manchester city should fire manager kevin keegan.

this will be considered sacrilege because city has just clinched a third straight season in the premiership but this "underachieving, sorry" team, in the words of espn's soccernet, should never have been in the position of having to fight for survival, perhaps literally, down to the 36th game of the season.

this is "king kev's" third year at the helm of the blues and he has two years left on his contract. immediately after being promoted from the nationwide league two years ago, city was thought to be so talented and so well-coached that some predicted qualifying for the champion's league. they finished 9th last year--and that only after a late season flourish--and 17th this year.

this despite the proverbial carte blanche that was given keegan to get the talent he desired, and the fact that city moved into a brand new facility this year, guaranteeing a substantial increase in revenue. keegan spent widely and often, buying steve mcmanaman, david seamen, claudia reyna, paulo wanchope, and most notoriously robbie fowler. stealing from some wag, the city board gave keegan an unlimited budget and he exceeded it. if city had been relegated this year it might well have meant the bankruptcy of the team, so great were its wage debts, combined with its mortgage payments. as my criminal law professor used to say, "i could have lost that case for a lot less money."

keegan made his reputation as a master motivator at newcastle united where he took the magpies to second place in the premiership. he then was honored with the coaching position of england's national team but that foray ended with the infamous, ignoble 1-0 defeat to germany.

if motivation is keegan's coin of the realm that currency has been seriously devalued by his performance at city. there is far too much talent on this team for them to have finished 9th last year, much less 17th this year. the team has been maddeningly inconsistent, winning the manchester derby last year, drawing this year, but inexcusably losing at home to vastly inferior squads both years. the low point was its 3-1 debacle against southhamptom at eastlands late this season, a match of supreme importance to the blues. the supreme motivator's team looked scared and tentative, not only in that match but for much of the season. as of this writing, city has as many wins at eastlands as on the road. inexcusable.

the turning point was his signing of robbie fowler from cash-strapped leeds late last season. fowler played for keegan's english national team and at one time was a superstar in the making, a dangerous and prolific goal scorer. city won a big match right before the signing, in fact when it looked like the deal would fall through, but right after getting fowler, city began its late season swoon and the underachievement and inconsistency just continued this season.

keegan has always put a premium on scoring--which was the reason for the fowler signing--to the detriment of defense and that deficiency has shown itself this year especially. at times city has been a sieve. and fowler has not near made up for the defensive deficiencies by goal scoring. he has been near invisible and has been benched both seasons. his signing has been an unmitigated failure and keegan, naturally, has stood by his man, reluctant to admit failure.

fowler was also subtraction by addition because it resulted in the replacement and eventual release of city legend shaun goater, who was the hero of last season's victory over manchester united.

the city board should step in now, for the immediate and long-term survival of the club in the premiership. selling off fowler and wanthrope and replacing them with hungry "muckers" as they would be called in hockey not only makes financial but football sense. that will not happen however as long as "the boss" is in charge, which means king kev should be the first one to get the axe.

seventeenth place? i could have coached them to that, and for a lot less money


-benjamin harris