When Kevin Keegan took over at Newcastle United about 3 weeks ago, he was labelled a Messiah by the Geordie fans, thinking that he will bring instant success to the club. But since then events suggest that Keegan's time at St. James Park may already be ticking down.

The first blow to Kevin Keegan's second reign came when Alan Shearer, the Geordie hero, refused a accept a role at Newcastle. Most fans wanted Shearer to become Keegan's assisstant, or take any role in the back-room staff or the board. But Keegan was unable to do so. Many fans suspect this happened because of some animosity between Shearer and Keegan. to compound the fans' misery, Shearer said that Newcastle is not the only club he would like to manage.

The second blow was Jonathan Woodgate's refusal to come to Newcastle. Keegan needed sound central defender badly, and Woodgate was the likely signing. And Newcastle even had their bid accepted by Middlesborough. But Woodgate snubbed Newcastle, signing instead for rivals Tottenham. Moreover, Keegan failed to make any notable signings too.

The single-most incident that undermined Keegan was the board's appointment of Dennis Wise as director of football, without Keegan's approval. Signals coming from Newcastle suggested they wanted to appoint a director of football, and chairman Mike Ashley and Chief Executive Chris Mort duly did so when they appointed Wise to take up the post. The board said that Wise's job is to look after the transfers, not to interfere in the first team affairs. This move led Keegan declaring he is still incharge of the first-team too and insist Wise will appoint to him. But past evidence incidents Chelsea and Tottenham suggest that the appointment of director of football leads to friction between him and the manager as each one tries to interfere in each other's job. This unsettles the team and ultimately leads to the manager being sacked. This can happen to Keegan too.

To add to these events, Newcastle's on-the-field performance has remained woeful. Thay are winless under Keegan, drawing one and losing three of the four games they have played. Owen's goal in the last Newcastle match was the first the Magpies have scored in about 700 minutes. The defence remains as poor as always with the strikers seeming totally incapable of regaining their scoring touch. If their form does not pick up quickly, they could find themselves fighting relegation.

These incidents suggest that Keegan's second tenure as magpies manger may well be short-lived. I can see him not being in-charge come next season. Although in my opinion, Mike Ashley should stick with Keegan, allowing him to start the next season as manager. Until then Keegan will be able to assemble a squad that he likes and prepare them thoroughly. If Keegan till well into next season, only then he will be able to know the correct answer of the question; 'Has Keegan still got what it takes to lead Newcastle to glory?'

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