Kevin Keegan thinks the penalty save by goalkeeper Shay Given woke his Newcastle team up on Saturday, and while he was pleased with the win, he thinks his team were a shade lucky to take all 3 points.
Kevin talked at length to the Evening Chronicle today:
“It’s been a good start to the season.” “The performance didn’t match that against Manchester United.”
“The last half-hour was very good, but over the whole 90 minutes, we gave the ball away too easily and found ourselves under too much pressure through making the wrong selections.”
“The good news is that, despite not playing very well, we didn’t look likely to concede.”. “The opponents and challenges were different and unfortunately for us, we weren’t quite as good as we were at Manchester United.” “That’s taking nothing away from Bolton.”
“They’re going to go away and turn over a lot of teams, because they’ve got that wonderful resilience.” “They work very hard for each other, but I think it was a very, very good result.”
“Our goalkeeper kept us in it with a great penalty save, and we still had it within us to win a game which, if we’re honest, we probably didn’t quite deserve to.”
That was one item of the game that was very pleasing – the fact that the defense looked very solid – with Coloccini’s presence making a big difference.
Keegan continued:
“I don’t care what he saved it with – it was a great save.” “It was going to take something like that to change the game for us, and to wake us up a little bit.”
“It got the crowd going, which was something we failed to do with our football.” “Then, we started to look as though we might score three, four or five goals.”“The last 20 minutes was very exciting. That’s the way you want to play 90 minutes, but reality says you won’t.”
So mark this win down to the brilliant save by Shay Given, and the terrific way in which our captain Owen scored the goal. We do have a video out on the highlights, and we’ve watched it many times now.
Now for Coventry tomorrow night – but the lads have made a good start to the season – that’s for sure.
Comments welcome.
42 responses so far ↓
1 ed_speed // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:35
good article ed , well done for getting it all up and running again.
regards, rev. ed speed
2 The Entertainers // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:41
I hope Kev really gets the lads pumped up for our next game.
Have to admit i was a tad envious towards Spurs last season.
We need some bling at SJP.
3 Ross // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:42
we need a win tomorrow night, no excuses.
a good cup run this season would keep us all on our toes and would only provide confidence as far as the prem goes!
4 Punk Skunk // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:45
Excellent save by Shay…The 2nd one bein’ particulaly good…Well done!..
…Pathetic defending(if that’s the word?) by taylor tho’, handling twice in 10 seconds, specially since Shay was gonna save it anyway, if it got thru!..Great header by Owen from a great Geremi cross!..
…Ho’way the Lads!..
5 Toon1978 // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:47
Bloody hell, what i would give for a transfer rumour lol. BRING BACK BIG WILLY lolol.
6 Big Ricks Black Nd White Army // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:48
is it workin now
7 The Entertainers // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:49
Its so wierd seeing ‘cross, Geremi and great’ in the same sentence Punk mate.
But well deserved!
Well done Geremi
8 ELTSACWEN // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:51
malouda is awfully overrated i would rather buy 3 4m players than him for 12m
we’ve got good wingers
jonas and collochini are good but a couple of english players would be good
whats the team for tommorow?
i’ve bet on guthrie to score at anytime
he scored twice in preseason - is playing well
8-1 at paddypower
9 The Entertainers // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:52
@ Toon 1978
I was at work today mate (yes treble time) and i was passing SJP and in the car park saw……..3 bloody chavas making a mess of the place!!
Dont think we’ll sign any of them, but i DID see them in SJP carpark.
Hope that got your juices flowing mate
10 ed_speed // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:53
owen only fit recognised striker tomoro.
regards, reverand edward speed
11 Punk Skunk // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:53
It was tho’, wasn’t it mate!?!..
…Credit where it’s due & all that!..
12 tommy // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:53
we need 5 signings by the end of january i think.
13 ELTSACWEN // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:55
thats the first time ive seen geremi get the ball off the floor
every deadball he hits the wall or the first man
14 Toon1978 // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:56
The Entertainers
Yeah, cheers mate, any idea who these Chavs may be, maybe Rooney there’s one of the biggest chave in the EPL the other two may be Bartons cousin and bling bling boy A.Cole, hope so all excited now
15 The Entertainers // Aug 25, 2008 at 17:57
Eltsacwen…..
honestly mate Geremi does not do himself any favours at times, but…..
did you not see any of the games last season under Keegan. Geremi played a major part in alot of our goals…..
dont believe me, you have a look mate!
16 Luke // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:00
Bentley’s crossing for Spurs against the mackems was sublime. They still lost though — no one to get on the end of them! It made me lust after a Nobby Solano type player.
17 The Entertainers // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:05
Ah Solano……love him, but would he get in your all time 11 ?????
Given
Beye Albert Woodgate Beresford
Jonas ! Gazza Beardsley Ginola
Shearer Ferdinand
Almost went with just Albert in defence and played a 1-5-4 formation….Keegan would approve.
18 Punk Skunk // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:06
Well said Entertainers!..
…Geremi does a lot more than he gets credit for…As do other players that get slagged off on here…I sometimes wonder if people actually watch who supplies assists etc…Or is it just a case of…A player makes a mistake & that’s it, i hate him & want him dead?..Or WHAT?..
19 mitch // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:08
The one thing I like about Gerimi is the way beye moves further up the park when he is on by the way I would love to see berbatov but he is going to manure what a shame also I agree bring back the rummer kings
20 ed_speed // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:13
nobby solano
21 ed_speed // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:14
says it all really
22 Toon1978 // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:18
Setanta Sports
SWP could be re-signing for Man city for 10 million. Wonder why we dont go in for him hence releasing Milner to Aston Villa for 9 million. Make sense really as we would only be shifting 1 million.
23 Shot Bru! // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:19
Looking @ the post match comments by KK, he points out that we gave away possesion cheaply which is what our midfield has been guilty of for a while now. I reckon we need to buy a couple more central midfielders , who can put their foot on the ball and not always look for that killer pass, and maybe be a tad more patient. It would give us more control over the game enabling us to dictate the pace therefore imposing ourselves on the opposition. More footballers like our fantastic new Argentines would address this problem. Magic blog, its great to see how our reputation for being knowledgeable football fans is being upheld by the fans on this site.
24 scottish mag // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:21
solano was my nickname at school still is when i see old mates, cos i ave tanned skin and play right wing thats the only reason though lol and “apparently look like him” i dont though i better looking lol
25 capt. darlin // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:26
According to reports in Norway, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United have made bids in the region of £6million for Rosenborg midfielder Per Ciljan Skjelbred. The Norwegian club are set to decide on the offers at a board meeting, with Tottenham and Portsmouth also linked with Skjelbred - sky sports news
26 ice dog // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:28
dont want rumours on transfers want facts but i surpose it keeps us hoping. but toon1978 if meet on wed agrees to sav signing on fee thats one plus another keep faith its happen ing
27 daiv // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:28
We need two quality signings by the weekend other wise its another mid table season.
Butt and Guthrie are tidy but cannot beat their midfield opponent and so draw the defence. What happens? the ball goes out wide..so predictable for the opposition or it goes to Mikey or Oba who have their backs to goal. Little wonder we create little at home against poor teams who sit back.
Milner cannot cross to save his life. His corners are worse than Geremis. 9 mil to Villa is good business if only we could buy somebody. Nzog is hopeless at left back and is totally overrated in any case. No wonder Arsenal did noy buy him.
The positives? Colocinni is class and so is Jonas. Guthrie is OK.
A fit forward line is a threat but they are mostly sicknotes. 140K a week for Owen. Come on you have to be joking. Yes if you got a season out of him but whats the chance of that? Seems a bit stupid when we want the players to buy their own club suits.
The best news? 47K attendance. The fans want some excitement. Big MA will be forced to put his hands in his pocket. expect a couple of big signings this week otherwise the home gates will tail off. I was there and next up its the Gooners. See you there. (Don’t count Carling Cup.) How positive is that? MA forced to buy!!! Good on you Mike. Mr tight.
28 LATINAMERICATOON // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:33
I couldnt see mch of a problem with the defence. Colo looked terrific and taylor did well, and managed to handle the ball 3 times in one game which must be a record. What worries me is the midfields ability to fetch the ball out of the defence. As you could see colo lifts his head up to look to do this whereas taylor just whacks it. The only midfielder to take the ball out from defense was Gutierrez, who conected alot with colo and never stoped runing. Unfortunatly, no one followed him and the lack of creatvity in midfield apart from jonas forced oba to drop soo deep that no one was in the box. For me the most important thing to do is to replace butt, milner and geremi with players who can play the ball. We are in dire need of a creative midfielder, a holding midfielder who can pass and take the ball forward in his feet. We also need another striker as all our strikers are injury prone and alan smith, hasnt scored a goal in years. I can’t see what he brings to the team, as when he plays he doesnt even run for the shirt its not because he has the reputation of shouting at refs and for horrendous tackles that he has any pasion for the shirt. My final say, we can see the inprovement but the team is still very thin. Our season definetly hinges on the players we are to bring in before the end of the transfer window…
29 Stardust // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:40
If the Skjelbred rumours are true, we know beyond doubt that we have missed our first priority transfers, as his agent was quoted some weeks ago that they were back up if we didnt get the the first option(s)
30 Nundo Fer // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:42
Skjelbred will sign for Spurs just watch
31 DH7 MAGS // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:44
lets hope the cash is released so we can get some quality in. milner does not want to leave newcastle. i know that because i work with his relation. 9 mill is good money considering we only paid 3.8, me personally, like a said last week,we would be shooting ourselves in the foot by selling him, but if we did, shaun wright phillips is the obvious replacement. lets just hope we get 3 world quality players in
32 DH7 MAGS // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:49
senderous is having a medical at milan thank the lord.. did not want him at newcastle. dont rate him at all.
33 Punk Skunk // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:53
Aye, all gooners want him gone too!..Phew!..
34 little willie // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:59
Stardust // Aug 25, 2008 at 18:40
If the Skjelbred rumours are true, we know beyond doubt that we have missed our first priority transfers, as his agent was quoted some weeks ago that they were back up if we didnt get the the first option(s)
——–
Our first choice was Baptista.
35 little willie // Aug 25, 2008 at 19:04
MA forced to buy!!! Good on you Mike. Mr tight
———
Keegan has always intended on buying 3 more players, he said so long before the Bolton game so nobody is forcing MA to buy.
The remaining 3,500 seats in our section are worth less than £2 million anyway if you go off the average ticket price of £520 so he’s not going to be spending big money for that reason.
36 A.L 9 // Aug 25, 2008 at 19:06
Geremi has a wicked cross from open play, he just has a rare tallent that also allows him to the the first man from corners, every time without fail.
37 Punk Skunk // Aug 25, 2008 at 19:08
3 points!..
38 Ross // Aug 25, 2008 at 19:25
nundo fer-you sure he wants to sign for a team that has spent all that money but still cant beat the mackems or boro?
come on, lets be honest, they’re shocking
39 Chris H // Aug 25, 2008 at 19:49
Oh look everyone. Fernando has reared his ugly head. What do you think of getting hammered off the Mackems and Smoggies then big mouth!
40 Nundo Fer // Aug 25, 2008 at 20:25
I think people on this blog give Ed Speed far too much grief.
It should stop
Cheers
I (Nundo Fer)
41 Toon Graeme // Aug 25, 2008 at 21:00
Gonna be an interesting week!!!!
42 LATINAMERICATOON // Aug 25, 2008 at 21:20
I’ve read somewhere that we are after Di maria and Buonanotte, both quality players who would light up the team. They are both hungry and highly gifted players. Argentina is producing some top players and with our current argy players we should be able to lure the young ones over here. We have just came out of the 2 most negative premiership managers in history, souness and alardyce. We have swooped them for Keegan football, so it will take time before we see his football again. Ashle should back him all the way as we have seen what a difference 3 of his signings bring to the team and how they compare to previous signings made from other managers.
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