Keegan tells it like it is

Filed in archive General on May 6, 2008

After losing 2-0 at home to Chelsea yesterday, Kevin Keegan gave a very honest assessment of what he can achieve with Newcastle United next season and in the immediate future. "I thought, 'What can I do next year to get near them' and the truth is there's nothing I can do at all," he said.

"Maybe the owner thinks we can bridge that gap - but we can't. This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world. The top four next year will be the same top four as this year. What I can say to the Newcastle fans is that we will be trying to get fifth and we will be trying to win the other league that's going on within the Premier League. I haven't got enough money and I wouldn't be able to get the players anyway so I will soldier on with what I've got and maybe add one or two, maybe three depending what's available. I was looking around thinking, 'who can I bring on' and I'm seeing Shevchenko and Lampard coming on and Joe Cole thinking about coming on."

Whilst this shows great honesty and is only putting in to words what most people in the game really think, deep down, I would guess it wasn't exactly what Mike Ashley or the Toon Army were hoping to hear.

There is a problem with attracting players to the North East club as the fact that Luka Modric has followed Jonathan Woodgate in preferring to go to Tottenham has proved.

Newcastle are a big club and they should be trying to break into that big four, along with the likes of Everton, Villa and Tottenham. It is an almost impossible task because of the money the big four have available and the ability they have to attract the best players in the world to their clubs. However, the fact is that it is 'almost' impossible, not totally impossible. There has to be a dream and if the manager of the club can't see that dream then whilst he might be a realist, he is also admitting defeat.

Although I sympathise with Keegan and fear that he might be right, I do not think that he should have expressed that opinion. Football fans rely on hopes and dreams to keep them coming back for more. If the manager doesn't share those hopes and dreams then what is the point of it all?