Why is Keegan so adored? He is a symbol of what football once was

Kevin Keegan Mural before the Premier League match at St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne. Picture date: Sunday August 23, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire. 

It’s 4.35pm on Tyneside. William Osula sets Anthony Elanga away, slightly right of centre and just short of 50,000 draw collective breaths. Pace is no issue; Elanga has no shortage of that, and Milos Kerkez won’t catch him.

But Newcastle fans have seen this clip before and remember the ending. Muscles tighten, cheeks clench, as they brace themselves for it to start again like it carried on before. (Yet) another memeable‑moment inbound.

A tiny part of each of them, though, thinks: “Wait, hang on, this is a new season, a fresh start.” The slate is not just clean but has been entirely replaced and is now AI-operated.

Elanga takes a touch, a tad heavier ideal but it pushes the ball away from Alisson. A moment of composure follows and Newcastle lead. An entirely goalless league season passed after Elanga’s £55m transfer from Nottingham Forest and now, within five minutes of a new one, his drought is broken.

Elanga missed a much easier opportunity against Aston Villa on the 2025-26 opening day, and his confidence never recovered. Can you walk back through a sliding door?

Nearly two hours later, there remain just a few precious seconds for Liverpool to salvage something. Victor Muñoz is brought down clumsily by Lewis Hall. Dominik Szoboszlai converts the resulting penalty. 2-2.

Muñoz apparently gave Newcastle positive noises about joining them during summer. Then, in a flexing of financial muscle, Liverpool met the Osasuna forward’s release clause and to Anfield he went. What was that about sliding doors?

Those two goals bookended an afternoon that was, if you want to do go down that road, a fitting tribute to the recently departed Kevin Keegan. Entertaining but flawed.

As a term, legend is so chronically overused now that it is meaningless.

But Keegan is a prime example of the word’s proper application. Shortly before kick-off everyone present paid an emotional tribute to him. Legend. Hero. King. All subjective labels essentially turned objective.

With Liverpool, Keegan’s seven trophies in six years – including three titles and the European Cup – set the club up to be the behemoth they now are. Across three spells at Newcastle, he jabbed syringes of hope into a flailing, helpless shell.

St James’ Park is not quite the house that Keegan built, but it is no stretch to say it is the house built because of him. Without his steering Newcastle to Second Division safety in 1992 as manager, the club in its current guise might not exist.

So, why does Keegan remain so adored? He is in effect a symbol of what football once was and should still be, can be even. Maybe.

Forget spreadsheets, financial acronyms and PR-doused messaging. Ignore expected this and that, low blocks and cancelling each other out. Find the joy. Forget perfect; take a risk. Failure and fallibility? Both absolutely OK.

Those are sentiments Andoni Iraola and Matthias Jaissle would do well to remember as they look to settle themselves into new gigs.

The former, with Liverpool being champions two seasons ago, will be under the greater pressure. A repeat of his start at Bournemouth, where he won only at the 10th time of asking, would be difficult to tolerate.

There were promising signs for Iraola, sure. Jérémy Jacquet grew into his debut. Cody Gakpo had only just whipped a strike narrowly off target before his fine equaliser just after half-time. Rio Ngumoha was quiet but that he has impressed sufficiently to start the season opener is itself a plus.

But there were familiar failings, too. The full-backs looked shaky and Iraola needs more (much, much more) from both the sums and the whole of the £241m Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak combo.

Isak is about as popular in Newcastle as government-mandated balaclava wearing in a heatwave would be, but the stick-cum-abuse he received didn’t seem to bother him. However, what should keep Isak up at night is how he can and must refind the level that rightly saw him tagged one of the Premier League’s best forwards not so long ago. A skied left-footed effort was the closest he came to silencing the heckles.

Jaissle is likely to get more slack. Everyone is aware of what Newcastle have, where they are and, most pertinent, what they have lost.

Something fresh was absolutely needed but that requires time and patience. There are, and will continue to be, warts, imperfections, things that Bruno Guimarães might have done.

A midfield pair sold for north of £180m were replaced on Sunday by a double pivot with a combined aged of 38 and less than 50 league starts. Lewis Miley and Sean Steur looked the part but made mistakes. That they did so seeking the positive option will only endear them to fans. As will more similar performances from Yoane Wissa. A player who last season looked sluggish and largely static, was suddenly full of everything in the No 10 role.

A decent start. Room for improvement. Apply that to both sides.

Guardian