Keegan says Premier League is ‘boring’

The Newcastle United manager is concerned that no team can muscle into the “Big Four,” which also includes Arsenal and Liverpool. Monday’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea was further evidence of the gulf. In a frank critique, the 57-year-old Keegan said there’s no hope of European Champions League qualification for his club. “We are a million miles away from that,” he told reporters in a 13-minute monologue. “This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring, but great leagues in the world. The top four next year will be the same as this year.

“We will be trying to get fifth, and we will be trying to win the other league that’s going on within the Premier League. It would be a hell of an achievement from where we are now, but it’s possible.” Keegan managed Newcastle during a memorable 1996 season when the club squandered a 12-point advantage to Manchester United, prompting an emotional finger-jabbing rant against Alex Ferguson. “No manager is going to say what I said 12 years, ‘Watch out, Alex, we are after your title,”’ Keegan said. “If they do, they will think they have been drinking something or they are on something, and I am sure they are not.”

Keegan was lured back into management in January after two years to revitalise Newcastle. He took 10 matches to deliver three points, a 2-0 victory over Fulham on March 22, but had been unbeaten in seven until the loss to Chelsea.

Keegan lamented that clubs like his in northern England have a near impossible task of attracting name players in competition with the Big Four.