Keegan pleads for patience

Kevin Keegan has called on the Newcastle fans to give him time as he gets used to managerial duties once again at the Toon. Two defeats in a row to Arsenal have seen Keegan's first few games in charge end in disaster.

"People tend to forget how we moved in last time" he mused.

"I think we won seven and lost seven of our 14 games left. That was enough to get us out of the relegation zone at that time in the division below.

"You do need patience. We need the patience to wait for some of our players who have had injuries to get back to full fitness, for the ones to come back from suspension - and we have still got people to come back from the African Nations Cup.

"We do need patience and the Newcastle fans will show that. You can lose that patience if, after a while, the things you are seeing aren't really what you expected.

"That's when people start to get frustrated and show it."