Former Newcastle United players welcomed the shock appointment of Kevin Keegan as the club's new manager today but expressed familiar concerns over his tactical nous.

Chris Waddle, the club's former winger, and Warren Barton, who played for Keegan at St James' Park in the 1990s, agreed that Keegan had the personality to lift the club and the fans following the departure of Sam Allardyce.

They admitted, however, that the former England manager will need to produce a shrewder side than the famously attacking one he fashioned during his last stint in charge of the club between 1992 and 1997.

"He's got to put some confidence in the team," Waddle 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."

Barton believes the club can make Uefa Cup qualification a realistic target, even though they're currently 12th in the Premier League and 13 points off a European place.

"It's a season to remember already - he's come back. A Uefa Cup spot is a possibility," he said. "If I was in the dressing room and he walked in, that would give me a lift.

"The players have got to respond - there is quality in that team. Since Sir Bobby Robson, the managers haven't realised what the club is about.

"But Kevin will know what it means. He'll have learnt from his time at England, Fulham and Manchester City and it's fantastic news for the club. The players will love playing for him as we all did. It's just what Mike Ashley and Chris Mort and everyone at Newcastle needed, although I hope he might be more tactically aware."

Reports on Tyneside had suggested that Keegan would form part of a managerial team with Alan Shearer but Bobby Moncur, a Newcastle defender in the 1960s and 70s, doubts that would work.

"I'm not sure they could share the limelight. They are both big men in their own right so I'm not sure it will happen," he said. "I didn't honestly think Kevin would come back.

"But I'm delighted because we need a big man, someone to lift the whole place. Kevin is the man to do just that. He was the Messiah when he came here. They were everyone's second-best loved team with the football they played with players like [David] Ginola, Les Ferdinand and Peter Beardsley.

"Instead of looking towards tonight's FA Cup tie against Stoke thinking 'will we get a result here?' I think there will be a carnival atmosphere."