Watch Kevin Keegan's famous rant as Newcastle United manager.

Kevin Keegan has made a dramatic return to Newcastle United after being appointed as the club’s new manager.

The former England and Manchester City boss, who was in charge at St James' Park from 1992 to 1997, is likely to be in the dug-out for the match at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Keegan’s appointment is a sensational twist after Newcastle’s search for the right man to replace Sam Allardyce seemed destined to pile more embarrassment on the club.

They had already been snubbed by Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp and Gerard Houllier, French football’s technical director, before being linked with Didier Deschamps and Mark Hughes.

Those rejections may have played a role in owner Mike Ashley and chairman Chris Mort’s decision to turn to such a populist choice as Keegan, who remains a Newcastle legend after his spells as player and manager.

The 56-year-old saved the club from relegation to English football’s third tier and then presided over the most entertaining spell in the club’s history.

He took Newcastle back to the top flight in 1993 and came close to winning the league title in the 1995-96 season when they famously led Manchester United by 12 points before finishing as runners up - a collapse that inspired Keegan’s infamous “I’d love it if we beat them” outburst about Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

He went on to manage Fulham, England and Manchester City but has been out of the game since leaving City in 2005 after a largely unsuccessful spell.

Keegan and Alan Shearer - the club’s former captain who had declared his interest in the job - were regarded as the dream ticket by many Newcastle fans.

It is unlikely that Shearer will be appointed to Keegan’s backroom staff, but Chris Coleman, who resigned as Real Sociedad manager today, would make an ideal defensive coach for Keegan, who signed the Welshman during his time at Fulham.

Terry McDermott, Keegan’s assistant during his first spell at the club, is still at Newcastle and is likely to be kept on. Peter Beardsley and Rob Lee are also coaching candidates.

Even if Shearer isn’t part of the package, the news will lift a fanbase who were starting to lose faith with the club.

The impact was immediate as fans started to queue around St James’ Park to snap up the remaining tickets for the FA Cup replay against Stoke City tonight and the match was quickly sold out.

While the news was greeted with joy by fans on Tyneside, former Newcastle players agreed that Keegan has the personality to lift the squad but expressed reservations about his tactical nous.

"He's got to put some confidence in the team," Chris Waddle, the club's former winger, said. "He's a very positive fellow and that's one of his strengths as a manager - let's be honest, I don't think you thought about his teams as tactically solid.

"But he signed good players and he's a name who attracts players, and that is a big part of football today. Players look at wages but they like to play for a manager who has a lot of passion, a lot of desire, and Kevin Keegan is a very big name in the world of football. He's got to the end of the month to get some players in, I'm sure there will be a lot of activity."