Terry McDermott is sitting in a spartan prefab at Newcastle United’s training ground when his mobile phone interrupts his discourse about Kevin Keegan’s place in the club’s past, present and future; the ring-tone is New Order’s World in Motion. No band name or song title could better encapsulate the head-spinning nature of recent events at St James’ Park.

A billionaire owner and a manager who stirs the Geordie soul, the threat of relegation but the promise of riches, froth about takeovers and tantrums, relentless headlines — Newcastle are never knowingly understated. It would scarcely seem possible, but Keegan’s return to Tyneside has intensified the drama, energising a city but prompting mirth across the rest of the country.

McDermott has a response to the cynics, which runs along the lines of “you just wait”. A trusty lieutenant of Keegan, a former team-mate and a veteran of the great managerial adventure that began in 1992, McDermott promises “a big, big change at this football club, in its mentality and players”. Money is not the only requirement, but it will be there.

McDermott, Keegan and Michael Owen warrant a fond reception from the Kop when they face Liverpool, their former club, today, but few at Anfield will be expecting a 4-3 scoreline. Newcastle have failed to muster a victory in Keegan’s seven matches in charge and have not won for 11 league games, leaving their Barclays Premier League status vulnerable. Dreams have not been extinguished, however.

“We have to get out of this relegation dogfight,” McDermott says. “I don’t think it \ is going to happen for a minute, but until we get ourselves safe there’s always that possibility.

“I’m already looking forward to next season. Mr [Mike] Ashley [the Newcastle owner] has promised Kevin there are funds available and the calibre of player we’re looking to bring in, it will excite this club if and when it happens. When it happens.

“The most important thing is safety and then we can talk about players. Until then, it’s a waste of time. You could talk about Ronaldinho, Steven Gerrard or David Beckham, but if we go down we’ll be signing players from Colchester and Gillingham.

“There will be a big relaunch in the summer and Mr Ashley has promised him funds and he is looking forward to doing that. Judge Kevin in a year’s time.”

While the club and their facilities are unrecognisable, there are parallels with Keegan’s first stint in charge. Sixteen years ago, his first act was to fumigate the dressing-rooms — “He’s still a stickler for cleanliness,” McDermott says, “because he made me go to the cleaners and get them to tidy up the coaches’ room” — but his primary objective was to prevent demotion to the old third division.

“People forget that those early days in 1992 were a battle, firefighting and solving problems, before we turned it around and got the club buzzing,” McDermott says. “They were in a relegation fight already and odds-on to go down. Our remit was to keep them in that division or there might not be a Newcastle. That won’t happen now, but we have the same problems.”

McDermott points out that “if anyone can turn it around, it’s Kevin” and is fiercely protective of his long-time friend and colleague. The disparity in reaction to Keegan’s appointment in January has been startling, but although McDermott admits that the club have, on occasion, been easy to lampoon — “Sometimes it’s justified when you see some of the things that go on,” he says — this should not be one of them.

“I am baffled by some of it and I’ve got no idea why some people want him to fail,” McDermott, 56, says. “They say he’ll walk out, that the club should get rid of him, and it’s beyond belief.

“There is absolutely no chance of him leaving. He thinks too much about this club to do that. He has signed a 3½year contract and I’d be shocked if Kevin is not here for the whole of that.

“Yes, he’s an emotional personality. He cares about the club very deeply and it hurts him when players and the club get criticised. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he does get emotional about certain things, but that’s his character and you’re not going to change that. He walked away from the England job because he was honest. No other person would have done that. They would have waited for the sack and a payoff.

“People from down South don’t understand, it’s not just football fans here who love Kevin. The general public love him because he’s so honest and warm and never refuses them anything.

“He’d never walk away from signing an autograph. We got a request at short notice recently from a sports college in North Shields to do a presentation. Other managers would say, ‘Yeah, right,’ or send a player to do it. He said, ‘You and me will go.’ He’s unbelievable. He’ll do it on a whim.”

McDermott disputes the common assumption that his time as England coach scarred Keegan, that Manchester City drained him of his eagerness. “Kevin has never changed, from being a player to 1992 and now to 2008,” he says. “He has mellowed a bit and he doesn’t fly off the handle like he might have done once. But he has the same determination.

“I talk to the players all the time and they all have respect for him. He treats everybody the same. Like people. From the players to the cleaners.”

McDermott has worked at St James’ Park under Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Glenn Roeder and Sam Allardyce — “I get called ‘The Black Box’ because they can’t get rid of me,” he says. “They’ve all had a go.” Yet while he has respect for all of them, he believes that Newcastle’s heritage has not always been appreciated.

“We have to get back to being a football club,” he says. “The way the fans like football being played — two strikers, wingers and a midfield bombing on. We know what this club is about and what these fans want. Kevin is the man who’ll do it.”

They have done it before. In April 1996, when that mesmerising side comprising the talents of players such as Les Ferdinand, Peter Beardsley, Philippe Albert and David Ginola travelled to Merseyside, the title was a vivid possibility. Liverpool were third. “At the time we would have ranked as the better team,” Keegan said yesterday. What followed was, in his words, “one of the best matches in the world” and a crushing 4-3 defeat.

“We were the unluckiest club not to win the championship,” McDermott says. “The football we played, we did it home and away. Wherever we went, we wanted to bombard the opposition. We should have won it that year.

“We were the best team. People say over a season you finish where you deserve to, but we didn’t deserve to finish behind Manchester United. We were everyone’s second team.”

Their present difficulties, the barren stretch, is, he admits, “frustrating”, but he senses rejuvenation. “The spirit at the club is great,” McDermott says. “No disrespect to Sam, but it’s better now.

“We have a happy dressing-room, even though we’ve been losing games. Kevin brings a unity to the place — it’s his charisma — and that has changed. We have our feel-good factor back.”

Falling under a Tyneside spell

- Terry McDermott was born in Kirkby in December 1951.

- He has had four spells at Newcastle United, two as a player and two on the coaching staff.

- His first club was Bury, whom he joined in 1969. Although a Scouser, he slipped through the net of Liverpool and Everton.

- After joining Newcastle in 1973, he played in the 1974 FA Cup Final against Liverpool. Within months of Newcastle’s 3-0 defeat he was on his way to Anfield as Bob Paisley took the reins from Bill Shankly and embarked on the most glorious period in Liverpool’s history.

- A midfield player, he made 232 league appearances for Liverpool, winning four league titles, the European Cup three times and two League Cup winner’s medals. He scored the opening goal in the 1977 European Cup final, a 3-1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach.

- He returned to St James’ Park in 1982, when he again teamed up with Kevin Keegan and played for two years before hanging up his boots. He was capped by England 25 times.

- He was named assistant manager in 1992 and was part of the club’s renaissance under Keegan.

- McDermott survived Keegan’s resignation in 1997 but left in the aftermath of Kenny Dalglish’s departure, returning to Tyneside under Graeme Souness three years ago.