2008–09 Newcastle United F.C. season

Keegan resigns

In the summer transfer window, Newcastle United signed Jonás Gutiérrez, Danny Guthrie, Sébastien Bassong and Fabricio Coloccini. There were also a number of departures from the first team, most notably that of James Milner to Aston Villa, whose departure was rumoured to have sparked disagreements between Keegan and the board, with Keegan claiming he was not consulted about his contract renewal. Shortly after the Arsenal game in the opening 2009 season, Spanish under-21 international Xisco was unveiled at St James' Park by Director of Football Dennis Wise.

On 1 September, there were widespread media reports that Keegan had either resigned or been sacked. While these reports were revealed to be premature, Keegan did tender his resignation on 4 September, citing fury over a lack of control over transfers and interference from the board, reflecting upon the sale of James Milner and the arrival of Xisco, a player he claimed to have known nothing about. Many Newcastle fans were furious with the perceived mistreatment of Keegan; public anger was directed at owner Mike Ashley, Executive Director Dennis Wise, Vice-Chairman Tony Jimenez and Chairman Derek Llambias, who were perceived to have forced Keegan out of the club.

Shortly after Keegan's departure, the League Managers Association warned Newcastle United to develop a structure which would satisfy the next manager to avoid a similar situation occurring again. They also reported that Keegan would consider a return to the club should they develop a structure he would be happy with. The club hit back at the allegations, claiming Keegan was aware of the structure when he joined. In December, however, following reports that Ashley was set to end his bid to sell United, it was reported that a legal battle was commencing between Ashley and Keegan, with Ashley rumoured to be claiming damage to his public image and Keegan claiming for breach of contract, following backing from the League Managers Association.

Joe Kinnear

Assistant manager Chris Hughton took over as caretaker manager for several weeks, during which Newcastle were eliminated from the League Cup by Tottenham Hotspur and lost all their league matches. On 26 September, Hughton was replaced by Joe Kinnear as "interim manager." Kinnear's appointment proved completely unimpressive with the fans and resulted in Kinnear profusely verbally abusing and swearing at the media upon his first media interview. He then announced he would not speak to any national press again and would only speak with the local media. In his first two matches in charge, Newcastle managed 2–2 draws with Everton and Manchester City, coming from behind both times (the latter with ten men).

In the last week of January, key players Shay Given and Charles N'Zogbia left, causing an already thin squad to lose more talent. Amongst ongoing criticism of the club board following Keegan's departure, Joe Kinnear managed five wins, ten draws, and 11 losses, and talks opened between Joe Kinnear and the board as to whether he would consider a full-time position the following season. On 7 February, however, the club's torrid season took another major blow when Kinnear was admitted to hospital following heart problems, and Chris Hughton once again took charge of the team, this time with the help of Colin Calderwood. By the end of March, the club was struggling to find form and keep pace with the opposition. With scarce wins over the course of the season, the team now faced a relegation battle.

Alan Shearer

Keeping to his decision not to rush Kinnear back into his role too shortly after his surgery, Mike Ashley brought in club icon Alan Shearer to take over from Kinnear as the club's interim manager on 1 April. As Shearer's appointment was announced, Dennis Wise resigned as director of football and the club announced there were no plans to replace him in the role. Shearer hired Iain Dowie as his assistant coach and began his reign as caretaker manager, losing 0–2 to Chelsea at St James' Park and drawing 1–1 away at Stoke City. After losing 1–0 to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and drawing 0–0 at home with Portsmouth, the club was plunged even deeper into the tight relegation fight. The ignominious 3–0 loss to title-chasing Liverpool at Anfield on 3 May, with Joey Barton being sent off on 77 minutes for a dangerous tackle, left the club in 18th place. Shearer recorded his first victory as manager on 11 May, defeating fellow strugglers Middlesbrough 3–1, lifting the club out of the relegation zone to 17th place on goal difference.

The feel-good factor did not last, however, as the following week, Newcastle slumped to a 0–1 home defeat to Fulham to fall back in the relegation zone with only the away game to Aston Villa left to play. This left the club needing to better the results of Hull City and Sunderland to avoid relegation. Despite Sunderland, Hull and Middlesbrough all losing their matches, Newcastle United were relegated to the Championship for the first time since 1993 after a 1–0 defeat to Aston Villa.

The club was then placed for sale by Ashley, who noted the club's terrible season following bad decisions on his part, which he believed led the club into major financial loss and constant criticism following relegation. Ashley said, "It has been catastrophic for everybody. I've lost my money and I've made terrible decisions. Now I want to sell it as soon as I can." Newcastle released an official statement on the club's sale, including a press phone number and email address which was quickly made further public by the national press, although the address provided was merely for general enquiries. This resulted in a large number of hoax bids being sent, most of which were made by rival Sunderland supporters. More controversy was once again caused by Dennis Wise, who claimed the club were still paying him £80,000 a month despite his departure in April, and claimed it was a factor in why Ashley was struggling to sell the club.

Compensation to Keegan

On 2 October, a Premier League arbitration panel ruled in favour of Kevin Keegan on his dispute with the club. The club confessed that they had lied to the media, public and staff, and that their correspondence on Keegan's departure was just "PR". Keegan confirmed his delight at the outcome, stating he felt the £2 million pay-out + interest fully justified his departure and mistreatment by the club. Dennis Wise announced to the press that he did not feel solely responsible for the situation that developed at the club, but yet did not wish to contradict or debate Keegan's accusations, although he announced deep sorrow over the situation and felt his career has been left "in tatters".

The panel ruled in Keegan’s favour, citing that player Nacho González was signed by Dennis Wise against Keegan's wishes, but also against the principles of the generally understood role of a Premier League manager, which usually states the manager has the final decision on player signings. The panel revealed that Wise asked Keegan to review González from YouTube, no more than 24 hours before the closing of the summer transfer window, from which Keegan refuted the player. The club revealed to the panel that Keegan had never been informed his word was not final and that they were not in a position to sack him should he not have agreed to their demands.

Keegan rejected talk of a third return to the club, feeling the fans had "had enough," leaving the role open for Chris Hughton to become full-time manager.

Team kit

The team kit for the 2008–09 season was produced by Adidas and Northern Rock remained as the main sponsor. The home kit remained the same for the season while the new away kit was revealed to the public on 20 June 2008.

Managers

Chronological list of events

Appearances, goals and cards

In

Out

Competitions

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