Keegan salutes Toon Army

Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan has congratulated Mike Ashley on his decision to buy the club. A delighted Ashley was jubilant as the final whistle signalled the end of the first part of Keegan’s mission, securing Barclays Premier League survival. The Magpies had beaten their local rivals Sunderland 2-0.

On a day when the Tyneside public roared their side on against their arch-rivals, the manager cast his mind back to his first spell in charge and told the man who brought him back to St James’ Park that he will get that at every home match if he helps him build a team to excite the locals again.

Keegan said: “I read somewhere that he could have bought Leeds or Newcastle, so I just said to him, ‘Aren’t you lucky you bought Newcastle?’ No disrespect to Leeds, but you just can’t buy that (the atmosphere). He has, but you can’t normally buy an atmosphere like that in a stadium.”