great post mate, I am firmly in Keegan’s corner and have been for many years. Above all else he was a football man and a nice bloke, something which in today’s football gets under-appreciated in favour of surly success stories.

Didn’t know Bez had failed a medical at Liverpool? Interesting, though I wonder if he would have enjoyed as much success and freedom under the Souness regime

Neil

when keegan first took over funds were tight/non existant.
the signing of brian ‘killer’ kilcline and kevein sheedy were master stokes that saved the club from extinction.

at the start of the following season the acquisitions of liverpool reserve barry venision for £250,000 john beresford (who had just failed a medical at liverpool) £550,000, paul bracewell £250,000 from the mackems, and london loving cockney rob lee £700,000 from charlton athletic (after convincing him newcastle was further south than middlesboro, who he’d previously turned down for being too far north!!!) he also turned lumbering centre forward steve howey into centre half.

all of the above players plucked from obsurity, bar bracewell who knees were shot, went on to play for england under keegan. later to ensure promotion he picked up a liitle known winger from leeds called scott sellers for £700,000 and a raw young kid from bristol city who went on to score 41 top flight goals for the club, andy cole for a ‘massive’ £1,750,000.

keegan was a man the who generated his own success as richard n points out, he got the best of of players with limited abitly by making them believe they go could go on and play at the world cup, and as previously stated some of them actually did!!

i’m passed caring what the london media say about keegan now, i still respect the man for everything he did during his first all to brief 5 years at the club as manager. his return was a shambles but i put the blame of that firmly at the doorstep of mike ashley, a man who consistantly cannot make two consequtive good decisions.

we’re in trouble again now, and what i’d give to see tighlty groomed mullet in a grey suit jacket and horrendous paisley tie walk thru the double doors of st james park again……….

West Brom this evening, the first step back, or another nail in the Toon coffin?

I’ve always felt Keegan was flawed as a manager. He’s a great guy but over-emotional and can’t take the heat when it comes.

The stand-out moments in that season, that I recall, were the Utd win on Tyneside (as you say, Schmeichel was out of this world and Utd’s talisman won it against the odds.); that outstanding game at Anfield; and…one many won’t remember…their game against Forest late on (I think it is the game in hand you refer to) where Newcastle were 1-0 up with time running out.

As a Utd fan I stood in the pub watching and remarked that what we needed was a ‘Woany special’. For those who don’t recall, Ian Woan was a wide player at Forest who was capable of hitting screamers for 30-35 yeards out.

No sooner had I said it than Woan obliged. I knew at that moment that Newcastle were gone.

Great club though and great fans and I hope they come back soon. They deserve better.