OF THE SIX FORMER ENGLAND coaches now reduced to the ranks of the Premiership, perhaps only one appears genuinely to believe that his best times may yet lie ahead, who constantly looks forward with optimism rather than backward with regrets. If Kevin Keegan was permanently scarred by his time in charge of the national team, then he is hiding it well.

“Onwards and upwards” was Keegan’s battlecry as he bounced out of Maine Road in Buzz Lightyear mode, ready to begin negotiations on the “two big deals” that he believes can transform Manchester City from enigmatic entertainers into European contenders (their fans will probably hope that Faustino Asprilla, whose signing cost Newcastle United and Keegan a title seven years ago, is not back on the market). There are few who are not swayed by Keegan’s enduring enthusiasm, few who do not admire the attractiveness of his teams; few who would begrudge him success. And for City, as their manager admitted, it is long overdue.

“They have stayed loyal to some poor teams here over the years,” Keegan said on Saturday in praise of supporters who, after urging their side to a well-deserved if ultimately narrow victory over Leeds United, now have only 12 hours of first-team football to look forward to at their home since 1923 before uprooting to the Commonwealth Games stadium that stood gleaming in the winter sunshine across the city on Saturday. This team is certainly not poor, although neither is it good enough to achieve Keegan’s stated ambition of moulding a side to rival the legendary one of Bell, Summerbee and Lee. Somehow, Whitley, Wanchope and Wiekens does not have the same ring to it. But that will not stop Keegan trying.

Understandably, he refused to talk publicly about his twin transfer targets — it is no secret that one is Robbie Fowler, who had an anonymous 18 minutes as a substitute for their opponents — and insisted that neither would be easily obtained, if only because it is understood that the former Liverpool striker would have to countenance a wage cut in the region of £12,000 a week. But it will take more than a rejection or two to dampen Keegan’s spirits.

“A lot of people laughed when I said that we were capable of finishing in the top six or seven, especially after our indifferent start, but we have now begun to string results together consistently,” Keegan said, after goals from Shaun Goater and Niclas Jensen had ended Leeds’s six-match unbeaten run. “The players had to find their feet after promotion. We brought in five new players and they needed time to gel.

“But we have got a lot to look forward to. We are one of the few trying to strengthen their squads, the new stadium will hold 48,000 and the fan base is the envy of a lot of clubs. We want to give them a team they are happy to watch every week. Now we can go onwards and upwards.”

Their climb has been steady enough in the past six weeks. Bottom of the first Premiership table after a 3-0 thumping at Elland Road, when Terry Venables’s reign at Leeds began amid such fanfare, City have now taken 17 points out of 24, are averaging two goals a game and if their back three frequently looks to be on the verge of meltdown, on Saturday it was solid enough. In any case, there is so much enterprise and endeavour farther up the field that none of those fans belting out another chorus of Blue Moon seemed remotely bothered about potential defensive fallibilities. “I still talk to people who think (my time at) Newcastle was a failure,” Keegan said with a rare trace of bitterness. But if he can build a side to match the one that won a nation’s hearts rather than a championship, nobody will be complaining.

It was a typically Keegan combination of steel and skill that undid Leeds. The tough-tackling Marc-Vivien Foé combined with the fleet-footed Eyal Berkovic to create the opening goal for Goater, before Jensen, a goal-a-season man throughout his career, instead came up with one of the goals of the season, a dipping volley struck sweetly with the outside of his left foot after Nicolas Anelka, a constant thorn in the Leeds side, had crossed from the right. Harry Kewell replied for Leeds with almost the last kick of the game, but it was a goal that flattered both him and his team.

Manchester City (3-4-1-2): P Schmeichel 7 — R Dunne 6, S Howey 7, S Distin 6 — Sun Jihai 6, K Horlock 7, M-V Foé 7, N Jensen 7 — E Berkovic 7 (sub: A Benarbia, 84min) — N Anelka 7, S Goater 6 (sub: S Wright-Phillips, 79). Substitutes not used: C Nash, G Wiekens, D Huckerby. NEXT: Newcastle United (a). FORM: WDWWLD

Leeds United (4-4-2): P Robinson 7 — G Kelly 6, D Mills 5, J Woodgate 5, D Matteo 4 — A Smith 4 (sub: J Milner, 61 5), E Bakke 5 (sub: R Fowler, 72), P Okon 5, J Wilcox 4 — M Viduka 4 (sub: S Johnson, 72), H Kewell 3. Substitutes not used: N Martyn, T Lucic. Booked: Kewell, Matteo, Mills, Johnson. NEXT: West Bromwich Albion (h). FORM: LWWWDW

Shots on target: (h) 7 (a) 4 Fouls: (h) 9 (a) 12 Offsides: (h) 2 (a) 6 Goater 29, Jensen 50

Referee: R Styles 7. Attendance: 34,884