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Popular, but unproven Manchester Cirty's Keegan still seeking glory as coachPosted: Friday August 09, 2002 10:23 AMMANCHESTER, England (AP) -- After taking on a Who's Who of international stars from Peter Schmeichel to Nicolas Anelka, Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan feels his promoted team is equipped to become a force in the Premier League. If it concedes goals like it did in division one, City could be in for a relegation struggle. Keegan, who quit as England coach in October 2000 and then resurfaced as City manager last season, was in charge of arguably the most entertaining team in the land in terms of goals scored and conceded. It was as if his policy was: if you score two we'll score three. While other teams were grinding out 1-0 victories, Keegan's men were beating teams 5-2 and 4-1, occasionally losing 4-0. But then, Keegan has never been inconspicuous. It's just not his style. The former Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton and England striker tried to stay out of soccer after his playing career finished. But he was tempted back by Newcastle United as its manager when the Magpies were struggling to avoid relegation to division two. Keegan completely turned the team's fortunes around and, not only got the Magpies promoted to the Premier League, but to runner up behind Manchester United. At one stage his team led the Reds by nine points only for Alex Ferguson's team to charge back to take the title. After one game, Keegan lost it during a live TV interview, ranting, jabbing his finger and accusing Ferguson of playing mind games. It was typical of the way Keegan wears his heart on his sleeve where soccer is concerned. He's totally committed and feels the pain when things don't go right. That's why he suddenly quit minutes after England's World Cup loss to Germany in October 2000. Not only was the 1-0 defeat England's final game at Wembley, it followed a tame performance at Euro 2000 where the team was ousted in the first round. Keegan felt he had done all he could and, despite his ability to motivate the players, wondered maybe his tactical nous wasn't that great. Now he has the chance to take on neighbor Manchester United on more or less equal terms along with defending champion Arsenal, Liverpool and the rest of the Premier League powerhouse teams. Spending some 22 million pounds (US$33 million) on seven new signings has given City fans plenty of optimism for the coming season. Anelka, who spent the last three months of last season on loan at Liverpool, has arrived on a 13 million pounds (US$19.5 million) transfer from Paris Saint-Germain while Schmeichel moved from Aston Villa and cost nothing. Defender Sylvain Distin also moved from Paris Saint-Germain while striker Vicente Vuoso was recruited from Argentine club Independiente. Keegan also signed Danish star Mikkel Bischoff from FC Copenhagen, Tyrone Loran from Volendam and experienced Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe, who spent two seasons in the Premier League with West Ham, is on loan from French club Lyon. The arrivals will mean that City goes into the season with a huge squad and now Keegan's job is to blend them together. |
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