So what are his chances?

Well there’s been plenty of scepticism in the national media. The usual observations have been made – tactically naïve, a tendency to make decisions with his emotions, an over-reliance on attacking football, a brittle confidence when things go against him, and an outdated approach that will not suit the way that the game has developed over the last 10 years.

All of this has a great deal of justification, but it’s been interesting to note that the voices of doubt have nearly always laced their comments with some get-out clauses, as though people are afraid to completely write off his chances. He’s almost done it before, so there’s naturally a reluctance to say that he can’t go one step further this time.

The other striking aspect of the media coverage is how much attention has been paid to the reaction of the fans, and indeed the city. This has made front pages of national newspapers, and has been prominent outside the sports sections of TV news programmes. The term ‘Messiah’ is a slightly irritating one, but it does point to the closeness of the relationship between the man, the club and the community that is quite unique in the modern game.

Casting my mind back, there are only two other managers that I can think of, who enjoyed that kind of status at their clubs – Matt Busby at Man United and Bill Shankly at Liverpool. Like Keegan, they were the architects of the modern day clubs that they managed. Busby and Shankly took their clubs from the doldrums to a different dimension, and although their successors went on to be even more successful, their positions remain secure. Alex Ferguson is held in a high regard akin to awe, but Matt Busby was loved.

This kind of emotional bandwagon will not, of course, bring success by itself. And yet, there is another aspect of the Keegan phenomenon that is causing critics to hesitate – namely, that he has enjoyed an unusual career in which defying the odds and taking the unconventional decision have often brought success.

By his own admission, he was a player of very ordinary talent, who managed to battle his way through from a factory team, to Scunthorpe United and thence to Liverpool, by means of hard work and determination. He was originally bought by Shankly as a squad player, but managed to muscle his way into the first team within weeks. He stayed there, and went on to a highly successful playing career, picking up two European Football of the Year titles on the way.

The first meeting between the teenage Keegan and the elder statesman Shankly says a lot about the man we’ve come to know. Far from being over-awed at being given the chance, he asked for more money. His father had instilled in him the saying, ‘Never undersell yourself’, and over the following years, that was an accusation that could never be brought against Kevin Keegan.

They say that a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, and Keegan seemed to have that ingrained in him. He even thought that he could be a part-time pop star. His playing career was marked by a determination to plough his own furrow. This was rather unusual at the pre-Bosman time when players were far more subservient to their clubs. The move abroad to Hamburg, the return to Southampton, and finally to Second Division Newcastle were all quite unconventional, but, each in their own fashion, typical of the man. He would do it his way.

Then there was the highly unusual start to his managerial career – taking over a club threatened with relegation to the third tier, after a long break from the game when he hadn’t undertaken any kind of coaching or managerial role. It says much for Keegan’s self-confidence that not only was he able to persuade himself that he was able to do it, but he was able to convince his prospective employers as well.

As we know, Keegan went on to impose himself on the club in a way that was unprecedented. Sir John Hall had originally seen his own involvement as short-term, paving the way for ownership by the fans. He found himself bankrolling a drive for Premiership glory, swept along by Keegan’s enthusiasm. The media began to refer to ‘Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle’, in a way that reflected the way that the man had seized control of the club’s very identity.

It is interesting that Keegan decided to quit when the club was about to become a public company. On one level, he knew that the funding would become more restricted. On another level, he knew that he would no longer have the freedom to shape the club as he wished. The dream had to end at some time, in that the Halls were not bottomless pits of money in the style of a Jack Walker or a Roman Abramovich. Keegan could not reasonably complain about what was a necessary structural change that many clubs at the time were forced to undertake. However, corporate man he wasn’t, and he wasn’t prepared to adjust.

It is significant that Keegan’s first request on being approached this time around was to speak to the owner. I think that it was a vital part of his thinking, that he wanted to work with a single, private owner who could bring flesh to his ideas with the minimum of restriction.

Much has been made of Keegan’s failure to land a trophy during his first spell, and in particular the Premiership debacle of 1996. There is a never-ending debate as to why it happened, and it’s a useful part of any assessment as to his chances of success this time round.

For me, the most telling game was Blackburn away, when we lost 2-1, after taking the lead with ten minutes to go. If ever there was point when the team needed to draw in its horns and settle for what we had, it was after David Batty’s opening goal. Instead, the players went into a curious kind of psychological paralysis, not brave (or foolish) enough to attack, but unable to make the decision to defend. As a result, we did neither. If we had won that game, as we should have done, we would only have needed a home win in the last match to clinch the title.

The problem was that ‘settling for what you have’ had never been part of the Keegan mind-set. Much has been said about how poor the defence was, but that’s not quite the point, and in any case, the statistics don’t bear that out. It’s more accurate to say that we couldn’t draw on a defensive strategy at the times that we needed it. We didn’t need to beat Man U at St James’s Park, and a 0-0 draw at Anfield would have been better than a 4-3 defeat.

When we achieved promotion to the Premiership, Keegan made great play of banning the word ‘consolidation’. This was a man who had consistently backed himself to achieve against the odds, and to impose his own vision on his situation no matter what the circumstances. He was only interested in forward moves, but although the cavalry charge will succeed most of the time (particularly if you can buy high quality cavalry), you need another string to your bow for what Alex Ferguson has called ‘squeaky bottom times’. Keegan’s reaction to the need to dig in was to try to punch all the harder, and that was never going to be the best move.

Has Keegan changed? It was interesting to see him at last week’s press conference. When he first became our manager, his manner was boyish and energetic, like a puppy dog in a new house. This time round, his manner was more calm and the gaze in his eye more steady. He talked about the long haul, rather than a quick drive for success.

The last 10 years, for Keegan, have largely been years of unaccustomed failure, in total contrast to his earlier careers as player and manager. He felt painfully out of his depth as England manager, and couldn’t live with the feeling of helplessness. Something in his manner on Friday suggested that his experiences had left some residue of hurt. That can either make you stronger, or it can make you more vulnerable. At Man City, he seemed to slip into self-doubt, and his motivation seemed diminished. What we must hope is that, back at his first managerial love, he will use his experiences of the last 10 years in a positive way.

I must confess, that when I first heard of his appointment, I was shocked and disappointed. I had seen him as a beaten man, and I’d thought that the people who were advocating his return were lost in nostalgic fantasy. Seeing him at the press conference, I wasn’t so sure.

Keegan has an ability to make players feel good about themselves – a trick that he can only perform when his own self-confidence is intact. The early sign is that – remarkably – that is the case. When he said that he wasn’t afraid of the job, I believed him.

And so it is that, in a very short space of time, he’s won me over as well. Exasperating, frustrating, flawed character though he is, I’m now happy to jump on board. Over the years, I’ve felt every emotion towards the guy from hero-worship to outright contempt. But, as Elvis once said, I just can’t help believing.

Bob Yule