

We're essentially at an identical point in which we were at the end of last season. Just need to start again.

[Newcastle Fan]

I think we should be aiming for first always...if we fail then we can think about other targets..

[Dave]

The timing of the comments has to be relevant. Did he really need to wait until the team were playing and winning (then lost to a top 4 side) to make these comments?

 

I dont think anyone could believe he didnt think there was a gulf in class when playing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U earlier in the season, especially as he made the point about only Everton breaking in in the last 6 years. If, as everyone has agreed, its a fairly obvious point, then he could have made it earlier. He didnt though.

 

Fair point. What do you think the relevance of the timing is then? Just a nudge at the chairman/owner, or something more sinister?

 

Possibly to the owner, it felt more like a message to the fans though.

 

"keep your feet on the ground"

 

If he is as in touch with the club as he we all think he is, then he knows that fan expectation plays a big part in the feeling of well-being at the club. If they are too high, then the half full glass becomes half empty very easily.

 

Only the man and his nearest really knows.

 

[SUPERTOON]

“I’m not misleading anyone there. If we finish fifth it’d be a massive achievement considering where we are now.

 

“I didn’t say I hadn’t got any money to spend this summer, I said I haven’t got enough to make up that gap to the top four.

 

“I think Mike Ashley will support me. I don’t think there will be a problem there, but the problem might be getting the players. I get on great with the owner because I never talk to him! That’s better than some managers at the moment! No communication is good now!

 

“But however much money he gives me the biggest challenge is getting players to come to you when they’ve got three or four alternatives. And if they’re really good players they will have three or four alternatives.

 

“Even if someone gives you a barrel-load of money you have to be honest and say you’re not going to get the best players. There’s a pecking order - If I’m a player and I get the option to go to Chelsea or Newcastle, the Press would slaughter me, asking where my ambition was (if I chose Newcastle).

 

“All the great players will go for where the honours are and if they don’t make it there they’ll drop to a Newcastle.”

 

 

Basically we will have a go but will be mostly disappointed

[Happy Face]

I get on great with the owner because I never talk to him!

 

[Guest neesy111]

4-5 top signings and the europe should be defo achievable next season

 

if we had a decent midfield with pace yesterday things could have been very different

 

our midfield hasn't scored more than 2 goals each this season, pathetic

 

robert, speed, solano would either get more than 10 or around that mark

 

a set-piece taker is a must

[Parky]

The timing of the comments has to be relevant. Did he really need to wait until the team were playing and winning (then lost to a top 4 side) to make these comments?

 

I dont think anyone could believe he didnt think there was a gulf in class when playing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U earlier in the season, especially as he made the point about only Everton breaking in in the last 6 years. If, as everyone has agreed, its a fairly obvious point, then he could have made it earlier. He didnt though.

 

Fair point. What do you think the relevance of the timing is then? Just a nudge at the chairman/owner, or something more sinister?

 

Possibly to the owner, it felt more like a message to the fans though.

 

"keep your feet on the ground"

 

If he is as in touch with the club as he we all think he is, then he knows that fan expectation plays a big part in the feeling of well-being at the club. If they are too high, then the half full glass becomes half empty very easily.

 

Only the man and his nearest really knows.

 

You know full well that the timing (last home game) and tone (reticent and pensive) was a message to all at the club not just the fans. The way he kept going on about the players who Chelsea didn't play.

 

Your last para is very observant.

[Guest neesy111]

The timing of the comments has to be relevant. Did he really need to wait until the team were playing and winning (then lost to a top 4 side) to make these comments?

 

I dont think anyone could believe he didnt think there was a gulf in class when playing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U earlier in the season, especially as he made the point about only Everton breaking in in the last 6 years. If, as everyone has agreed, its a fairly obvious point, then he could have made it earlier. He didnt though.

 

Fair point. What do you think the relevance of the timing is then? Just a nudge at the chairman/owner, or something more sinister?

 

Possibly to the owner, it felt more like a message to the fans though.

 

"keep your feet on the ground"

 

If he is as in touch with the club as he we all think he is, then he knows that fan expectation plays a big part in the feeling of well-being at the club. If they are too high, then the half full glass becomes half empty very easily.

 

Only the man and his nearest really knows.

 

You know full well that the timing (last home game) and tone (reticent and pensive) was a message to all at the club not just the fans. The way he kept going on about the players who Chelsea didn't play.

 

Your last para is very observant.

 

if keegan thinks this current squad is good enough regarding 1 or 2 signings, he should go now tbh

 

you should aim for the top, if you don't then there is no point of the rest of us being here

[steve_69]

There's no way Keegan thinks this squad is good enough. He's a master at this sort of thing - making players feel wanted to get the best out of them.

I can see us signing a left back, right back, another CB, a Striker and possibly 3 midfielders, but he's not going to say that to the media because of the effect on player morale and other clubs being alerted to how much cash he has to spend.

 

He might think the squad needs 2-3 more additions at present, but bare in mind how many players are expected to leave - that would leave us well short.

 

[hoppaz]

I think the comments were mainly aimed at the club. Reading into comments from KK, Mort and Ashley there is a gulf of differences between each of their aims.

 

Ashley wants the club to go an whallop Tottenham and the other big teams.

 

Mort wants to build for the medium to long term future.

 

I think Keegan has basically come out and said that Ashley can't have his way because Mort sees things otherwise (in a roundabout way). I mean as the top four invest heavily (Man U spent £80-odd million last year) season upon season and Mort is looking at the Medium to Long term we will always be chasing the top four.

 

What we really need is a lot of money spent now to TRY and bring us up to par. People say money isn't everything but it has worked at Chelsea and Man U (who have always spent big on players). Even Liverpools recent success is down to big investment in the playing side. Ok we can quote Arsenal as a special case but even they are falling behind because they aren't investing now. When Wenger first came he spent big on Henry, Bergkamp and Viera and others. It was only after a long period of time that he was able to set up a brilliant Scouting network and deals with feeder clubs.

 

Keegan has more or less said this and even added that because we so far behind we can't get the best players if one of the top clubs is in for them. All he has done is speak the truth as he sees it.

[merlin]

I will be surprised if he signs more than 4 players - a Target man/CF, midfield creator, LB(Bridge?) and CB(Cuellar/Dunne?) ; that will use around 40m of the budget and any further buys will have to come from the sales of players deemed surplus(such as Ameobi, reputedly 4m,Smith and maybe even N'Zogbia).

If we receive good fees for some that leave then I expect maybe 5 or 6 new players by next season.

 

I am not worried about Ashley not supporting KK in the market, but there will not be a bottomless pit, esp as Ashley has reputedly lost over 100m on the Stockmarket recently - as I said before, I am more concerned at how he proposes to attract the players of the calibre we need ; Dunne is a possible bearing in mind his links with KK in the past, and perhaps Bridge could be tempted from Chelsea ; Cuellar MIGHT be bought from Rangers but its not a certainty as they can almost certainly give him European football next season. The CF could be a real tough one - maybe the likes of Ashton are possible, as is Crouch and as for the midfield, we may be forced into bringing a player at the back end of his career, such as Deco although I wonder whether he would stay with the week-in, week-out pace of the Prem.

Joe Cole would be a great signing, but I cannot see it happening....

 

All these are, like everything else being said on this thread, are speculation - KK will have his own ideas, but we certainly need an injection of pace & skill into the side in every area of the field.

[Parky]

I think the comments were mainly aimed at the club. Reading into comments from KK, Mort and Ashley there is a gulf of differences between each of their aims.

 

Ashley wants the club to go an whallop Tottenham and the other big teams.

 

Mort wants to build for the medium to long term future.

 

I think Keegan has basically come out and said that Ashley can't have his way because Mort sees things otherwise (in a roundabout way). I mean as the top four invest heavily (Man U spent £80-odd million last year) season upon season and Mort is looking at the Medium to Long term we will always be chasing the top four.

 

What we really need is a lot of money spent now to TRY and bring us up to par. People say money isn't everything but it has worked at Chelsea and Man U (who have always spent big on players). Even Liverpools recent success is down to big investment in the playing side. Ok we can quote Arsenal as a special case but even they are falling behind because they aren't investing now. When Wenger first came he spent big on Henry, Bergkamp and Viera and others. It was only after a long period of time that he was able to set up a brilliant Scouting network and deals with feeder clubs.

 

Keegan has more or less said this and even added that because we so far behind we can't get the best players if one of the top clubs is in for them. All he has done is speak the truth as he sees it.

 

Agree, but more importantly he is making a point of speaking the truth.

[Doug]

There are hundreds and hundreds of top players in the world.

They cant all play for 4 teams can they?

[ChezGiven]

There are hundreds and hundreds of top players in the world.

They cant all play for 4 teams can they?

 

There are hundreds of Ronaldos, Rooneys and Drogbas? To compete with the best you have to buy the best and match their management.

[Dave]

The promising thing is that even with this shithouse squad I reckon Keegan would have had us top half with a full crack at this season. The way we surrendered points to some horrid teams was rubbish. A few good players and we'd improve on top of that.

 

Look at the situation when Robson was here. We weren't competing with the really big boys for the players that transformed us into top-five challengers, were we?

 

Get up there or thereabouts again and think about breaking the monopoly from there on.

[McCormick]

It only takes liverpool to slip up a few times for a top 5 time to break into the top 4... and from there the lure of champions league football can make all the difference in attracting the calibre of players to sustain such a position.

 

[SUPERTOON]

We dont need to spend huge money in my opinion look at what Villa have done without really spending big

[Skeletor]

We dont need to spend huge money in my opinion look at what Villa have done without really spending big

 

I was under the impression that they have spent big.

[SUPERTOON]

We dont need to spend huge money in my opinion look at what Villa have done without really spending big

 

But Villa are nowhere near the top 4 either. That's what he's getting at. We could spend 100million and not break the top 4 because of their strength in depth. We have 4 or 5 positions in the first 11 that need dealing with before we can even think about the qualoty of our subs.

 

Yer but if we can get into europe first we will get better players then we take it from there most would be delighted if this time next season we are were Villa are now

[SUPERTOON]

We dont need to spend huge money in my opinion look at what Villa have done without really spending big

 

I was under the impression that they have spent big.

 

Not really i dont think

 

Carew was a swap deal

Young around 8 million as was Reo Coker

Petrov 7 million

 

not huge amounts

[Consortium of one]

The timing of the comments has to be relevant. Did he really need to wait until the team were playing and winning (then lost to a top 4 side) to make these comments?

 

I dont think anyone could believe he didnt think there was a gulf in class when playing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U earlier in the season, especially as he made the point about only Everton breaking in in the last 6 years. If, as everyone has agreed, its a fairly obvious point, then he could have made it earlier. He didnt though.

 

Fair point. What do you think the relevance of the timing is then? Just a nudge at the chairman/owner, or something more sinister?

 

I think the timing was based on losing Modric and seeing Chelsea's bench.

 

Losing Modric sent the message that money ALONE wasn't going to solve the problem.  We offered more money.  Modric opted for less money and a perceived better chance at CL football.  Watching who came off the bench for Chelsea as well as the quality of player that wasn't even named as a substitute drove home just how far off the club really is.  Keegan was just speaking his mind and was caught in a low moment, IMO.  It's a daunting task and it's going to take more than a summer transfer window to right the ship.  In fact, you could say that throwing a lot of money at mediocre players would be a big step backwards.

[Parky]

The timing of the comments has to be relevant. Did he really need to wait until the team were playing and winning (then lost to a top 4 side) to make these comments?

 

I dont think anyone could believe he didnt think there was a gulf in class when playing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U earlier in the season, especially as he made the point about only Everton breaking in in the last 6 years. If, as everyone has agreed, its a fairly obvious point, then he could have made it earlier. He didnt though.

 

Fair point. What do you think the relevance of the timing is then? Just a nudge at the chairman/owner, or something more sinister?

 

I think the timing was based on losing Modric and seeing Chelsea's bench.

 

Losing Modric sent the message that money ALONE wasn't going to solve the problem.  We offered more money.  Modric opted for less money and a perceived better chance at CL football.  Watching who came off the bench for Chelsea as well as the quality of player that wasn't even named as a substitute drove home just how far off the club really is.  Keegan was just speaking his mind and was caught in a low moment, IMO.  It's a daunting task and it's going to take more than a summer transfer window to right the ship.  In fact, you could say that throwing a lot of money at mediocre players would be a big step backwards.

 

My first reaction was that KK was feeling a bit helpless. I think he feels hurt as it's dawning on him the nature of the task ahead...It looks impossible.

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

SSN just interviewed a few fans on Keegan's comments.  They all agreed, but I'm also surprised they got people on with a few brain cells.  Its obviously an issue above mong-level.

[STM]

If anyone thinks we will be signing 3 players they are stupid.

 

It will be more like 6 or 7. 3 of them will be key players for us though.