Keegan and Shearer right for Newcastle, says Ginola

David Ginola has said he would love to see Newcastle legends Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer reunited at the helm of the club.

Ginola, a favourite at St James' Park as part of Keegan's attacking team of the mid-90s, believes the fans are right to want the former England manager back at the club, and insists the club's owner Mike Ashley made a mistake allowing him to leave last month.

Keegan was thought to be unhappy at the influence exerted by the London-based directors Tony Jimenez, who has now left, and Dennis Wise. Ashley has since put the club up for sale and they are without a long-term manager, with Joe Kinnear currently in position on an interim basis.

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Ginola thinks his former mentor was not given the support or the time needed to reverse the club's ailing fortunes and would happily see him back on Tyneside in harness with Shearer, whose name has once again been linked with a Newcastle comeback.

Ginola said: "If you have Kevin Keegan at the club you have to give him time to work it all out and to bring success. He did not have that. It is not going to happen in two or three weeks or even months. It would take years – like Arsène Wenger at Arsenal. He can still be their messiah. And Shearer also knows how things work in Newcastle. Alan Shearer and Keegan could be a really good partnership for the club."

Ginola can understand why the Geordie fans are eager to recapture the glory days. "I remember when I was there and we played with Peter Beardsley, Faustino Asprilla, myself and Les Ferdinand. Then Alan Shearer signed and we also had players like Philippe Albert and Robert Lee.

"It was great playing in that team. The striking force was amazing. Maybe we conceded a few goals but we always felt we could score four times."