Keegan: Hughton is the right man for the job

Oct 3 2010 by Mark Douglas, Sunday Sun

KEVIN KEEGAN is one of the biggest names in the respective histories of Newcastle United and Manchester City. He gave his exclusive verdict on this afternoon’s big clash to chief sports writer Mark Douglas.

KEVIN KEEGAN has handed Toon successor Chris Hughton a huge vote of confidence – insisting his Newcastle United side can re-establish themselves as a Premier League force this season.

With two of the clubs closest to Keegan’s heart set to meet at Eastlands today, the former Newcastle boss has backed the survival effort being led by Hughton and No 2 Colin Calderwood.

Hughton, of course, was a member of KK’s coaching staff during his ultimately ill-fated second stint at St James’ Park. But he has emerged from the shadows of the great man to carve his own reputation – something that Keegan has observed happily in his new role as respected ESPN pundit.

That will be his role today – reluctantly, you feel – as two clubs that he helped rebuild clash for the first time since the dust cleared on his Toon exit.

But of course Keegan is no ordinary panel beater. While Robbie Savage and Andy Gray have their charms – although both backed United to go down this year – Kev remains a King on Tyneside.

And having etched his name into St James’ Park history by serving the club with distinction on and off the field, he is uniquely placed to judge the mood on Tyneside as they attempt to repair the damage that came after he was lifted out of the dugout on a whirlwind of intrigue and raw, bitter emotion.

That was two years ago now and King Kev has drawn a line under Nacho Gonzalez-gate, Dennis Wise and all that.

So have the club, if truth be told. And eager not to re-open old wounds, politically sensitive issues are off the agenda for the purposes of this chat.

But despite his dignified silence he remains a huge figure at Newcastle – and his conviction that United can remain a Premier League side without big-money signings will go down well on the terraces at St James’ Park.

"A lot of people have doubted Newcastle United. They looked at the situation and the pre-season they had and without making any big signings, a lot of people doubted that they would be able to compete at this level," he told the Sunday Sun. "But they have done very, very well and I think their chances of staying up are very good.

"They’ve had a couple of results that have made people take notice and a couple of strange home results, but on the whole they’ve surprised people and I think the supporters must be very pleased with the job Chris has done over the last two years.

"It’s strange that they have lost those two home games that they would probably be expected to win. But they’ve also had some fantastic wins as well which should give them hope for the season."

But does Keegan – once NE1’s eternal optimist – really believe that Hughton’s side can match Mancini’s millionaires?

This, after all, was a man who not long ago said that Newcastle were a million miles away from the top four.

And if anything United have fallen further behind the Premier League’s elite since, money pouring into Manchester as they aim to break into the Champions League spots.