Kevin Keegan was unveiled this afternoon as the new manager of Newcastle United and was in typically open, positive and inspirational mood, declaring that he believes he's the best qualified for the job because he knows it so well and knows what the fans want. And he confirmed that he would definitely be talking to Alan Shearer about taking a role at St James' Park.Key points::
On his appointment -
* I am the best man for the job. Many others would be fazed by this, take a few months to just find out what this club is about. I have a head start.
On Alan Shearer -
* "I want to bring the very best to Newcastle United. If there is a role that Alan wants, and is right - that's the key - then I would love to have him back here. I will definitely be speaking to him."
On Michael Owen:
* Keegan insisted he would be able to work with Michael Owen, despite criticisms levelled at him by the striker in his autobiography. Keegan said: "I have heard about his book and he is entitled to his opinion and I'm looking forward to working with him."
On Attacking, Entertaining Football:
* I am not here to play out 1-0 wins and finish mid-way up the table. Fans want us to have a go, and that is what I am here for. We want to have a go.
* I sure hope players came here because they want to be here. Players here have not seen Newcastle United at its best. I think they will now.
On his time at Manchester City:
* Manchester City was not a failure. We did come up into the Premiership. Yes we had a difficult season and finished near the bottom, but the fact is that we stabilized the club.
* I was not sacked at Manchester City. The club wanted me to sign a five year contract, which I did not want to, so it was decided.
Kevin Keegan was very much in his comfort zone talking to the massed ranks of the press today at St James' Park. This was a man back in an environment he knows, doing a job that clearly inspires him, talking openly and enthusiastically about the challenge ahead that he is relishing.
After club chairman Chris Mort said he was "absolutely delighted" to present Keegan to the press, it straight down to answering questions for the new manager,
First he was asked to recount how the appointment came about. Keegan explained that the first contact from the club had been last Thursday, and that he's decided he'd like to meet owner Mike Ashley, who was over in the Far East at the time. "I waited for him to come back," said Keegan, "and I drove down from Glasgow where I'd been working and met Mike Ashley at 11 o'clock on Wednesday morning."
Keegan explained that after an hour's discussion it was all sorted. "It was a very easy deal for everybody," he said.
Of his own credentials for the job, Keegan said: "I know the club inside out, back to front, as a player and a manager. I know the club in terms of what the fans want. This is very special club - and that's what people outside the area don’t understand. I think I'm the best qualified person to come here to do this job, to be honest."
And he admitted that since he'd left Newcastle 11 years ago, whenever the job of manager at St James' Park had come up, he'd felt envious, thinking" "That could have been me."
He also explained that when he left in 1997, it was because he didn't think the club was going where he wanted it to go.
He stressed that he thinks he can do something for Newcastle, and that he has a head start on doing the job because he knows it, the fans and the region, so well. "This club doesn't scare me. The job ahead doesn't scare me."
Asked if he thought the players in the squad could cope with the weight of expectations, he cited the likes of Owen, Viduka, Smith, Butt, Given and Duff and stressed that they are big players who had come to play for a big club.
"This club shouldn't faze them. They haven't yet seen this club at its best."
Was having been out of the game for three years a disadvantage? Keegan felt that, on the contrary, the three years ("not a hundred!") out had probably helped him.
He said he was looking forward to working with Michael Owen and made it clear that he didn't have a problem with the England striker, notwithstanding Owen's criticisms of Keegan in his autobiography.
He said: "I have heard about his book. I don't have a problem with that. He is entitled to his opinion and I'm looking forward to working with him."
Of course, the question of a possible role for Alan Shearer was raised, and Keegan delighted the fans watching the press conference on screens in Shearer's Bar at the stadium by responding:
"I want to bring the very best to Newcastle United. If there is a role that Alan wants, and is right - that's the key - then I would love to have him back here. I will definitely be speaking to him, there is absolutely no doubt about that."
He prefaced those comments by stressing that he hadn't spoken to Shearer because since his appointment he had just concentrated solely on Saturday's game against Bolton. He had been meeting all the players and the club staff and been pleased to find the four people were still at the club from his first stint as manager.
He also put the record straight on his time as manager of Manchester City, reminding the press, who have tended to cast his City reign in a negative light.
He said he had stabilised City, earning them promotion and setting a host of club records along the way, then taking them to their highest position in the Premier League at that time. He explained that he had not been sacked, but agreed with chairman John Wardle to leave when he did because he was not going to sign a new contract, and Wardle felt - rightly in Keegan's view - that it was best for the club to part company and bring in Stuart Pearce.
Much has been made about Newcastle's fans and want they want. Keegan was keen to elaborate on a subject dear to his heart. He said: "I'm a great believer in looking at your customers and asking what do he fans want? That's what I want to give them."
He said that whereas people in the South go to the theatre to be entertained, Geordies go to St James' Park to be entertained by Newcastle United.
He said "They don't want us to play drably and win 1-0, they want us to have a go. And we will have a go."
He revealed that the thing that Mike Ashley said to him that most impressed him was when Keegan asked the owner what he wanted to achieve. "I want to win something," Ashley had replied.
And the manager emphasised that it is possible to win a cup and break into the top four. "We did it once before," he said of the top four target, and said they had nearly won the title in 1995-96.
"We can show it out on the pitch. We can do it with these players, with the backing of this board and with these fans," he said.
Mort added at that point: "We all want to win something - but we're not setting any public targets. That would not be fair on Kevin."
Keegan was asked about troubled midfielder Joey Barton, and acknowledged that he'd supported him before at Manchester City, and been let down, but pledged that while Barton was a Newcastle player, "I'll support him 100%. He's said he needs help and we'll help him. I know him [from their time at Manchester City]. He's an excellent player. He can improve."
Finally, Keegan also confirmed that his wife was "absolutely delighted" to be back in the North East.
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