Keegan high-wire act collapses too easily

Some things you couldn't make up. Kevin Keegan’s big project, which opened last year near Glasgow, is called Soccer Circus. And yes, clowns often come to mind when you think of St James’ Park.

But easy jokes notwithstanding, it’s hard to make sense of Keegan’s return to Newcastle United. It was on Tyneside that Keegan had his glory years as a manager, forging a team that seemed like the last stand of Corinthian spirit at the very moment money was creating a grim era of superclubs. Just before the phrase "big four" came into the national consciousness with soul-destroying force, Keegan’s cavaliers gave us a mad couple of years of entertainment.

Can anyone, who lived through it, forget 1995-96? A blown 12-point lead, 4-3 at Anfield and the "I'd love it" speech. Everybody remembers the match against Liverpool. The more telling result in Newcastle throwing away the title was a 2-1 defeat at Ewood Park, when Blackburn Rovers scored twice in the last four minutes to win when three vital points appeared to have been secured. It’s a myth that Keegan’s side were poor at the back – they conceded only two goals more than Manchester United, the champions. It was more a case of leaking goals at the wrong times. Folding under the pressure. Eight months after that frantic end to the season, Keegan was gone, resigned.

In many ways, 1996 was the high point in Keegan’s managerial career. Subsequent promotions with Fulham and Manchester City hardly stay in the memory. His spell as England manager only reinforced preconceptions. Keegan’s team were beaten 3-2 by Portugal and Romania at Euro 2000 after taking the lead in each game, with a characteristic late collapse against the Eastern European side rubbing salt into the wound.

But they love him in Newcastle. They love it when the circus comes to town. And that could be the key to his return.

Lack of love could tear Newcastle apart
Back in the mid-1970s, I used to join the mob of young boys waiting outside Anfield during the school holidays. Armed with autograph books, copies of Shoot magazine and scraps of torn paper, we would pester the players for their signature when they arrived on the coach back from the training ground and then again when they left for the day.

Different members of the squad had different approaches to the group of young stalkers in the car park. Some would sign two or three and then finish, others would sprint round us to their cars, as if we were a Melwood training exercise. Others seemed to have no home to go to. They would sign for everyone.

Kevin Keegan was one of the most generous with his time. You could see he revelled in the adulation. However, when he was in a hurry, he found it hard to just walk past the autograph hunters. “I’ve got to go,” he’d say, “but I’ll be back and sign for you all.”

Off he went. And he never came back. He just didn’t seem to want to see our disappointment.
Regulars quickly got used to it. Eager newcomers would wait around – after all, he was the prize signature and not everyone lived near enough the ground to come every day – while us 13-year-old cynics would sneer. “He’s not coming back. You might as well go home now.”

It’s probably irrational but since then I’ve always felt Keegan has two components to his personality: he wants to be loved and he can’t handle disappointing people. The two add up to a volatile mix that can lead to resignations in dressing-room toilets and emotional outbursts.

Don’t doubt Keegan’s bravery – look how he faced Newcastle fans when he sold Andy Cole, their hero, to Manchester United – but what will happen when the love fades and the disappointment mounts this time? Because if he walks away this time, there’ll never be any going back.

Doom cloud lightens over Benitez
One man who doesn't need to be loved is Rafael Benitez. It’s just as well. On the face of it, it has been an awful 2008 for the Liverpool manager so far. However, the latest noises from Anfield suggest things are not quite as bad as they seem for Benitez. Despite Tom Hicks's stunning admission that the club were romancing Jurgen Klinsmann, there is a feeling from some of those close to the situation that this was less about piling pressure on the manager than deflecting attention away from even more serious issues that loom over Liverpool. The refinancing of the debt Hicks and George Gillett Jr incurred in buying the club and the ongoing problems over the stadium will have far-reaching and potentially painful ramifications.

Yet there is little serious analysis of this when all the talk is of the manager’s future. Benitez knows the importance of the bigger picture. He may not be happy, but he is perhaps less troubled now than in recent months. A truce of sorts seems to be in operation.

How long it holds is anyone’s guess but with so much in a state of flux at Anfield, only a brave man would predict the hierarchy – from owner to manager – of the club in a year's time.

Comments

[Dennis Higgins]

Two months on Alan how do you feel about Keegan now?
A man who did not bother to watch more than two football matches in the last three years and he is hired by Ashley, it may well be that it is Ashley that ought to go.

[Keith]

I think time proves you right Tony not Alan.

I though he was going to leave without achieving a goal never mind achieving the goal of silverware.

Bak to his ailing circus for King Kev, the games moved on. I never got his autograph either. felt the wheels of his Capri though.

[Alan]

Your being a little too quick to cast the clouds of doom already aren't you? Keegan didn't dissappoint last time he was at Newcastle. I lived through some of the most exciting football the club has ever seen and even if he brings half of that back again it will be worth whatever he is getting paid.
It's not "hard to make sense" of Keegan coming back, it's unfinished business. He left over issues relating to the club becoming a plc. He left without achieving his goal of bringing real silverware. He has the support of the vast majority on Tyneside and trophies or not always will have. "It's probably irrational" you wrote of your own feelings, you're probably right about that Tony.