We would fly at teams in the first half an hour and would normally be one or two goals up at half time. Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. “It still haunts me now, no it annoys me,” added Lee. It was a devastating collapse, but Newcastle were still the team everyone wanted to watch and played such an exhilarating style of attacking football that they deserved their 'The Entertainers' nickname. It was a contest the United of Manchester would ultimately win, piping Newcastle to the title in 1996 after Keegan’s side had been 12 points clear at the start of February. We really did come for them as Kevin said we would.” Two years later we were top of the table in January and with a big lead. We finished third in our first season (and sixth in their second). They were the best team in the country and we should have probably won that game.
Andy Cole scored his first goal of the season and that was it, lift off. “We didn’t start that well, we lost to Tottenham, we lost to Coventry, but we went to Manchester United early on and got a draw. We weren’t there to take part, we were there to try and do something special. He was never interested in just doing ok. But for that short period of time, anything and everything seemed possible. His first words were you better watch out Alex Ferguson, because we are coming for your title. “Most newly promoted teams, like they do now, talked about consolidating in the top flight and doing as well as they can while they find their feet. “We had no idea Kevin was going to say that,” admits former Newcastle midfielder Rob Lee, who had joined the summer before Newcastle’s Second Division title-winning campaign.
When Keegan said Newcastle “were coming for Manchester United’s title” it began a thrilling rivalry between the two clubs that would last until he departed from St James’ Park (for the first time as a manager) in 1997. Nobody, though, had challenged Ferguson like this before and the reaction at the time was one of mild amusement. The football club was the most obvious symbol of its renewal. Newcastle was a city at the start of an exciting rejuvenation from a downtrodden heavy industry base into a vibrant and confident cultural centre.
It was 1993 and the country, as well as football, was going through a dramatic transformation.
It was, as declarations go, sitting somewhere between extremely bold or foolishly rash as Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan greeted promotion to the Premier League with a warning to Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson.
0 kommentar(er)
