I’m conscious that many will not like this article, so the easily offended should not read on. But I think the events of the last fortnight are a worry. Perhaps a minor one, but a worry none the less.

Going back to the initial incident, the tone of the post-Chelsea interview came completely out of the blue, rather like Keegan’s more famous outburst in 1996. Most of us were left scratching our heads, wondering what exactly had brought it on.

It’s been claimed that Keegan was simply trying to calm down the hopes of the supporters, but I can’t say that I’ve detected any widespread expectations of us breaking into the Champions League in the near future. The difficulty of reaching the top four isn’t a revelation to any remotely knowledgeable fan of any club. What’s more, if KK’s real purpose was to inject a dose of realism, he’d surely have been better off doing this in the euphoria following a victory. After getting beaten by Chelsea, it barely needed saying at all.

What was striking was not just Keegan’s words, but the emotion that lay behind them. He was clearly in an agitated state, although it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what emotions he was going through. The chief one, that I could see, was anger, albeit hidden under a cloak of good humour. He claimed to be telling us how it was, but in reality he was showing us how he felt.

Rather recklessly, he hinted that the owner’s expectations were far higher than his own and therefore unrealistic. Indeed, he seemed to be talking not only to the fans, but to the new regime. It wasn’t a wholehearted appeal for more money, because almost in the same breath, he dismissed the idea that any amount of cash would make any difference. He said that he would have to work with what he had, although he also said, rather confusingly, that he would also look to bring one, two or three players in, depending on how much money was available. To crown it, he later said that he didn’t know the size of the transfer kitty, which invited the inevitable question – Haven’t you asked?

Let’s make not be under any delusions here. In his own, somewhat messy way, Keegan was publicly exposing some kind of difference of opinion, some kind of tension that existed, between himself and the new Board. The summons to London, and a meeting with Ashley, should have come as no surprise.

Rifts between Keegan and his various bosses are nothing new, and they are usually over the issue of money for new players. In his first spell here, he successfully exerted powerful pressure on the Halls to finance a series of big buys, and when the time came to run the club on a business footing and the money ran out, he lost heart and walked. We can’t dismiss the idea that a similar state of pessimism and frustration came over him again.

Keegan’s most striking quality, as both player and manager, has been his determination to reach the very top. At his best, he can infect his players with his dreams of glory, and bring confident, energetic performances from them. The worry is that, when harsher realities take hold, he can swing from passionate optimism to despair. His sudden walk out of the England job – a uniquely dramatic gesture in the world of football – was a striking example of how brittle his confidence can be.

Some have said that Keegan was only being realistic. Well, realism is saying that it will be very difficult to break into the top four. What he actually said was that it would be impossible for the duration of his three years, which is an altogether different message. The former is common sense. The latter is a dismissal of hope itself, and could only act as a deterrent to future transfer targets. What up and coming player dreams of finishing fifth?

So what exactly drove him to it?

It was reported that Keegan was furious at the collapse of the Modric transfer, the implication being that he felt that the Board had allowed themselves to be gazumphed by Spurs. It was interesting that Mort took the unusual step of declaring in the match programme that the club had actually outbid its rival, but that Modric had opted for the attractions of London. This attempt at public self-justification may not have gone down well with Keegan, who may have felt that an even bigger bid would have tempted Modric. Without knowing the figures, of course, we can’t tell.

Ashley has made it clear that, having cleared the debt, he now expects the club to be run on business-like lines. He is not a bottomless pit of money and has no intention of dipping into his pocket to buy expensive players in the style of Abramovich. There is no reason why he should be expected to do so. After all, there inevitably comes a time when a club has to break even, and there is no point in competing with the ultra-mega-rich anyway. What isn’t clear though is whether Keegan has sufficient trust in his colleagues to rely on their judgement as to when a player is demanding too much. What Mort might see as a sensible refusal to be held to ransom might be seen by Keegan as penny-pinching or – that classic phrase – a ‘lack of ambition’.

We cannot spend our way to the top in the manner that we did before. We should also remember that, after the spree, there came the days of reckoning when we seemed to be just as much in danger of relegation as of winning a trophy. The combination of scouting young talent and bidding hard for the players who are just under the radar of the Champions League clubs, seems a sensible strategy. Unfortunately, it is also a long term one and an uncertain one, and patience has not been one of Keegan’s conspicuous virtues.

There has also been speculation that KK is unhappy with the supposed hesitation of the club to enter into contract negotiations with Michael Owen. This may be simply a question of the club waiting till the end of the season, or it may mean something more concerning. It could well be that Wise and his team do not rate Owen quite as highly as the manager does, and may be reluctant to continue to pay his current, huge wages.

We come here to the problem that seemed to afflict Spurs over the last two years, and which eventually put paid to Martin Jol. If there is a marked difference of opinion between Director of Football and Team Manager about a player’s worth, how does it get resolved? It all demands an exceptional level of trust in the working relationship, and a willingness to understand and respect the other’s point of view.

Keegan is used to being in charge, and demanding his own way. He may well find the new system difficult, because the reality is that he is now highly dependent on others. I feel that compromise does not come easy to him, and one has to wonder whether he is temperamentally suited to a team approach to decisions.

However, one thing does seem fairly certain – Keegan knew what he was letting himself in for. I don’t sense that he can claim, as he did on one previous occasion with Sir John Hall, that the job was not the one that was advertised in the brochure.

There’s the distinct possibility that any difficulties between Wise and Keegan will have been exacerbated by Keegan’s comments. Wise will no doubt have been telling players and agents that we’re aiming for the Champions League. Then the manager comes along and says we’ve got no chance. Although I’m sure it was thoughtless rather than intentional, Keegan’s comments were disrespectful and undermining of the high-level scouting team who are working for him.

I was anticipating that Ashley, Wise and Keegan would emerge from their meeting with public handshakes all round, but the aftermath has been very low key. The lack of any major upheaval will come as a relief to most, but may not be the end of the difficulty. Whilst Keegan’s departure would have been a big problem, his carrying on under a constant cloud would be an even bigger one. We have to hope that their differences have been resolved in more than just a cosmetic fashion.

There are two ways of looking at the situation. First, the pessimistic one.

Keegan seemed to be talking in the headstrong manner of a man who, momentarily at least, did not care whether he kept his job. Anyone wishing to retain his employer’s favour does not publicly declare that the task is beyond him, whether in the name of realism or not. Keegan has since retreated from his earlier negative stance, but he may have some further convincing to do. The majority of the adoring Geordie public will still have faith, but Ashley is likely to be more circumspect. Whatever his standing with the fans, he may have some work to do with his colleagues in restoring relationships.

Ashley would surely have worried whether his manager really has the appetite for the real task in hand – the struggle as opposed to the dream. Clearly, Keegan has satisfied his owner that he is still on board with the game-plan, at least for now. Either that, or the consequences of dismissing the fans’ hero were too terrible for Ashley to contemplate.

But now for the optimistic take. If Keegan really is able to adapt himself to the new managerial structure, everyone might the better off. It could be that Keegan needs some kind of balance to what may be seen as his headstrong manner. It has been said that he is sensitive to criticism and unwanted advice, and a ‘team’ approach might be a beneficial pill for him to swallow. I think he tends to dream of attracting the same kind of superstar as before, and the hard graft of scouting lesser known players from all over the world is probably best delegated elsewhere. And although many believe that his name and his enthusiastic manner can ‘sell’ the club to a hesitant player, we have to bear in mind that most young players now will not have been born before he finished playing, and his reputation has been somewhat diminished by his experiences with England and Man City, and his break from the game. A ‘hands on’ approach to player recruitment might not be the better approach.

So it’s possible that Keegan has got something out of his system, learned his lesson and come to terms with the job. Time will tell.

Bob Yule