Keegan makes Owen captain

Striker handed armband

By Graeme Bailey   Last updated: 19th January 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Keegan makes Owen captain

Owen and Keegan with England

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Kevin Keegan has confirmed that Michael Owen will take the captain's armband in his first game back as Newcastle boss.

The Magpies face Bolton in Saturday's late kick-off in the Premier League and all eyes will be on Keegan and his return to management.

Geremi was handed the skipper's role by previous boss Sam Allarydce - but he is away on African Cup of Nations duty, so Keegan was left with the task of picking a new captain and he opted for Owen.

The striker and Keegan have previously not seen eye-to-eye as they clashed during their time together with England - a fact confirmed in Owen's autobiography.

However, Keegan insists he is excited about working with Owen again and he has underlined that by making the 27-year-old his first captain.

Right guy

"Not only will he play, I will make him captain. He is the right guy to lead us - and that tells you what I think of him," insisted Keegan.

"I know people will try to make something of the stuff in his book, but people who know me know it will not bother me - any more than it will bother me if it is right to bring Alan Shearer here as No.2.

"Other people might say, 'He will be a threat to you'. It won't bother me."