The Newcastle United Conundrum

How can one of England’s finest football clubs be on the verge of oblivion?

It’s a question many experts, pundits, fans and former players ask. How is it even possible for a club of Newcastle United’s stature to be in such a perilous position? The club once woe the spectators of English football, and that resonated throughout Europe in the mid-90s. Kevin Keegan and his men were once on the verge of doing the impossible, the unfathomable: in the 1995-96 season, Newcastle United were closing in on their first Premiership title, and which would have been their fifth English League title.

It was a miracle even being in such a position. The club faced relegation to the old third division, only for the club to be saved by Sir John Hall in 1992, when he became the new chairman and appointed Kevin Keegan, who then masterminded the club to promotion to the then-newly found and the more lucrative Premiership in 1992-93. Football of grandeur and excellence gripped the Gallowgate; this side was different, this side had something special, but it wasn’t enough as Newcastle United infamously dropped a 12-point lead to Manchester United, and gifted them the 1995-96 title. You could say the club has never recovered since.

High-profile managers and mediocre managers have come and gone. Sir Bobby Robson changed the club’s fortunes in his five years in charge; bringing great attacking football, but most importantly, bringing European football back to St. James’ Park and putting the club back on the map. The city once again had a club they could be proud of, and the city once again had a manager they could be proud of. Ignominiously, Sir Bobby Robson was sacked, despite finishing 5th in the previous season. Freddy Shepherd, who took the administrative duties from Sir John Hall and became club chairman, made the decision to sack one of England’s all-time greatest managers. The answer to quell any fears: the appointment of Graeme Souness.

The appointment was a disaster, as the club wasted money on flops such as: Jean-Alain Boumsong, Albert Luque, and now the club’s most expensive player Michael Owen at £16.8m. Again, managers came and went. Newcastle United were once again floundering in the Premier League. Sport magnate, Mike Ashley, expressed an interest in buying the club. The club needed a new direction; it needed a fresh impetus. With the success Ashley has had in business, and his triumph in turning around the prosperities of stagnant businesses, fans were optimistic when he bought the club in July 2007 for £134m.

Fast-forward to today, 03rd January 2016, Newcastle United are in an all-too familiar position: 18th in the Premier League and fighting for survival. During Ashley’s ongoing traumatic tenure, the club has deteriorated emphatically. The club hit its all-time low when they were relegated to the Championship in 2008-09; fortunately, then-club manager Chris Hughton managed to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. However, the ongoing mismanagement of the club has not stopped, nor has it slightly improved under Ashley.

As if the fans weren’t embarrassed and heartbroken enough with relegation to the Championship, Ashley and his sidekick, Derek Llambias, decided to change the name of St. James’ Park. The new name would be SportsDirect@St. James’ Park, which would then change to Sports Direct Arena, as the board deemed St. James’ Park not “commercially attractive.” A farcical, disrespectful and shameful impingement of the club’s history, this was an example of how the club was being run. In a stand of defiance and support for Newcastle United fans, Sky Sports’ presenter Jeff Stelling once said on his Gillette Soccer Saturday show, “I for one will be calling it St. James’ Park. My colleagues will be calling it St. James’ Park. It’s a hideous decision to re-name history.”

The only success under Ashley was during the 2011-12 season, where Newcastle United under Alan Pardew did brilliantly to finish 5th in the Premier League. Things quickly took a downward spiral as the club failed to invest from their 5th place-finish success. The club has neglected to listen to the fans in order to improve the club’s relationship with supporters. Bargain hunting in Europe in the hope of unearthing another Yohan Cabaye, so they can be sold at a profit, has proved to be catastrophic – yet, this bizarre transfer policy continues. Newcastle United managed to avoid relegation last season, but it went all the way down to the last game of the season.

The feckless Alan Pardew left, Newcastle United were in no danger of relegation, until they decided to replace Pardew with his assistant, John Carver. An incredulous decision that was almost fateful. Cancer survivor, Jonás Gutiérrez, scored for Newcastle in the final game of the season to ensure Premier League safety – within a matter of weeks, the player was released by the club by a telephone call. This was the ultimate epitome that summarised the club’s ethos.

Boycotts and protests have taken place in order to remove Mike Ashley as owner of Newcastle United. The shy, yet deceiving man, did his first live interview prior to the club’s final game of the season, last season. In what seemed like a rallying call to get supporters on his side, Ashley stated that he took full responsibility of the club’s plight and, from now on, there will be a change of direction in the club. In what should have been a defining moment for the club last summer, Newcastle United failed to buy the right players and improve the team in the right areas, despite spending just a little over £50m - more mistakes, more negligence.

The acquisition of Georginio Wijnaldum for £14.5m was a smart move; Chancel Mbemba looks a real talent and a steal at just £6.9m. Aleksandar Mitrović was the only striker bought in, he is a player who will come good, but it’s very naïve of the club to think he could make an immediate impact. The jury is still out on £12.8m winger Florian Thauvin; it still beggars belief on why the club decided to spend almost £13m on a player that, undoubtedly has huge potential, but was voted in the Ligue 1’s worst XI of 2014-15.

On paper, the squad looks like a decent outfit that shouldn’t be fighting relegation. The stadium still sells-out, and the club is still an attractive proposition. There are other clubs in the Premier League who don’t have the infrastructure or the money as Newcastle United, yet the Toon Army find themselves flirting with relegation, for the umpteenth time under Mike Ashley. The illness from last season’s campaign still remains, the players who nearly took the club down still remain. Steve McClaren, who previously rejected the club twice, has been handed the task to steer the sleeping giants to “success.” Captain, Fabricio Coloccini, once wanted out of Newcastle United, despite a string of poor performances, Newcastle rewarded him with an extension on his contract, and he still remains club captain.

Fringe players like Yoan Gouffran, Gabriel Obertan, Sylvain Marveaux and Mike Williamson will never be good enough for the Premier League, yet they still remain and are happy to collect their handsome salaries. Moussa Sissoko, the sometimes unplayable but mostly unremarkable, is desperate for a move to a club that plies its trade in the Champions League.

Conundrum? No, this isn’t a conundrum. This is an accumulation of negligence and foul play by the people who run the club. The tacky sponsorship of Wonga, embroider of the famous black and white shirts, and the signage of discount store Sports Direct remain scattered in and around St. James’ Park, which serves as a reminder to the tyranny this once beautiful club is currently under. Mike Ashley has been the owner for 8½ years and his policy of buying cheap, selling big and running the club by its bare minimum has resulted in the club’s imminent state of dystopia.