Mirandinha: Toon twice tried to tempt me back

Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo, Mirandinha says that Kevin Keegan tried to tempt him back to Tyneside during his first spell as Magpies manager – and that Bobby Robson offered him a coaching job.

Turning up in Toon two decades before Robinho’s high-profile move to Manchester, Mirandinha cost Newcastle £575,000 – and repaid them with goals against Liverpool and Manchester United.

“When I look back at my career, Newcastle was my best experience,” the Brazilian reveals in this month’s FourFourTwo – a special South America issue.

“The fans even created a song for me: ‘We’ve got Mirandinha, he’s not from Argentina, he’s from Brazil, he’s f*cking brill’!”

Sadly for Mirandinha, new boss Jim Smith wasn’t quite so enamoured and sent him back to Brazil – but a change of guard brought a change of heart.

“When Sir John Hall took over and brought in Kevin Keegan, I had the opportunity to return,” he reveals. “And then I made the biggest mistake of my life: I chose to stay in Brazil. How I regret that decision…”

Since then, Mirandinha has coached all over the world – but he knows where he’d like to end up.

“I have coached teams in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, but my dream is to return to Newcastle.

“When Bobby Robson was there, we almost closed a deal – I was going to be one of the youth team coaches.

“I have a good relationship with Dennis Wise, so I’m working as a scout for Newcastle. I’m confident that in the future we’ll work something out.”

To read the whole story of What Happened Next to Mirandinha, see the April edition ofFourFourTwo– out now.
A South America special, it features the 10 best new wonderkids from that continent, including exclusive interviews with Manchester United’s twins Fabio and Rafael da Silva plus Sao Paolo’s £100m-rated “new Kaka” Hernanes.
There are also interviews with Zico and Socrates; a look at the Boca Juniors academy responsible for Tevez, Burdisso, Gago, Banega et al; and the
Lord of the Ringsstar so dedicated to Argentine outfit San Lorenzo that he bunked off a film set to see them play.

NEWCASTLE FANS! Check FourFourTwo.com’s ever-expandinginterviews archivefor more stuff to read:
Web Exclusives
Les Ferdinand
Q&A
Joey Barton
One on One
Michael Owen, Kevin Keegan, Les Ferdinand, Faustino Asprilla
Boy's A Bit Special
Steven Taylor, Danny Guthrie
Ask A Silly Question
John Barnes
Perfect XI
Ruud Gullit
What Happened Next?
Tony Cunningham
My Secret Vice
Nolberto Solano, Sam Allardyce

Plus! Rate Newcastle players (and others) on Talentspotter

Gary Parkinson is a freelance writer, editor, trainer, muso, singer, actor and coach. He spent 14 years at FourFourTwo as the Global Digital Editor and continues to regularly contribute to the magazine and website, including major features on Euro 96, Subbuteo, Robert Maxwell and the inside story of Liverpool's 1990 title win. He is also a Bolton Wanderers fan.