Chairman Chris Mort FA Cup Fourth round | Premier League 12th League Cup Third Round | |
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Manager Sam Allardyce
(left by mutual consent on 9 January)
Kevin Keegan Top goalscorer League:
Michael Owen (11)
All:
Michael Owen (13) | ||
During the 2007-08 season, Newcastle United participated in the Premier League. Newcastle started the season reasonably well under the management of Sam Allardyce and looked to be in the hunt for European places by the end of October, but a poor November saw the team slide down the table as fans began doubting Allardyce's ability. Despite a reasonable upturn in early December, the team fell further form wise and in the end Mike Ashley chose to terminate Allardyce's contract by mutual consent.
Contents
- Season summary
- Chronological list of events
- First team squad
- Left club during season
- Reserve squad
- Trialists
- Premier League
- References
To the surprise of many football fans, the club re-appointed Kevin Keegan as manager, but he was unable to stop the team sliding down the league and fans begun to doubt the appointment. However, Keegan was able to save Newcastle from relegation and the club finished the season in 12th. The team kit for the 2007-08 season was produced by Adidas. The main shirt sponsor was Northern Rock.
Season summary
Manager Sam Allardyce signed several players, including David Rozehnal, Caçapa, Habib Beye, Alan Smith, Joey Barton and Mark Viduka. The season started brightly for Newcastle, with two wins and two draws from their first five games, but they then became the first (and only) side to lose to Derby County that season. Newcastle won only five out of their next 25 Premier League games and could only draw with Derby in the reverse fixture. They also made a third round exit to Arsenal in the League Cup, but made a FA Cup third round draw with Championship club Stoke City. The game against Stoke, however, proved to be Allardyce's last in charge of Newcastle; three days later he was sacked by owner Mike Ashley after pressure from the fans, who were unimpressed with his exclusion of fan favourites from the starting line-up and poor results, despite Allardyce only having been there eight months.
Critics consistently questioned Allardyce's exit from the club, claiming he may not have been given the time needed to impact upon the club in the build-up to the next appointment. There were a number of candidates lined up for the job, including Harry Redknapp, Didier Deschamps, Gérard Houllier and even former England and Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren. Redknapp turned down the opportunity to manage the club, claiming he felt his job at Portsmouth was yet to be completed.
On 16 January, it was sensationally announced that Kevin Keegan would be returning to the club for a third time, after previous spells both as a player and manager.
The announcement had an immediate impact. On that day the club had a scheduled FA Cup third round replay against Stoke City at home, which was not expected to reach even half capacity; but, upon distribution of the news, 20,000 extra tickets were sold within a couple of hours and the kick-off was delayed to allow the extra fans time to get into the game. The Keegan effect seemed to work on the pitch too as Newcastle convincingly beat Stoke 4–1, even though he was not in the dugout for the match, having arrived during the first half to sit with owner Mike Ashley and the directors.
Shortly after his appointment, Dennis Wise left his position as manager at Leeds United to become director of football at Newcastle. The creation of the new role at the club proved questionable amongst critics and fans, but both Wise and Keegan insisted that the manager would have the final say in all matters regarding the squad. Further appointments saw Tony Jimenez join the club as the vice-president of player recruitment and Jeff Vetere as technical co-ordinator. The idea was to complete a continental-style management structure working in support of Keegan, with Wise and Vetere making the initial assessment before calling in Jimenez to do the deal. David Williamson was also appointed, as director of operations in April.
Keegan's comeback initially did not live up to expectations, with a run of eight games without a win, an FA Cup exit and talk even of a relegation battle. March proved to be a turning point, and, following a change to an attacking line-up with Owen supporting Martins and Viduka up front, the team started to produce results in time for Keegan to maintain his perfect record in the Tyne-Wear derby with a 2–0 home win on 20 April, which put Newcastle's survival beyond all doubt and allowed Keegan to plan for his stated contract length of the next three seasons at the club. With a 2–2 away draw for the following game at West Ham United, the eight-game run of no wins had been turned into a seven-game unbeaten run with two games left to the end of the season. In the final table, Newcastle occupied 12th place on 43 points.
However, in April, Following speculation that Ashley had lost millions in a stock market venture, rumours of discontent with Wise and Ashley began to circulate after Keegan announced that he would not qualify for the Champions League, let alone challenge for the title, unless they provided him the financial backing required, which he was not receiving.
On 22 May, Habib Beye, signed by Allardyce at the start of the season, was named Newcastle's player of the season based on fan votes to a poll organised by the Evening Chronicle.
Chronological list of events
First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Trialists
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Premier League
Last updated: 7 May 2008