Kevin Keegan arrived back at Newcastle United in January and the entirety of Toon was proclaiming the third coming. In a club where false dawns are a regular thing, Newcastle promised that this time it was the real deal.
Keegan may have done it before, but English football in the 21st century was a very different beast from the one he left 10 years earlier. Keegan failed to win any of his first nine matches and the vultures were circling again at St James' Park.
The Magpies' board was in damage control with the club sliding dangerously towards relegation and Keegan unable to get anything out of his men. The excuses flowed thick and fast, but eventually Keegan's message began to work. Consecutive wins against Fulham, Tottenham and Reading saved his skin. Newcastle would end up 13th overall, but just seven points from the relegation zone.
There were excuses for Keegan's sluggish start, given he'd taken over a club on the slide and he needed time to turn it around. But ahead of this Sunday's opening match of the EPL season against Manchester United at Old Trafford, no excuses are left.
Playing away to the champions is not the way you'd like to start any campaign, but the particular ruthlessness the Red Devils have shown when playing Newcastle in recent times must be giving Keegan a few sleepless nights this week.
While United will not have Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney for this match, it does have the rest of a team which won the Champions League and the Premier League last season. The last time these two teams met was not long after Keegan had taken charge, and Manchester smashed Newcastle 5-1 at St James' Park. Six weeks earlier, the Red Devils had hammered six past the hapless Magpies without reply.
In fact, it is nearly seven years since Newcastle last defeated Manchester United in any competition and, given that the last 15 times Newcastle has travelled to Old Trafford have resulted in 10 losses and five draws, you'd suggest an uphill battle awaits.
But considering Keegan has had a whole summer to sign the players he thinks he needs, it has been far from a 'seize-the-day' mentality from King Kev. The arrival of Danny Guthrie from Liverpool and Jonas Gutierrez from Real Mallorca has hardly sent a shiver down the spines of other EPL managers. Meanwhile, the departure of Stephen Carr, Emre, Peter Ramage and David Rozenhal must have the Tyneside fans wondering where the improvement will come from.
It will come as little surprise that Michael Owen has spent the pre-season injured, with the England international battling a calf problem. Fellow strikers Mark Viduka and Andy Carroll will definitely miss the season's opener, meaning if Owen is not fit then Keegan could be forced to use Shola Amoebi, who spent most of last season on loan at Stoke City, and Alan Smith, yet to score a goal in 28 appearances for the club, up front.
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic will not be losing too much sleep over the prospect of facing that pair this week. In the absence of Rooney and Ronaldo, Alex Ferguson's men didn't score a goal in last week's Community Shield final, (a match they won on penalties), but Carlos Tevez is a more than able replacement.
It's a new season but not much will change in the EPL. Come Sunday night, you'd expect that much like the end of last season, Manchester United will be celebrating and Keegan will be answering a few difficult questions.