Keegan wants goals from the hole

IT is no secret that Kevin Keegan is hardly the world’s most cautious character, but Newcastle’s perma-bubbly manager outdid himself on Saturday by predicting that Michael Owen will emulate Cristiano Ronaldo next season with a stack of goals from midfield.

The England international is covering plenty of turf these days in a Newcastle side where Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins go on ahead so he can roam freely

Keegan admits this is very much Plan B after his original, wing-based blueprint produced no wins in nine attempts — Damien Duff tellingly spent his afternoon on the bench — but he remains convinced that not only is it working well now, it will get even better next term.