The goings on at 'England's most deluded football club' - Newcastle United.

With the very real danger of adding to the gross over reaction to the re-appointment of Kevin Keegan at 'England's most deluded football club' (alas I cannot lay claim at being first to pen that laugh line) Newcastle United, here's my twopenneth on this so called re-awakening of the "Geordie Nation".

A lot has been written about Keegan's return to his former stomping ground, and personally I've been a bit surprised at the breadth of the coverage. For example, The Times ran eight pages on the messiah's return. It's one thing for the Newcastle Chronicle to cash-in on Keegy's return by printing a special 48 page supplement (for the locals), but surely quite another for one such as The Times to give over so much space to such an appointment?

Of the coverage itself, much of it has been cutting and Keegan's record for quitting and consistently falling short has been the subject for many a sports columnists ire. The fact is Keegan returning to Newcastle despite his record of under achievement is clearly a bloody good story, hence the number of trees which have been felled in the name of printing special supplements and increased print-runs.

Of the messiah himself, he says that he is almost uniquely qualified to manage Newcastle; he says that he is the right man, because he knows the people up there - he knows the club. What utter nonsense. If that was the only criterion, then why didn't Mike Ashley give the job to someone who has been more in touch with football and Newcastle for the past few years - none other than Shearer himself? The answer to that is obvious, Shearer was judged to be not up to it right now - quite right too.

What Keegan didn't say was that he knows that he is perhaps the only manager who will be given time by Newcastle's long-suffering, success-starved fans. That is the real truth of the matter and in so in appointing Keegan, Ashley has pulled off something a master-stroke. Ashley knows that he has bought time, and knows that he will keep the turnstiles ticking over while the messiah goes in search of miracles.

Despite being out of the game for a relatively long time, the former Newcastle striker and manager is viewed to be very much up to it and with the promise of 'unlimited funds', then surely this second managerial coming represents Keegan with one final last chance to prove his many doubters wrong. However, if Keegan fails with such huge backing and in the face of the challenge of United, Chelsea Liverpool and Arsenal, what will become of this so called football hot-bed that is the North East? Does Keegan's reappointment also represent one final chance for the North East to see a return to glory? By definition a Carling Cup win would be massive.

The odds of turning Newcastle around are stacked against Keegan and Ashley, it doesn't quite stretch to feeding 5,000 with five loafs of bread and two fish, but it isn't far off it. The story looks set to run and run.