‘We’ve hit the jackpot’ – Kevin Keegan breaks silence on Newcastle takeover after feud with former owner Mike Ashley
KEVIN KEEGAN is open to a Newcastle return — as long as it is not schmoozing with the prawn sandwich brigade.
After quitting as manager in 2008, the adopted Geordie vowed never to return to St James’ Park while Mike Ashley remained.
But having spoken to Toon’s new Saudi Arabia-funded consortium since the £300million takeover, King Kev is eager to hear what is on the table.
An ambassadorial role has been mooted and he told “I would ask them what role they think I can do.
“I’m past the days of running about coaching players and it’s not my style to sit in a lounge having drinks with corporate guests.
“So I would want them to tell me how they see me fitting into things.”
The former England boss, 70, spent two seasons on Tyneside as a player before so nearly landing the Magpies’ first league title since 1927 as manager in 1996.
Ashley brought him back in 2008 but they had a bitter falling-out, with Keegan insisting he would only go back to St James’ Park once the unpopular Sports Direct tycoon had gone.
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Speaking for the first time since the takeover at a Q&A in Cramlington, the Newcastle icon believes the club will now compete with the very best.
He said: “Like everybody else, I was absolutely delighted when Mike Ashley left.
“Anybody coming in was going to be a plus. I think we have hit the jackpot, I really do.
“One, they have got the money — but don’t let that worry you because that’s how all the other teams like Chelsea and Manchester City have done it.
“If you look at the top four or five and not just in this country, look at Spain with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico.
“Why? Because they get the most money, the most sponsorship and they are on TV most.
“It’s the same in Italy and France. Who wins the league? Newcastle are now in that league.
“If you put the right players in you win the league. There’s another team in that Super League bracket now.”
Keegan famously vowed to never set foot in St James’ Park again while the club was under the ownership of Sports Direct magnate Mike Ashley.
Their feud came after Keegan took charge of Newcastle for a second time in 2008, but lasted only 22 games after falling out with Ashley over the club’s transfer policy.
He had previously managed the Magpies for five years between 1992-97, in what was their most successful spell in recent history.
Keegan, who scored 49 goals in 85 appearances for the club as a player, took them from the brink of relegation to the third tier to the Prem in just two seasons.
He then went on to lead the club to two consecutive second place finishes and a Uefa Cup quarter final, almost beating Manchester United to the title in 1996.
In his autobiography ‘My Life In Football’, the former England boss said: “They [Ashley and co] have made a toy out of Newcastle.
“As much as it pains me to say it, I have no desire to be associated with the place for as long as that continues. I will gladly return when they have gone.
“Don’t feel bad about the money, Man City and Man United done it. If you put the right players in you win the league.
Kevin Keegan on the Newcastle takeover
“I look forward to the day when Newcastle is free of the man who has lurched from one bad decision to another, run an empire of self-harm and handed money and power to people who deserved neither.”
With Keegan finally getting his wish, he’ll surely be itching to get back into the stands at St. James’ Park, but he doesn’t expect the club to win trophies straight away.
He said: “The rest will be hard work and it won’t be the case of just throwing money at it.
“I think these people know what they are doing business-wise and I think they will find the people they need to put in the right places.
“They are nobody’s fools. With these people, they are in it for the long term.
“Don’t feel bad about the money, Man City and Man United done it. If you put the right players in you win the league.
“There’s another team in the Super League (bracket) now.”
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