Actually, I had wanted to use 'Lost' as the title for today. But I couldn't use given I had used it once - here. Back then one part of my entry did talked about Kevin Keegan's return to his former club Newcastle for the second managerial stint. I remembered I was in a state of shock when I read this - Keegan quits as Newcastle boss. The announcement of Keegan's resignation came in like after 2am here.
I wanted to think it's all a joke when the news first broke. All the closed-door talks with the club's board since Monday has come to nowhere and left the fan favourite with enough. My immediate thought went to the fans given I know they will be reacting to the news with anger (they definitely do, just look at the Sky Sports News on how the fans reacted to Keegan's resignation). One thing I had always admire about Newcastle is the fans. Make no mistake about it, even as a Manchester United supporter myself, I still stand by what I say. When reading back at Keegan's first managerial stint (to imagine he brought the club back to the top-flight from the second divison and at one time, was actually leading the league table before squandered it all away), I realised why he has always been their 'Messiah'.
The fans has always see the former England coach as one of them. Kevin Keegan once said that his father is from the area (the north-east of England, where the football club is based). Keegan is actually from the Yorkshire area himself and he had always see himself as a Geordie (someone who is from the north-east of England). Even if he might had captured the hearts and minds of Germans during his three-year stint at Hamburg. It was slightly more than an hour or so after endless refreshing my German football sources and the translated headline on the kicker website said this - Keegan resigns!. For a brief while, it was the top headline on its website. The Mighty Mouse (Keegan earned that nickname when he was at Hamburg) was never forgotten, even during the time he held talks with the Newcastle board immediately the day after the transfer window was slammed shut.
Anyhow, it was through the League Managers' Association (LMA) where the now-former Newcastle manager gave his statement - "I've been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors, but sadly that has not proved possible. It's my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want. It remains my fervent wish to see Newcastle United do well in the future and I feel incredibly sorry for the players, staff and most importantly the supporters. I have been left with no choice other than to leave." It's said that James Milner's departure for Sunderland put the final nail in the coffin. Keegan had wanted to stop the England U-21 international from leaving. Before the Milner case, it was said that the arrivals whom came in at the club towards the final day of the transfer window were not what Keegan really wanted. It's almost eerily similar as to what led to West Ham's Alan Curbishley's departure on Wednesday. The manager disagreeing to what the board decides. Back to the Newcastle case, word has gotten round on the day which eventually saw the departure of Kevin Keegan that the club players like Joey Barton and Michael Owen had been put up for sale (and it's ironic enough just recently, the club has offered Owen an improved three-year contract to keep the striker at the club given this comes in the wake of his future being uncertain).
Call me an old school when it comes to football. Money is definitely welcomed when for example, comes to building a squad. But when the money is not well-spent in all areas, then...that is it. If the management don't make wise decisions (I am not pardoning the pun just because Dennis Wise is the director of football at Newcastle), then the club could be heading for a downhill. It's a blessing in disguise that it's the international week at the moment given the fans has already gone nasty on Keegan's departure on the club they love. The LMA chief executive Richard Bevan has called on Newcastle to sort out their structural problems to ensure their next manager does not suffer the same fate as Kevin Keegan. There has been discussions that the fans could do some sort of boycott when their club next play Hull City. The Newcastle fans know they have this Manchester United supporter behind them. Keegan at least left with a conscience, he does not give in the board's demands.
Who to step into Keegan's shoes then? I might as well ask as this too, who is going to take up the West Ham job then? It has been reported that West Ham has drawn up a list of potential candidates. And the list...looks very Italian. Or maybe again, West Ham's technical director is an Italian - Gianluca Nani. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic (his ties to the Hammers went back when he used to play for the club) has already withdrew himself out of the race to succeed Alan Curbishley. Former Inter Milan Roberto Mancini (his English football connections went back when he used to play for Leicester in 2001), former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni, Gianfranco Zola (who is currently coaching the Italy U-21 side and was actually once a fan favourite at Chelsea) and even Gerard Houllier (he's French and once coached Liverpool...though now his current job tie with the French Football Federation as a techinical director) were also among the names mentioned.
Rumours were being spread around that Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was upset over Robinho not heading to Chelsea but to Manchester City instead. Contary to what the reports are saying that he's not happy, it's not. He said today that the failure to sign his fellow Brazilian Robinho will be no loss. He has players who are coming back soon from their injuries and it's not bothering him. Also in a way relating to Manchester City, it's actually in regards to comments made by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson when he was in attendance of the annual UEFA Elite Coaches Forum. Speaking to reporters at the UEFA headquarters at Nyon, Switzerland, Fergie is not worried by the takeover of local rivals Manchester City by billionaire Arab owners, who have pledged to take the Eastlands side to the top of the Premier League. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was also in attendance at the forum and he chipped in on the volumes of cash pouring into the game reflect its preeminent global status - "Football is the most popular sport in the world. It attracts money, that is quite positive. It is down to the football world to regulate the impact of money well, that it must not make the game worse but better."
Before the big news of the day (or rather a news that has been expected) out of the Premier League, the British media reported that a top football club could end up with a rebuilt version of the London 2012 Games Olympic stadium. Officials overseeing the organisation of the event are considering demolishing the 525 million pounds (950 million dollars) stadium and rebuilding one which could be used by a Premier League football team. Planners believe that may be a more attractive financial proposition than subsidising future use as an athletics venue. Well, today is the day for Newcastle's Joey Barton to attend the FA's hearing on the case of assaulting (former Manchester City) team-mate Ousmane Dabo. The verdict - Banned for six matches, with another six more suspended and a fine of £25,000. Kevin Keegan may have already left Newcastle yesterday (given he has always been in support of Barton through these tough times when everyone else questioned Keegan's decision given Barton has been given way too many chances for his past misdeeds) but, he sent his support by fax (he did not appear in person).
Aston Villa's Gareth Barry was an unused substitute back when during the Euro 2008 qualifiers, England struggled to beat Andorra 3-0 away. Barry has not forgotten the reaction of the England supporters who made their feelings known towards former manager Steve McClaren and his players after they took 54 minutes to break the deadlock. The abuse was some of the worst he had heard and he hoped for a vast improvement when they return to Barcelona to face Andorra once again, but this time...it's to begin their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. Five international friendlies have come and gone, with mixed results (I will still be saying that, even if I am not a supporter). The real work will start for the new England coach Fabio Capello when his side begin their 2010 World Cup qualifying adventure.
Time to justify why he is worth every single penny the English FA has hired him.
English football thought of the day: Kevin Keegan's predecessor Sam Allardyce also coincidentally enough, lasted eight months in the job. I almost got freaked out when reading how long Keegan had spent in his second stint at his former club as the manager at Newcastle. Eight months. For all we know, 'King Kev' may never return back to football again. I don't want to know...given actually like the day before his eventual resignation, I saw a comment on Europsport's German site and the translated version of the report over the confusion of Keegan's future tells me that the comment is saying that he should come coaching in the Bundesliga. They still remember him in Germany! It's...ironic that according to Reuters, he said it in his autobiography (it was published in 1997) that 'he did not like the way the money men had changed football'. Did he saw it coming then? The presence of Keegan is enough to liven up the sometime-stoic world of football.
Honest guy in a dishonest business (At the end of the day, it's just a shame with all that's going for Kevin Keegan, says Football Channel host and Newcastle fanatic Joe Morrison.) (Note: It was first published the day before Keegan handed in his resignation.)
Keegan, the king of drama and crisis (They say that nothing becomes a man like his leaving and Kevin Keegan's will-he-won't-he saga at Newcastle United is a case in point. Keegan's resignation as Newcastle manager on Thursday was the latest chapter in an epic story of footballing highs and lows in a colourful playing and management career.)
Keegan out of Newcastle's revolving door again (For a second time, the 'dream ticket' given to Keegan, of coaching the club he once played for, has ended up crumpled up on the floor like a discarded betting slip.)
Keegan and Curbishley victims of owner power (In reality, though, putting together title-winning teams is a far more complex science than opening up a cheque book and writing an amount for tens of millions. Manchester United, where Alex Ferguson has been manager since 1986, are testimony to that. Manchester United's football team are controlled by one footballing man -- Ferguson. As he said in a Sky Sports television interview this year, somebody has to run a club and it should only be the manager.)
If you want to match United, try copying Ferguson (Many of the rich men who now own England’s top clubs want a more influential role in their clubs. They want to bring in the players they would like to see wearing their club shirts, perhaps to help their global brands or to boost sales or awareness in their other enterprises. It’s a policy that can leave a manager with a team he might not feel entirely comfortable with and it is one that is not necessarily going to bring success. Putting together title-winning teams is a far more complex science than openingup a cheque book. Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United are testimony to that.)
James Lawton: Managers have been stripped of their worth in a billionaires' lottery (What occurred there with the unveiling of Dr al-Fahim, we were told, was another Abramovich moment. And what, we had to ask, did that mean? It meant the fans of City, like those of Chelsea before them, had something new to celebrate, but something about as organic and meritorious as a winning lottery ticket. There was a time, we will soon have to remind ourselves, when a football supporter had some reason to believe he was part of something. He had an interest in flesh-and-blood, trial and error, win and loss. Now he cheers for a product, one that failing some financial cataclysm, or maybe a new trend in investment, will always belong to someone else.)
Manchester City's fantasy football will harm England's prospects (If England as a sporting institution are worth continuing with, the Three Lions must become a protected species. Not only must technically adept youngsters be nurtured, as City have been doing, but they must also be granted first-team chances. Forming an elegant but insurmountable barrier between the academy and the first-team base are virtuosos such as Robinho and possibly Ronaldinho and Ronaldo – and those are just the Rs on the Arabs’ shopping list. City’s teenage dream factory is worth fighting for. They are the FA Youth Cup holders, seeing off Chelsea in an entertaining two-legged final.)
