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Kevin Keegan

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Red Astaire

Red Astaire

Member Of 'The Toilets At The Harry Fan Club..
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Signed for the Reds on this day in 1971 apparently. I know he is held in high regard but I never got the chance to see him in action. I'm curious - What sort of player was he? Could he be compared to anyone at the club now? Is he deserving of the legend status I believe he has?
 
My first hero. Fantastic player. The nearest to embodying the spirit of Shankly himself on the pitch. Most reminiscent of Suarez in the fact that he was always busy, always fighting, always capable of doing something that changed a game. Of course he wasn't as good as Suarez, but for the time he was brilliant and the fact that he never stopped trying to improve - physically, technically, tactically - meant that he was often underrated by those who didn't watch him on a regular basis. He could score in so many different ways - diving headers, long-range volleys, tap -ins, lobs, one-on-ones, you name it. Apart from Kenny I've never seen a player who could command the mood of the whole ground like he could - except that, unlike Kenny, when Kevin was in a bad mood he could make everyone feel as anxious and testy as he was. I remember in his last season, when Joey Jones had replaced Kevin's mate Alec Lindsay at left back, with the consequence that Alec's old pinpoint passes were replaced by Joey's hopeful punts forward, Keegan would sometimes just glower at Jones and if you were sitting close to the action YOU felt nervous!
 
gkmacca said:
My first hero. Fantastic player. The nearest to embodying the spirit of Shankly himself on the pitch. Most reminiscent of Suarez in the fact that he was always busy, always fighting, always capable of doing something that changed a game. Of course he wasn't as good as Suarez, but for the time he was brilliant and the fact that he never stopped trying to improve - physically, technically, tactically - meant that he was often underrated by those who didn't watch him on a regular basis. He could score in so many different ways - diving headers, long-range volleys, tap -ins, lobs, one-on-ones, you name it. Apart from Kenny I've never seen a player who could command the mood of the whole ground like he could - except that, unlike Kenny, when Kevin was in a bad mood he could make everyone feel as anxious and testy as he was. I remember in his last season, when Joey Jones had replaced Kevin's mate Alec Lindsay at left back, with the consequence that Alec's old pinpoint passes were replaced by Joey's hopeful punts forward, Keegan would sometimes just glower at Jones and if you were sitting close to the action YOU felt nervous!
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I cried and cried when he eventually left for Hamburg, complemented Toshack brilliantly
 
Yes, although he was never quite the same after Shankly retired. He was so obsessed by Shanks I don't think he ever quite engaged with Bob Paisley in the same way. In fact, I always thought his bust-up with Bremner in the 74 Charity Shield was more to do with his anguish over Shanks leaving than it was to do with Johnny Giles and Co being their usual dirty selves. I doubt he would have left if Shankly had stayed. It was a real father-son relationship.
 
I cried like an eight year old when he came off his bike in superstars in 1976, probably because I was eight. My first Liverpool hero.
 
I'm not old enough to have seen Keegan play so I am resigned to this being my favorite Keegan moment.

keeganrant_450x300.jpg
 
Looking back on him now I tend to associate him with Tony Jacklin - both little Yorkshiremen, both quite glamorous in their respective sports, and both - after their playing careers were over - with the weird power to spread incredible optimism all over a team project until it all ends in tears.

Kevin always suffered a bit in England due to the fact that he was the first big star after George Best, and so the media never really stopped blaming him for not being another Best. Best at his peak was before my time, alas, but I remember being irritated at how it seemed as though every report dragged Best into something that should have been praising Keegan. No one really appreciated him in England outside of Liverpool until he went abroad. Maybe that was one reason why he left.

Another reason why Keegan had such a strong hold on young fans was that he was one of the first to have a weekly column in a footie mag - I think it was Shoot - so you'd get a weekly article from him that was amazingly frank for the time, so you'd know much more about him than most of his predecessors. Also he was superb with fans on a one-to-one basis. The old joke used to be that if you missed Kevin at the ground he'd probably turn up on your doorstep to sign an autograph, he was tirelessly sociable like that.

I'm glad he's started turning up for the odd occasion, like the memorial last year, because he should be better-loved by fans today. It's hard to believe the resurgence in the seventies would have caught fire like it did without him.
 
Red Astaire said:
Signed for the Reds on this day in 1971 apparently. I know he is held in high regard but I never got the chance to see him in action. I'm curious - What sort of player was he? Could he be compared to anyone at the club now? Is he deserving of the legend status I believe he has?
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He was like Dirk Kuyt in terms of his work rate and hairstyle.

Not a natural player but one who worked hard to ensure he was on top of his game.
 
Great player and a really nice guy. Me and a friend were outside Anfield one day, in 1973 I think it was, when the players arrived back from training at Melwood. Keegan was driving a VW beetle. He stopped and chatted to us for about fifteen minutes.
 
gkmacca said:
Looking back on him now I tend to associate him with Tony Jacklin - both little Yorkshiremen, both quite glamorous in their respective sports, and both - after their playing careers were over - with the weird power to spread incredible optimism all over a team project until it all ends in tears.

Kevin always suffered a bit in England due to the fact that he was the first big star after George Best, and so the media never really stopped blaming him for not being another Best. Best at his peak was before my time, alas, but I remember being irritated at how it seemed as though every report dragged Best into something that should have been praising Keegan. No one really appreciated him in England outside of Liverpool until he went abroad. Maybe that was one reason why he left.

Another reason why Keegan had such a strong hold on young fans was that he was one of the first to have a weekly column in a footie mag - I think it was Shoot - so you'd get a weekly article from him that was amazingly frank for the time, so you'd know much more about him than most of his predecessors. Also he was superb with fans on a one-to-one basis. The old joke used to be that if you missed Kevin at the ground he'd probably turn up on your doorstep to sign an autograph, he was tirelessly sociable like that.

I'm glad he's started turning up for the odd occasion, like the memorial last year, because he should be better-loved by fans today. It's hard to believe the resurgence in the seventies would have caught fire like it did without him.
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Nice reference there to Shanks going on record as saying Keegan "ignited the new team". 😎

When Keegan left I thought we might slip back into the chasing pack. When we bought Kenny to replace him I was sure of it, as I couldn't see what the fuss was about. Now you know why I never won the pools. 😉
 
Weirdly enough, after the Bremner incident Kevin was banned for the first few matches of the season and in came Phil Boersma, looking amazingly like Keegan, and proceeded to play out of his skin during his absence. It was incredible stuff. Then when Keegan returned, Boersma returned to being a bit part player who didn't look that good, and that was the end of that. Never seemed much before, and never seemed much after, but for that brief run he looked like a star.
 
gkmacca said:
Weirdly enough, after the Bremner incident Kevin was banned for the first few matches of the season and in came Phil Boersma, looking amazingly like Keegan, and proceeded to play out of his skin during his absence. It was incredible stuff. Then when Keegan returned, Boersma returned to being a bit part player who didn't look that good, and that was the end of that. Never seemed much before, and never seemed much after, but for that brief run he looked like a star.
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Few matches? He got 9 games IIRC...
 
The usual cliché about Kevin Keegan is that he wasn't that naturally talented, but made himself into a great player through sheer hard work. I don't agree with that at all - I think he was truly a gifted player. We didn't know much about him when we signed him from Scunthorpe, but in his first match at Anfield he appeared out of nowhere to score with a close-range header and we realised we might have something special on our hands! 🙂
 
I wasn't born till '73 so I really can't remember watching him in his pomp, the swan-songs later on at Soton and Newcastle was it?? Its hazy... I do remember though that in terms of stardom he was huge, and I find it a bit weird that a player could win twice European footballer of the year and be called Kuyt.
 
gkmacca said:
My first hero. Fantastic player. The nearest to embodying the spirit of Shankly himself on the pitch. Most reminiscent of Suarez in the fact that he was always busy, always fighting, always capable of doing something that changed a game. Of course he wasn't as good as Suarez, but for the time he was brilliant and the fact that he never stopped trying to improve - physically, technically, tactically - meant that he was often underrated by those who didn't watch him on a regular basis. He could score in so many different ways - diving headers, long-range volleys, tap -ins, lobs, one-on-ones, you name it. Apart from Kenny I've never seen a player who could command the mood of the whole ground like he could - except that, unlike Kenny, when Kevin was in a bad mood he could make everyone feel as anxious and testy as he was. I remember in his last season, when Joey Jones had replaced Kevin's mate Alec Lindsay at left back, with the consequence that Alec's old pinpoint passes were replaced by Joey's hopeful punts forward, Keegan would sometimes just glower at Jones and if you were sitting close to the action YOU felt nervous!
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Same here, Macca. My first hero. If I had a son his name was to be Kevin and I almost named my daughter Keegan.
 
gkmacca said:
Weirdly enough, after the Bremner incident Kevin was banned for the first few matches of the season and in came Phil Boersma, looking amazingly like Keegan, and proceeded to play out of his skin during his absence. It was incredible stuff. Then when Keegan returned, Boersma returned to being a bit part player who didn't look that good, and that was the end of that. Never seemed much before, and never seemed much after, but for that brief run he looked like a star.
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There was one spell when he came in for Heighway and I thought we looked more dangerous for it. To me Heighway was a bit one-dimensional by comparison and I thought Boersma gave us more options. Unlucky player all right.
 
I was in primary school just outside Derry, my Mum arrived early one day and took my brother and myself to the small local airport. I was wearing my umbro Liverpool tracksuit top.

When we arrived there was a small mob of journalists and I had no idea what was going on. Kevin Keegan walked through the middle of them, shook my hand and said to my Mother that she was bringing me up the right way, a fella beside him said 'Lawrie will go mad if he hears you'. Keegan had just signed for Southampton and although king Kenny was my football hero (just about too young to remember Keegan at the Reds), Keegan cemented my love of Liverpool. My brother however, went on to support Man United., the tool.
 
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