Magpies pick Keegan - again
Kevin Keegan will sensationally return to Newcastle after the club confirmed he has signed a three-and-a-half year contract to manage the Magpies.
The 56-year-old was a hugely popular figure during his first spell as Magpies boss from 1992-1997, but was ranked as an outside candidate to replace Sam Allardyce, who left St James' Park last week after an unsuccessful short stint in charge.
Gerard Houllier and Didier Deschamps were strongly linked with the position in the past two days but the club unexpectedly announced Keegan as the club's new manager on their website on Wednesday afternoon.
Keegan was linked to the role but initially only in partnership with legendary striker Alan Shearer.
Keegan took Newcastle to promotion back to the top flight in 1993 and came close to winning the league title in the 1995-96 season when they famously led Manchester United by 12 points before finishing as runners up. He went on to manage Fulham, England and Manchester City but has been out of the game since leaving City in 2005 after a largely unsuccessful spell.
Harry Redknapp had been first choice for owner Mike Ashley and chairman Chris Mort but he last week opted to stay at Portsmouth. That only fuelled increased speculation about possible contenders with Mark Hughes, Houllier, Deschamps and Shearer being mentioned most prominently.
The message coming out of the club was that experience was the main prerequisite - instantly making Shearer a more unlikely candidate - and Shearer revealed he did not envisage being Keegan's number two.
Some fans had been hoping for a "dream team" of Keegan and Shearer but the 37-year-old said: "I haven't really seen myself as a number two."
The former England captain added on BBC1: "First and foremost I'm not so sure he's thought about it. He's his own man. If he were to ring me and ask to speak to me I would certainly speak to him. I'd be foolish not to. I was never really a serious possibility (for the manager's job) because they were looking for experience."
Shearer admitted he is still keen to manage Newcastle at some stage, adding: "It remains an ambition to manage it some day, when that will be I don't know. I hope and pray that he (Keegan) does well because I'm a fan at the end of the day."
