Media muckraking begins

It didn`t take long but already Fleet Street, bitter at the adulation being heaped on the new set-up at SJP, had to find some way of attempting to burst the bubble. However here`s hoping any negative press will be used to try and foster the bunker mentality.

The first story, amongst a few slating Keegan as a failure first time around, regards Michael Owen and some quotes attributed to his autobiography about Kev. They said:

"A team meeting was called to discuss the Romanians and Keegan set off on a 20-minute lecture about me. 'Michael, if I was any other manager you would not be playing tomorrow. You've got to improve or we'll have to change'. I really started to resent him - not as a man but as a manager. With a quarter of an hour gone I thought, 'Sod him, I'm playing my own game. I know I'm good.' Then I scored and the relief was immense.

In training all week Keegan had kept me behind, playing balls into me and telling me what he wanted me to do. I assume the manager had conveyed to his staff what he thought of me - and plainly it wasn't complimentary. If I did one tiny thing wrong there would be a rush of critical comment. I used to go into games believing that the opposition was scared of me and that nothing could get in my way. That feeling, that belief, evaporated at times when I played under Keegan. It was a dark phase in my career."

An interesting turn of events comes from a certain Mr Shearer who spoke to Five Live saying:

'I'm sure what he said in his autobiography will be brought up but they're grown adults. They'll get over that, it won't be a problem at all I promise you.'