How was Kevin Keegan dealt with by the Media from Friday 0ctober 6th until Monday October 9th 2000?
How was Kevin Keegan dealt with by the Media from Friday 0ctober 6th until Monday October 9th 2000?
For my durational essay I decided to choose a story that both for fills the durational aspect and my own personal interest. I chose to focus on the defeat by Germany and subsequent resignation of Kevin Keegan. I will look at how 4 newspapers have dealt with Keegan using key media terms and recognising the different angles each newspaper has approached the story.
The four newspapers I have decided to look at are a calculated choice that should give a fair view of the English newspaper press.
I have chosen The Sun and News Of The World, The Daily and Sunday Mirror, The Guardian and The Observer, and also the Daily and Sunday Telegraph as my four newspapers. In this choice are two tabloids and two broadsheets this should give a good contrast and room for comparison. I also have included right and left wing papers however; the topic being sport this should not result to any major differences.
I chose The Sun as it is part of Rupert Murdock's media empire and it is also the most popular newspaper in Britain. The Mirror was chosen as the other leading tabloid. The Telegraph was chosen for it conservatism and also because it is a broadsheet and I finally chose The Guardian in contrast The Times because The Times is also part of the Murdock media group and therefore may be very similar to the ideas and views of The Sun.
The duration of the study may not appear that long however although the length of time is fairly short the story moves at terrific pace. On Friday people look forward to the game with a little patriotism and player profiles, Saturday is similar however, once Keegan has resigned there are several views about whether he should have resigned or not. What now for England and on Monday there is more difference as the weekly reporters can then spread their views. On the whole although it is only 4 days as every experienced sports writer will tell you a weekend is a long time in Football.
Friday 6th October 2000
One day before the huge game of England vs. Germany in the world cup qualifiers the focus is on the Players. David Beckham is pictured on the back of all four of my chosen newspapers. Two years ago Beckham was criticised and torn apart by the media for getting himself sent off against Argentina, and allegedly costing England the World Cup trophy. Now the press has turned full circle and he appears to be the hope of the nation.
You can see that the press does not think that Keegan is the most important aspect for England, a well-respected and successful manager such as Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger are always put before their team when it comes to big matches. Tactics are almost always mentioned when referring to Ferguson and Wenger however; Keegan is mentioned in some papers to be tactically naïve, a cliché that has followed him throughout his career. It is fair to say that if Keegan's tactics are wrong then the task is left to the Players to win it rather than managerial genius therefore they grab the headlines.
Indeed you can take the impression that Keegan is not featured heavily in the papers on Friday because,
* He hasn't spoken to the press or,
* He is not perceived as a figure that will sell papers
The other big story surrounding the game is that it is the last major Football match to be held at the "old" Wembley.
Due to this Keegan gets no mention in The Sun or Mirror.
In the Telegraph backing up the idea that the players were seen as the most important part of the ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Indeed you can take the impression that Keegan is not featured heavily in the papers on Friday because,
* He hasn't spoken to the press or,
* He is not perceived as a figure that will sell papers
The other big story surrounding the game is that it is the last major Football match to be held at the "old" Wembley.
Due to this Keegan gets no mention in The Sun or Mirror.
In the Telegraph backing up the idea that the players were seen as the most important part of the England set up, there is a story asking Keegan to listen to Beckham and Scholes when deciding tactics.
This already begins to start the doubt that Keegan can get success with England a view that has been re-enforced after poor European Championship performances.
Throughout the newspapers there is only one story that has Keegan in the headline. It comes from The Guardian and again it questions Keegan's tactical choice of players. Although the article understands Keegan's thinking it still questions it and it discusses other options for the England manager.
Looking at the papers for this Friday you can see two things emerging. Beckham, Scholes and Owen are viewed as more important than their manager. The other is that Keegan's tactics are open to some questioning however of course this is the case when the team is not getting the results that maybe a team of it's potential should be achieving.
Keegan doesn't get any sort of mention in the tabloids and only the broadsheets discuss matters rather than pass judgement.
Saturday 7th October 2000
The day of the match. The last game at Wembley. Another meeting with Germany. No doubt all this would have been in Keegan's mind coming into the game. "I'd hate to be know as the last manager to lose at Wembley" is the headline on the back of The Mirror.
In direct contrast to Friday Kevin Keegan is either pictured, appears in a headline, or is mentioned in the opening paragraph of every papers back page news. You can see a clear difference between The Mirror and The Sun. For The Sun Wembley is most important whereas Keegan is the main thing in The Mirror.
Although In contrast to yesterday Keegan makes the main headlines on the back pages inside you can see that the press has stuck with the idea that the players are the most important things. In The Mirror Tony Adams is represented as a gladiator, his head replaces Russell Crowe's in an image from the hit film. This representation is used also in The Sun.
It is interesting again that there is a representation of Keegan that is one of not really being the main thing. The managers of both sides are played down the players must be the focus. If the result doesn't go right for Keegan the players won't be blamed the manager will be and maybe the press are being wary not to praise Keegan at this point because of the possible failure that may occur.
You can find similarities between The Telegraph and The Sun as these two papers predict that should England lose then surely Keegan would either be sacked or resign however they do sit on the fence by expressing an opposite view also.
Many things overshadow Keegan and in another match against different opposition maybe he would have been in a more major role within the papers however until after the match Keegan is only partially mentioned in the papers. The personalities of Beckham, Scholes and particularly captain Tony Adams are deemed more important maybe from a financial point of view rather than a football one.
Sunday 8th October 2000
Yester Kevin Keegan, following England's 1-0 defeat by rivals Germany Quit. "I'm not the man for the job," read the front page of The Observer. Keegan was front-page news in all four of the newspapers I have chosen. There are two slants that the papers take whilst looking at Keegan. Keegan is viewed as right to resign and an honest hero or a man who cannot face up to his responsibility, a man who has "bottled" it, a theme that continues on Monday.
Maybe surprisingly it is The Sunday Telegraph that shows the most anger towards Keegan. "Keegan the deserter" is the headline. Despite whatever feelings the papers have for Keegan they all concede that he was not good enough and are quick to predict who's next.
In The News Of The World Keegan is represented as having guts to make the decision he does. Alan Shearer and Terry Venables, the papers prediction for the England job, share a similar view as that of the paper; it is fair to argue that because their view matches that of the paper there opinions are used as main parts of the coverage. "The Sport Of The World Comment" is quick to proclaim Terry Venables as the only man who can now "save" England.
Crisis is a word used particularly in The News Of The World. Banners are used at the top of the page and also an England symbol is shown ripped in two.
There is a durational aspect in The News Of The World is shown because before the resignation of Keegan, the England manager was hardly even mentioned, now the players take the back seat, many of them criticised as Keegan becomes the most important figure. The same is true in The Sunday Mirror. "I Quit" is the front-page headline and over 10 pages are devoted to the story throughout the paper. Here you can see the importance of this story. Very rarely will one story take up over 15% of the total paper however in the tabloid press of around 90 pages around 11 of them are solely based on the Keegan resignation. The sheer amount of coverage given to the story shows the importance of the story. The amount of coverage places this story within a hierarchy of stories that may include events such as sudden deaths of celebrities as well as huge political events. Certainly if you judge a story's importance based on the amount of coverage it receives then this story is certainly the biggest sports story of the year.
The Observer has Keegan on the front page however apart from this it only really makes an impact on the sports pages. The impression given by the broadsheets is that because this is a sports story it cannot make a sufficient impact on the main pages. This maybe because of the newspapers ideology. Indeed the Keegan story can dominate the sport section of the paper however to include it in much detail in the main news section would maybe annoy the readers who are stereotypically more politically enthusiasts rather than sports enthusiasts. This explains the difference between the tabloid and broadsheet coverage of the story. The audiences expect different things from the newspapers and you can show that tabloid readers are interested in sports because the tabloids make such an effort to cover the story in its entirety. Tabloid papers are one as opposed to the broadsheets, which are usually in sections. The sport section is for sport and the main section is for news the two shouldn't intermingle except in rare circumstances.
Although in the main sections of the broadsheets Keegan is not covered hugely, he still makes front page and this is very unusual for a sports story to do so. The normal sports story maybe has an ad bar at the top of the page, not the main picture and headline. In this respect the Keegan story is regarded as important.
The Durational aspect can be seen as similarly to the tabloids Keegan didn't make too much impact on the Friday and Saturday sport sections however once he resigned he was front page material.
The Observer sport section is critically harsh on Keegan and the players. This is an approach the tabloids avoid, maybe to dismiss the stereotype that it is there fault for many England managers' downfalls. This time Keegan resigned because he was not good enough. The English FA takes much stick as do once praised players such as Owen, Seaman and Scholes. It is interesting to see the players taking much blame after before the match they were built up so much in the press. This is a device used a lot of the time in sports writing. The paper puts itself in a win, win situation as if the player play well they can be proud that the paper picked them out as good players, however if the players play badly they get the full force of criticism, particularly that they have let the country down.
"Keegan was the wrong choice from the start" is the idea floating around the broadsheets, this and the "tactical blunders" are discussed in The Sunday Telegraph with the thought of "who's next" being partially saved for tomorrow.
Monday 9th October 2000
"Wanted manager with bottle" reads the front of The Mirror. Yesterday Keegan was praised for his honesty now he is a coward. The media are particularly in the tabloids, headlines such as "he was only thinking of himself" and "England need a man with a plan," suggest that Keegan was cowardly and inadequate. The broadsheets criticise the fans blaming the England "boo boys" for Keegan's resignation, this follows an article yesterday quoting Keegan saying "the fans put me here and, the fans told me when to resign". Most importantly the media certainly now believes that the option of a foreign coach is only option bar Venables.
Keegan still makes the front page in all the newspapers apart from The Guardian. A tactician is needed for England as Keegan gets more stick for his so called "Tactical naivety". "Never again will the FA appoint someone so tactically naive" is quoted from The Telegraph this is one of the problems that has always followed Keegan. Both at Newcastle and Fulham his ability to use tactics to win games has been questioned. It is often thought that the great managers are tactical genius both on and off the pitch whereas with Hoddle it was his odd religious beliefs perhaps more problematic for Keegan was the questions being asked about his tactics and man-management, the two key areas for any manager.
The final judgement is passed on Keegan with The Mirror focusing on Keegan decision to play Gareth Southgate, Villain of Euro 96, in midfield. This was Keegan's "final tactical error"; of course what the papers do not suggest is the fine line between getting it wrong or right. If you look at Friday's news few would believe that if we did beat the Germans, Keegan would get the credit. The players would have been the heroes.
The Sun uses the pun "What a loo-ser" to describe Keegan's decision made on the toilet after the game. It sums up what a disastrous end it was for Wembley and inevitably Keegan.
By now the story has progressed to a point where Keegan has left "What a Finnish" with regards to Finland on the Wednesday, shows Keegan going off in a car. Who's next is the question. Keegan has failed not only himself but also the country, and this is what the final progression in the story is.
Over the whole weekend you can look at Keegan was first ignored on the whole by the media, the players were deemed much more important than him coming into the game. This may have been because footballers are all minor celebrities and due to high profile marriages and relations, such as Beckham and Posh Spice, are in the public eye a lot more than the manager would be and are more likely to sell newspapers.
On the Sunday after the game Keegan takes centre stage after his resignation, he is treated as a hero and a villain by the papers, an old footballing cliché. He is seen as brave and honest, or as a man running away from responsibility, By Monday Keegan is judged by all, as a man who "bottled it" and was tactically insufficient, who's next is the new story and Keegan will be forgotten in no time. Despite this Keegan still makes nearly all the front pages however the emphasis amongst the reports is he will be remembered but not missed as manager of England.