Jimbo 175 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 KEVIN KEEGAN watched in horror as his Toon revolution hit a new low and admitted he is now in a relegation dogfight. Yesterday's 1-0 home defeat to Blackburn means Keegan is still searching for his first win since taking over from Sam Allardyce. And he declared: "Football can be cruel. It is easy to bayonet the wounded and that's what is happening to us. We are not safe by any means." Keegan admits Newcastle are facing RELEGATION after yesterday's disastrous 1-0 home defeat by Blackburn. Keegan has yet to win a game since taking over from sacked Sam Allardyce on January 16 and Newcastle are now just THREE points from the Premier League drop zone. And Keegan confessed: "We must get around 37 to 40 points — but I can't be sure about that. We are not safe by any means." The Toon have just 28 points and Keegan's six League games in charge have brought just two points. Striker Michael Owen missed FOUR glorious chances before Rovers won the game in the 90th minute when sub Matt Derbyshire banged in the winner. Keegan added: "Football can be cruel. It's incredible that we lost that game. "It was bad enough at 0-0 but it was a real body blow to lose at the end like that. "We played some really good stuff and should have been two up at half-time. After that we created more chances but just couldn't finish the moves off. "Michael came in to the dressing room and held up his hands and said: ‘Sorry guys, I should have scored.' "He won't go into hiding, that's for sure. On another day he could have had a hat-trick but not today. Sharp "Actually I have been thinking Michael is really sharp. I said so before the last England game and he showed today just how he gets into all those great positions. "We could have been talking about a great performance. "But at least we created something for him and on another day the ball will end up in back of the net. "However, today we got caught with the sucker punch. "Blackburn have stolen three points today but that's the way football is. We must not allow this to become a blow to our confidence. "Since I've come in we have tried to focus on the good things. But we know we've got some little problems. "The players definitely didn't deserve this but now I've got to pick the lads up for our next match, against Liverpool at Anfield. "I can genuinely say that if we play like we did today from now until the end of the season we won't have a problem. "We limited Rovers to a couple of chances but at end of day we have been beaten. "Maybe we were naive in our willingness to try and win the game and got caught out. "But it was through genuinely trying to take all three points. "In the end I am disappointed but I can't be too hard on the players. "For the first time we played at St James' Park like a team should at home." Keegan, rival boss Mark Hughes, both benches and a dozen players were all involved in an ugly 81st-minute scrap. It all started when Newcastle thought they had won a throw-in but referee Rob Styles wrongly awarded it to Blackburn. Toon star Habib Beye had the ball but Morten Gamst Pedersen tried to get it off him. The Toon star grabbed him by the throat, sparking a scuffle at which point players from both sides piled in. Both managers and coaching staff jumped off the bench to separate the warring teams before Stiles booked Beye and Pedersen. Hughes said: "Beye took exception to Pedersen trying to take the ball off him and grabbed his throat, which is why everyone else piled in. "I just felt it was all very unnecessary." However the Welshman had no sympathy for Newcastle as his side made more headway towards Europe. Crucial He added: "I think Newcastle had 14 corners but not one of them was crucial. "The result was a little bit harsh on Newcastle but at this stage of season I am only interested in our results and I am delighted we got the job done. "Our keeper Brad Friedel made a couple of crucial saves for us but Steve Harper also got in a couple of good blocks for them. "I always felt that this was a game we had to win if we want to get anyhere near the European place we want. "We've a decent record in the North-east and very rarely get beaten. "We seem to come up the road and get three points." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 He's on the brink of turning things around. A better 90 minutes than any under Allardyce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty 4 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Mort confident over Keegan future Newcastle chairman Chris Mort has insisted that the board are 100% behind manager Kevin Keegan. Keegan is yet to win a game since his dramatic return to the club in January. Newcastle are just three points off the bottom three and Mort said that there is no danger that Keegan will turn his back on the club a second time. "The board is 100% behind Kevin, and there is no doubt or worry that he will walk away," Mort told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek. "He's come into a club that wasn't playing well and was playing poorly and the results reflected that and it was always going to be difficult to turns things around. "Clearly he wants to turn the results around and that is what he has come back to do, but it will take time." Keegan is in his second spell at the club having left St James' Park in 1997. He replaced Sam Allardyce in January but has struggled to get his tenure at Newcastle off to a decent start. But Mort says that despite their woeful results Keegan is happy to be back at St James' Park. "He is enjoying being back at Newcastle and the city is enjoying having him back," said Mort. "I'm sure when things turn around on the pitch he'll thoroughly enjoy being back at Newcastle." Mort also quashed suggestions that Keegan had been unhappy with the appointment of assistant manager Chris Hughton. Hughton was appointed assistant boss last week and Mort confirmed that it was solely Keegan's decision. "Kevin came to me and asked if we could appoint Chris," said Mort. "He made the first call to Chris and had full knowledge of it. It was Kevin's lead, Kevin's suggestion and he was keen for it to happen." With Newcastle struggling on the pitch, it had also been rumoured that owner Mike Ashley was ready to walk away and sell the club. But Mort says that Ashley is perfectly happy at St James' Park and isn't thinking of selling up. "Mike has never tried to sell the club," said Mort. "People have called us and asked us if we were interested in selling the club and the answer is always no. "Mike is the owner of the club and he is very happy to be the owner and is not encouraging me to sell the club he still enjoys his Saturday football, obviously he'd enjoy it more if the results were better. "He gets on with Kevin very well and still enjoys being at Newcastle." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stevie Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 He's on the brink of turning things around. A better 90 minutes than any under Allardyce. We played well we really did, and considering the amount of mongs in the support I thought we stuck behind the team well. We'll get a flukey 0-1 at the murderers keep the faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeazesMag 0 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 He's on the brink of turning things around. A better 90 minutes than any under Allardyce. We played well we really did, and considering the amount of mongs in the support I thought we stuck behind the team well. We'll get a flukey 0-1 at the murderers keep the faith. yes we did. Best 90 minute performance for a canny while, getting the first goal is pretty crucial for us right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Keegan admits Newcastle are facing RELEGATION after yesterday's disastrous 1-0 home defeat by Blackburn. FFS what an article, he didn't admit any such thing, just that yes it's a potential relegation dogfight...... but basically so is everyone from Spurs down the table. 10 out of the 20 teams in the Premiership are "facing relegation" as it stands by that context. I must admit losing to Blackburn like that was incredibly harsh, but there's still should be at least 9-12 points for us in the remaining fixtures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombadil 0 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Nice title, too, how exactly is Keegan "on the brink"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMoog 0 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I was just looking at the coming fixtures and even if we lost the next two I can't see Reading, Fulham or Derby getting anything out of their games either so I don't think there's any worries just yet - of course the press will make out we're doomed long before such a thing is ever likely to happen just because making us out to be shit sells them papers... apparently. Fecking idiots the lot of em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 He's on the brink of turning things around. Hear, hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasepud 59 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 He's on the brink of turning things around. A better 90 minutes than any under Allardyce. Arsenal at home, I really thought we'd turned the corner with that performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken 119 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Seeing that it's a NOTW article are they proper quotes or are they souped up and bogus "quotes" like the one with Mike Ashley?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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