Keegan Leaves Newcastle. Again. (Maybe?)

By: Daryl | September 2nd, 2008

It’s not 100% confirmed yet (update: it is now) but looks like Kevin Keegan has thrown in the towel at Newcastle. Reportedly he’s pissed at the lack of control over transfers and the club’s pretty limp efforts on transfer deadline day. Seems the capture of Xisco wasn’t enough to cheer him up.

And who can blame him? James Milner was sold to Aston Villa without Keegan’s consent last week and the Newcastle manager made no secret that he wasn’t happy about it. And can you imagine having Dennis Wise in charge of your transfers? Honestly, I’d have quit as soon as I found out that Wise had a job that required a tie.

Mike Ashley’s role in this is puzzling. I thought having a billionaire owner who’s a huge fan of the club (please interpret “huge” in whatever way you feel is appropriate) should mean never having to sell your star players like Milner and not having to sign random players like Xisco. And Keegan probably thought the same.

And so there was a meeting today between Keegan and Ashley, and seems the result is no more Keegan - with 35 Premier League games still to go.

It’s hard to avoid the fact that this is the fifth time Keegan’s quit a managerial post, and the second time he’s quit at Newcastle. Keegan brings that amazing optimism with him, but he’s just not the man for the job when the going gets tough. And so the Geordie Messiah is gone, just eight months after his Second Coming.

Did he give up too easily? Maybe. But Mike Ashley didn’t make things easy for him. If Ashley really wanted the Geordie Messiah back at Newcastle and a return to the mid-90s then Ashley should have backed his man properly, given him the checkbook and said “go build a Kevin Keegan team.” In hindsight, the hiring of Keegan looks like nothing more than a cynical PR move from an owner looking to score points with the fans.

UPDATE: It’s now looking like Keegan was fired. Unbelievable. Who fires a manager the day after transfer deadline day?

UPDATE v2.0 Now he might be staying. Maybe. Newcastle statements says “the club haven’t sacked Kevin Keegan” but doesn’t say that he’s staying. What the hell is going on?

UPDATE v3.0 He’s gone.