He didn't exactly chant "In-ger-land" and he sipped from a glass of sparkling water rather than a pint of lager. But when Kevin Keegan surfaced as England's new manager last night - albeit for just the next four games - he sounded like the nation's biggest fan.

Keegan breezed into a marble-clad London hotel in a sharp suit, eyes twinkling, arms waving as he pressed his way through an army of reporters and photographers, his hair flecked with grey as if sprinkled with the magic dust which has been ever present throughout his glittering career.

And then he got down to the serious business of uniting a nation behind its soccer team - and with every breath he took you could not help feel that this was the perfect man for the job.

If you are going to sip from the poisoned chalice which is the England job, however, it helps if you get the lynch mob which forms part of the national press on your side. And, it appeared, that was Keegan's first priority.

"I haven't read every paper this week, I can't afford to buy them all," said Keegan, with a mischievous glint in his eye. "But there's been a lot of constructive criticism. It's been fair and honest and it has been useful."

In one sentence Keegan had done more for media relations than Glenn Hoddle did in two-and-a-half torturously inarticulate years.

Not that the Fourth Estate was lacking bite in its analysis of this short-term appointment. "If by some extraordinary miracle all four games are won. . ." began a man from The Sun somewhat provocatively - and for the first time the hackles rose on the neck of the man they used to call Mighty Mouse.

"Why do you say miracle? See you don't believe," said Keegan. "The appointment doesn't demean the job, please don't say that. I don't accept it's bizarre. I think it's the best thing for England. I can see this working over a short period of time. "Please God, with a lot of hard work and a bit of luck we'll go forward. We could have a great adventure over these next four games."

It certainly promises to be interesting, but then came the next question: didn't Keegan stand to make £10 million from share options at Fulham? How did he answer that charge? "I didn't realise I was already in court," joked Keegan, before continuing to explain that his five per cent shareholding in the London club had made him one per cent of nothing last year, one per cent of nothing this year and was unlikely to make a pile of beans before his contract expired in 18 months' time.

Indeed, as swiftly as the grenades were lobbed into the marbled bowels of the Stakis Metropole on the Edgeware Road, they were defused by a man with a steady nerve and a clear vision of where he's going.

No, he never considered leaving Fulham and told the FA that as soon as they came knocking. No, he has no problem working with Howard Wilkinson, who sat beside him looking not a bit put-out at having to step back into the shadows after his own "15 minutes of fame" following Glenn Hoddle's sacking.

"It would be stupid and irresponsible of me to leave Howard Wilkinson walking around outside with what he has to offer," said Keegan. "We are a team and together can be successful."

And, no, he never spoke about his Fulham chairman Mohammed Al Fayed - a sentiment he revealed sensibly in response to a question about whether the billionaire businessman should receive a British passport.

"Oh, that is a googly," said Keegan, with a big grin which suggested he appreciated the questioner's nerve if nothing else.

"But I do shop at Harrods and so does my wife, which isn't too good for me."

Keegan may be an open book, as he likes to describe himself, but he is far too adept at dodging and weaving to be caught with anything so nakedly controversial in the manner of Hoddle.

But, despite the asides, the theme kept coming around to one burning issue. How on earth can you manage England part-time and in the short-term?

Give him half-an-hour, however, and Keegan could convince the most stoical football observer that it is the only way to get results.

For instance, he already knows the first thing he will be doing in the Wembley dressingroom when the crucial Euro 2000 qualifier with Poland comes around - pinning up Frenchman Frank Leboeuf's comments questioning whether England's players still possess the "bulldog spirit."

"Maybe he was misquoted, maybe it was in The Times," said Keegan alluding to the paper which orchestrated Hoddle's downfall. "But I'll pin that quote on the wall.

For Keegan football revolves around heart and passion and good old-fashioned common sense. None of that rocket science and technical mumbo jumbo employed by other so-called experts.

"If you all scribbled down your 22 and I did they wouldn't be a major difference," he said. "There are 30 players good enough to play for England in this country and we all know who they are." So, yes, Keegan will keep Alan Shearer as captain. "I know him, I trust him and believe in him." He will also encourage England's players to belt out the national anthem on matchdays.

"Some people spend seven days doing a job that others do in half a day," said Keegan. "All I can say is that I am one million per cent behind the football team."

Of that there has never been any doubt.