Perhaps he was trying to dampen expectations, but in announcing that Newcastle have "no chance" of finishing in the top four next seasons and that there is "nothing he can do", he just comes across as defeatist. Quite frankly, if he knows that there is nothing he can do then he should do the honourable thing and resign so someone with some ideas can take over.

The Big Four are, of course, dominant, and they aren't going to roll over and just let the likes of Newcastle take away the Champions League spot that they so badly need. No one expects them to either, and of course finishing above one of them will be exceptionally difficult. There is a world of difference between something being difficult and it being impossible, though.

Certainly looking at the Chelsea squad and the players they have ssitting on the bench each week highlights the difference in quality between them and Newcastle, but they aren't unbeatable and neither are any of the other teams.

'There is a world of difference between something being difficult and it being impossible, though'


They do drop points, and they do lose games. Not many, granted, but if you go into a game against them having already lost mentally then it comes as no surprise to anyone when you then walk off the pitch have been beaten.

Beating the Big Four isn't actually required to gain more points than them anyway. League matches against them account for just 18 of the 114 points available each season, so consistently beating the rest of the teams is by far and away a lot more important. If Keegan really feels that he can't put a team together capable of that then he really should be back on a golf course somewhere.

He's not the only one at Newcastle making strange statements recently, though. The chairman, Chris Mort, announced "It is frustrating that Modric, like Woodgate before him, should take less money than we offered to move to the bright lights of London and European football with Tottenham next season".

Hang on . . . I thought footballers were criticised these days for caring more about money than sporting success. Now we have a chairman complaining that two players didn't put money first!

Most players are ambitious and given the choice between working with Ramos at Tottenham, who no doubt does have plans involving the Champions League and Kevin "There's nothing I can do" Keegan, which do you think they will choose?

It's likely to be a busy summer for Newcastle, but there is a danger that they have managed to shoot themselves in the foot before the transfer window opens.

The message coming from St James' Park seems to be "Come here if you have no ambition beyond picking up a fat pay cheque", and the Geordie faithful deserve so much more than that.