John Carver has revealed that Kevin Keegan plucked him from obscurity to hand him the job of a lifetime working at Newcastle United.
Geordie boy Carver saw his Toon career cruelly cut short after a career-ending injury, but Keegan, who was a senior player when Carver was a reserve in the 1980s, remembered his enthusiasm and brought him on board as a young coach.
Myth debunked
Carver has also debunked the myth that Keegan had no interest in the club's youth development, insisting scrapping the reserves in the mid-1990s was down to a lack of resources that would have been fixed had Newcastle won the Premier League in 1996.
Keegan pulled the reserves out of the old Pontins League because the pitch could not sustain extra games and second string chiefs weren't happy about the team playing at Gateshead.
Carver said: "A lot of people have said that Kevin scrapped the reserves carelessly but he knew he'd created a monster at Newcastle United."
"Kevin knew if Newcastle had won the Premier League in 1996 after being 12 points clear it would have changed everything."
"We actually lost Michael Carrick as a youngster as he went to West Ham because he was worried about not having a reserve team to play in."
"But we had a big squad and Kevin had all the kids training with him and we played friendly games with the reserves up at Ponteland United."
"He never lost sight of that, and he had youngsters like Lee Clark, Robbie Elliott and Steve Watson in the team that became the Entertainers."
"And had Newcastle won the title in 1996, it would have taken the club where it needed to, so you can't blame him for having that focus on the bigger picture. What price would we give for Newcastle to be in that position now?"
Mourning a giant
Keegan's death has rocked the city of Newcastle and plunged St James' Park into a state of mourning.
Carver, who was also close pals with Sir Bobby Robson and ex-Toon skipper Gary Speed, said: "When I heard the news Kevin had gone, I felt numb."
"I knew straight away, like Sir Bobby Robson and Gary Speed, we'd lost another absolute black-and-white giant."
"It brought back a lot of memories; it all comes flooding back when you see the images on TV."
"Kevin was very special as he essentially made Newcastle United what it is today. Without him, there would be no Cathedral on the Hill."
Start of a coaching career
Opening up on how Keegan put him on a coaching career that took him around the world with Newcastle under Sir Bobby, to Toronto FC in MLS and to the Euros with Scotland and Steve Clarke, Carver said: "Kevin got me in the pro game as Director of the school of excellence in 1992."
"And when I was 17, he was such a go-to figure for the young players, and I learned so much from him. He brought professionalism to the club when it was needed."
"Kevin turned up in a Jaguar at the training ground to a real buzz of excitement, and all the young players gathered around."
"He popped open his boot and then started giving out Patrick boots, who sponsored him."
"He said to me: 'What size are you?' Then threw me a pair of 8s! He was like a black and white Father Christmas!"
"When Kevin came in we had Arthur Cox in charge but I developed a relationship with Kevin straight away."
"It was rare that players would come back in during the afternoon; they'd normally go to the pub or the bookies."
"But Kev came back after first-team training and he'd say to me to grab a bag of balls and a few of us would go out and work with him again."
"We'd get an extra 45 minutes with Kevin. I saw then what was needed in terms of dedication to get better every day."
"Kevin admitted he wasn't the most talented player but he was determined to squeeze every ounce out of himself to get better."
"It was the first example of a top professional coming back to work more. It would be a great example of what he would later be like in his managerial career."
Return as manager
Keegan retired as a player in 1984 and left the ground in a helicopter, only returning sensationally as manager in 1992.
Carver said: "When Kevin went up in a helicopter after his last game in 1984, I never saw him again until 1992."
"He remembered me and knew I was working for the City Council."
"I was working for Newcastle's development team too and then Colin Suggett the youth team coach rang me and said: 'Kevin wants you to be his centre of excellence director'. I took a pay cut to do it so I could work with him."
"So Kevin got me on the coaching ladder, so whenever I think of working at Newcastle as head coach, or assistant to Sir Bobby Robson or assistant to Steve Clarke with Scotland at major tournaments, I think of that starting point."
"Kevin wanted me to be part of it and he had me down at the training ground at Durham. He'd have all the staff in on pre-season training."
"It was a special time and Kevin made sure that 3,000 fans would come in every day and watch us training, quite incredible to think that now in the world we live in."
"But Kevin was happy to have fans bring their deck chairs and sandwiches down to watch the team train and no player left the ground until every autograph had been signed."
Promotion to first-team
Keegan left the club in 1997 but by then he had already started to move Carver up through the ranks, the Tynesider said: "I worked with the first-team for the first time after Kevin asked me to take a session when Derek Fazackerly was ill."
"He just said: 'Johnny you're up today' I had half an hour to get a session ready and the next thing I had Peter Beardsley, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand staring down the barrel at me."
"But they were great with me. After it Kevin pulled Steve Watson to one side and said: 'Do you think Johnny could be a coach?'"
"And in fairness to Stevie Watson he said: 'Yes boss!' But he'd gave me my start on the coaching ladder. It was never about him."
Pressure cooker ending
Keegan would leave Newcastle without that first piece of silverware after quitting in 1997, but Carver said his attitude never changed, even through the pressure cooker ending to that fateful 1995/96 campaign when the 12-point lead was squandered.
Carver said: "Even when we were in danger of blowing a 12-point lead, it never changed Kevin."
"He was full of fun and enthusiasm and would always want to play head tennis for a £1 bet every day with Terry Mac."
"One day, England were meant to be playing Scotland at St James' and I was meant to be scouting, in the gym I landed on the weight of the badminton net, and I broke my ankle."
"Kevin leaned in and said: 'Come on, Johnny, you aren't getting out of this, you still owe me £1!'"
"I ended up missing the England game but Kev made light of it by saying I was in his debt!"
"I was only the director of the school of excellence but he made me feel part of things and I'd be in the coaching room with Terry Mac, Arthur Cox and Derek Fazackerly."
"Kevin knew I'd had to retire early after injury and he put an arm around me, I'll never forget that."
"I was at Leeds when Kevin went crazy with his quote about Sir Alex with his famous 'Love it' quote."
"When he did it we were right behind him as staff, we knew that's what he was like, he wore his heart on his sleeve."
"At that time it was the right thing to do because it would have been amazing if we'd done it and got the title."
