Newcastle United fans fume at club's 'cheeky' Kevin Keegan 70th birthday tweet

Kevin Keegan of Newcastle looks on during the Carling Cup, Second Round match between Coventry City and Newcastle United at the Ricoh Arena on August 26, 2008

And to commemorate the occasion, the Magpies’ Twitter account wished their former player and two-time manager a happy birthday.

Following the dismissal of manager Sam Allardyce, Keegan made a sensational, unexpected return to Newcastle United in January 2008.

But during the 2007-08 seasons, rumours of tensions between the club's directors and Keegan began to surface.

Keegan publicly criticised the board, claiming they were not providing him with the financial support necessary to break into the top four of the Premier League.

His accusations caused bad press for owner Mike Ashley, with the former England manager leaving the club, which resulted in fan protests around St James's Park.

A tribunal eventually ruled in favour of Keegan, agreeing that Newcastle had constructively dismissed him by insisting on the signing of midfielder Nacho Gonzalez on loan (which was against his wishes) to replace James Milner following his move to Aston Villa.

A bid for Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger was also rejected by Newcastle.

His treatment by Ashley still remains a sour point with Newcastle fans to this day – here’s what you said about the club’s birthday message:

@JohnNE14ST: “Happy birthday Kev. You are one of the greatest and showed the toon and the world, most entertaining top-class football at St James’s Park. Most entertaining football I have seen and I have followed NU for over 60 years. You and your family have a great day.”

@NUFCThreatLevel: “Hopefully the day The King feels welcome back at St James’s Park isn’t too far off.

@agbnufc_: “Get him back at the club in some capacity. Treat our legends with respect instead of contempt.”

@KL_1985_: “Disgrace way he was treated and that he isn’t welcome in the stadium one of Ashley’s biggest mistakes and there’s been a few! First thing new owners should do is name a stand after him absolute hero.”

@bennopaul: “Is this lot kidding? The cheek of it.”

@Jordanstone_15: “It’s sad that the only time the club mentions Keegan is on his birthday Bcos they absolutely have to.”

@PeterJameson56: “You have a nerve putting this out the way he has been treat by you lot in recent years.”