Torres 0 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 From Today's Guardian.............. Keegan lays down the law but is prepared to stand by jailed BartonLouise Taylor at the Keepmoat Stadium The Guardian, Monday July 28 2008 Article historyKevin Keegan was back in his home town on Saturday and spent much of the afternoon renewing old acquaintances. "I've met a school friend I used to walk home with," enthused Newcastle United's manager after a 1-0 friendly defeat by Doncaster. "I didn't recognise him at first." Keegan may look a youthful 57-year-old but time has changed him too. The 1990s idealist has morphed into a hard-headed pragmatist more inclined towards surprisingly earnest analysis of defensive tactics and sports science than passionate discourses on "entertainment". With money tight on Tyneside, Newcastle's manager is hoping to compensate for a slim, shallow squad by creating possibly the Premier League's fittest team. Moreover he intends to spend the majority of whatever cash is available on defenders and has resolved to offer Joey Barton yet another chance when the midfielder is released from prison after serving time for assault next month. "People have opinions and you must respect that," said Keegan. "But mine is to give him another chance and back him. There are a lot of things he needs to put right but I think he can do it. He's served his sentence, he's been punished. As long as he does things right and starts to rebuild the confidence of the people around him, I'll stand by him." Although Keegan's enduring optimism is manifested by his belief that Michael Owen will shortly agree a new contract, he now seems to acknowledge that defence is the best form of attack. Accordingly Newcastle have made bids or inquiries for at least five defenders, including Arsenal's Philippe Senderos, Deportivo La Coruña's Fabricio Coloccini, Internazionale's Nicolás Burdisso, Blackburn's Stephen Warnock and Liverpool's Emiliano Insúa. Although Real Madrid's Julio Baptista remains on his radar, Keegan is not exactly banking on the arrival of the sort of attacking creator Newcastle crave and accepts that perspiration may prove as important as inspiration this season. "We might not have the biggest or best squad but we can be the fittest," he said. Keegan has duly hired a new conditioning expert, Mark Hulse, and, uncharacteristically, rationed pre-season ballwork. "This pre-season is right up there with the hardest that players have ever done," revealed Alan Smith. "But we're light on numbers so we have to be as physically fit as possible. "We haven't done that much with the ball, we've not done a lot of football work - which you could probably tell - but the gaffer's emphasised that, with the size of our squad, we need to be athletes." Smith remains concerned about a lack of cover beneath the veneer of a strong first XI. "That's our biggest worry," he agreed. "We've got quality but, more and more at this level, football's a squad game." Saturday's absentees included the bereaved Obafemi Martins and convalescent Owen, who is making a slow recovery from mumps and may miss the team's trip to Mallorca this week. Owen has made it clear that he is frustrated by Newcastle's persistent stalling over contract extension negotiations but Keegan insists he anticipates a speedy resolution. Indeed he expects his captain, whose current agreement expires next June, to sign a new deal in the "next two or three weeks". This could involve Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, compromising his demand that Owen accepts a wage cut but Keegan stressed. "I know Michael wants to stay and I know we want to keep him." About this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Monday July 28 2008 on p3 of the Sport news & features section. It was last updated at 12:33 on July 28 2008. Printable version Send to a friend Share Clip Contact us larger | smaller ShareClose Digg reddit Google Bookmarks Yahoo! My Web del.icio.us StumbleUpon Newsvine livejournal Facebook BlinkList EmailClose Recipient's email address Your name Add a note (optional) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14013 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Louise Taylor Top journalist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Louise Taylor I stopped reading at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Louise Taylor I stopped reading at that point. Same tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4856 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Louise Taylor I stopped reading at that point. Same tbh. me too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14013 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I read all the way through and she didn't really offer any opinion or develop the story in any way worthy of any merit. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4856 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I read all the way through and she didn't really offer any opinion or develop the story in any way worthy of any merit. Oh well. you'll learn eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus 0 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Louise Taylor Top journalist! Fat Pig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14013 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Louise Taylor Top journalist! Fat Pig Samuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBass 2715 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Louise Taylor I stopped reading at that point. This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1260 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Didn't even get that far, I saw it was Torres who posted it and left it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Mackem sympathising slut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman 2207 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Mackem sympathising slut. Is she a mackem or a smoggie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandman02uk 0 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Mackem sympathising slut. Is she a mackem or a smoggie? a fat c*nt, apparently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman 2207 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Mackem sympathising slut. Is she a mackem or a smoggie? a fat c*nt, apparently Doesn't narrow it down really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now