Stage one is the tough part for ‘Messiah’

Mar 1 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

What’s the difference between a Messiah and a questionable managerial appointment? Nothing, says Kevin Keegan. Stuart Rayner reports

THERE is bad news for those hoping the third coming of Kevin Keegan would be a throwback to the mid-1990s. The name on the door of the manager’s office may be the same but in most other aspects Newcastle United are unrecognisable from the rampaging, fearless team which once threatened to knock Manchester United from their lofty perch.

St James’s Park, the club’s training complex and even the players who ply their trade in them have a very different look in 2008. Keegan too is visibly different, the grey hairs his first spell as manager gave him having gone white through subsequent adventures in charge of Fulham, England and Manchester City. But according to Keegan, the man once hailed as a Messiah is little different to the person whose powers are now being widely questioned by a sceptical public.

“I’m a little bit older, a little bit wiser but I’m the same person, the same enthusiasm,” he says. “I’m maybe not shouting from the rooftops like I did last time at the moment because it’s not the time to do that. We’re in stage one of a redevelopment here.”

Stages are a recurring theme of Keegan’s conversation and they graphically illustrate the scale of his task. The last time the ex-England captain rode into St James’s Park on his metaphorical white charger things were worse – extinction and relegation to football’s third tier were a distinct possibility in 1992, 16 years on the thought of dropping out of the top-flight is no more than a worry – but the problem is when he left, things were much, much better.

According to Keegan’s scale, United are at stage one of a five-rung ladder, which begs the question where the Magpies were when he first settled behind the desk. By that measure, the 1997 vintage he surprisingly walked out on were at stage four, challenging to be the best in the country but not quite there.

Keegan’s most recent appointment heralded an instant feel-good factor. The problem was, it had already petered out by the time he reached the dug-out. The day his return was announced, he watched from the stands as Stoke City were destroyed 4-1. Many were expecting the familiar pattern of a new managerial appointment lifting morale and results to continue but ahead of today’s visit of Blackburn Rovers it remains his side’s last win. “It doesn’t always happen,” Keegan stresses. “We need to win a match just to stop everyone saying we haven’t. It bothers me that we haven’t won a football match but it doesn’t bother me that people are saying we haven’t won under Keegan.

“We’ve changed a few things and I think we’ll get the rewards for those changes. We’re only firefighting at the moment. We’re trying to put something right then stage two will be to say how can we go forward, what do we need to add to go forward in terms of players, staff, facilities and whatever.

“The start’s always the toughest because you’ve got to assess everything. Last time I was able to sign players. That’s the difference. But I’m enjoying working with the players. We’ve got enough character and without doubt enough experience to take this club forward, we’ve just got to get them believing in each other and playing better together. Whilst it might look short of numbers it’s not short of quality. There’s no doubt about that.”

The 57-year-old is acutely aware of his squad’s mental fragility, however.

“The biggest problem I’ve found is the confidence,” he admits. “They hadn’t won a game before I came. I came in on the back of a team that got beaten 6-0 (at Manchester United) and conceded six goals in the second half of a match. You can’t wipe that away overnight. I came in at a time when we’d lost four of our players to the African Nations Cup.

“But we’ve come through all that now and I think once we get everyone back fit we’ve got a pretty good squad to pick from, just not a big squad.

“We’ve talked to them about their confidence when we concede. If you lose a goal, whilst it’s not great, it’s not a disaster. Aston Villa away: 1-0 up, playing well, come out and within six minutes of the second half you’re 2-1 down. Is it a disaster? It’s not great news but you’re only one goal away from getting back into it.”

This time around the doubters have been in the majority, voicing the view that a popular ex-manager returning to the scene of his former glories can only become an unpopular current one. Doubts are not part of his vocabulary, thought.

“People said the same things when I left as a player and came back as a manager,” he counters. “Those are the same people who never achieve anything in life because people like myself like a challenge. It’s the challenge that excites you.

“We are the people who have the opportunity to prove people wrong. We write the stories. While we’re getting beaten we’re pretty much an easy target but as long as we stay together as a group, which we really are, we’ll come through this and be a stronger group.

“The training in the last two or three weeks gives me the most belief, the players’ attitude, all of them, has been excellent.”

Now for the next stage.