Keegan glad to keep Faye

Newcastle boss hails defender's influence on Taylor

By Lewis Rutledge   Last updated: 14th June 2008

800 Abdoulaye Faye Darren Bent

Faye: Keegan praise

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has paid tribute to Abdoulaye Faye after Blackburn cooled their interest in the defender.

Sam Allardyce brought Faye to St James' Park last summer and the Senegalese player enjoyed a solid first season with the club.

Faye was linked with a move to Blackburn but manager Mark Hughes' switch to Manchester City has put an end to the speculation.

Keegan is now looking forward to working with Faye again when the new Premier League campaign kicks off.

He was encouraged by Faye's central defensive partnership with Steven Taylor towards the end of last term and feels both players should continue to progress.

Influence

"I think the link-up has been very, very good," Keegan told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.

"And I think Faye's been a calming influence on Steven.

"In fact, if you look back to the Sunderland game there was a danger that, because Steven was a local, he would get caught up in the excitement of it too much.

"But credit to him, I thought he gave a very mature display, and I think Faye played his part in that."