Fans never saw best of me: Andersson
FORMER Newcastle United striker Andreas Andersson has expressed his regret his Magpies career did not reach the heights he hoped.
The Swedish forward signed for Newcastle from Italian giants AC Milan for £4m in 1998, but managed only four goals in 27 appearances in a black-and-white shirt.
It was a difficult time for the international after the manager who signed him, Kenny Dalglish, was replaced by Ruud Gullit six months after his arrival on Tyneside, which also coincided with a bout of glandular fever for Andersson, making it difficult for him to establish himself in the first team.
But, speaking in the Newcastle’s matchday programme, he revealed he still looks back on his time at the club with fondness, even if it is tinged with regret.
“I didn’t show my best when I was at
Newcastle.
It was a tough time, because of the illness as well,” he said.
“I didn’t know so much about Newcastle; I knew they did well a couple of years before, when they almost won the league.
“I liked the way we did things as a team. We would go out - to horse racing, or do things together. And I think that’s important.
“The family really liked Newcastle. It was a good time, but sometimes it was a tough time when it came to football. But it’s a nice place and I appreciate the time I was there.”
Andersson was left out of the starting XI for the 1999 FA Cup final against Manchester United, despite featuring in previous rounds, something which is says was a big disappointment.
“It’s always a disappointment when you don’t start,” he said. “The situation was always competitive, and it should be like that when you play in a top team.”
Andersson left Newcastle to join AIK in his native Sweden after just one season on Tyneside
He was forced to retire from football at the age of 31 following a cruciate ligament injury, the second serious knee injury of his career.
He now coaches young players at IFK Stocksund in Sweden. Andersson with Alan Shearer and Warren Barton in April 1998 HE CARRIED exactly the same name as his dad but while he never reached the same heights of fame and success he did reside over a special time in Newcastle United’s history.
Stan Seymour Jnr was club chairman when the Magpies rocked the footballing world to its foundations by signing England skipper and onetime Liverpool idol Kevin Keegan as a player back in 1982.
To understand the impact you have to realise that United weren’t a sleeping giant at the time. They were in a coma. This was no forty winks, more a permanent deep unconsciousness.
United were languishing in the backwaters of the Second Division going nowhere and fast. The bank manager frowned, the fans lived on memories, and the rest of the country took little notice. Keegan on the other hand was a world superstar.
Who dared to dream? Manager Arthur Cox and Young Stan as he was known.
Brought up at the knee of his father, it was hardly surprising. Stan Senior had played left wing when United won the FA Cup and their last league championship in the roaring 20s and had fashioned the great FA Cup winners of the 50s. Junior knew what it meant to be bold and brave.
He readily backed Cox’s vision though he told me that when he first mentioned Keegan’s name in the boardroom one director openly laughed in his face. Who was kidding who?
Nevertheless rumour of the player’s unrest was quickly followed by private confirmation that Keegan had a £100,000 release clause written in his Southampton contract. Newcastle swung into action backed