Keegan gone..

[Liam]

City manager Keegan 'leaves club' 

 

Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan has parted company with the Premiership club, reports BBC Radio Five Live.

Stuart Pearce is expected to take temporary charge of first-team affairs and a full statement is expected from the club on Friday.

Keegan, 54, took over as City manager on 24 May 2001 and his contract was due to expire at the end of next season.

City lost their last game 1-0 at home to Bolton on Monday, a result that saw the team slip to 12th in the table.

The defeat was a blow to City's hopes of winning a place in Europe next season.

After the defeat against Bolton, Keegan said: "We've got a history of not building on good situations.

"We could have jumped into he European shake-up, again we couldn't make that leap.

"That's seven or eight times in a year we could have jumped into something good for this club and we've failed."

City lost to Oldham in this season's FA Cup and were knocked out of the Carling Cup by an under-strength Arsenal team.

Keegan, previously manager of Newcastle, Fulham and the England national team, had stated earlier in March his intention to leave when his current deal expired.

"I will not be staying beyond my contract," he said. "People who really know me know that is what I will do.

"Whatever we do next season will not make any difference."

After taking over at the club in 2001, Keegan guided the team to the old Division One title.

The club's return to the Premiership for the 2002-03 season saw Keegan sign some high-profile players, such as Nicolas Anelka and Robbie and Fowler.

City finished ninth in the Premiership and qualified for the Uefa Cup, thanks to their excellent disciplinary record.

But last season Keegan's City struggled - finishing fifth-bottom in the Premiership and losing to Polish minnows Groclin Dyskobolia in the Uefa Cup.

The magnificent FA Cup victory at Tottenham - winning 4-3 after trailing 3-0 - was the highlight of an otherwise unforgettable season.

Keegan's previously harmonious relationship with the club's supporters showed signs of deteriorating, while reports of financial problems at the club started to surface.

The club's star player Shaun Wright-Phillips recently signed a new deal but continues to be linked with a move away from the club.

Credit: www.bbc.co.uk/sport

I like Keegan, but the second he said he wasn't gonna renew his contract, I knew he'd be fired or leave.

Edited March 11, 2005 by rvdwannabe

[Guest Booker T & The MG's]

I like Keegan, but the second he said he wasn't gonna renew his contract, I knew he'd be fired or leave.

←

[supergrass]

The same thing happened when Gordon Strachan announced he'd leave Southampton at the end of that year's season. Personally I agree with the clubs in that situation, if somebody is going to go why not hurry them out the door and let somebody new settle in a bit earlier?

With that said, if City don't have a replacement lined up it could be a bad move (in that case Keegan could've kept going until somebody was ready to start). The papers so far have linked Strachan and Sam Allardyce to the job.

EDIT: Ian Dowie and Martin O'Neil have been linked with the Man City job in the Daily Mail.

Edited March 11, 2005 by supergrass

[Jonny D]

I saw it coming as this happens every time a manager says he won't be staying, and Keegan has a habbit of jumping ship when things aren't going his way.

[lazy_arse]

O'Neill gets linked with most clubs in the Premiership, but it never happens.

I think they'll just give it to Sturat Pearce.

[Guest Booker T & The MG's]

The only time Martin O'Neill will leave Celtic, is if he has a MAJOR bustup with the Celtic board or he is offered one of the top 3 English jobs (Arsenal, Chelsea or Man U). I can't see one of the equivalent big European clubs moving for him, and any other job in the Premiership is at best a sidestep move. He would be managing in a far better league but not a far bigger club.

Personally I see Martin O'Neill becoming Man U manager one day.

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Martin O'Neill is one of the best managers around and there is no wonder why he keeps getting linked with every Premiership team that looses a manager.

Thinking of Martin brings back many happy memories when he took Leicester to being a top 6 club in the Premiership with in effect a Division 1 squad.

Maybe Stuart Pearce will get the job full-time if he does a good job, I imagine Iain Dowie wouldn't leave Palace - yet anyways. It's going to be intresting to see who they bring in.

[RawIsWar]

I didn't like Keegan but he did do a good job at City.

As for the new manager, Pearce will be given time to see how he does but i think he will drop back to assistant manager and someone else will be appointed, O'Neill is a brilliant manager but i think he will stay at Celtic

[The Slickman]

Keegan done a fantastic job at Man City and if it was his decision he got it spot on . He attracted players the calibre of Anelka to the club and i agree with what someone said on one of the games today , i think it was Linekear that Man City under Keegan shouldve been a good cup side but never really achieved anything , As a Spurs fan this isnt anything im going to lose sleep over but i hope they get a British guy in for the sake of the game .

[MDK]

King Kev's Quotes:

* "You get bunches of players like you do bananas...though that is a bad comparison."

* "Argentina won't be at Euro 2000 because they're from South America."

* "People will say that was typical City, which really annoys me. But that's typical City, I suppose..."

* "By the end he [Asprilla] was knackered-o. I think that's the Spanish for it."

* "They're the second best team in the world and there's no higher praise than that."

* "One of his strengths is not heading."

* "He's using his strength and that is his strength, his strength."

* "My father was a miner and he worked down a mine."

* "If I had a blank piece of paper there'd be five names on it."

* "Hungary is very similar to Bulgaria. I know they're different countries..."

* "I didn’t see a lot. When Benitez learns a bit more English someone have to tell him to sit down."

* "England have the best fans in the world and Scotland's fans are second to none."

* "Against France we'll have to be at our best both technically, tactically and spirit-wise."

* "You can't do better than go away from home and get a draw."

* "We deserved to win this game after hammering them 0-0 in the first half."

* "I don't think there's anyone bigger or smaller than Maradona."

* "He [sWP] is now getting paid what he deserves to be paid. I don't approve of using kids as cheap labour."

* "The 33 or 34 year olds will be 36 or 37 by the time the next World Cup comes around, if they're not careful."

* "Maine Road was a great football stadium but as time moved on it stayed where it is..."

* "Chile have three options - they could win or they could lose."

* "Gary always weighed up his options, especially when he had no choice."

* "The tide is very much in our court now."

* "The Germans only have one player under 22, and he's 23."

* "You don't get two chances at this level, or at any other level for that matter."

* "He can't speak Turkey, but you can tell he's delighted."

* "Batistuta is very good at pulling off defenders."

* "There'll be no siestas in Madrid tonight."

* "It's understandable that people are keeping one eye on the pot and another up the chimney."

* "England can end the millennium as it started - as the greatest football nation in the world."

* "I know what is around the corner - I just don't know where the corner is. But the onus is on us to perform and we must control the bandwagon."

* "They compare Steve McManaman to Steve Heighway and he's nothing like him, but I can see why - it's because he's a bit different..."

* "In some ways, cramp is worse than having a broken leg."

* "Should Al-Fayed get a British passport? 1000 per cent yes."

* "The good news for Nigeria is that they're two-nil down very early in the game..."

* "Despite his white boots, he has real pace..."

* "That would have been a goal if it wasn't saved."

* "Goalkeepers aren't born today until they're in their late 2Os or 3Os."

* "The substitute is about to come on - he's a player who was left out of the starting line-up today."

* "The ref was vertically 15 yards away."

* "Sir John Hall was a multi-millionaire when I came back to Newcastle. With all the players I've bought, I'm trying to make him just an ordinary millionaire."

* "Football's always easier when you've got the ball."

* "People still have the concept of one big bath, but the way forward hygeine-wise is single baths."

* "It's like a toaster, the ref's shirt pocket. Every time there's a tackle, up pops a yellow card."

* "I'd love to be a mole on the wall in the Liverpool dressing room at half-time."

* "I'm not trying to make excuses for David Seaman, but I think the lights may have been a problem..."

* "The game has gone rather scrappy as both sides realise they could win this match or lose it."

* "I'm not disappointed - just disappointed."

* "There's a slight doubt about only one player, and that's Tony Adams, who definitely won't be playing tomorrow."

* "I came to Nantes two years ago and it's much the same today, except that it's totally different."

* "We managed to wrong a few rights."

* "It's my job not to get beheaded."

* "I'll never play at Wembley again, unless I play at Wembley again."

* "Sometimes there are too many generals and not enough people waving to the generals as they walk past."

* "A tremendous strike which hit the defender full on the arm - and it nearly came off."

* "That decision, for me, was almost certainly definitely wrong."

* "Danny Tiatto is not going to make a mistake on purpose."

* "He'll also be very dangerous from set-pieces. That means he'll be a threat from free-kicks and corners in the final third of the field."

* "He’s [shaun Wright-Phillips] got a heart as big as his size, which isn’t big, but his heart’s bigger than that."

* "The problem in our country is that we use hindsight as our judge. When she [Margaret Thatcher] was in power, there were a lot of good things done, but people will always pick out bad things. She was a good lady."

- Football365.com

[Summers]

I loved the Benitez one.

[Guest Booker T & The MG's]

Random manager quotes are great.

[therockbox]

"He [sWP] is now getting paid what he deserves to be paid. I don't approve of using kids as cheap labour."

[pigeon]

* "I didn’t see a lot. When Benitez learns a bit more English someone have to tell him to sit down."

[Malenko]

* "Argentina won't be at Euro 2000 because they're from South America."

He's got a point there

* "Despite his white boots, he has real pace..."

you know you are fast when you beat them running even with WHITE (eeww) boots

* "The 33 or 34 year olds will be 36 or 37 by the time the next World Cup comes around, if they're not careful."

This one is my favourite

Edited March 14, 2005 by Malenko