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

[Mick]

How often to Chelsea beat us at home?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

we were comfortably the better side in the first half tho. bit of a different scenario comparing the mickey mouse cup final to a game chelsea HAD to win to be in with a chance of winning the league. at 45 mins you wouldnt have thought chelsea were desperate for a result and we had nowt at all to play for.

 

Agreed.  Chelsea were poor in the first half and Newcastle deserved to go in at halftime a goal to the good.  I think there was a great deal of similarity with the Carling Cup though.  The personnel were similar, the tactics were the same and totally wrong.  The difference was that Grant changed it today and didn't at Wembley until Chelsea were behind.  As I said before, 9 times out of 10 Chelsea will beat the opposition, but in the first half the Newcastle players looked as though an upset was possible. In the second half I didn't get the impression that the Newcastle players believed today would be the 1 in 10 where they could win.

 

Chelsea hadn't beaten us in about 6 years at St. James' in the league so it's not a surprise that today wasn't the 1 in 10.

 

Deleted, and I knew it was a while.

[Mick]

How often to Chelsea beat us at home?

 

About as many times as Spurs do at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And at their own ground.

 

I.e. not very often.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00021/newcastle_21817t.jpg

 

[Guest optimistic nit]

 

 

 

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.

 

 

we were comfortably the better side in the first half tho. bit of a different scenario comparing the mickey mouse cup final to a game chelsea HAD to win to be in with a chance of winning the league. at 45 mins you wouldnt have thought chelsea were desperate for a result and we had nowt at all to play for.

 

Agreed.  Chelsea were poor in the first half and Newcastle deserved to go in at halftime a goal to the good.  I think there was a great deal of similarity with the Carling Cup though.  The personnel were similar, the tactics were the same and totally wrong.  The difference was that Grant changed it today and didn't at Wembley until Chelsea were behind.  As I said before, 9 times out of 10 Chelsea will beat the opposition, but in the first half the Newcastle players looked as though an upset was possible. In the second half I didn't get the impression that the Newcastle players believed today would be the 1 in 10 where they could win.

 

you've completely backtracked on what you said in your first post, and in the second half, we were overun becuase chelsea are the better team by far, who needed the win more than we did.

[Cajun]

Keegan outdid Allardyce and played for the loss.

[Nate]

I still don't understand why he decided to come out and drill it into the players that the club is nowhere near good enough to compete with the top four and won't be for the foreseeable future, whilst sending out the same message to any potential signings. To publically tell the owner that, regardless of what he thinks, he won't be able to take his club to the next level. And to top it all off, let the world know that their relationship is nonexistent.

 

When you directly compare these quotes to those he made when he first arrived, it just comes across as a bit of a tantrum on the back of an embarrassing second half performance and possibly a culmination of his frustration with the Wise and Houghton apointments being made above his head and our failure to sign Woodgate and Modric.

 

No doubt the media will be going with that line.

[Cajun]

He knows we have a section of mongs who think we will be competing with the top 4 next season and is trying to let them down gently.

[Dave]

I still don't understand why he decided to come out and drill it into the players that the club is nowhere near good enough to compete with the top four and won't be for the foreseeable future, whilst sending out the same message to any potential signings. To publically tell the owner that, regardless of what he thinks, he won't be able to take his club to the next level. And to top it all off, let the world know that their relationship is nonexistent.

 

When you directly compare these quotes to those he made when he first arrived, it just comes across as a bit of a tantrum on the back of an embarrassing second half performance and possibly a culmination of his frustration with the Wise and Houghton apointments being made above his head and our failure to sign Woodgate and Modric.

 

No doubt the media will be going with that line.

 

As someone said before, maybe it's a case of Keegan just speaking from the heart and being a little too honest. Nothing he says is news, everyone knows the gulf between the top four and the rest.

[johnnypd]

I still don't understand why he decided to come out and drill it into the players that the club is nowhere near good enough to compete with the top four and won't be for the foreseeable future, whilst sending out the same message to any potential signings. To publically tell the owner that, regardless of what he thinks, he won't be able to take his club to the next level. And to top it all off, let the world know that their relationship is nonexistent.

 

When you directly compare these quotes to those he made when he first arrived, it just comes across as a bit of a tantrum on the back of an embarrassing second half performance and possibly a culmination of his frustration with the Wise and Houghton apointments being made above his head and our failure to sign Woodgate and Modric.

 

No doubt the media will be going with that line.

 

we've just been beaten by a top four side who, in the 2nd half ,were able to bring on players we could only dream about. that's probably why he's brought it up. if anything to put pressure on the board to stump up cash/downplaying mort's comments.

 

in keegan's first spell here he once said, after we'd played man utd, that it would take a lot to challenge them, as they had roy keane on the bench and we could only be envious of that kind of talent. but a year later we had the best side in the league.

[Dave]

Here's an idea - why don't we see what happens over the summer?

 

If we don't sign the players we need, complain then. As things stand, there are just under four months to go...

[mattypnufc]

Personally, I agree with everything Keegan said, as it is all true...but to come out of his mouth in public is a bit of a shock.  

 

Not that I let any media or anything get to me, but after we have finally shaken months of anti-newcastle press, along comes KK speaking sense and truth, and they will spin it on its head saying he is not up to the job.  

 

Also, some of the comments on here are a little bit OTT.

 

Today we matched, if not played better than Chelski for the whole of the first half.  They did absolutly bugger all for the first 45minutes.

 

In the second half they stepped up a gear.  After all, why wouldnt they?  They had something to play for and a Team like Chelski dont get to be second in the league with one game left to play by chance do they?  (ok they got there by spending a fuckload of russian mafia money but thats a different matter...).  We had our pride and the fans to play for, but the quality we have in comparison to Chelsea is severly lacking.  Unfortunate, but true.  

 

I still believe that this close-season will be an exciting time, but lets not expect any mirracles for next season.  If we finish top 8 with a good cup run I will be very happy indeed.  Anything above I will be suprised, pleased and downright chuffed to bits.

 

Also...leading us into a false sense of security...perhaps not hyping us up whilst he thinks inside he can do something special again.  

 

 

 

 

[Baggio]

He's talking about it on the official site.

 

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1306309,00.html

[Liam Liam Liam O]

He's talking about it on the official site.

 

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1306309,00.html

 

Clueless

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest The Libertine]

Say what you will about Shepherd but at least he put money in and had ambition.

[brummie]

Keegan is right.

 

The top four are light years ahead of the rest of us. To make things worse, just throwing money at it won't work any more as it used to, because

 

1. Everyone has money (relatively speaking)

 

2. Chelsea could spend, say, 200m whereas Newcastle, Villa, West Ham might spend 100m. The difference will be that the best players will not want to go anywhere where they don't get to play in the Champions League.  That's why the "throwing the money around will make it alright" argument just doesn't work - yes, you can do it, but you'll end up paying more for players who aren't as good as the ones the top four are getting.

 

3. Three of the top four have had runs to the CL semi finals this year. That looks to me like a gap that is getting bigger, not smaller.

 

4. Liverpool have apparently been in crisis this year, riven by internal strife, not doing it in the league etc etc, but even with that going on, they're easily fourth and got to the CL semi finals.

 

It has got to the point where the best thing would be for them to fuck off out of our league and play in their dedicated EuroLeague. The PL is about as boring and predictable as it gets, and KK is just telling it like it is.

[Guest Knightrider]

It's Tough To Get Into Top Four - KK

 

KEVIN Keegan says that breaking into the top four of the Premier League is becoming a near-impossible task for the remaining clubs.

 

After his Newcastle side went down 2-0 to second-placed Chelsea at St. James' Park, Keegan laid it on the line and admitted the best United could realistically hope for next season would be fifth place.

 

Assessing the levels and standards of the top four, Keegan declared: "The top four this year will be the top four next year. I want to tell the Newcastle fans that we want to get fifth. We will be trying to win the other league that's going on.

 

"It's just the truth. I'm not disappointed. Being back in now underlines what I thought. Chelsea today brought Shevchenko - £28m - off the bench. And Frank Lampard. There's no Shaun Wright-Phillips. There's no Ashley Cole. I could go on. I can't say to the Newcastle fans I've got firepower like that.

 

"The only games they (the top four) are losing are against each other. Not many teams outside the top four are beating them.

 

"They are just losing two or three games a season - but when I was at Liverpool, if we lost eight we'd had a great season."

 

Pressing home the point, Keegan added: "It's a realisation. It's there already. The way the league is at the moment, the gulf is too big.

 

"I don't want to mislead the fans. We will try our best and if one of them hits a brick wall or falls by the wayside I will be delighted. But it's difficult to see anyone break into the top four.

 

"We are the fifth-biggest club in this country in terms of fans, turnover and things like that. Tottenham might be pretty near us, but we will be fifth or sixth.

 

"Even if someone gives you a barrel of money, you have got to be honest and say you are not going to get the very best players. It's the pecking order. The top players go where the honours are.

 

"If we can get to fifth, it will be a massive achievement for this club. And it's very, very exciting to finish fifth

 

"We will still do our best and I'm still optimistic for this club in terms of where it's been in the last few years.

 

"Realistically, we can finish fifth next season. It will be a hell of an achievement from where we are now. And if we did end up getting fourth by playing well, then I would be delighted."

 

 

I'll be the first to say I'd happily accept that. 

 

Top 4 is overrated anyway.

[Mick]

He's talking about it on the official site.

 

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1306309,00.html

 

He should resign, he's already thrown the towel in and is trying for 5th, shocking stuff from KK.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Say what you will about Shepherd but at least he put money in and had ambition.

 

Oh no he didn't, he left us with lots of debts and lined his own pockets and made lots of cash off of the Woodgate deal etc.

 

[Mick]

Say what you will about Shepherd but at least he put money in and had ambition.

 

[Baggio]

Keegan clearly lacks ambition if he's happy with 5th tbh.

 

 

[Dave]

I'd be delighted, no, astonished with fifth next year. It's the top of the rest, and would be a platform to move forward from.

 

As such it's the highest realistic target for next year, and I'm happy with that.

[indi]

Keegan clearly lacks ambition if he's happy with 5th tbh.

 

 

 

Well we are the 5th best side over the last ten years, so that's about our level really.

[Cronky]

I still don't understand why he decided to come out and drill it into the players that the club is nowhere near good enough to compete with the top four and won't be for the foreseeable future, whilst sending out the same message to any potential signings. To publically tell the owner that, regardless of what he thinks, he won't be able to take his club to the next level. And to top it all off, let the world know that their relationship is nonexistent.

 

When you directly compare these quotes to those he made when he first arrived, it just comes across as a bit of a tantrum on the back of an embarrassing second half performance and possibly a culmination of his frustration with the Wise and Houghton apointments being made above his head and our failure to sign Woodgate and Modric.

 

No doubt the media will be going with that line.

 

Exactly. It was a completely negative message which only concentrated on what we can't achieve rather than what we can.

[Baggio]

Talking about it now on BBC1.

[leazes.ender]

SSN now saying the Kev doesn't even speak to Ashley.

 

In an hour Jim White will be on saying "David Craig will outside St James within the hour canvassing opinion on the Keegan walkout."

[Guest SB]

All the things that KK said is true, but it was wrong it say it publicly like that. We should be trying to encourage quility players to come here and current ones to extent their contracts. And his pessimism, not helping! What would MO think about that, for example?!?

 

I thought we had a good game considering all the circumstances and was quite happy with how we played against Chelsea (except Smith's performance  ) but KK've just ruined all the positives with his interview! It's really discouraging for everyone including our targets, fans and our players! KK's way too emotional and not well media-trained tbh. It's either too high or too low.

 

We should stay optimistic! People on here already sound depressed and there's a good chance we'll lose next week, everyone will start to lose their hopes  . At the end of the day, they're Chelsea and Everton and more importantly they're playing for 1st and 5th unlike us. (we have almost nowt to play for)