2007–08 Newcastle United F.C. season

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Newcastle United
2007–08 season
Chairman Chris Mort[1]
Manager Sam Allardyce
(left by mutual consent on 9 January)
Kevin Keegan
Premier League 12th
FA Cup Fourth round
League Cup Third Round
Top goalscorer League:
Michael Owen (11)
All:
Michael Owen (13)
Highest home attendance 52,307 (vs. Liverpool)
Lowest home attendance 30,523 (vs. Barnsley)
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

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.

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

Sam Allardyce

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.[2] 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.[3]

Kevin Keegan, April 2008

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.[4]

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.[5] Further appointments saw Tony Jimenez join the club as the vice-president of player recruitment and Jeff Vetere as technical co-ordinator.[6] 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.[7] David Williamson was also appointed, as director of operations in April.[8]

File:Newcastle training.JPG
Newcastle United players warming up at White Hart Lane prior to a Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur, 30 March 2008

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.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

Chronological list of events

File:Newcastle wall.jpg
N'Zogbia, Butt and Milner in the wall at Fulham, December 2007

Transfers

In

Date Player Previous club Cost
7 June 2007 Australia Mark Viduka England Middlesbrough Free[12]
14 June 2007 England Joey Barton England Manchester City £5,500,000[13]
29 June 2007 Czech Republic David Rozehnal France Paris Saint-Germain £2,900,000[15]
3 July 2007 Cameroon Geremi Njitap England Chelsea Free[16]
3 August 2007 England Alan Smith England Manchester United £6,000,000[17]
3 August 2007 Brazil Caçapa France Lyon Free[18]
6 August 2007 Spain José Enrique Spain Villarreal £6,300,000[19]
31 August 2007 Senegal Abdoulaye Faye England Bolton Wanderers Undisclosed[20]
31 August 2007 Senegal Habib Beye France Marseille Undisclosed[21]
7 January 2008 England Ben Tozer England Swindon Town Undisclosed[25]
8 January 2008 France Wesley Ngo Baheng France Le Havre Undisclosed[26]
18 January 2008 Hungary Tamás Kádár Hungary Zalaegerszegi TE £900,000[29]
31 January 2008 Italy Fabio Zamblera Italy Atalanta Undisclosed
31 January 2008 Sweden Ole Söderberg Sweden Häcken Undisclosed
7 March 2008 Senegal Lamine Diatta Free agent Free

Out

Date Player New club Cost
6 June 2007 England Scott Parker England West Ham £7,000,000[36]
1 July 2007 Republic of Ireland Alan O'Brien Scotland Hibernian Undisclosed[37]
3 August 2007 Netherlands Tim Krul Scotland Falkirk Loan (season)[38]
14 August 2007 England Andy Carroll England Preston Loan (until 1 January 2008)[39]
16 August 2007 England Kieron Dyer England West Ham £6,000,000[40]
25 August 2007 Spain Albert Luque Netherlands Ajax Undisclosed[41]
31 August 2007 England Paul Huntington England Leeds United Undisclosed[42]
31 August 2007 Peru Nolberto Solano England West Ham United Undisclosed[43]
15 November 2007 South Africa Matty Pattison England Norwich City Loan (until 1 January 2008)
11 December 2007 Nigeria Celestine Babayaro United States Los Angeles Galaxy Released
4 January 2008 South Africa Matty Pattison England Norwich City Undisclosed
31 January 2008 Czech Republic David Rozehnal Italy Lazio Season loan
February 2008 Nigeria Shola Ameobi England Stoke City Season loan
6 May 2008 Republic of Ireland Stephen Carr -- Released
6 May 2008 Australia James Troisi -- Released
6 May 2008 England Peter Ramage England Queens Park Rangers Released
15 May 2008 Senegal Lamine Diatta -- Released

Squad list

All players in the Newcastle United squad during the 2007-08 season Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Republic of Ireland GK Shay Given
2 Republic of Ireland DF Stephen Carr (until May)
3 Spain DF José Enrique
4 Czech Republic DF David Rozehnal
5 Turkey MF Emre Belözoğlu
6 Brazil DF Caçapa
7 England MF Joey Barton
8 England MF Kieron Dyer (until August)
9 Nigeria FW Obafemi Martins
10 England FW Michael Owen
11 Republic of Ireland MF Damien Duff
13 England GK Steve Harper
14 France MF Charles N'Zogbia
15 Senegal DF Lamine Diatta
15 Peru MF Nolberto Solano (until August)
16 England MF James Milner
17 England FW Alan Smith
19 Spain FW Albert Luque (until August)
No. Position Player
20 Cameroon DF Geremi Njitap
21 Senegal DF Habib Beye[44]
22 England MF Nicky Butt
23 England FW Shola Ameobi[45]
25 Senegal DF Abdoulaye Faye
26 England DF Peter Ramage
27 England DF Steven Taylor
30 Canada DF David Edgar
32 England DF Paul Huntington (until August)
33 Nigeria DF Celestine Babayaro (until December)
34 England GK Fraser Forster
35 South Africa MF Matty Pattison (until November)
35 England DF Ben Tozer
36 Australia FW Mark Viduka
37 Australia FW James Troisi (until May)
38 Democratic Republic of the Congo MF Kazenga LuaLua
39 England FW Andy Carroll
40 Netherlands GK Tim Krul

Player of the season

Habib Beye was voted player of the season by visitors of the official Newcastle United website on 22 May 2008.[46]

Match results

Pre-season

Premier League


Last updated: 7 May 2008

FA Cup

League Cup

Player statistics

No. Pos. Nationality Player Apps[47] Goals YC Yellow card.svg RC Red card.svg
1 GK Republic of Ireland Shay Given 24 0 2 0
2 DF Republic of Ireland Stephen Carr 10+2 0 0 0
3 DF Spain José Enrique 23+5 0 1 0
4 DF Czech Republic David Rozehnal 18+7 0 0 0
5 MF Turkey Emre 8+9 1 2 1
6 DF Brazil Caçapa 19+3 2 2 0
7 MF England Joey Barton 20+3 1 4 0
9 FW Nigeria Obafemi Martins 24+9 10 1 0
10 FW England Michael Owen 28+5 13 2 0
11 MF Republic of Ireland Damien Duff 15+4 1 3 0
13 GK England Steve Harper 19+2 0 0 0
14 MF France Charles N'Zogbia 32+5 3 6 0
15 MF Peru Nolberto Solano 2 0 0 0
15 DF Senegal Lamine Diatta 1+1 0 0 0
16 MF England James Milner 28+4 3 3 0
17 MF England Alan Smith 30+7 0 10 1
20 MF Cameroon Geremi 25+3 1 3 0
21 DF Senegal Habib Beye 28+2 1 5 0
22 MF England Nicky Butt 37+2 3 14 0
23 FW Nigeria Shola Ameobi 4+4 0 0 0
25 DF Senegal Abdoulaye Faye 22+2 1 5 0
26 DF England Peter Ramage 0+3 0 0 0
27 DF England Steven Taylor 34+2 1 3 0
30 DF Canada David Edgar 2+4 0 0 0
36 FW Australia Mark Viduka 21+7 7 0 0
38 MF Democratic Republic of the Congo Kazenga LuaLua 0+5 0 0 0
39 FW England Andy Carroll 1+5 0 0 0

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Manager England Kevin Keegan
Assistant Manager England Terry McDermott
First Team coach England Lee Clark
Goalkeeping Coach England Andy Woodman
Development Coach England John Carver
Reserve Team Coach Scotland Steve Clarke
Chief scout England Arthur Cox

Last updated: 3 May 2011
Source: [1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Beye was born in Suresnes, France, but also qualified to represent Senegal internationally and made his full international debut for Senegal in 2001.
  45. ↑ Ameobi was born in Zaria, Nigeria, but also qualified to represent England internationally and has represented them on U-21 level. However, he later opted to represent the country of his birth and made his full international debut for Nigeria in November 2012.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Includes substitute appearances.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=2007–08_Newcastle_United_F.C._season&oldid=714636602"