It isn't, it seems, much different this time around.

Keegan's second tenure is threatening to come to an abrupt - and unwelcome - end just eight months after his fairytale return to St James's Park.

Maybe the dramatic events of the past 24 hours - which saw it reported on TV that Keegan had been sacked, and then not sacked - shouldn't have been such a surprise.

After all, the managerial door has opened and slammed shut so many times since Sir Bobby Robson was unceremoniously axed after taking the club back into the upper echelons of the game for the first time since Keegan's Entertainers had challenged for the Premier League title.

Those were halycon days, and those same supporters who had idolised Keegan both as player and manager felt there was only one man to bring them back.

It was, of course, Keegan.

Back then, Keegan had complete control of team affairs and transfers, but on his return he has had his wings clipped.

The appointment of a recruitment team - headed up by Dennis Wise - seemingly undermined his authority before the ink was dry on the three-year contract he was handed after the sacking of Sam Allardyce.

If there are straws that have broken the camel's back, it's not too difficult to guess what they could be.

Keegan's apparent lack of input into the recruitment process is an obvious one, and more recently the sale of James Milner, the attempted transfer of Joey Barton, and, most significantly, the hawking around of Michael Owen on Monday, are three more.

He had gone on TV on Friday to explain Milner's sale, insisting it was his decision, and his alone. It was a bold statement considering he had a week or so earlier pledged to keep him at United.

Keegan asked fans to trust his judgement, and promised to turn a negative into a positive. Typical Keegan.

Privately, however, he had reservations about Milner's exit, and said as much to the player after his exit, and the very public and awkward position he was put in won't have sat easily with Keegan, a proud and dignified man.

In a way it wasn't difficult to draw parallels with Andy Cole's controversial move to Manchester United all those years ago, when supporters gathered at the foot of the steps behind the Milburn Stand's entrance to demand answers, furious that the club was once again selling a prize asset.

Yesterday, fans gathered at in front of those same steps, demanding yet more answers in the face of a wall of silence.

In his pre-Arsenal Press conference, Keegan talked of bringing in three or four players, but only two - Xisco and Nacho Gonzalez - arrived before the transfer deadline passed at midnight on Monday.

Keegan had little input in those two deals, himself preferring a move for Bastien Schweinsteiger.

And the one position he was keen to strengthen above all others - left back - remained unfilled, with the summer-long efforts of Wise et al having come to nothing.

Newcastle's defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday night laid bare the necessity for new blood, and Keegan knew he is in for a long, hard season should the club fail to strengthen his threadbare squad.

He hadn't returned to Tyneside for United to make up the numbers, and was acutely aware tens of millions, at the very least, were needed to compete at the top end of the league.

But those tens of millions weren't forthcoming from a billionaire owner still saddled with transfers payments from the Freddy Shepherd era.

Mike Ashley was pictured necking a pint at the Emirates Stadium in a matter of seconds, and he will surely have had a few more stiff drinks over the past 48 hours.

After hours of well-informed speculation filling a news vacuum, the club eventually issued a statement insisting Keegan - understood to be consulting employment lawyers - was important to the club "now and in the future".

However, the actions of those above Keegan in the St James's Park hierarchy have spoken louder than words.