Keegan?s talents have been undervalued both as a player and manager

Kevin Keegan?s walkout from Manchester City was typical of him and, unlike most observers, I do not mean that in a negative way. It was typical in that he had come to the conclusion that things were not going to work out and so there was no point in him hanging around.

He walked out on England in similar fashion, admitting that he had got things wrong, when a lesser man would have tried to make excuses and attempted to muddle through. You have to admire someone who can do that, even though Kevin?s talents have, in my view, always been undervalued both as a player and a manager.

The common theory about him as a player is that he carried a little ability a long way, squeezing the maximum from a minimum of talent, which is absolute nonsense. When I came into the game, Kevin was one of my heroes and, outside of Leicester, my favourite player. He had fantastic ability; he could beat people, he was quick, he could turn defenders, he could finish, he could head it and he had a great work ethic, so to say that he was limited is a joke.

He won 63 England caps and, after going to Germany, he became European footballer of the year ? not something you get by being ordinary. As I have said, he was a hero to me and it ranked among the thrills of my career when I first played against him in a Leicester against Newcastle encounter at Filbert Street in 1982. He was 31 at the time, in his penultimate playing year and, although I scored one of our goals in a 2-2 draw, Kevin got both for Newcastle.

I made sure I shook his hand at the end and would have swapped shirts if it had been the done thing at the time and if we had not been limited to one shirt a season at Leicester. Kevin scored again in the return league fixture, when I turned the tables by scoring two for Leicester in another 2-2 draw.

To me, Kevin will go down as one of the great players, great managers and great blokes, someone the game will miss a great deal if he is not persuaded to make another return. He was one of the game?s great enthusiasts, for whom life was either a bed of roses or a bed of thorns. There was no halfway house for him.

His spell with England will probably discolour most people?s view of him, but, again, he walked away 20 minutes or so after the Wembley defeat by Germany five years ago. He did not try to put some positive spin on the result or hang around seeking preferential financial terms for going. He held his hands up and left, which resulted in England turning things round in World Cup 2002 qualification under Sven-Goran Eriksson.

At club level, Kevin always had the knack of persuading directors to spend a few bob on players and usually left teams in a better state than he has found them. He did a fantastic job at Newcastle and almost pulled off a Premiership triumph in 1995-96 until nerves got the better of him and his team in the run-in.

But have Newcastle fans known any better season? In the end, Kevin fell for Sir Alex Ferguson?s mind games when he went on air with that ?I would really love it!? speech; yet can we knock a man for showing such passion?

All in all, I cannot believe anyone could say that Kevin was anything but good for the game. He always believed in entertaining, attacking football, even at a time when fear has taken over so many clubs and all that matters is winning. He was one of the great characters of my generation and was a wonderful personality, brilliant with kids and always willing to offer his time off the pitch to promote the game.

People will say Kevin was found out at international level, but even that is a spurious argument. You only need half a brain to manage England because all the players are already motivated before kick-off and anyone who knows anything about the game could pick the best 22 in the country.

I really think we overestimate what managers do because the most important factor is always the players and what they do on the pitch. A bad manager can mess things up and a good manager can bring out that extra bit in a team but that is about it. A lot of it is about luck, getting the right job at the right time and managing to make initial signings that work.

That is why, I believe, despite the obvious claims of Gordon Strachan and Celtic?s Martin O?Neill for the Manchester City job, that caretaker Stuart Pearce could be the right man. Pearce had a little pop at management at Nottingham Forest in 1996, which was definitely the wrong job at the wrong time, just three years after Brian Clough had quit. He was still a player and the situation at the club was hopeless so you cannot judge him on that.

He?s a big personality, a man with a wealth of experience in the game and you would say that with average luck he ought to be a successful manager. You would also think that his influence probably had a lot to do with City?s improved defensive record this season.

I have spoken about Kevin as a manager in the past tense because I believe he might have finally had it up to his ears with all the nonsense that goes with the game. But retirement will be his own decision because I am sure that someone will offer him a job if he wants to come back. And, if he doesn?t, I am sure he will continue to be around football in some capacity.