Keegan has sights fixed on cup run silverware
Aug 26 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
The Carling Cup is seen as Newcastle’s best chance of winning a trophy, but they have consistently struggled to progress beyond the early rounds. Chief sports writer Luke Edwards reports.
IT says much about Newcastle United’s desperate quest for silverware that they have not even reached the final of the competition many regard as their best chance of ending their embarrassing trophy drought for 32 years.
Even when United’s strongest rivals field weakened teams in the competition, the Magpies have still failed to capitalise, their interest in the tournament often ended before the players’ summer suntans have faded.
While the League Cup, in its many different sponsorship guises, is generally regarded as the weakest of the domestic competitions, it has retained a crucial position in English football, not only offering a route into the Uefa Cup for the winners, but also welcome relief for those who are forced to operate in the shadow of the Big Four.
That was certainly the case for last season’s winners, Tottenham Hotspur who, despite a poor league campaign, beat London-rivals Chelsea in the final to help protect their “big club” reputation.
When the Croatian playmaker Luka Modric turned down a £16m move to Newcastle in favour of Spurs back in May, it was the prospect of European football – secured because of that Carling Cup triumph – rather than the glitz and glamour of life in the capital which swung things in their favour.
No wonder Newcastle managers have always been keen to take the competition seriously, if only the teams they have sent out had been capable of mounting a serious challenge.
It is a damning statistic for a club of Newcastle’s size and stature that they have only ever reached one League Cup final, back in 1976 where they were beaten 2-1 by English football’s other great under-achievers Manchester City. More damning than that, however, is the fact that the Magpies’ only semi-final appearance also came in that year, which, to put it in some sort of context, is the same as Rochdale, Rotherham, Peterborough United, Wycombe Wanderers and Walsall and less-than-mighty Swindon, Oxford United, Burnley and, most pertinently, Sunderland. In the 11 years since Kevin Keegan quit as manager, Newcastle have continued to struggle. They have reached the quarter-finals three times – losing to Liverpool 2-0 in 1998 and twice to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, 1-0 in 2000 under Sir Bobby Robson and again in 2006 under Glenn Roeder – but that is still a poor return from a club which, in that time, has finished in the top five of the Premier League on four occasions.
Yet, for all of the talk about the Carling Cup being a silverware safety valve for the big-name also-rans of the Premier League, it is worth pointing out that in the last six years only two clubs outside of the Big Four – Middlesbrough and Spurs – have won the competition.
Worryingly for the long-term health of the game, even when Arsenal choose to play their reserve team and Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool indulge in a bit of liberal squad rotation, they still dominate the domestic landscape.
That, though, will not deter Keegan from once again believing the Carling Cup is his most realistic chance of winning the club’s first major trophy since the Fairs Cup success of 1969. “It’s one of two chances we have to win something if we’re honest,” said Keegan, who is weighing up his selection options ahead of tonight’s trip to Coventry City.
“We can win FA and the Carling Cup, they’re definitely the two chances we have. At the moment we’ve got a chance of winning the league, but that may peter out as the season goes on, it depends on how we play. If I talk about putting a strong side out, I had my only 19 fit players against Bolton at the weekend and one of those, Obafemi Martins has picked up a groin strain.
“But I will put out the strongest team I can against Coventry because it is a competition we have to take seriously and it’s going to be a tough place to go.”
Indeed, Coventry will still have vivid memories of knocking out Manchester United last season and the Championship outfit will sniff another chance of an upset tonight.
The Midlands side were hammered 3-0 at home by Bristol City at the weekend, but they had won their first two games convincingly and are an ambitious club which looks as though it could be on the rise again.
With home advantage at the Ricoh Arena and with Newcastle struggling with injuries, Keegan knows his side have a tough job on their hands if their Carling Cup campaign is not going to end prematurely again.
He added: “It should be a good game. Coventry have started off well, although I know they got beaten at the weekend. Started off with six points from two games and they have a guy I really respect in charge, Chris Coleman who I brought to Fulham. They are a club looking to build and go places, with an ambition to be in our league.
“It’s a good test for us, but it’s definitely a competition we will take very seriously. We want to go there to give a good account of ourselves and hopefully win. I can’t really afford to rest anyone.”
Perhaps Keegan’s toughest decision will be whether to start with Michael Owen after he came off the bench to score the winner against Bolton last weekend.
However, although the Carling Cup is a chance of silverware, Keegan knows he cannot afford to risk seeing his star player suffer any setbacks having only just returned to the squad and it could mean Shola Ameobi starts up front alongside Damien Duff just a few days after his move to Ipswich Town collapsed.
“I don’t know what we’ll do with Michael, to be honest,” admitted a manager who will want to see the club’s specialist recruitment team of Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez earning their money in the last week of the transfer window. “We’ll have to have a look at it.
“It was never the intention to play him for 40 minutes against Bolton, but needs must. We’ve got to think about it and be sensible. We can’t always do what we want to do, we have to look at the big picture.”
