Chip - get back to World Series stuff only played in the US! You obviously know nowt about football nor NUFC in particular - just look at the faces of the Toon Army supporters last night - that's passion, that's entertainment, that's what matters

Mike White, Derby , Derby,

What a pantomime! I can't believe the Newcastle fans have fallen for this one. What happens when the inital euphoria dies down and they realise they are back to square one? Keegan was a legend as a player but as a manager? He is enthusiastic and might get some short term results but the club should have thought strategically and go for someone with real credentials in the game.

It's like Groundhog day up there.

Tom Hicks, Kingswinford, UK

Maybe it will end in tears, but the people of Newcastle,will love every minute of it. With the funds that Mike Ashley can put at his disposal, Newcastle will be a force in the Premier League.People make wisecracks, about Geordieland, and the fact that the fans believe they are a big club, though they havent won a trophy for 40 years.Well this could be payback time, I hope he proves the doubters wrong, and brings trophies to the people, who have put their faith in him.

ian stewart, aylesbury, bucks

miserable nay-sayers... One thing people like you will fail to understand is that football, sportsmanship, life itself is not about winning...it's about passion and the love of the game itself... and whilst you all question the motives and passions and decisions of the club as you sit in your offices, expasperated in disbelief that Newcastle dare make an emotional choice about who should be their footballing spiritual leader you will never understand what it truly means to be a follower of Newcastle United, where work and the attendance of it is considered a mere trifle in the grand scheme of things. Newcastle in my eyes are a much greater club than most in the league whether they win something in my lifetime or not. Because my cynical, learned friends - football supporters and journalists alike, you have all failed to understand one of the basic tenements of true football support, one enjoyed through good times and bad by the supporters of Newcastle - BELIEF...

Abraham K, London (in-exile), UK

I am a Newcastle fan of 45 years, the whole of my lifetime. The only real respite in all those years of watching mediocre players unsupported by self serving boardrooms, was the time Kevin was manager. We experienced a word we only dreamt of previously and since...hope. We want excitement and we want a manager who has the testicular dynamism to provide it. We want players who want that too. Why many non-geordies clearly have this jealous, sneering attitude at our relationship with our beloved club and manager is purely because they have never experienced it with theirs.

Ian, St Ives, Cambs

Chip - What on earth do you know about Keegan, Newcastle or football in general?

Carl - Is qualifying for the Champions League and playing in two successive FA Cup Finals really that mediocre?

Paul - Don't you think Newcastle played attractive football in the season they got promoted and finished third?

Such negative drivel. Cheer up you lot!

Peter - I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly. KK played for both my favourite clubs, the lads and HSV. I too wish him all the best.

Rudi, Fleet, Hampshire, UK

It is great to see Keegan back at St James, and is nice to know that they once more have a manager that won;t be sacked, as he is more likely to toss his toys out the pram again run away.

Wanderer, Buderim, Queensland, Australia

Chip - Newcastle ARE a big club. That's why we've so dominated the sports news headlines recently.

David, Essex,

This is definitely the most absurd football story of the decade so far !...A club that claims it's "big" and ambitious hires a clown from a circus who is a proven loser...more misery ahead for the Toon !

H, Luxembourg,

i'm looking forward to this. i reckon keegan learned a lot last time round and will bring more to the table. with ashley's backing and the established support, newcastle could do well. all the best, kevin.

ryan kevin grant, hagley, england

King Kev has returned! As for David, what are you talking about? Didn't the news of his appointment come out at 1620. Therefore by the time cameras etc would've turned up it would have been the end of a working day.

As for the yank, Newcastle are a big club. They have one of the biggest fan bases in the country and are among the richest clubs in the world. And yes Newcastle do have a big stadium which they always fill. Look at the likes of Blackburn who can barely fill half of theirs.

James, England,

Chip sounds like a mackem (small "m"). I was delighted to hear Kevin is back but I go into this with my eyes wide open. He's an older man now and he didn't set the world alight at Man City (although I'd argue that he did great things for Fulham).

This expression "Big Club" is used regularly in these
situations but everyone has a different interpretation of what that means. Newcastle is a "Big Club" in terms of the amount of support, income and expectation they have every year, but we're not kidding ourselves that the relative success of Kevin's first period in charge (where we won nothing) qualifies us in the same league as Liverpool, Man United or Arsenal.

So when "Chip" speaks of a "spectacular failure" I feel he has a taste for the melodramatic. Keegan may well win nothing with Newcastle during either spell in charge, but at least it'll be better to watch than the paucity of football served up since he last left (Bobby Robsons years apart).

Good luck Keegan!

Rick T, Dubai, UAE

Could not agree more with Chip.......When will they learn ,even under Keegans previous reign you could hardly have called Newcastle a succsesul team!! Passion and entertainment do not win the league and the Champions leauge that just pleases the masses........Newcastle had a great opportunity to bring in solid management from abroad but instead chose nostalgia over football common sense. I am afraid to say it will end up being a another wasted 3 years and at the end the Toon army will say "well he did his best",then demand the board brings in the highly experienced Mr Nostalgia Alan shearer for yet another 3 years of winning nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck guys you are going to need it.

NM, Cape Town, South A frica

i think you are being a little harsh regarding kk at newcastle we may not have won anything but the football was great the stadium buzzed and newcastle was a great place to be and i bet every football supporter loved it when the mad mags came to town.we have been under a cloud since kk left sbr gave us his best but come the good times are back,the mighty mags will rock you and lets all be honest are you all not just a little jealous?

tony, newcastle upon tyne, great britain

I'd hope for someone else (not 'Arry) forward thinking capable and with a future . While I'm not anti-KK he wouldn't have been my pick but supporting your home team is hard-wired at birth so I don't have a choice.

dave, Jerrabomberra, NSW Australia

i see alan is annoyed, reminding us that kevin has won nothing in the top flight, that his teams score goals but concede them too. he'll give it a go now but in the end he'll fail again. "thanks alan" thinks kevin, "i'll giv'yah a cawl"

james mackin, kingscourt, ireland

carTOON appointment from Ashley. I'm sure there will be a bounce (of the dead cat variety), Newcastle may even get a UEFA spot next year, but challenge the current top four or appear consistently in the top six... not going to happen in my book. Although I'm sure keegan will spend a lot of Ashely's money trying.

Anthony Harrisson, london,

Thanks for your input, er, 'Chip'.

Read some of the fan sites to get an alternate view. If people can't live in hope that their team will win something then what's the point of supporting them. By the way what would be your definition of a 'big club' then?
I would say that NUFC can claim to be one on the basis that they have the 3rd biggest ground in the league, the 3rd biggest fan base, have the 4th biggest turnover, are the 9th richest club in europe, and during the last 15 years have finished 3rd,6th,2nd,2nd,4th,5th,4th,7th. They've not had success, but that's why everyone is excited at the prospect of it.

Alan Shearer, Southampton, England

It's just a silly game for the sweaty masses - if it keeps them from thinking about the important things and makes a few people very rich - who cares.

Frederick, London, UK

Kevin Keegan's numerous fans in Hamburg - and the dozens of kids here who were given his first name - will applaud his return to a top job, wish him all the best, and look forward to toasting Newcastle successes with the traditional Tyneside product now available here on draft.

Peter Alexander, Hamburg, Germany

Keegan finished second in the Premiership twice. Never lower than 6th.
The 2 times we finished behind Man Ure, were basically decided by a couple of games.
The thing that is hilarious, is the sight and sound of Man Utd fans getting all upset. It's a bit like an elephant getting all worked up by a mouse...hey now there's a thing!
We'll see.

Kingkerouac, London,

I had the privilege of watching NUFC in the earlier Keegan era and rarely had I seen such skilful, fast and entertaining football, and he is the reason why today they can get 50,000+ through the gate. He may have failed in the ultimate goals, he may be brittle, but the Geordies love passion, they want to be entertained and they celebrate heroic failure as much as victory. In his previous tenure, he took them from the depths of the old Div 2 to 3rd in the premiership the season after they were promoted, to 2nd the season before he left and in the 5 seasons in the premiership he was manager they never ended up with less than 70 points. If he can give them that now he would never need to pay for a meal or a drink again in Tyneside.

Geordie Scoot, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

New manager, new chairman, new owner at Newcastle. I suggest the fans are the only common theme left after 11 years of mediochrity. If it all goes wrong this time and they start booing the players and management, perhaps they should realise that Newcastle are like England, not guaranteed wins, mid table quality and that it takes time (years not weeks) to make a winning team. Let's have some realism and patience in the North East.

Carl, Fareham,

As soon as the rough times come, he will walk away again.
All those toon army being interviewed, why are they not at work during the day? Or does Newcastle United have a room where the Social Security uses to pay out the dole money?

David, Poole,

What has Keegan ever wonas a manager? He took a very good Newcastle team to second in the Premiership, Blackburn have won it. If things go wrong result wise the Toon army will blame the press, the stewards, the ambulance people anyone but the manager. I wonder if the fans demandedto have a say in the team line-up he would give in.The Newcastle fans are demanding attractive football, Newcastle have had one season of this in the last 40 years i can remember.When Keegantook them to second they had , Ferdinand, Genola,Beardsley,Cole and Barton in their prime.

Paul, Salford, England

It will all end in tears.........

Neil Meadows, UK,

Keegan has proven on several occasions that in the upper reaches of football, as a manager he's pants. This will be no different, and a spectacular failure is almost assured. Only the delusional Newcastle support, who think that merely on the basis that they have a big stadium (and nothing more) that makes them a big club, can believe that this will end up in anything other than tears. And Toon looking for another failure to manage them.

Chip Barbre, Jackson, MO, USA