All is Not Lost…or is it?

By Nick Raynor
December 12 2004

17 games in and we are in 12th place. We are closer to a relegation place that we are to 4th. Is there still hope of us making the Champions League? My thoughts.

‘Newcastle don’t always have the best starts to the League campaign’, I thought. Then I realised we were 17 games in. That’s nearly half-way through and we are lying in 12^th. Why?

It all started when Sir Bobby Robson had a poor start earning just 2 points from 4 games and lying in 16^th position, already 6 points off 4^th place. His job security was de-stabilized when Freddy Shepherd announced he would not get a new contract at the end of the year. The 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa and leaving Alan Shearer on the bench was too much for Freddy Shepherd and Bobby was sacked leaving a search for a new manager.

There didn’t seem to be anybody perfect for the job so Graham Souness was appointed even though he was not many people’s first choice. Toon fans questioned his tactical knowledge but nobody could argue that he wouldn’t be able to sort out off-the-pitch problems that had plagued Robson.

We had far too many players with ideas above their station. One example was Kieron Dyer infamously refusing the captains armband like a spoilt child simply because he was being played on the right wing and not in the middle. Pathetic. This was one of the problems that meant Newcastle were not in the top 4.

It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine instantly. Craig Bellamy is remembered for swearing at Souness when substituted, but after the honeymoon period was over, the off-the-pitch problems died down. When Souness was officially incharge, we were unbeaten for the 9 games, winning 7 of them. Admittedly, none of these matches were large challenges, the biggest coming at home to Manchester City where we won 4-3 in a second half-thriller. Even so, Souness had done as he was expected to do and beat the lower teams.

It started to go wrong when we lost to Bolton 2-1. It was the first loss under Souness but confidence was still high nethertheless. 1 loss in 10 games under Graham was nothing to complain about. That left us lying 8^th in the table, just 5 points off 4^th place.

Newcastle hit back after the Bolton game with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Dinamo Tbilisi in the UEFA Cup. It was the game afterwards where disaster struck. Newcastle lost at home to Fulham 4-1 placing us 9^th and 6 points off a Champions League place. Such a heavy defeat let spirit in the Newcastle camp deflate and the opening 12 games of the league, which, in theory, were all winnable, had gone. The team were simply poor against Fulham. Conceding 4 goals in 20 minutes was absolutely shocking.

Chelsea in the Carling Cup next. It is a well-known fact that Newcastle are chasing victory in the cup competitions, but this was a hard tie and we crashed out, losing 2-0 AET and were very unlucky not to get through. Losing 4-1 to Fulham, then playing their hearts out and still losing to Chelsea got the players heads down.

Magpies had to face Manchester United next week and lost 3-1. It was a pity because the team worked hard and were unlucky not to get at least a point from the game. Effort had never been a question. The dedication, work-rate and spirit on the pitch was unquestionable. Throughout the poor run of games under Souness the team always got less than they deserved.

However, we did get back to our winning ways with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace getting us back to 9^th, 6 points off 4^th and then a 4-0 hammering of French-team Sochaux did wonders for the Magpies spirit. It continued with a well-earned draw against high-flying Everton.

Chelsea was up next. This time in the league. The staff, the team and the fans believed Newcastle could win this as we had come so close in the Carling Cup, but to no avail. We outplayed the league-leaders for the best part of 60 minutes and how we did not even score I will never know. We lost 4-0 eventually with 4 goals in half-an-hour for Chelsea- enough to lower morale in the Tyneside camp but there was still belief.

We then came into the game against Pompey not exactly flying-high but still with some confidence. Unfortunately we couldn’t muster 3 points and had to settle for a draw, again, outplaying the opposition but not being able to finish them off and getting less than we deserve.

Now looking back at that, it doesn’t look that bad. We had a great run, lost to some good teams but the only major slip up under Souness was Fulham.

So why, I ask, are we sitting in 12^th place, 9 points off a Champions League spot? Here’s why.

Last season, there were 5 main contenders: Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and ourselves. Now the top 3 all got their spots as expected and it was a battle between ourselves and Liverpool which unfortunately, we lost. The threat from the likes of Charlton, Aston Villa and Birmingham last season put pressure on us but they were never really contenders.

This season is different; many other teams are over-performing at the moment which is why we are lying closer to relegation than we are to 4^th.

Everton are the obvious ones doing better than expected. No; ‘better than expected’, is an understatement, Everton, are on fire! This is the team who finished 17^th last season and are now in 2^nd place which is absolutely amazing and after beating Liverpool in the Merseyside derby it looks like they can maintain the great form they have. They have been consistent, never slipping up and getting good results against the top clubs. They have caused a serious disruption for other teams and well done to them. They are actually challenging for the league title now and if they continue, they will get a Champions League place or at the worst a UEFA Cup spot. It is almost frightening to think that they sold Wayne Rooney, are better without him, and in January, they have the money from Rooney’s transfer to strengthen the squad further.

Middlesbrough are another team doing well. The signings of Viduka and Hasselbaink in the summer have boosted the squad and gave them some real quality. High transfer fees and a high wage budget has paid off for Steve McClaren. Downing has also proved himself a star for Middlesbrough and is challenging for the left wing position for England.

Villa and Charlton have, like last season, performed well, challenging for a UEFA Cup spot and basically getting in the way. Liverpool have struggled but have kept up with the pace and are still challenging.

If you include ourselves, there are 9 clubs challenging for the Champions League spots, compared to the 5 teams last season.

With so many teams being able to challenge for Europe it is making it difficult for us to rise up the league. This time last season we were 4 points for the better and seven places higher. If we beat Liverpool, Blackburn and Arsenal then we will be on the same amount of points as a year ago but probably not in a Champions League spot which proves the theory over more competition.

Ok, let’s move onto the team itself. The forwards are great; Shearer, Bellamy and Kluivert have proved difficult for Souness to choose over this season and we have been scoring. We also have a awesome midfield with bargain-signing Nicky Butt proving vital to the team. Jenas has really improved as a player too and has emerged as vice-captain in the absence of Shearer. Given is fantastic between the posts but we all know where the problems lay…

…The defence. The defence that have conceded the joint-highest amount of goals in the Premiership this season (38 along with bottom-placed W.B.A). That is disgusting. That is absolutely appalling for a club with the quality, the fans, the stadium, the ambition and the reputation that we have.

Jonathon Woodgate was amazing for us in defence. Last season, we never lost a game with Woody in the heart of defence. True, he didn’t play that many games through injury but I think all will agree, he was fantastic when fit. So when, in the summer, a bid from Real Madrid believed to be in the region of £13.24 million came in, Freddy Shepherd accepted it.

We questioned it because we loved him and was the soul of an otherwise shaky Newcastle defence. He was upset to leave and he is a magnificent player. It turned out to be a very wise move by Shepherd as Woody is yet to play for Real Madrid with a recurring thigh injury that is keeping him out.

So clearly Newcastle needed a new centre-half. We had Carr and Bernard as wing-backs who are top quality but in the centre of defence they were limited and not of Woodgate’s class.

Bramble has plenty of potential but makes too many mistakes too easily. Hughes and Elliot are OK but not Champions League quality and Steven Taylor is inexperienced, occasionally error prone. So everybody expects a new defender to be signed, but for some crazy reason, Shepherd begins to chase Rooney.

We had 3 top strikers; Bellamy, Shearer and Kluivert and there was Shepherd chasing Rooney. We needed cover in defence but Shepherd went for a big-name – NOT WHAT WE NEEDED, something now which Shepherd and every true Newcastle fan are suffering for. To make things worse, we also failed in our attempts to sign him as he picked Manchester United where he is now an even bigger star. The transfer window closes and we are stuck with our lacklustre defence.

Now when Souness came in he did make an effort by bringing in Ronny Johnson as he was a free agent but Johnson is still not Woodgate quality and come the transfer window Newcastle will have to sign quality defenders.

The money is available and Souness has already stated he wants to bring 3 defenders to Tyneside in January. 3 quality defenders could pick the team up. When the defensive problems are sorted we are a complete team.

Now who to get…well there has been many rumours of at least 10 different defenders. Come January, my choice of centre-half’s would be Upson and Boumsong. Picture that back line; Carr, Upson, Boumsong and Bernard. That’s a great back line and one that could easily win us 4^th place.

Maybe the season is too far gone to get 4^th. Is it over? No chance.

Given the chance at the start of the season, I would have taken cup success over 4^th place as I expect many other Toon fans would have. It is too early to predict what we will win. The UEFA Cup is still in the group stage but we have done very well in that so far, leading and hoping to win the group. The FA Cup is only at the third round and providing we beat Yeading we will make it to the 4^th round. Admittedly, for the last few years I have said, “This is our year to win a trophy” but we haven’t so we just have to keep hoping. We made the semi-final in the UEFA Cup last year and I see no reason why we can’t go one step further and reach the final. The only obstacle I can foresee is our defence again. Depending on who we sign in January, they may be cup-tied meaning we have to revert back to our original defence but the only place it hasn’t let us this season is in Europe.

Hope is not lost. Liverpool are next and we can beat them. They are on the backfoot; they have a weak strike force so our poor defence may be able to keep them out. After them are Blackburn who after beating 3-0 earlier in the season I am confident that we can go there and take 3 points back to Tyneside. Finally in the Christmas month is Arsenal. I don’t expect us to beat the champions but if we took 6 points from the other 2 matches I would not be down-hearted at a loss to Arsenal.

The real test will be when we have made our January signings. If we still can’t finish off our opponents and our defence is slipping then I seriously doubt we will gain 4^th. We need to show some serious bouncebackability to be playing Champions League football next season but we do have a tendency to be the ‘Comeback Kings’ so why not again this season.

Thanks for reading.