Newcastle dance to Keegan’s samba beat

AFTER Newcastle recorded a third successive victory for the first time this season, confirming their Premier League status in the process, the club’s manager, Kevin Keegan, joked that Ronaldinho was on his reserve list of leading summer targets.

In truth, when United play the Keegan way, it does not require a giant leap of imagination to picture the world’s most creative attacking talent in a black and white shirt but this was nothing more than a throwaway comment designed to raise a smile.

In all seriousness even Barcelona’s talismanic Brazilian forward would have struggled to oust Newcastle’s fearsome threesome from their places in the starting 11 to face Reading. Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka have led the Magpies’ revival — a healthy haul of 10 points from four fixtures — from the front after Keegan opted for a vibrant, if high-risk, 4-3-3 formation and all three graced an expectant arena with memorable goals.