Keegan's return as big a shock as his exit

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - Kevin Keegan's return to Newcastle United as manager on Wednesday was just as big a shock as his sudden departure from St James' Park 11 years ago.

Back then he was in Newcastle one minute, then turned up in Florida saying he had taken the club as far as he could. It was a decision he later said he regretted.

A few months after his departure, Keegan said: "I don't feel bitter about leaving, but I wish I had handled it better, in a nicer way.

"Looking back, maybe I should have done what I did when I quit the club as a player. Then it was announced on my birthday on February 14 I was retiring at the end of that season.

"I just wish that I had done something like that when I left as manager last time."

Keegan helped transform Newcastle's fortunes, not once but twice, and now he is back for a third go.

When he came as a player towards the end of a glittering career at Liverpool, Hamburg SV, Southampton and England, Newcastle were in the old second division and he helped them win promotion back to the top flight.

He left St James' Park by helicopter from the centre circle, still dressed in his black-and-white kit after his last match for the club in May 1984.