Keegan looks to wing-man Duff

A LITTLE over an hour before learning his services were no longer required, Sam Allardyce spent his last press conference as manager of Newcastle United waxing lyrical about a player he had barely been able to call upon. That player was Damien Duff.

The soon-to-be-departed Big Sam outlined, with rarely-seen animation, the relish with which he looked forward to finally being able to work with a player that injury, and a career-threatening one at that, had largely denied him the services of.

Later that afternoon, the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley intervened to ensure those wishes would go unfulfilled. A week later and it became apparent that Kevin Keegan would be the man to be in a position to finally reap the benefits of a player who has, so far, failed to rise above the mediocrity he’s been surrounded by during 18 months of stagnation at St James’ Park.