After all the hype and euphoria of the last few days, the atnosphere on Tyneside fell a bit flat when the football started and everyone was reminded that Newcastle United are not currently a very good team - or at least not a confident one.
According to Hollywood scriptwriters who might have penned the improbable return of Keegan the King to St James' Park, Bolton should have rolled over and died on Saturday evening so the Geordie Nation could have rejoiced in a lather of hysteria at a second coming of near-biblical proportions.
But Bolton had their own agenda and everyone had to settle for an uninspiring goalless draw.
Perhaps it was a blessing in terms of keeping wildly soaring expectations within bounds.
Yet notwithstanding the current misty-eyed fog on the Tyne, Keegan remains clear-eyed about the task in hand.
Speaking of Newcastle United's billionaire owner, Mike Ashley, who offered him the vreturn rip of a lifetime, and who on Saturday had swapped his 'Smith 17' replica shirt for one that read 'King Kev 1,' Keegan told the Daily Mail:
"We've got a fantastic owner here. He's not a chairman, he doesn't want that. He's given us a lot of responsibility now and we've got to make sure we encourage him to stay in this for the real long haul.
"If we're successful, he will and we don't want to do anything that makes him despondent.
"That's the challenge for us. People like him don't turn up at a football club every day of the week and twice on Sundays. He's incredible. He's got no ego. He wants to go in with the fans and that's fantastic that he trusts you to get on with it."
Keegan continued: "I've never met anyone like Mike, he's definitely different, but I really like him. Even if I didn't meet him again, I would say the same thing.
"He's very unassuming and if we get this place going, we will have the best owner in this country. I say that: the best. That's what he'll be.
"But it's an “if” until we get it going."
As the Mail reports, Keegan is now on a personal crusade to bring exciting, winning football back to Tyneside.
"The last three days have a been a bit surreal," said the new manager.
"But what I know is that I can help put the smile back on people's faces. That comes from the fact that they trust me, that I've been here as a player and they've seen that I care.
"I don't have to kiss the badge for them to know I care. That's something you can't manufacture, that's a trust built up. They know I'll look after their club. I did last time as a player and a manager and I will this time.
"Anything I do will be in the best interests of the club. That's what they like. It's no further than that. It's a trust, that's something that's been built up, not something that's been created overnight."
According to Hollywood scriptwriters who might have penned the improbable return of Keegan the King to St James' Park, Bolton should have rolled over and died on Saturday evening so the Geordie Nation could have rejoiced in a lather of hysteria at a second coming of near-biblical proportions.
But Bolton had their own agenda and everyone had to settle for an uninspiring goalless draw.
Perhaps it was a blessing in terms of keeping wildly soaring expectations within bounds.
Yet notwithstanding the current misty-eyed fog on the Tyne, Keegan remains clear-eyed about the task in hand.
Speaking of Newcastle United's billionaire owner, Mike Ashley, who offered him the vreturn rip of a lifetime, and who on Saturday had swapped his 'Smith 17' replica shirt for one that read 'King Kev 1,' Keegan told the Daily Mail:
"We've got a fantastic owner here. He's not a chairman, he doesn't want that. He's given us a lot of responsibility now and we've got to make sure we encourage him to stay in this for the real long haul.
"If we're successful, he will and we don't want to do anything that makes him despondent.
"That's the challenge for us. People like him don't turn up at a football club every day of the week and twice on Sundays. He's incredible. He's got no ego. He wants to go in with the fans and that's fantastic that he trusts you to get on with it."
Keegan continued: "I've never met anyone like Mike, he's definitely different, but I really like him. Even if I didn't meet him again, I would say the same thing.
"He's very unassuming and if we get this place going, we will have the best owner in this country. I say that: the best. That's what he'll be.
"But it's an “if” until we get it going."
As the Mail reports, Keegan is now on a personal crusade to bring exciting, winning football back to Tyneside.
"The last three days have a been a bit surreal," said the new manager.
"But what I know is that I can help put the smile back on people's faces. That comes from the fact that they trust me, that I've been here as a player and they've seen that I care.
"I don't have to kiss the badge for them to know I care. That's something you can't manufacture, that's a trust built up. They know I'll look after their club. I did last time as a player and a manager and I will this time.
"Anything I do will be in the best interests of the club. That's what they like. It's no further than that. It's a trust, that's something that's been built up, not something that's been created overnight."
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