Why Keegan let Man U take Cole from Newcastle
PICTURE the scene. It’s January, 1995, and halfway through the season, Kevin and I are stood on the steps of St James’ Park having to speak to the fans.
We are defending the shock sale of Andy Cole to Manchester United. So how did it come to this? It was all to do with Kevin believing Andy had lost that little bit of drive.
It came to a head when we were in London preparing for a game against Wimbledon in November, 1994. Andy wasn’t doing what he should have been doing in training and Kevin told him to buck up his ideas.
It didn’t matter who you were and what you had achieved, Kevin expected 100 per cent in training. That was as important to him as the actual matches. I’m certain Kevin had never given less than 100 per cent on the training pitch when he had been Europe’s top player.
He wasn’t going to let Coley get off with anything. You could see there was something up because he was just going through the motions. Kevin was seething.
“Coley you’re no use to us like this. You might as well go and get changed,” he yelled.
Kevin hoped that would shake him up, but when Andy was full of attitude there was no shifting him. Instead of coming back with a reaction, he just sloped off to the dressing room.
This wasn’t the Andy Cole we had signed and who had taken the Premier League by storm, scoring 40 league goals in our first season back in the top flight.
Kevin didn’t pick him for the game, preferring Peter Beardsley and Paul Kitson up front instead. We ended up losing 3-2, as Mick Harford scored what turned out to be the winner in just the 36th minute.
Coley wasn’t happy about being dropped and went in to see Kevin who told him in no uncertain terms that if he repeated his sulky actions then he would stay out of the team.
I know that shook Coley up because, like all the players, he respected Kevin and also loved being a number nine who the Newcastle fans adored.
“Okay, gaffer, I won’t let you down,” Coley told Kevin, although I don’t know how convinced Kevin really was, especially for the long term.
Really we needed him back because he was our goalscorer. Kevin told him to show us what he was capable of in training and that he would soon be back in the side. Coley trained properly and, true to his word, Kevin put him back in.
Players shouldn’t be able to dictate to managers. That happens too often these days. Some managers are too scared to fall out with their star players because it could cost them their jobs, but Kevin made certain he was always in control and the players knew that.
Even though Coley was brought back into the team, Kevin felt he wasn’t the same player as the one who had caused mayhem in his early days on Tyneside. He thought he had gone a bit stale and he didn’t have that spring in his step.
Was he being tapped? I don’t know. Could he have been tapped? Probably. He wasn’t the same Andy Cole anyway. He does have a dark, sinister side and he could be awkward, although on his day there were few better strikers. That’s his make-up.
Kevin never told me once that he