Keegan is king in the land of the unsold Manchester United shirt

Keegan is king in the land of the unsold Manchester United shirt. And this was an unprecedented show of support for him.
Saturday night in the Bigg Market moved to Sunday afternoon in the Gallowgate End. The message is that life goes on and it can be better than it was before.Rumour had spread on Saturday that Dennis Bergkamp had flown in, courtesy of Sir John Hall’s private jet, and was set to sign. He had apparently been seen at the airport in the company of United’s chief executive, Freddie Fletcher. However, there was also a report of Hristo Stoichkov in a Gateshead chip shop.Add to this sightings of Le Tissier, Collymore, Romario and Elvis and you get the picture of how desperate the Toon Army are to see Keegan reach for the cheque-book.But yesterday belonged to Newcastle, firmly placed in the real world Regardless of the score, the result was Kevin Keegan’s His name boomed around the ground.

Even the fans from Manchester were unusually quiet, Mark Hughes’s goal being treated with little more than polite applause.They rode their luck with some dubious decisions and woeful Newcastle finishing. The first half saw Howey, Lee and Fox bring groans when it should have been cheers.Newcastle played well, even without Beardsley and Bracewell (not to mention Cole). They ran chased and harried as one and the crowd took to them Not the usual deriding of mistakes. This game was about Newcastle being truly united, and not a mere football match.The old Andy Cole song was updated to “He’s left the Toon, he’s on the dole, Andy Andy Cole”.We should be so lucky.Stoichkov and Romario reappeared in a rendition of the Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West”.

Whether this was a pointer to where Keegan should seek his much-needed striker or a “You’re not as big as you think you are” gesture to Manchester United, nobody cared.As Kev, my Gallowgate End neighbour, said at half-time: “Knock knock”"Who’s there?”"Andy.”"Andy who?”"Aye – a week is a long time in football!”. Swindon Town 2

Middlesbrough 1
Steve McMahon and Bryan Robson were never the best of pals on a football field so the taste of a first league victory for the Swindon player-manager came with added spice yesterday.It was at the beginning of October that Swindon last claimed three points. The victims on that occasion were Wolverhampton Wanderers who, like Middlesbrough, arrived at the County Ground as leaders of the First Division. Again, Swindon roused themselves and, on balance, deserved their reward.They competed aggressively, worked hard and had the character to come from behind, qualities which always underscored McMahon’s own performances Not that Middlesbrough were short on those counts, either.

They showed their determination in shrugging off the loss of Curtis Fleming, sent off near the end of the first half, and did not give ground easily.Swindon won because, as they showed last week in reaching the Coca-Cola Cup semi-final, the ball is running for them at the moment. Especially for Jan Age Fjortoft, who applied the final touch to a firm Mark Robinson header which was going in anyway to claim his 23rd goal of the season.McMahon reacted less than kindly to suggestions that Newcastle are on Fjortoft’s trail, denying an approach had been made. He also queried the man of the match award, saying that Fjortoft’s fanfare was unfair on the rest of the team.Fjortoft’s eighth goal in nine games came soon after Craig Hignett had given Middlesbrough the lead in the 14th minute. His first effort from a free-kick, with his right foot, slapped tamely into the wall. He chose to strike the rebound with his left andsaw the ball arrow into the corner.Alan Moore hit the inside of a post as Middlesbrough continued to dominate. But with Fleming’s dismissal, after a squabble with Luc Nijholt that brought a second booking, Swindon took charge. Their winner came in the 57th minute when Kevin Horlock redirected Joey Beauchamp’s cross for his first goal in more than two years.Swindon Town (4-4-2): Hammond; Robinson, Culverhouse, Taylor, Bodin; Ling, Nijholt, Horlock, Beauchamp; Mutch, Fjortoft.