2004–05 Newcastle United F.C. season

2004–05 Newcastle United F.C. season
Newcastle United
2004–05 season
Chairman England Freddy Shepherd
Manager England Bobby Robson (until August)
Scotland Graeme Souness (from September)
Stadium St James' Park
FA Premier League 14th
FA Cup Semi-finals
League Cup Fourth Round
UEFA Cup Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer League:
Craig Bellamy (7)
Alan Shearer (7)
All:
Alan Shearer (19)
Average home attendance 51,844
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours

During the 2004-05 season, Newcastle United participated in the Premier League. The season began poorly for Newcastle, with no wins in their first four matches, and manager Bobby Robson was sacked, bringing to an end his 5-year tenure at the club. Robson's surprise replacement was former Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness, but, despite a positive start, he was unable to mount a challenge anywhere near the Champions League challenge the team had managed the previous season.

Towards the end of the season, team-mates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were sent off for fighting with each other during a game. Their suspensions, coupled with several injuries, left Newcastle light on players. The club finished in 14th place in the league for the 2004/2005 season, 9 places below the fifth place finish club chairman Freddy Shepherd had deemed "not good enough" 12 months earlier.[citation needed]

Contents

Season summary

After nearly five years in charge, Sir Bobby Robson was dismissed on August 30, following a very poor start to the season and alleged discontent in the dressing room. A split had grown between Robson and the club owners when they had made a number of high-profile signings, apparently without consulting him - in particular, that of Patrick Kluivert. He was further undermined by the club's high profile, but ultimately futile, offer for Everton's Wayne Rooney, who instead moved to Manchester United. Following Rooney's transfer, Robson stated his dismay at the tendency for overpaid young players to demand all the perks without proving themselves on the pitch. Events during the ensuing season on and off the pitch would go a long way to confirm Robson's assessment, who was later given a £1 million severance payment by Newcastle.

Graeme Souness, who had guided Blackburn Rovers to the League Cup and sixth place in the Premiership in recent years, was appointed as Robson's replacement. A ten-match unbeaten run following his appointment suggested that Souness could take Newcastle back to Champions League qualification, but following that the club's form dipped.

Craig Bellamy, a key player in Newcastle's strike force, was loaned to Celtic in January for the remainder of the season, after Souness discovered Craig had told team-mates he was going to fake an injury. Captain Alan Shearer backed Souness's demand that Bellamy apologise for his behaviour to the whole squad, but he refused to listen. Their dip in performance due to the absence of Shearer through injury worried the fan base, leading to fans debating on whether Bellamy should have departed the club.

In November 2004, club chairman Freddy Shepherd again caused controversy, stating there was no debt owed by the "elite" clubs of the Premiership to the rest of the FA - but with his own team underperforming, this was somewhat ironic as well as inappropriate.

An unbeaten run in all competitions in February and March was ended in April with a home defeat against Aston Villa; during the match, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were sent off for an on-pitch fight. As a result of the incident, later described as "the blackest day" by Shepherd, Bowyer was fined six weeks' wages (about £200,000) and both players received playing bans from the FA. The event overshadowed the announcement that Alan Shearer (expected to retire that season) had extended his playing contract for a further year and was to take up a coaching role with the club.

A rift opened up between Souness and Shepherd, with Souness complaining that the squad, lacking strength in depth after poor judgment in the transfer market (with the promised major signings not materialising) was not up to the challenge. Souness also criticised the state of the club's training ground, stating it was the main reason why so many injuries had taken their toll on the players.

Cup competitions

Newcastle had qualified for the UEFA Cup with a fifth-placed finish the previous season, and managed to reach the quarter-finals. Newcastle defeated Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in the home leg, but were most comprehensively outplayed in the away match and lost 4-1, in the process suffering several injuries. In the same week they played Manchester United in an FA Cup semi-final at the Millennium Stadium. The scoreline, again 4-1, reflected the one-sided nature of the encounter. This left the Intertoto Cup as the team's only route into European competition in the 2005–06 season.

Team kit

The team kit for the 2004-05 season was produced by Adidas. The main shirt sponsor was Northern Rock.

Club transfers

In

Date Pos. Name From Fee
July 2004 MF England James Milner England Leeds United £5,000,000
July 2004 FW Netherlands Patrick Kluivert Spain Barcelona Free
July 2004 MF England Nicky Butt England Manchester United £2,000,000
August 2004 MF France Charles N'Zogbia France Le Havre £250,000
August 2004 DF Republic of Ireland Stephen Carr England Tottenham Hotspur £2,000,000
September 2004 DF Norway Ronny Johnsen England Aston Villa Free
January 2005 DF Nigeria Celestine Babayaro England Chelsea £1,000,000
January 2005 DF France Jean-Alain Boumsong Scotland Rangers £8,000,000
January 2005 DF Senegal Amdy Faye England Portsmouth £2,000,000
  • Total spending: decrease £20.25m

Out

Date Pos. Name To Fee
May 2004 MF England Bradley Orr England Bristol City Free
May 2004 DF Scotland Steven Caldwell England Sunderland Free
May 2004 MF Scotland Brian Kerr Scotland Motherwell Free
May 2004 DF England Andy Griffin England Portsmouth Free
May 2004 FW Democratic Republic of the Congo Calvin Zola England Tranmere Rovers Free
May 2004 FW England Michael Bridges England Sunderland Loan end
July 2004 FW Democratic Republic of the Congo Lomano Tresor LuaLua England Portsmouth £1,750,000
July 2004 MF Portugal Hugo Viana Portugal Sporting CP Loan
July 2004 MF Wales Gary Speed England Bolton Wanderers £750,000
August 2004 DF England Jonathan Woodgate Spain Real Madrid £13,400,000
December 2004 DF France Olivier Bernard England Southampton £400,000
January 2005 FW Wales Craig Bellamy Scotland Celtic Loan
  • Total spending: increase £16.3m

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Republic of Ireland GK Shay Given (vice-captain)
2 Republic of Ireland DF Stephen Carr
3 England DF Robbie Elliott
4 England MF Nicky Butt
5 Republic of Ireland DF Andrew O'Brien
6 England DF Jonathan Woodgate
6 France DF Jean-Alain Boumsong
7 England MF Jermaine Jenas
8 England MF Kieron Dyer
9 England FW Alan Shearer (Captain)
10 Wales FW Craig Bellamy
11 Netherlands FW Patrick Kluivert
12 England GK Steve Harper
14 France MF Charles N'Zogbia
15 Senegal MF Amdy Faye
16 England MF James Milner
17 England MF Darren Ambrose
18 Northern Ireland DF Aaron Hughes
No. Position Player
19 England DF Titus Bramble
22 England DF Jamie McClen
23 England FW Shola Ameobi
24 England GK Tony Caig
25 Norway DF Ronny Johnsen
27 England DF Steven Taylor
28 England FW Michael Chopra
29 England MF Lee Bowyer
32 France MF Laurent Robert
33 Nigeria DF Celestine Babayaro
35 France DF Olivier Bernard
38 South Africa MF Matty Pattison
39 England MF Martin Brittain
40 England FW Lewis Guy
41 England DF Kris Gate
42 England DF Peter Ramage
43 England GK Ben Smith
45 Portugal MF Hugo Viana

Starting 11

Only considering Premiership starts

Matches

Pre-season

Premier League

UEFA Cup

FA Cup

League Cup

References

External links


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