Kevin Keegan's demand for a united front within his squad has already come back to haunt the England coach.

On the morning after England's dream of European Championship glory evaporated, Keegan said: 'If any player says anything detrimental about a coach, you've got a problem.'

Little did he know that Martin Keown, Arsenal and England's 33-year-old defensive stalwart, was about to break ranks in devastating fashion.

The Arsenal defender's observations will have wounded the sensitive England coach. Keown said: 'We were inept tactically and exposed against teams we could have beaten.

'We lacked a pattern in our play at times and individual and collective tactical mistakes cost us dearly.'

The fact that Keown yesterday issued a statement clarifying his opinions was purely cosmetic. He insisted he did not want to cause division in the England camp. Yet, crucially, at no point did Keown retract the criticisms.

The identity of the player pointing a finger at England's shortcomings could not be more significant. Keown was singled out for deafening acclaim by England fans after the Romania defeat.

They recognised that, alongside David Beckham and Paul Scholes, Keown was one of the few successes in an unfortunate campaign. It was Keown who bravely battled to repel the Romanian raiders with a series of tackles and brave blocks. His status within the game has never been higher.

Elsewhere on the Charleroi pitch, the England coach was embracing Alan Shearer as his skipper sadly marched into international retirement.

It was a poignant moment for both men. Keegan has fiercely defended the player he signed for Newcastle in a British record £15million deal. Shearer is an unequivocal Keegan loyalist.

Undoubtedly there are players in the England camp who have warmed to Keegan's particular brand of man-management. He remains one of the boys, ready to join a card school or discuss horse racing with a group of players who enjoy immense wealth and many of whom have invested in thoroughbred livestock.

But there are suggestions that, if you are not a member of the card school or racing fraternity, you are left on the fringes of Keegan's kingdom. The Manchester United play-ers and former skipper Tony Adams, for example, tend to find their own fun.

In many respects, divisions in any camp are inevitable. No manager can keep 22 individuals as shiny, happy people throughout a campaign.

But Keown is not the only player to question Keegan's management. A few weeks ago Steve McManaman was quietly describing a scenario which could be deemed rank hypocrisy on Keegan's part.

After all, Keegan was the man who raged that Bobby Robson, after his appointment as England manager, had not personally explained his decision to terminate the player's international career.

McManaman had limped out of England's squad shortly before the first leg play-off against Scotland last autumn. For six months he never heard a word from his national boss despite recovering from injury to emerge as a star of Real Madrid's Champions League success.

Keegan's man-management skills were suddenly lacking, yet he had painful personal experience of being left in the international wilderness.

Inside the technical group UEFA have set up to scrutinise every match at Euro 2000, there is an over-whelming view that England blatantly under-achieved and that our players are much better than appearances have suggested. Many Premier League managers support that view.

Keegan's tactics have been severely questioned even if, when asked to publicly evaluate the England coach's impact at the competition, leading Continental tacticians have preferred to keep their views strictly off the record.

Some people now question Keegan's ability to put his mind to the problems of football tactics or match strategy. On his appointment he admitted that coaching is not his strong point.

Keegan possesses immense personal charisma. He exudes the confidence of a man who has views and who believes those views are right.

It may be more the mantra of a game-show host than a football tactician, but nobody can doubt Keegan's prowess as a quick-witted master of repartee.

That is his strength.