‘We will bring in big names’

May 7 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

KEVIN Keegan may have effectively written off Newcastle United’s chances of claiming a Champions League place for the duration of his time as manager, but long-serving goalkeeper Steve Harper still believes they will be a draw for potential summer transfer targets.

Keegan’s assertion that his team will never be able to compete with the so-called ‘Big Four’ in the wake of Monday’s 2-0 defeat against Chelsea – allied to his admission that he does not know how much money will be invested in player recruitment this summer – raises concerns over the scale of the rebuilding job that the United manager will be allowed to carry out.

With the club still smarting from being turned down in favour of Tottenham by Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, some of the wilder optimism rebounding around St James’s Park has been tamed. But while United may not have the lure of European football for the foreseeable future, Harper believes they do have one ace up their sleeves – Keegan himself.

“We know from the last time Kevin was here that once the place starts rolling it just snowballs after that and we hope it has the same effect now,” he said. “We’ve got a big game on Sunday. Get that out the way and we’ve got three months to recruit top players here. With Kevin and an owner who’s not struggling for a few quid, hopefully we can attract some top players and get back up where we belong.”

Reflecting on a chastening season, which has seen United flirt with the drop, Harper still believes there are positives to take from the campaign. Ultimately the Chelsea result wasn’t one of the highlights, but there were signs United are improving as they matched the Blues for most of the first half. Now Harper is looking to recapture that momentum as they take on an Everton side chasing fifth place.

“The result and overall performance against Chelsea wasn’t what we wanted, but it’s good and important for us to be finishing the season with a bit of momentum behind us,” said Harper. “When the black clouds and the doom and gloom are over this place, they take a while to shrug off, as it proved. But we managed to shift them and we strung a few good results together.

“We had a change of manager and Kevin lit the place back up again, which is what he does. You saw with the reaction he got after the Chelsea match what the people here think of him and what he can do with this place. We need three or four players to improve the squad and push us back into the top half of the table, just to see how far up we can go. We look forward to the summer.”

United’s preparations for next season have already begun in earnest, with defenders Peter Ramage and Stephen Carr being released – along with reserve team striker James Troisi. Keegan had wanted to keep Ramage but couldn’t guarantee him first-team football so reluctantly agreed to let him leave, while Carr and Troisi have no part to play in a remodelled squad that the United manager hopes will get them closer to a European place next season.

“We wanted to keep Rammy, but he wants to play regular football, and I couldn’t guarantee him that here,” Keegan said. “He goes with our best wishes, as does Stephen Carr, who has been a great pro for this club. He wasn’t offered a contract and I explained the reasons why.”

The club have also allowed Emre to join Turkey’s Euro 2008 training camp early – ruling him out of contention for the final game of the season at Everton.

NORWICH’S former Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder has told ex-Magpies striker Darren Huckerby, 32, he will not be offered a new deal at Carrow Road.

Kevin Keegan signed a then 19-year-old Huckerby for £500,000 from Lincoln City during his first spell as United boss in 1995.