KEVIN KEEGAN, of course, is no further away than the quaint Welsh seaside village of Portmeirion. He is living in the room once occupied by Patrick McGoohan and refuses absolutely to say why he resigned.

There, unless the Sun has broken through, the matter rests. In the meantime the reasons put forward on Keegan's behalf are manifold, ranging from a falling out with Sir John Hall, the Newcastle United chairman, to disaffection among the players.

Yet Newcastle's performance at Villa Park on Saturday suggested that Keegan's only statement on the matter, that he felt he had taken the team as far as he could, was still the most logical explanation. Unless, that is, he feared the team would soon take him round the bend.

For all the hype that surrounded the game, a profusion of television cameras, microphones and notebooks, and even more emotional Toon support than usual, it turned out to be a thoroughly normal Newcastle day. A two goal lead was squandered and if Dwight Yorke's finishing had been as incisive as it was at St James' Park in September, when the Tobagan's hat trick had enabled Aston Villa to run Keegan's side mighty close at 4-3 after the visitors had had Mark Draper sent off, the caretakership of Terry McDermott would surely have begun with a defeat.

In the Villa Park interview room after the match McDermott kept such a low profile that at times only the greying curls were visible above the rostrum. He could not really say that the lads had done it all for Kev, not after they had scored twice by the 21st minute only to concede two goals by the 52nd, so he merely observed that Keegan would have been proud of the good bits.

As indeed he always was. But the flat spots got him down in the end and it was not hard to believe that had Keegan still been in charge Saturday's match would have been followed by another bout of histrionics. Either that or McDermott would have been left to do the talking anyway.

Two moments on Saturday epitomised the contradictions of Keegan's Newcastle - the beautifully weighted pass from Peter Beardsley which found Alan Shearer shaking off Steve Staunton to score the opening goal just past the quarter hour, and the catastrophic ball which Darren Peacock decided to play across his own half shortly after Villa had drawn level at 2-2.

As Shaka Hislop tore beyond his penalty area and collided with Philippe Albert, Yorke lobbed the ball towards but eventually wide of the empty net. Five minutes later, Albert having brought down Savo Milosevic, Yorke wasted the penalty by placing his kick too close to the goalkeeper, Hi slop making a better save to deny the Villa striker a goal from the rebound.

Another two minutes and Staunton had sent Yorke through a square defence. But again the chance was missed, whereupon Yorke departed with a thigh strain, along with Aston Villa's principal hope of victory. While it was the second time in three matches that Brian Little's team had come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, a return of six points from five fixtures against their closer rivals, with Liverpool at Anfield to come, is hardly championship form.

At least Villa Park continues to enjoy one of its more stable periods. Little, who has signed a new contract, remains living proof that there is more to football management than spending money.

On Saturday he helped turn the game Aston Villa's way by the simple expedient of withdrawing Gareth Southgate, just back after injury, to defence and advancing Staunton to midfield. The regularity which Staunton's accurate long passes split the Newcastle defence in the second half gave Villa a fresh momentum.

The nature of Newcastle's second goal - a sharp piece of opportunism by Lee Clark who found the net from 30 yards after Mark Bosnich, losing his footing, had sent a clearance straight to him - left Villa subdued for a while, but hope was restored seven minutes before half time when Yorke turned in a low, deflected centre from Alan Wright.

Seven minutes into the second half Yorke's backheel sent in Staunton for a shot which Hislop could only push into the path of Milosevic, who brought the scores level. Villa will be disappointed at failing to force a victory which appeared to be theirs for the taking, Newcastle more than a little relieved.