Kevin happy with his lot at Newcastle

May 12 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

KEVIN Keegan insisted last night that he was perfectly happy with the outcome of his meeting with owner Mike Ashley to discuss the club’s plans for the summer.

Although the Magpies slipped to a second successive defeat with a 3-1 loss at Everton yesterday, which highlighted the size of the task ahead of him if he is going to bring European football back to St James’s Park, Keegan was in a positive frame of mind as he urged people to stop doubting whether everyone at the club was pulling in the same direction.

Speculation has once again raged over the weekend claiming Keegan was reprimanded by Ashley last week for arguing Newcastle could not compete with the top four, while others have suggested he will not be given the money he wants to spend to strengthen the squad this summer as Ashley wants to cut the wage bill.

However, there was no sign of those tensions yesterday as Keegan declared he was satisfied with what he had been told on Friday as he looks to galvanise his squad with new faces in the coming weeks.

“A statement was put out and I am totally happy with it,” said Keegan. “You shouldn’t doubt a chairman’s statement and I agree with what he said. What’s gone on in the past, this week, we’ve had a meeting, it’s finished.

“It was a very important meeting, but it’s not what today’s about. Today’s about Newcastle, Everton and a match, which I thought was a good match.

“It is not about Newcastle United unfortunately. It’s about Everton and David Moyes, how good his team’s been, what a great season they’ve had and just leave us out of it.”

Keegan did not criticise the application of his players or the quality of their performance after the game, although he did prevent any of the players from talking to the media, which perhaps gives a true indication as to what he thought of their poor effort before they head off on holiday.

He added: “They had a lot more to play for than us and at times that showed. They’re higher in the table and they are where we want to be, which showed at times. For 15 minutes in the second half (after Michael Owen equalised with a penalty) I think we had an opportunity to get a foothold in the game and cause a bit of a shock, but we didn’t take it.”

Everton’s win made sure of their place in the Uefa Cup for a second successive year, a feat Newcastle can still only dream about as they were comprehensively out-played by the home side.

However, Keegan believes Everton’s achievement of finishing in fifth place for the last two years gives everyone in the Premier League cause for inspiration.

United’s manager even joked about the furore his comments had caused last week when he said the Premier League’s top four of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United could not be caught. He said: “I think Everton is an inspiration to everybody. It’s not a massive squad, but it’s been in Europe. They’ve made good investments in the summer, with Yakubu, (Joleon) Lescott, (Phil) Jagielka.

“They invested wisely and they’ve finished fifth in the Premiership. I reckon that’s a terrific situation for any of the other clubs outside the top four.

“I’m not going there again, the top four that I thought were running away with it, but I’m now convinced after listening to so many people who know the game that I was wrong – that the same top four teams haven’t won for the last six years apart from one. They’re a good squad, they play together and they’ve played for each other. They’ve got a lot of very good professionals, who can play out of position.

“Lescott came as a centre-half and has played left-back all season and he’s been outstanding. Jagielka could play in midfield at one stage and he’s gone back to the back four.

“They’re the ones you look at and you say ‘right, if they can do it why can’t we?’ There’s a lot of work to do, but we mustn’t be scared of our work.” Meanwhile, Owen was last night included in coach Fabio Capello’s England squad for the friendlies against the United States on May 28 and Trinidad and Tobago on June 1.

The 31-man selection also includes Middlesbrough pair David Wheater and Stewart Downing.

ENGLAND SQUAD: D James (Portsmouth), J Hart (Man City), C Kirkland (Wigan); W Bridge (Chelsea), W Brown (Man Utd), A Cole (Chelsea), R Ferdinand (Man Utd), P Jagielka (Everton), G Johnson (Chelsea), J Terry (Chelsea), S Warnock (Blackburn), D Wheater (Middlesbrough), J Woodgate (Tottenham), G Barry (Aston Villa), D Beckham (LA Galaxy), D Bentley (Blackburn), J Cole (Chelsea), S Downing (Middlesbrough), O Hargreaves (Man Utd), T Huddlestone (Tottenham), S Gerrard (Liverpool), J Jenas (Tottenham), F Lampard (Chelsea), T Walcott (Arsenal), A Young (Aston Villa), G Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), D Ashton (West Ham), P Crouch (Liverpool), J Defoe (Portsmouth), M Owen (Newcastle), W Rooney (Man Utd).