"God answers my prayers everywhere except on the golf-course."
My life in football
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Kevin Keegan, London, MacMillan, 2018. ISBN 978-1-5098-7720-1
The book charts the career of King Kevin from a lad in Doncaster, though 63 caps for England, being a Liverpool legend, European Footballer of the year and into management. He is often referred to as the player who got most out of his talent. He seems to agree with that assessment with his comment: “I didn’t have the grace of Pele or the moves of Maradona. George Best was right – I wasn’t fit to lace his boots… even at Scunthorpe, I wished I had the touch and skill of some of my teammates”.He is remarkably honest about his time as England manager: “It was a step too far for me – and the truth, as hard as it was for me to except - was that I wasn’t up to it” and “I could never hold anyone other than myself responsible for my shortcomings in the role of England manager”.
The most interesting part of the book is his complex relationship with Newcastle United as a player and twice as a manager. He describes his sadness and disappointment with being let down by the club. Two comments sum it all up: “Perhaps the most charitable way I can put it, as Jesus said on the cross, is to forgive them for they know not what they do!” and “I am already looking forward to the day when Newcastle is free of the man who has lurched from one bad decision to another, run an empire of self-harm and hand power to people who deserved neither”.
A good read by one of the most influential people in English football.