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NEWCASTLE legend Kevin Keegan has hit out at owner Mike Ashley — claiming ‘anybody’ could run the club better than him.
Keegan believes the retail billionaire does not understand the demands of running the club.

Kevin Keegan has hit out at Mike AshleyCredit: Getty – Contributor

Ashley, 56, has owned Newcastle since 2007Credit: PA:Press Association

And he insists it will be a red-letter day on Tyneside when Ashley finally sells up and walks away from St James’ Park.
Keegan said: “It won’t go on for ever. Someone, somewhere, will see the benefits of that great football club.
“The problem with Mike Ashley is that he didn’t really know what he was buying. He doesn’t get it. The best day they’ll have is when he sells the club because anybody — and I mean anybody — can run it better.
“Just anybody. It cannot be run worse than it is.”

Keegan, 70 today, saw out the final years of his illustrious playing career at Newcastle.
He narrowly missed out on steering the club to the Premier League title in the first of his two spells as manager.
Tycoon Ashley has owned the club since 2007.
And Keegan believes they should still be competing at the top end of the table — and not scrapping to avoid another relegation.

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Keegan worked under Ashley at St James’ Park in 2008Credit: PA:Press Association

In an interview with Alan Shearer for The Athletic, he said: “I don’t care what anybody says, it’s a special club. It’s not like any other club.
“If you’d said in 1927 — the last time they won the league — that nearly a century later they wouldn’t have won it again, people would have laughed at you.
“They had won it four times by then. You can never foresee.
“It just needs running. It needs direction, leadership. It needs understanding of what it is. It needs some care.
“If you take Newcastle by takings, crowd, whatever, it’s something like the 17th-biggest football club in the world.
“That means it should be among the top four or five in England.
“Yes, Man United are bigger. Yes, Liverpool are bigger. But they’re only bigger because they’ve won things. It could all change with new ownership. You never know, it might just be around the corner.”
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LEEDS legend Lee Chapman has urged Patrick Bamford to ‘lose his temper’ and ‘hurt a few people’ if he is to win a senior England cap.
Laid-back Bamford, 27, has notched 12 Premier League goals for Marcelo Bielsa’s side this season — including a career 100th in Monday’s 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace.

Bamford has bagged 12 goals this seasonCredit: Reuters

As Gareth Southgate prepares to name his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland, calls for Bamford to be picked are growing.
The forward represented the Republic of Ireland at Under-18 level but switched to England and played for the Three Lions  Under-21s when Southgate was still boss.
Ex-striker Chapman, 61, said: “Bamford is very level-headed and nothing fazes him — but I’d like to see him lose his temper a few times!
“I want to see him get stuck in, hurt a few people, and be a bit more aggressive.

“Sometimes you can be too nice and if Bamford misses chances, he doesn’t seem too upset, so I think he needs to push himself a little bit harder.
“But he’s improving every year and I think he could be a useful back-up to Harry Kane.
“If you compare Bamford to Kane, there is only one winner because Kane is a better all-round player who also scores more goals.
“I’m not saying Bamford shouldn’t be given a chance but he’s behind Kane, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Marcus Rashford in the pecking order.

Chapman scored 80 goals for Leeds in the early ninetiesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
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“The big problem I had with Bamford two seasons ago was that he didn’t score enough goals and got too involved in the build-up play.
“Now what I’ve noticed — and I was at Leeds’ game at Tottenham a few weeks ago — is that he’s staying in the box more and in positions where he can score goals.
“That said, I saw Bamford miss a great chance at Tottenham — he headed well over the bar at a crucial time in the game — and those are the sort of chances you’ve got to take.
“He’s improving but I still think he needs to be a bit more clinical, ruthless and aggressive in the box.
“If there are injuries to Kane, Calvert-Lewin or Rashford, and Bamford is playing well, then he’s definitely worth a chance.
“I think he could be a good squad player, who Southgate could maybe throw on from the bench.”
Chapman scored 179 English top-flight goals during his career — more than Thierry Henry, Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Gary Lineker.
His match-winning header at Bournemouth earned Leeds promotion from the old Second Division under Howard Wilkinson in 1990 — and he was instrumental in their top-flight title success two years later.

I was a victim of the new era and even when I scored 31 goals in 1990-91, they just gave me an England B cap as a consolation prize
Lee Chapman

Chapman represented England once at U-21 level and once for the B-team but never won full international honours.
He added: “At the time, Gary Lineker was the main striker and the old-fashioned centre-forward, which I was, had kind of gone out of fashion.
“I was a victim of the new era and even when I scored 31 goals in 1990-91, they just gave me an England B cap as a consolation prize.
“It was against Iceland at a cold Vicarage Road — it was absolutely dreadful! But that was the era I was in, I reached my peak at the wrong time.”
Chapman also scored 16 top-flight goals in the 1991-92 season.
Meanwhile, research from 888 Sport shows that Leeds’ record on a Sunday should give them hope ahead of the match against Arsenal.

Chapman, 61, still keeps an eye out for his old teamsCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Bamford has been linked with an England call-upCredit: AFP
They have won 60 per cent of their Sunday matches so far, while Arsenal have only won two of their eight Sunday games.
Chapman, who played for Arsenal in the early 1980s, said: “I predicted a top-ten finish for Leeds and I’m sticking with that.
“They can be too predictable at times in trying to play out from the back and Tottenham just kept setting traps in the recent game I attended.
“I think Arsenal will give Mikel Arteta until the end of the season but they’re vulnerable at the back — and Leeds have a great chance this weekend.”
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FRANK LAMPARD would need to be offered a job too good to turn down to tempt him back into management and give up the £1.8million in wages due from Chelsea.
When Lampard was sacked by Chelsea last month the club did not pay-up the remainder of his contract after a change of policy in the wake of coughing up huge sums to get rid of Jose Mourinho.

Frank Lampard has been replaced by Thomas Tuchel at ChelseaCredit: AFP

Instead they have kept his £75,000-a-week salary on the wage bill – with an agreement that will continue to be paid until July unless he takes a job elsewhere.
And that leaves Lampard in a position where he any offer of employment that comes in would potentially cost him a fortune.
The 42-year-old is understood to be happy to be taking a break from the game for a short period following his sacking, having had three highly-pressured seasons since becoming a manager at Derby.
The run to the play-off final with the Rams was followed by the major challenge of guiding Chelsea into a Champions League finish with a squad of youngsters and those he inherited from Maurizio Sarri.

The short turnaround between seasons meant the intensity didn’t ease off going into the current campaign, so he is now enjoying time with his family.
That was the major reason why Lampard did not push himself forward to be considered for the vacant job at Bournemouth when he would have been well-placed to get the role.
But also a part of the consideration was the fact it would immediately mean the money Chelsea continue to pay him would stop, which would cost him just under £2m.
In practice what it means is that Lampard would effectively be taking a pay cut if he was to get back into the game before next season.

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So it would have to be an offer which is too good to turn down which would tempt him back in over the foreseeable future.
Lampard was swiftly replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.
Blues stars Hakim Ziyech has praised Tuchel’s tactics since he was appointed last month.
And Antonio Rudiger has praised the ‘positive’ new manager for ‘knowing what he wants’.
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