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KK NOT OK: IT'S NOT KEVIN HEAVEN AT NEWCASTLE 21-1-08
Jeff Winter
CLICK HERE TO JOIN IN JEFF'S LIVE Q & A SESSION...
To the fans of Newcastle United reading this article, please read carefully. I am sure if the boot was on the other foot and Bob Stokoe had been resurrected and named as the new manager of Sunderland and the nation was having it rammed down their throats then you would be the first to react.
The last couple of weeks have been manic even by the standards of NUFC. At great expense the club dispensed with the services of "Big Sam", the latest in the long line of saviours for the club. Harry Redknapp, a character who actually does not really have a record for winning things is offered the job and duly turns them down.
Then it really kicks off. "SECOND CHOICE KEEGAN" is appointed and the world goes mad. National TV news, newspapers and every media outlet possible goes berserk and the rest of us have to listen.
Now I think we all have to agree, Newcastle United are a big club in every sense of the word, the size of the city, the size of the ground, the number of fans etc etc etc. They are also probably one of the biggest underachievers in football without a trophy since 1969, forgetting the Inter Toto cup a couple of years ago.
There is no doubt either about the charisma of Kevin Keegan, a hero as a player and a hero to the Geordies as a manager a few years ago. But let's be realistic, he was in charge when Newcastle managed to throw away the title, before walking out on them, became statistically the worst ever England Manager before walking out on them and left Manchester City when deciding he had had enough.
He has freely admitted he has not even watched a game live in the last three years. The club owner is reported to be backing him with unlimited resources. Sensible move that, as now any player he goes for has gone up by £5 million.
Having supported Boro all my life I know what it is like to crave success and constantly be disappointed but then so do the fans of about another 85 clubs. Last week one of the great stories in football happened as Havant and Waterlooville earned a trip to Liverpool in the FA Cup and it hardly got a mention as the media went into "Toon" overdrive.
I have attended the last two Boro press conferences in conjunction with the work I do on local radio. The national media are obviously present. Two weeks ago the opening question to Gareth Southgate was about the sacking of Big Sam and last week we opened with his thoughts on the appointment of KK. Gareth put them in their places by reminding them that he is the Manager of Middlesbrough Football Club and that was what he is concerned with. Well said on behalf of all of us I believe.
MOTD had Newcastle v Bolton, a terrible "entertaining" 0-0 draw as its feature match. Without the Keegan appointment it would have been probably one of the last games shown.
With two games coming up against Arsenal in the next week or so, KK could be hoping that the media would go away and let him get on with his job.
In the last week the Newcastle fans have been far from happy with the mickey taking by fans of other clubs on their message boards. Come on lads, you have as a club put yourselves in the firing line a bit haven't you?
This may shock a few but I would personally love to see Newcastle and Sunderland both do well and as long as they stay behind Boro even better. Then the national media would have something to talk about rather than North-west v London scenario that has become the norm over many, many years.
Unlike me though, everybody's perceived second favourite club are perhaps starting to get on everyone's tits and many are hoping that KK fails big time. Obviously the supporters of Sunderland can't wait. We will wait and see. I am sure it will be an eventful and well publicized ride.
The daft thing is that away from the hype many Newcastle supporters are also far from convinced.
Tonight between 6:00 and 7:00pm, like every Monday night, I will be doing a live Q & A session on FansOnline.net. Click here to visit the session and ask your questions.
I am sure that some Newcastle supporters along with others out there will see this as another chance to have a go. The chance to become "hard" and insult me has all been done and has no effect at all other than giving the author his five seconds of fame. So to use the language of some authors, "fuck off and get a life."
To those of you that may agree with this article or have a valid point to make in disagreement and to those of you that actually believe that there is football outside of Newcastle give me a shout tonight. All unanswered questions will be answered during the next seven days and published on my site during the week. Click here to visit the session and ask your questions.
Click here to see all the previous Live Online sessions.
Enjoy your football.
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