Butt can teach Barton to be the best – Keegan

Apr 17 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

KEVIN Keegan has instructed Joey Barton to learn from team-mate Nicky Butt because one day he will be expected to fill the experienced midfielder’s boots.

Newcastle United welcome local rivals Sunderland at the weekend on the back of a five-match unbeaten run due in no small part to their “unsung heroes”.

While the attacking trio of Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka have grabbed most of the attention, the midfield triumvirate of Butt, Barton and Geremi have been equally influential.

Butt’s positional discipline, ability to read the game and passing ability have allowed those in front of him to flourish, and Keegan, who is expected to open talks with Michael Owen in the next fortnight over a new contract, believes Barton (pictured right) can learn a lot from the former Manchester United and England anchorman.

“Nicky will be here next year,” said Keegan of a player who, along with Geremi, has played in every Premier League match the Magpies have won this season. “In Nicky Butt Joey’s got someone he can learn from because eventually Joey will play that position, but not for a few years.” Keegan likened the way Butt’s game has developed to his old Southampton team-mate and former England World Cup winner, the late Alan Ball.

“Nicky puts a big workload in but Alan Ball once said, ‘When I was young I worked up and down the pitch, when I got to 36, 37, 38 I worked across it because it’s smaller,’” Keegan recalled. “Butty works across the pitch and he just ties us all together. I think Joey’s the one who can forage on runs because he enjoys that too.”

Under Sam Allardyce, former Real Madrid, Middlesbrough and Chelsea player Geremi went from captain to outcast, losing his place in the team, then the armband as the then-Newcastle boss appeared to have doubts about the Cameroon international’s worth.

But under Keegan, Geremi has become a key member of a side which has changed just once in the last five games, and then only because of food poisoning suffered by central defender Steven Taylor.

Like Butt, he is not the most mobile of midfielders but Keegan believes the pair’s defensive qualities complement those of the more forward-thinking Barton.

“Geremi’s only 29 – that’s what he says anyway!” said Keegan. “But he’s very fit. You have three guys in midfield who are the unsung heroes of this team but they enjoy it as well.

“Geremi’s very clever, Nicky’s experience is invaluable to us and Joey Barton’s enthusiasm and energy gives us a nice balance in there.”

Neither Emre nor James Milner will start Sunday’s game as Keegan continues with the 11 who have served him so well recently.

Emre, the only current United player to have scored a winner against Sunderland, has not played first-team football since February 9 and is recovering from a sprained ankle sustained when he attempted a comeback for the club’s reserves.

England Under-21 international Milner, who scored in this season’s reverse fixture, has been out for the last five weeks with a foot injury he suffered in the first half at Anfield but could be among the substitutes.

Claudio Caçapa is back in light training and, like Emre, is reckoned to be about ten days away from returning. Stephen Carr has recovered from a hamstring injury and Peter Ramage from a serious knee injury but Keegan is anxious to see the pair get some match practice before making their first-team return.

The two are out of contract at the end of the season and will be eager to make their cases for new deals this summer but that could be easier said than done. “Stephen Carr’s fit now, so maybe he just needs another half a game,” he said. “Peter Ramage is back fit again, but it’s a difficult time for players coming back from long-term injuries, because there’s no reserve games.

“We have only the Northumberland Cup final with Blyth Spartans at St James’s Park next Wednesday.”

MIDDLESBROUGH will send David Wheater off on his summer holidays under orders to come back and prove himself all over again. The 21-year-old central defender has been a massive hit at the Riverside Stadium this season but coach Colin Cooper said: “You do hit a mental, emotional and physical brick wall when you burst onto the scene, and the difference between the good and the best is whether you can climb over that wall.

“He needs to finish the season well, relax during the summer - but not too much - and then prove himself all over again next year.

“The world is his oyster and we hope he can keep on improving.”