Former Newcastle star hails club legend Kevin Keegan.
Rob Lee has paid tribute Kevin Keegan amid speculation linking the Newcastle United legend with an emotional return to St James’ Park, speaking to talkSPORT.
If Saudi billionaire Mohammed Bin Salman wants to immediately win over supporters on Tyneside, bringing back a bonafide Magpies hero would not be the worst idea.
Keegan has been persona non grata at Newcastle since 2008 when his second spell in the dugout came to a premature and controversial end due to a high-profile disagreement with unpopular owner Mike Ashley.
But 12 years after a row which turned many fans off Ashley right there and then, forever tainting his reputation in the north east, Keegan has been lined up for a sensational return.
That is according to The Mirror, who believe that ‘King Kev’ could be handed an ambassadorial role as part of Bin Salman’s £300 million takeover.
And Rob Lee, who shone as part of Keegan’s legendary ‘Entertainers’ during the heady days of the mid-90s, believes this is one way of bringing heart and soul back to a club who have looked a shrivelled husk of their former selves in recent years.
“He had a great affiliation to the Newcastle fans,” Lee says. “He always wanted to entertain them. He always thought the crowd was a fantastic crowd and he wanted to give them a football team they could be proud of – and I think he did that.
“All he wanted was for the fans to be entertained and for people to come up to him and say, ‘watching the team is fantastic’ – and not just not Newcastle fans.
“Other fans from other teams still come up to me now and say they loved the way we played.”
According to ESPN, Newcastle have lined up Max Allegri, Mauricio Pochettino and Lucien Favre as a possible replacement for Steve Bruce in the Magpies dugout, while Edinson Cavani, Willian or Dries Mertens could arrive as marquee signings.
The return of a man called ‘The Messiah’ could be the most popular addition of all, however.
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