King Kev bust-up was inevitable

Last updated 13:07, Wednesday, 03 September 2008

THE only surprise about the bitter in-fighting at Newcastle United is that it took so long to flare up.

Kevin Keegan: He misjudged public opinion

Surely not even the most optimistic of Geordie fans could have thought that Kevin Keegan and Dennis Wise would work together in perfect harmony.

You could have predicted when they were appointed eight months ago that the pair would be at loggerheads before long.

Wise has a massively over-inflated view of his own self worth while Keegan is impetuous and over emotional.

Keegan’s job is hanging by a thread and getting rid of yet another boss again exposes a shocking lack of judgement in the St James’ Park boardroom – because they should have got it right in the first place.

Keegan was a duff appointment anyway and it was naive to think he could work with Wise, who was never going to be content in his shadow.

Keegan’s heart-on-sleeve style has only short-term appeal and wasn’t the commonsense approach needed to turn them into a successful team.

The decision to appoint Newcastle United’s favourite son always smacked of a PR stunt by club owner Mike Ashley, who desperately needed a way of placating fed-up fans, weary of years of failure.

The way Keegan misjudged public opinion over bad-boy Joey Barton after the midfielder’s release from prison showed he was out of step with Ashley and public opinion.

It was a knee-jerk appointment, accompanied by rash promises and a load of sentimental nonsense about how the Messiah was back to save the club.

After the feel-good factor died down, the club’s owner discovered that there is no quick-fix to ending 40 trophy-less years at a failing club like Newcastle, who still delude themselves into thinking they’re a major football force.

The club needed a long-term plan to restore its reputation. The expected departure of their seventh manager in 11 years shows they’re still no closer to getting their act together.

It makes you wonder what it would take to make Newcastle successful when some of the biggest names and brightestbrains in football have tried and failed.

Have your say

Amanda your assertion that KK's appointment was "a duff appointment anyway" shows just how out of touch you are with the feelings of the Newcastle United supporters and is so disappointing coming from a 'geordie girl'

Posted by jim on 4 September 2008 kl. 13:16

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