‘Even though Kevin Keegan was my boyhood hero, we never really saw eye-to-eye. That was an underwhelming time for me – I felt on the outside’: Newcastle cult hero reveals disappointment over how things went under King Kev

Newcastle United welcomed Kevin Keegan back to the club as manager in January 2008 with open arms, replacing Sam Allardyce at St. James' Park.

But while supporters were looking forward to the return of Keegan's attacking football, one boyhood Newcastle supporter who had grown up watching the famous Entertainers team a decade beforehand found things a lot more difficult.

Despite playing the full 90 minutes in Keegan's first match back as manager - just his second start in the Premier League that season - Shola Ameobi had injury problems to contend with that he just couldn't shake off.

Newcastle United homecoming for Kevin Keegan came at the wrong time for Shola Ameobi

"I played in his first match back – a 0-0 draw at home to Bolton," Ameobi tells FourFourTwo. "In hindsight I shouldn’t have played, as I was still a week away from full fitness, but of course nobody wanted to miss the first game of what we all hoped would be a new era.

Even though Kev was my boyhood hero, we never really saw eye-to-eye. That was probably the one period when I felt on the outside. After the highs of the Sir Bobby years, then playing some of my best football under Glenn Roeder, that was an underwhelming time for me."

With game time limited and fitness issues still plaguing him, the Newcastle striker departed for Stoke in the Championship for the last part of their successful 2007/08 promotion season. In signing a short-term loan deal, Ameobi hoped he could rediscover his form - unfortunately, he failed to score in just six games.

"I liked my stint with Stoke but only managed half a dozen games due to hamstring issues, so a permanent move was never on," Ameobi adds. "A lot of fans claimed it was because Stoke played in Sunderland’s colours, but it was all down to fitness.

"I actually had a new lease of life back at Newcastle under Chris Hughton, although my hip was causing me problems."