Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has admitted it will take him time to restore the club's fortunes.
The 56-year-old has returned to Tyneside after an 11-year exile and immediately set his sights on dragging the Magpies from the ranks of the also-rans to a position where they can fight for honours.
Keegan came mightily close to landing a first league title since 1927 in 1996 when his side saw a 12-point lead dissolve as Manchester United overhauled them.
He headed back to St James' Park citing unfinished business as his motivation, but he knows there is a way to go before the current crop can make a similar impact.
Keegan, recalling how he had told Sir Alex Ferguson Newcastle were coming to get Manchester United as they won promotion back to the top flight, he said: "Unfinished business, if I had come back a year later, would have been trying to win it.
"Realistically now, let's try to get a challenge on again. It is more difficult now.
"You might think a lot about me, but I am not a fool. I did not make those statements last time because I just wanted to sound good.
"I knew that my team that we had built in the first division was capable of not only coming into the Premier League at that time, but was one of the best teams in the Premier League already."
Keegan's arrival has left as many questions unanswered as those which have been resolved, perhaps most notably Michael Owen's future - the manager insists he has one on Tyneside - and the prospect of Alan Shearer joining him at the helm.
But perhaps more immediate are his efforts to strengthen a squad he admits is threadbare, armed with owner Mike Ashley's cash.
Keegan insisted cash had not even come into the equation as he talked over an offer he could not resist.
He said: "(Ashley) has told me what he wants and I think we can deliver it.
"I know if I want to bring someone here and it is right for this football club and I go and ask him, I will get the finance.
"Whether I can convince the player to come here or not, they are other questions."
Keegan's presence on Tyneside represents a major triumph for Ashley and chairman Chris Mort, who have delivered just what the fans wanted in the wake of Sam Allardyce's ill-fated reign.
The billionaire has had plenty of opportunities to gauge opinion during his afternoons sitting alongside the supporters, although Mort is adamant that the decisions to dispense with one manager and employ another were taken by he and Ashley alone.
Mort said: "You can hear what the fans are saying even where I sit.
"If you are going to be influenced, you will be influenced wherever you sit in the ground.
"They are customers at the end of the day, so we have had feedback on all sorts of issues including the manager in recent months.
"But it is us who decide what the right thing is to do. The fans won't drive that, but we will always listen to people."
Meanwhile, Newcastle yesterday completed the signing of Hungary Under-21 defender Tamas Kadar.
The 17-year-old has penned a four-and-a-half year deal after he spent a few weeks on trial from Hungarian club Zalaegerszegi TE.
Source : www.sportinglife.com
