Just keep it simple, Keegan tells stars

Apr 7 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

KEVIN Keegan has revealed the secret behind Newcastle’s recent success has been getting back to basics.

While Sam Allardyce’s greatest strength was his use of scientific methods, his successor prefers a more simple approach. And whereas Allardyce’s ideas appeared to be making little headway when he was sacked in January, Keegan’s are finally starting to bear fruit, as demonstrated by Saturday’s 3-0 win over Reading.

Although the former England manager was careful not to criticise his predecessor, his words and actions betray his real feelings. Keegan has slimmed down Allardyce’s army of support staff and has now attacked some for an over-inflated sense of self-importance.

“Regardless of what anyone else thinks about football, and I’m not going down any streets there, I’ve always believed it is a simple game,” said a man who learned his trade as a player under Bill Shankly at Liverpool. “Sometimes you can complicate it, sometimes you get people who think they’re more important at a football club than they really are.

“Everyone has a place – your fitness people, certainly your doctors, your medical staff – but they all add percentages to it. I’ve always thought the most important place is the training ground and the most important thing is the training.”

But when given the opportunity to put the boot in on Allardyce’s approach Keegan declined, claiming he had no knowledge or interest in how things were run then.

“I’ve never asked, from the day I walked in, what went on before,” he said. “I’ve seen people write it in the papers and heard people say things, but I’ve just come in and done it the way I think it should be. What I think we’ve done is trained more, played more football and by doing that we’ve got the lads confident to play football, and that’s what you can see. Even against Reading, we were probably only 80% but it still produced a lot of exciting football because of their belief.”

One of the successes of Allardyce’s regime was the signing of Habib Beye. Like most overseas players experiencing English football for the first time, the Senegalese right-back has taken time to adapt. But Beye bolstered a solid display against the Royals by creating goals for Michael Owen and Mark Viduka.

“He came back first from the African Cup of Nations on the Sunday,” recalled Keegan, whose appointment fell when Beye, Geremi, Abdoulaye Faye and Obafemi Martins were all at the tournament. “The others were two or three days after. He came back earlier because he wanted to be part of it. His training and professionalism have impressed me. We’ve got a lot of leaders in the dressing room and he’s one of them. Abdoulaye Faye is at the back, Nicky Butt, Michael Owen, Geremi. These are five senior players who have good experience.”

It took Keegan 10 games to register his first win but with a 100% record since (from three matches), the fans’ patience is starting to be rewarded.

“I’ve been excited with a lot of the football we played against Spurs and Reading,” he said. “Not just the front three, but the way we’ve passed the ball and moved it. The third goal was a real classic – a lot of one-touch passing, cutting open Reading with a lot of real incisive football.” David Edgar’s call-up to replace the ill Steven Taylor was the only change Keegan had made to his starting line-up in four matches, but he is pleased with the pressure the likes of substitute Damien Duff are putting on his first-choice players.

“He’s on fire at the moment,” Keegan said of the Irishman, who played in the hole after replacing Viduka. “I thought he might get a goal against Reading, he was unlucky not to.

“He’s champing at the bit to get back in the team and then it’ll be James Milner in the next 10 days and obviously Steven Taylor. We’ve got Andy Carroll too and other young lads.

“We’ve not only got a good squad at the minute, we’ve also got a good squad around it.”