2004–05 Newcastle United F.C. season

Season summary

After nearly five years in charge, Bobby Robson was dismissed on 30 August, following a largely indifferent start to the season and alleged discontent in the dressing room. The team lost two and drew two of their first four games, three in which they actually surrendered from leading positions: they drew 2–2 at Middlesbrough in the Tyne–Tees derby after taking the lead twice; they surrendered a 2–0 lead against recently promoted Norwich City to draw 2–2 and they surrendered a 2–1 lead at Villa Park to lose 4–2 to Aston Villa. 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 2002 League Cup trophy 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 Bellamy had told teammates 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.

Final league table

Main article: 2004–05 FA Premier League

Team kit

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

Club transfers

In

• Total spending: £19,250,000

Out

• Total income: £16,300,000

Coaching staff

Players

First-team squad

:Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Reserve squad

:The following players did not appear for the first-team this season, and made most of their appearances for the reserve team, but may have also appeared for the under-18s.

Under-18 squad

:The following players made most of their appearances for the under-18 team, but may have also appeared for the reserves.

Trialists

Appearances, goals and cards

:(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)

Matches

Pre-season

10:00 BST Thonglao Singthong Surinsirirat Chaikamdee Bowyer Milner Brittain 13:00 BST ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Cheung Brittain Speed Milner Taylor Bramble Hughes Couñago Bellamy Bernard Dyer Ricksen Camara

[[2004–05 FA Premier League|Premier League]]

;Results by round

Hasselbaink Shearer Hughes Doherty Cole Barry Ángel O'Brien Shearer O'Brien Carr Milner Shearer Horsfield Upson Butt Shearer Elliott Bellamy Fowler Davies Malbranque Boa Morte van Nistelrooy Bellamy Drogba Robben Kežman Mellor Baroš Bowyer Todd Robert Bowyer Bramble Dyer Bowyer Dyer Barry Ashton Brown Kluivert Ameobi Cahill

UEFA Cup

Main article: 2004–05 UEFA Cup

20:45 CET Butt 19:45 BST Murambadoro Shearer Bellamy Ameobi Bellamy Robert Bowyer
Shearer Đorđević Kostoulas Robert Kluivert Shearer Bowyer Sá Pinto Beto Rochemback

FA Cup

Main article: 2004–05 FA Cup

Ameobi Ameobi Babayaro Scholes Ronaldo

League Cup

Main article: 2004–05 Football League Cup

Ameobi Robben

References

References

1. (30 August 2004). "Newcastle force Robson out". BBC News.
2. (2 July 2004). "Magpies land Milner". British Broadcasting Corporation.
3. Sanghera, Mandeep. (22 July 2004). "Kluivert targets silverware". British Broadcasting Corporation.
4. (29 July 2004). "Newcastle sign Butt". British Broadcasting Corporation.
5. (3 August 2004). "Newcastle sign hot prospect". British Broadcasting Corporation.
6. (6 February 2008). "Magpies admit N'Zogbia may leave". British Broadcasting Corporation.
7. (10 August 2004). "Carr completes Magpies move". British Broadcasting Corporation.
8. (16 September 2004). "Johnsen in Magpies move". British Broadcasting Corporation.
9. (30 September 2004). "Newcastle to unveil Babayaro". British Broadcasting Corporation.
10. (1 January 2005). "Magpies complete Boumsong signing". British Broadcasting Corporation.
11. (25 January 2005). "Newcastle complete Faye signing". British Broadcasting Corporation.
12. (30 June 2004). "Pompey swoop for Griffin". British Broadcasting Corporation.
13. (27 May 2004). "Tranmere swoop for Zola". British Broadcasting Corporation.
14. Bailey, Graham. (27 July 2004). "Caldwell signs Black Cats deal". British Sky Broadcasting.
15. (26 May 2004). "Kerr joins Motherwell". British Broadcasting Corporation.
16. (5 July 2004). "Orr moves to Ashton Gate". British Broadcasting Corporation.
17. (26 May 2004). "Pompey seal double signing". British Broadcasting Corporation.
18. (21 July 2004). "Viana returns to Portugal". British Broadcasting Corporation.
19. (21 July 2004). "Speed joins Bolton". British Broadcasting Corporation.
20. (21 July 2004). "Real Madrid sign Woodgate". British Broadcasting Corporation.
21. (23 September 2004). "Bridges rejoins Sunderland". British Broadcasting Corporation.
22. (31 January 2005). "Bernard completes Saints switch". British Broadcasting Corporation.
23. (31 January 2005). "Celtic complete Bellamy loan deal". British Broadcasting Corporation.
24. "FootballSquads - Newcastle United - 2004/05".
25. O'Brien was born in [[Harrogate]], [[England]], and has represented [[England National Football Team. England]] at youth level, but also qualified to represent the [[Republic of Ireland]] internationally and made his international debut for the [[Republic of Ireland national football team. Republic of Ireland]] in 2001.
26. Boumsong was born in [[Douala]], [[Cameroon]], but also qualified to represent [[France]] internationally and made his international debut for [[France national football team. France]] in June 2003.
27. Ameobi was born in [[Zaria]], [[Nigeria]], but also qualified to represent [[England]] internationally and represented them at [[England national under-21 football team. U-21]] level before making his international debut for [[Nigeria national football team. Nigeria]] in November 2012.
28. "Premier Reserve League Scorers/Appearances 2004-05".
29. "U18 Scorers/Appearances 2004-05".
30. Cícero was born in [[Seia]], [[Portugal]], and represented them at [[Portugal national under-21 football team. U-21]] level, but also qualified to represent [[Guinea-Bissau]] internationally and made his full international debut for [[Guinea-Bissau national football team. Guinea-Bissau]] in October 2010.
31. "Newcastle United players: Premier League 2005".
32. Starforth, Miles. (19 July 2004). "Kitchee 1 Newcastle United 1 (Newcastle won 7-6 on penalties)". Trinity Mirror.
33. (29 July 2004). "Town's youngsters impress". East Anglian Daily Times.