Jim White

Bring back King Kev

Fri Jun 26 02:58PM

Of all the things that might happen this summer - Karim Benzema going this way, David Villa going the other, while Dean Ashton will probably finish up in an east end medical facility - there is one thing you hope more than any goes ahead.

If it was going to happen it probably would have done by now. Which suggests it is unlikely to. But wouldn't it have been great if Kevin Keegan had decided to become Southampton manager? Would that not have brightened up the national summer mood almost as much as Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, or England prising that little urn out of Australian hands. Keegan at Southampton: just the welcoming press conference would have been worth watching. If only because it would have proceeded his departure press conference by not much more than a few weeks.

It is an odd thing, reputation. For sure, Keegan had a deserved one as a player. His busy, bustling interventions were just about all England had in the late Seventies and early Eighties. While all those self-styled characters like Frank Worthington, Stan Bowles and Alan Hudson pissed their talent away, he was a man who made the most of every gift available to him. In a period of shambolic amateurism, he was England's leading professional; training hard, looking after himself, striving endlessly for improvement. It is right he is remembered fondly at Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle. The boy could play a bit.

As a manager, though, it is another matter entirely. Once he arrived in the dug-out, it became less easy to lavish compliments. True, he steered Fulham up from the third tier, but given the comparative wealth of the club once Mohamed Al Fayed took ownership, that was not the greatest of challenges. True, he made Newcastle United contenders when a couple of years before they had been in a sorry condition - almost as sorry as their present state - but then he walked away - twice - when things did not run to plan. At Manchester City he bought badly, splashing out on a bunch of players well past their sell-by date before throwing his toys out of the pram and stalking off to open a football theme park in Glasgow, to which hardly anyone came.

As for his time with England the least said the better. Players who worked with him latterly spoke of the unimaginative nature of his training sessions, of his lack of knowledge of the modern game, of his inability to communicate with the modern player. Talk of what Bill Shankly used to do, frankly, means very little to players who were born after the great Liverpool boss died. Out of touch and out of place was the consensus among those who observed his last tenure on Tyneside.

And yet, despite all that, every time some clueless spod with more money than sense gets involved in a football club, his name is in the frame. It is like those directors in the City of London who move from job to job, from pay-off to pay-off, plumping up their pension every time despite the fact they clearly are clueless.

To have watched Keegan attempt to revive a club brought to its knees by incompetence and greed would have been like watching an episode of Big Brother: you know you shouldn't, but you just can't help yourself, the entertainment inherent in observing the ensuing car crash is too much to resist. It is said the stumbling point between him and the new owners of the south coast club was his insistence on a £20 million transfer budget. Who did he have in mind to buy? Steve McManaman? Mind, the old Keegan favourite would be free to play now that his employers at Setanta have headed rapidly in the same direction as Southampton.

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1st
From rock_and_roll_machine on Fri Jun 26 03:46PM
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Jim are you running out of things to right about
From barbaraphillips15 on Fri Jun 26 03:55PM
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Jim
Take the tablets & keep the sun of your head
From aaf1eld on Fri Jun 26 03:59PM
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Really ?lol.........Just heard that he is ho-oking up with a nice gi-rl on the inter-esting cl-ub called: ____Tallconnect Co M____, really ? Sounds it is a famoaus on-line service.
From lindakisser on Fri Jun 26 04:01PM
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Would you like a manager of your choice for your team, including Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Peter Reid. Then just copy and paste
Manager for @#$% teams. CO . UK into your browser (removing any spaces) and sign up.
Complete just ONE of the listed offers to qualify, there are many to choose from, some are free and some are as little as £5. My favourites are the FREE Sam Allardice rental trial or the FREE Alan Curbishley offer, There are also betting on Newcastle offers for as little as £5 which allow you to win your money back when Newcastle lose.
I have used this site to get a free Gareth Southgate so far. Just sign up, do an offer and get a few friends to do the same, its as easy as that so sign up today.
From chrisbrowne1983 on Fri Jun 26 04:08PM
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Would you like a manager of your choice for your team, including Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Peter Reid. Then just copy and paste
Manager for @#$% teams. CO . UK into your browser (removing any spaces) and sign up.
Complete just ONE of the listed offers to qualify, there are many to choose from, some are free and some are as little as £5. My favourites are the FREE Sam Allardice rental trial or the FREE Alan Curbishley offer, There are also betting on Newcastle offers for as little as £5 which allow you to win your money back when Newcastle lose.
I have used this site to get a free Gareth Southgate so far. Just sign up, do an offer and get a few friends to do the same, its as easy as that so sign up today.
From chrisbrowne1983 on Fri Jun 26 04:08PM
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do i not like this aticle
From dave.hartley on Fri Jun 26 04:10PM
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kevin keegan ....what a loser!..though did hear hes really ambitious and is ready to take liverpool down to the championship by the end of the season...
From stuartxland on Fri Jun 26 04:37PM
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Any English man or woman must be out of their mind if they want to see Murray win Wimbledon.
He wouldn't wish the England football team success a few years ago so to hell with him. I hope he loses in the next round and good riddance. If he was a true Brit he would support the whole of the UK, not just north of the border. If he hadn't been so adamant that he wouldn't wish the England team well, I'd be supporting him now, but to as far as I'm concerned I hope Federer wins it.
From spoddery on Fri Jun 26 04:38PM
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JIM YOUR A TIT!!!
From alexdt40 on Fri Jun 26 04:47PM
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ebuspgibiirfunmbnprdgb
From alexdt40 on Fri Jun 26 04:49PM
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Recently, I discovered a hot place – SeekTall Co m -- where many sexy tall singles who like sports and chatting there. I'm an open minded girl from UK, I also like discuss sports and love with tall guys on it.
From robomile09 on Fri Jun 26 04:52PM
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#7 LoL
From saschavanpraagh on Fri Jun 26 04:56PM
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Chrisbrowne198
that is very hilarious.
Jim White I think you should go on vacation as there isn't much to write about.
From dbraynelll on Fri Jun 26 04:59PM
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Chrisbrowne198
that is very hilarious.
Jim White I think you should go on vacation as there isn't much to write about.
From dbraynelll on Fri Jun 26 05:00PM
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#16 even if there is, he writes cra.p
From saschavanpraagh on Fri Jun 26 05:04PM
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kev should be band from football.. he a quitter !!!!!!!!!!! and a loser
From hoover18 on Fri Jun 26 05:17PM
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Dreadful piece of unfounded and untrue journalism; Keegan has ben a successful manager at EVERY club he has manage and that is a fact. Fair enough, he did not do the business at England, but managing a national side is different, at least he had the grace to walk unlike some (Maclaren, Taylor). His second stint at NUFC was made untenable due to the interference of a clueless owner who disgracefully appointed denis wise as 'Director of Football'; an absolute joke who proceeded to buy and sell players without even consulting the manager (Keegan).
As i have said for a while now, you shame journalism; you are biased and you are lazy - i have already reported you once for your dispicable article on Paul Ince, and i am sure Kevin Keegan's legal team are poring over this libelous article right now!
From cameronwestwood on Fri Jun 26 05:18PM
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Im a big toon fan, and i have to say JIM WHITE you have it spot on, MA has took all the blame up here but KK SHOULD TAKE HIS FAIR SHARE FOR LEAVING US UP THE SWANNY!!!!!
From davaki2003 on Fri Jun 26 05:19PM
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Jim White, are you completely clueless, you have no idea what King Kev has given to football both in management and as a player. He turned newcastle from second division dross to title challenging entertainers in 3 seasons. He broke scoring records in promoting man city. Dont knock down the people who have a true passion for football!
From nathang32 on Fri Jun 26 05:21PM
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Has JW been on the cheap plonk again? Why would the return of the bottler once inaptly known as 'King Kev' be of the slightest interest to a real footie fan, which White is patently not? Get rid of this over the top hack, and the rest of your so called bloggers while you still retain a little credibility. You're in danger of becoming Euros hite!!!
From alan_paperboy on Fri Jun 26 05:27PM
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Jim, you're a tit and that's a fact!
From jonesjon on Fri Jun 26 05:44PM
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I think Jim White is really on holliday and Paul Parker wrote this what a shockingly bad article
From liamhorne007 on Fri Jun 26 05:56PM
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I am staggered by the amount of tripe in this article, kev was European footballer of the year twice! What have you ever achieved, nothing and you never will!
From eddierodden2004 on Fri Jun 26 06:03PM
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WAAAAANKER JIM
From george_graham_crayford on Fri Jun 26 06:52PM
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Jim White is the Kevin Keegan of football writers
From geoshep51 on Fri Jun 26 07:21PM
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Jim White is the Kevin keegan of football writers
From geoshep51 on Fri Jun 26 07:22PM
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jim white should stick to snooker
From ken.ward71 on Fri Jun 26 07:37PM
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blow it out of your arse.
From s.j.murphy56 on Fri Jun 26 07:48PM
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Nice one Chrisbrown
From catmasher2 on Fri Jun 26 07:55PM
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