Better to step down than stay on as a lame duck. Photograph: PA
By Friday morning things are getting a bit hectic on the Sports Desk. No time to blog. Although Victoria, a.k.a the power behind the Sports Desk throne, did send us an email about the end of the Keegan era:
We are relieved to hear that Keegan was at least kind enough to quit on a Thursday night. We all have bad memories of the time he quit as England manager after the team's drubbing by Germany at Wembley.
It was a Saturday, the match finished around 5pm, he quit around 5.15. We were due to go to press at 5.45 for the first editon, so on a normal Prem. Championship day it is pretty tight. On the day of a major international, when you have four or five reporters at the match, each with different tasks and competing with other journalists and supporters to get through on their mobiles it's always a nightmare, (hmm, looking forward to the Six Nations this week).
So it was a near-panic situation, pages drawn up over the day had to be scrapped and hastily re-drawn to get the Keegan story in; interns were sent scurrying to research every minute detail of Keegan's managing and playing career, Paul Wilson had to re-write his match report and do a 'colour' piece on Keegan (i.e. an overview of Keegans managership of England) all in about 20 minutes. Other writers' reports from other games had to be cut or dropped.
Usually, after the first edition goes it may be hectic until 8pm; thanks to Mr Keegan there wasn't a moment of calm until midnight. Grrrr. That memory is etched in my brain as I had only just started on the Sports Desk.
Now we are looking around for other memorial Keegan moments. The Fergie rant springs to mind. Any thoughts?
In case you had forgotten, the Fergie rant sounds like this. The floor is open. Keegan memorials, anyone?
