mercurial talaria Newcastle - the strongest squad

Newcastle - the strongest squad ever to be relegated from the Premier League?
Posted by Gringo Maclure in Newcastle, Premiership | 25 May 2009
At the start of the final day of the season, 4 teams sat poised between survival and relegation. All 4 lost. Newcastle, who with just a draw could have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat,mercurial talaria, went out in a limp and bitterly dissapointing fashion thanks to Damien Duff's own goal against Aston Villa. All eyes are on Shearer - will he stay?

Most commentators start with the revolving door of managers and the turmoil within the board as pointing to Newcastle's demise. Without a doubt, that's obviously crucial. But what about the players? Newcastle could well have the best, most-experienced, most-expensive squad ever to be relegated from the Premier League. If there are other examples that could match them I'd like to hear your thoughts...

Granted there have been injuries, some players are in their twilight years,mercurial pas cher, personality issues and plenty of sulking, but if the blame lies at the feet of the managers it must surely be for not getting this lot to play at even half their potential capacity. However, I would say a significant portion of blame must rest with Newcastle's big names on the pitch too.

1. Newcastle's squad includes players who have won things at the highest level. Damien Duff, Geremi, Alan Smith, Nicky Butt,mercurial vapor ii, Michael Owen and Obefemi Martins have all won (frequently on multiple occasions) coveted domestic prizes in their respective leagues and played at the highest level in Europe. Why couldn't the lessons learned from earlier in their career be transferred to a club in a dog-fight at the other end of the table? Why couldn't they feed off the experience of each other to lift the team when the going got tough?

2. Newcastle's squad includes players who were legends and/or the best of other Premiership clubs. Mark Viduka, despite his ample waist-line and Berbatov-esque aloofness was a legend at Leeds and Middlesborough and a proven Premier League scorer. Joey Barton's career has been in decline (a product of his on and off the pitch behaviour) since 2006 when he was the best player at Manchester City before then. Kevin Nolan was the captain fantastic of Bolton 2 or 3 years ago, taking the Wanderers into Europe and bagging a dozen goals from midfield in the 2003/04 season. What surprises me is that he above all the others hasn't been able to show more leadership and presence on the pitch.

3. Signings. It's true that in recent seasons Newcastle have shed some good players - in particular, Shay Given (the best thing about that shakey back line in recent years) and Milner (seemingly much more content at Villa) and N'Zogbia (whose career has been reinvigorated under Steve Bruce at Wigan) . But, with two Argentine Internationals (Colocconi and Guiterrez) and Metz defender Bassong Newcastle were still splashing out and attempting to bolster their squad with seasoned performers in the areas that mattered. Steve Harper in goal is certainly not the worst the Premiership has to offer in that position either.

So, what now? The wage bill and reputation of most of Newcastle's starting XI could well result in mass exodos. Almost everyone I have mentioned above will want out if another club comes knocking. Perhaps, some long-term squad members who are "barely" Premier League quality will stay on - the Steve Taylors and Danny Guthries of the team. However, the Toon Army are staring into an abyss. Can they turn the ship around before doing "a Leeds"?
Comments
1. At May 26, 2009 2:33 AM Lenny wrote:
Agree with what you say. How did they do it? They have a lot of big stars in their team. It is unbelievable that a team with Michael Owen can actually relegate.
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