By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
As the final Saturday of the 2015/2016 Premier League season
approaches, I continue my new series called ‘Tales of Survival’ and ‘Tales
of the Drop’. I will be looking back to previous Premier League
campaigns with stories of survival and other tales that ended in the pain of
relegation.
Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City have
already featured in this series. This edition focuses on Newcastle United’s
disastrous campaign in 2008/2009. The Magpies might have been a big name with a
huge support, but slipped out of the league after 16 rollercoaster seasons in
the top-flight. Here is the tale of this particular sorry season.
Keegan undermined
Newcastle icon Kevin Keegan was the manager at the start of
the campaign, and expectations were high for the club to return to the glory
days of the reign in the mid-90s when they were nicknamed ‘The Entertainers’ for
their cavalier attacking approach to the game.
Jonas Gutierrez, Fabricio Coloccini and Sebastien Bassong
all arrived in pre-season and four points were collected from the first two
games of the season. This included a very creditable 1-1 draw at defending
champions Manchester United on the opening weekend. Even a 3-0 defeat to
Arsenal wasn’t seen as a complete disaster. Shortly afterwards though, Keegan
was gone.
Reports of disagreements over transfer policy emerged at the
start of September between Keegan and the board. The manager was understood to
be furious with the sale of one of his key assets, James Milner, who joined
Aston Villa in a £12m deal. Spanish player Xisco arrived too – a player ‘King
Kev’ claimed to have known absolutely nothing about.
He tendered his resignation on 4 September after days of
reports about his long-term future on Tyneside. The fans were absolutely incensed
and began bitter protests against owner Mike Ashley and Director of Football
Dennis Wise.
Chris Hughton took caretaker charge on Keegan’s exit from
the club, whilst the directors’ box was noticeably empty for the club’s next
home match to newly-promoted Hull City. Defeat to the Tigers’ on the day just
added to the growing tension around St James’ Park.
Kinnear arrives
Form didn’t improve under Hughton, but it was still a real
shock to see Ashley appoint Joe Kinnear as manager at the end of September.
Kinnear hadn’t been a top-flight manager since his tenure ended at Wimbledon in
1999 with health problems.
He got a mixed reception from the fans and a hostile one
from the media too, but the players did seem to respond. Victories over West
Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa in late October took the club out of the bottom
three. In amongst this though was a damaging 2-1 defeat to local rivals
Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. It
was their first loss at their Tyne & Wear rivals in 28 years.
A six-game unbeaten run steadied the ship as autumn turned
to winter. This included a handsome 3-0 away victory against Portsmouth which
was the Mapgies’ first victory on their travels for the season. They sat 12th
when league leaders Liverpool FC visited the Toon Army for the club’s last game
of a traumatic 2008.
Shay Given was in sensational form and had it not been for
his heroics, the scoreline could have been double figures. The visitors’
eventually won 5-1 and whilst they went marching on, the plight of Newcastle
was about to get worse.
Given was sold towards the end of the January transfer
window to big-spending Manchester City. Also departing was Charles N’Zogbia.
The Frenchman was livid when Kinnear mispronounced his name in a television
interview, called him ‘Insomnia!’ N’Zogbia gladly departed
for Wigan Athletic.
Kevin Nolan did arrive from Bolton Wanderers, as did Ryan
Taylor as part of the N’Zogbia deal but as February began, it was clear
Newcastle were going to be in a relegation scrap.
JANUARY
31ST 2009 TABLE
|
POS
|
TABLE
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
PTS
|
|
15
|
Portsmouth
|
23
|
6
|
6
|
11
|
23
|
38
|
-15
|
24
|
|
16
|
Stoke City
|
24
|
6
|
6
|
12
|
21
|
38
|
-17
|
24
|
|
17
|
NEWCASTLE UNITED
|
23
|
5
|
8
|
10
|
29
|
39
|
-10
|
23
|
|
18
|
Blackburn Rovers
|
24
|
5
|
8
|
10
|
27
|
38
|
-11
|
23
|
|
19
|
Middlesbrough
|
24
|
5
|
7
|
12
|
18
|
35
|
-17
|
22
|
|
20
|
West Bromwich Albion
|
24
|
6
|
4
|
14
|
22
|
44
|
-22
|
22
|
Another managerial change
On 7 February, Joe Kinnear was taken ill and it soon emerged
he would require a triple heart bypass operation. He had to stand down as
manager. Hughton took over once again in a caretaker capacity. This time,
former Tottenham defender Colin Calderwood arrived to help the Irishman out.
They won 3-2 at the Hawthorns on their first game together
as a management duo, but it would turn out to be the club’s only win in this
period.
The next game at home to Everton saw Nolan sent off for a
terrible tackle on Victor Anichebe which still is considered as one of the
worst fouls seen in Premier League history. Having been a stalwart at Bolton for
so many years, Nolan’s poor performances in his first few months as a Newcastle
player were a real surprise.
A 3-1 home defeat to Arsenal in late March saw Newcastle
drop back into the bottom three. Sensing relegation now as a real possibility, Mike
Ashley reached out for a Toon Hero.
Even Shearer can’t save them
Alan Shearer was persuaded away from the BBC Match of the
Day sofa for a spot in the dugout as Newcastle manager. The club’s record
goalscorer would take over management of first-team affairs for the final eight
games of the season. The goal was simple; keep his beloved side in the Premier
League.
Having won just once in any competition since 21 December,
Newcastle were on a sinking ship out of the division. Luckily for them, Hull
City were in even worse form and Sunderland were in real danger, which meant
the Magpies weren’t quite cut-off from the rest of the division.
 |
| Even Geordie hero Alan Shearer could save Newcastle in 2009 |
Even Shearer (pictured) couldn’t save them despite his best efforts. He
brought former Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie in as an assistant but could
only win one of his eight games – a 3-1 home win against Middlesbrough.
That result did take Newcastle out of the relegation zone on
goal difference, but a home loss to Fulham five days later dropped them back
into the red, as Hull collected a huge point away to Bolton.
On the final day, Newcastle travelled to Villa Park, knowing
they had to win and hope Hull and Sunderland both lost.
They got part of the bargain, as Hull lost to Manchester
United and Chelsea beat Sunderland, but they couldn’t capitalise. Gareth Barry’s
38th minute effort deflected off Damien Duff and defeated Steve
Harper.
Try as they might, Newcastle never looked like equalising. Youngster
David Edgar was dismissed in stoppage time. Despite having the likes of Nolan,
Joey Barton, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Nicky Butt in their squad,
Newcastle United were relegated to the Championship. It was a terrible campaign
in the top-flight.
FINAL 2015/2016 TABLE
– THE BOTTOM SIX
|
POS
|
TABLE
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
PTS
|
|
15
|
Blackburn Rovers
|
38
|
10
|
11
|
17
|
40
|
60
|
-20
|
41
|
|
16
|
Sunderland
|
38
|
9
|
9
|
20
|
34
|
54
|
-20
|
36
|
|
17
|
Hull City
|
38
|
8
|
11
|
19
|
39
|
64
|
-25
|
35
|
|
18
|
NEWCASTLE UNITED
|
38
|
7
|
13
|
18
|
40
|
59
|
-19
|
34
|
|
19
|
Middlesbrough
|
38
|
7
|
11
|
20
|
28
|
57
|
-29
|
32
|
|
20
|
West Bromwich Albion
|
38
|
8
|
8
|
22
|
36
|
67
|
-31
|
32
|
In the days afterwards, unpopular owner Mike Ashley tried to
sell the club for the second time, but couldn’t find a buyer. Alan Shearer’s
contract wasn’t renewed and he returned to punditry work whilst big-earners
like Duff, Owen, Geremi and Marc Viduka were all released.
Chris Hughton returned as permanent manager and guided
Newcastle back to the top-flight at the first attempt in 2010.
Now, it is the job of Rafa Benitez to try and ensure the
Newcastle crop of 2016 don’t repeat what happened to the squad of 2009. A
four-game unbeaten run has given them a real chance of avoiding a crushing
relegation. The next nine days will decide Newcastle’s fate.
And although he still isn’t well-liked by many supporters, Mike
Ashley is still the owner of Newcastle United.
NEXT: Tales of the Drop – Manchester City in 1995/1996
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