Newcastle have confirmed that Kevin Keegan will make a dramatic return to manage the club.
The 56-year-old former Manchester City boss managed the Magpies from 1992 to 1997 and will return to St James' Park as Sam Allardyce's successor.

Gerard Houllier and Didier Deschamps were strongly linked with the position in the last two days but the club unexpectedly turned to Keegan.

He was initially linked only with a partnership role with Alan Shearer.

The ex-England coach was running his "Soccer Circus" in Glasgow after quitting his job at City in March 2005.

Allardyce left Newcastle by "mutual consent" two weeks ago following a string of poor results and the Magpies languishing in 11th in the Premier League table.

Since Keegan left 11 years ago, six permanent managers have now come and gone at St James' Park, while it has been 39 years since the club claimed a major trophy.

Keegan had been linked with a return to the club last summer as director of football following Mike Ashley's takeover.



However, Keegan told BBC Sport in October that he was unlikely to manage a team again.

He said: "I don't think it will happen. I think my life has gone in a different direction."

But he returns to Newcastle, having said on Monday: "I'm not ruling myself out or in. It's a club I love, everyone knows that."

Keegan took Newcastle to promotion back to the top flight in 1993 and came close to winning the league title in the 1995-96 season when they led Manchester United by 12 points before finishing as runners up.

He went on to manage Fulham, England and Manchester City but has not managed again since leaving City.

A sign of how highly regarded Keegan is on Tyneside was reflected in a statement on the Newcastle website: "Geordie messiah to be unveiled as new United manager."

Harry Redknapp had been first choice for Ashley and chairman Chris Mort but he last week opted to stay at Portsmouth.

Kevin did something special, he's a special person with special charisma

Alan Shearer

Shearer was also touted as a possible replacement for Allardyce, but the former captain said earlier on Wednesday that Newcastle did not want him as their next manager because he lacks experience.

Shearer said he had yet to speak to Keegan about a possible return to St James' Park, but praised his managerial record during his five-year spell.

"He is highly thought of in Newcastle and rightly so because of what he did for the club," Shearer said.

"Kevin did something special, he's a special person with special charisma."


If i was a Newcastle fan i would be well pleased as well