England manager Kevin Keegan is becoming less and less
convincing a month ahead of England's last chances to keep alive their
qualification for the Euro 2000 finals. Keegan is quoted in today's papers as saying: "I thought we
would win those games against Sweden and Bulgaria. I really did. But
we still have it in our hands to qualify, and I'm the eternal
optimist." Last week he was talking up the possibility of a
resurrected Paul Gascoigne furnishing the spark missing from England's
midfield. This week he's bubbling about England's young prospects and
particularly 17-year-old midfielder Joe Cole, who has yet to break into West Ham
United's first team.
That what Keegan chooses to
focus on after leading England to the brink of a devastating failure to qualify
is a faded and jaded star who hasn't played for England since before World Cup 1998 and
young players who are untried at the international level and inexperienced even
at the club level should be cause for concern. Keegan's pitches to the
press resemble the proverbial drowning man clutching at straws, at the opposite
pole from the image he imagines he casts as an optimist brimming with confidence
and enthusiasm. Most of the English football media, largely responsible
for getting rid of Glenn Hoddle and installing Keegan as his successor, continue
to swallow Keegan's babblings without serious question. England fans are
left to clinging to straw hopes that what Keegan talks about and what he thinks about are different
things.
England
Football Online