Kevin Keegan appointed Newcastle manager!

[Panda]

Unbelievable!

[Maximo Mark]

Just why?

[Mart!n]

Just heard this, I'm gobsmacked,

[wonderwall]

wow! best choice possible

[o]

Oh DEAR! Why would he want all that stress and strain, just why? How long before he walks away again? How's he going to deal with all the egos? Bonkers!

[Si.]

I think its good, he's not been in the public eye for years, did well last time, i just hope that they give him until the end of next season at least.

[Robbie]

I think this says as much about the desperation of the position we are in at the moment than it does about anything else. I just think we couldn't attract a manager who was prepared to manage us while the shadow of Shearer hangs over the club - except for KK. I hope Keegan does well, he'll certainly reinvigorate the crowd but the problems with the team will still remain. Plus I always have a philosophy that you never go back - he'll never be able to achieve anything near what he did in that golden period of 1993-95. Even 1996 seems a happy memory compared to what we've had recently...

he will need to get some top class coaches on side, and I doubt he'll do more than offer Shearer a token job, if any at all, KK will not want him at the club surely?

My view is that this is a short-term, 2 years perhaps, appointment and then Shearer may be the man to take the job. I'm glad Shearer doesn't have the job at the moment though. I prefer us having KK. But I would have preferred us having someone else than KK too. He's been found out as a manager, for Newcastle fans we never really saw that as it happened after he left the club, but he needs to change tack to achieve even a quarter of what he achieved here between 1992-1997. Hopefully the fans will be more patient with him in charge, when he first took over in 1992 his first (half) season was with a struggling side and we never looked that good - in fact we nearly went down to the old 3rd Division. We need time to stabilise the team and hopefully his appointment will allow this.

I'm a bit disappointed we are looking to the past, if we can get somewhere with KK then great but I'm afraid it makes us look a bit of a desperate laughing stock by having to return to the past to move forward...

[wonderwall]

keegan is a man who knows the club inside out i think its a good appointment for the club

[suedehead]

So what do you do when you've just lost 6-0? You appoint a manager who has a reputation for knowing nothing about defending. Hmmm, great idea that.

[frag]

Allardyce built a strong defensive side whilst at Bolton... the fans want some flair, so Keegan's good for that.

[Tom]

fragolata said:

Allardyce built a strong defensive side whilst at Bolton... the fans want some flair, so Keegan's good for that.

I agree. More exciting and entertaining matches can only be good for a football fan too. Its a bold move by Keegan though, it could tarnish his reputation with the Newcastle fans if it all goes wrong.

Plus I agree with Robbie that you shouldn't go back. I can only think of two examples, Howard Kendall going back to Everton twice and Coppell going back to Palace again twice, but its very rare for a manager to go back to a club and achieve the same level of success. The Premiership has changed a lot in the 11 years since he was last at Newcastle, there are more quality teams nowadays and its a better league overall.

Heck, I've even seen more live matches than him in recent years. Last night was the first live match he'd seen in the flesh since leaving Man City almost 3 years ago. You learn more from being at a game and its going to take him time to get up to speed with modern football.

[wonderwall]

I think the majority of Newcastle fans will be jumping for joy with this news one of there own leading them.The team he had back in 1996 was very good and very entertaining

[Robin]

It's a good move, it will create some buzz around the club again, and Keegan can be highly effective IF he gets it right! I loved watching Newcastle in the 90s, they were highly fashionable!

[wonderwall]

rmbod said:

It's a good move, it will create some buzz around the club again, and Keegan can be highly effective IF he gets it right! I loved watching Newcastle in the 90s, they were highly fashionable!

dont think many teams will fancy a trip to st james park now

[Robin]

Well he's not going to transform the team overnight, some of the players still aren't good enough, but it is the Jan transfer window so i'm sure he can bring a couple of players in!

[Razzle Dazzle]

its a good choice based on the fact the fans get on every managers back and they get sacked before they can turn things around. theres one person with experience who the fans respect and will cheer on and most of all give the time to turn things around, thats kevin keegan

[Earl Purple]

Keegan didn't do badly at Man City. He took a team that was yo-yoing and made them into a steady mid-table club that looked unlikely to be relegated. If I recall he took them over when they'd just been relegated with us, and the next season they went back up as champions.

The game is a lot different now than it was in 1996. Back then there was one team that got to play in the European Cup, so no "big 4". Now every top player wants to play in the Champions League so it's hard to get them to a club that isn't no matter how much money you have, at least unless you offer them a ridiculous wage packet that you can't afford if you are not CL.

The best Newcastle can realistically manage is a "best of the rest" 5th. Tottenham made a late run last season to take that position for the second year running. Perhaps they should award a trophy to whoever finishes there.