2007–08 Newcastle United F.C. season

Season summary

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. 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.

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.

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. Further appointments saw Tony Jimenez join the club as the vice-president of player recruitment and Jeff Vetere as technical co-ordinator.{{cite news |access-date=29 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130043945/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1227633%2C00.html |archive-date=30 January 2008 |url-status=dead David Williamson was also appointed, as director of operations in April.

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.

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.

Final league table

Main article: 2007–08 Premier League

Chronological list of events

• 7 June 2007: Mark Viduka was signed from Middlesbrough.{{cite news | access-date = 3 July 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070704090216/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/6729863.stm| archive-date= 4 July 2007 | url-status= live}}
• 14 June 2007: Joey Barton was signed from Manchester City.{{cite news | access-date = 3 July 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070809054415/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6725067.stm| archive-date= 9 August 2007 | url-status= live}}
• 29 June 2007: Mike Ashley increased his stake in Newcastle United to 93.2%.{{cite news | access-date = 3 July 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070714204453/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6252344.stm| archive-date= 14 July 2007 | url-status= live}} David Rozehnal was signed from Paris Saint-Germain.{{cite news | access-date = 3 July 2007}}
• 3 July 2007: Geremi Njitap was signed from Chelsea.{{cite news | access-date = 3 July 2007}}
• 24 July 2007: Newcastle United deputy chairman Chris Mort replaced Freddy Shepherd as chairman of the club.
• 3 August 2007: Alan Smith was signed from Manchester United.{{cite news | access-date = 3 August 2007}}
• 3 August 2007: Caçapa was signed from Lyon. | access-date = 4 August 2007
• 6 August 2007: José Enrique was signed from Villarreal.{{cite news | access-date = 6 August 2007}}
• 31 August 2007: Abdoulaye Faye was signed from Bolton Wanderers. | access-date = 31 August 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071227105903/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1103821,00.html | archive-date = 27 December 2007 | url-status = dead}}
• 31 August 2007: Habib Beye was signed from Marseille.{{cite news |access-date=31 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006183222/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1103823%2C00.html |archive-date=6 October 2008 }}
• 4 September 2007: Charles N'Zogbia signed a new five-year contract.{{cite news | access-date = 4 September 2007}}
• 13 November 2007: Adam Sadler was appointed new reserve team manager. | access-date = 30 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080413185631/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1167014,00.html | archive-date = 13 April 2008 | url-status = dead}}

• 19 November 2007: Paul Barron was appointed new goalkeeping coach. | access-date = 30 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080411183431/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1171315,00.html | archive-date = 11 April 2008 | url-status = dead}}
• 21 December 2007: Nicky Butt signed a new one-year contract.
• 7 January 2008: Ben Tozer was signed from Swindon Town. |access-date=7 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110031911/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1208518%2C00.html |archive-date=10 January 2008 |url-status=dead
• 8 January 2008: Wesley Ngo Baheng was signed from Le Havre. |access-date=8 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112115129/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1209572%2C00.html |archive-date=12 January 2008 |url-status=dead
• 9 January 2008: Sam Allardyce sacked as manager.{{cite news |access-date=9 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110162350/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1210966%2C00.html |archive-date=10 January 2008 |url-status=dead
• 16 January 2008: Kevin Keegan hired as manager.
• 18 January 2008: Tamás Kádár was signed from Zalaegerszegi TE. |access-date=20 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119113729/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1210745%2C00.html |archive-date=19 January 2008 |url-status=dead
• 21 January 2008: Arthur Cox joined the coaching staff again as first team coach, reuniting with Keegan and McDermott. | access-date = 30 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080417204751/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1224621,00.html | archive-date = 17 April 2008 | url-status = dead}}
• 29 January 2008: Dennis Wise was appointed as Executive Director or Football alongside Tony Jimenez as Vice President of Player Recruitment and Jeff Vetere as Technical Co-ordinator.{{cite news |access-date=30 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130043945/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10278~1227633%2C00.html |archive-date=30 January 2008 }}
• 31 January 2008: Fabio Zamblera was signed from Atalanta B.C.; Ole Söderberg was signed from BK Häcken.
• 21 February 2008: David Henderson joined the coaching staff as physio from Hearts.{{cite news | access-date = 18 August 2008}}
• 25 February 2008: Chris Hughton joined the coaching staff as first-team coach. | access-date = 30 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080428013510/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1250135,00.html | archive-date = 28 April 2008 | url-status = dead}}
• 7 March 2008: Lamine Diatta was signed as a free agent.
• 21 March 2008: Lil Fuccillo was appointed chief scout.{{cite news |access-date=31 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324101151/http://nufcblog.com/2008/03/21/newcastle-news/lil-fuccillo-appointed-newcastles-chief-scout/#more-6376 |archive-date=24 March 2008 |url-status=live
• 5 April 2008: David Williamson was appointed Executive Director of Operations. | access-date = 30 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080410032511/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1282313,00.html | archive-date = 10 April 2008 | url-status = dead}}

Transfers

In

Out

Players

First-team squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Left club during season

Trialists

Match results

Pre-season

Owen Luque Milner Carroll

[[2007–08 Premier League|Premier League]]

Martins Arca Viduka N'Zogbia Mpenza Elano Emre Owen Given Caçapa Milner Long Benjani Utaka Kranjčar Kuyt Babel Tugay Miller Kalou Fernandes Tevez Ferdinand Flamini Fàbregas Carew Ronaldo Saha Torres Gerrard Owen Geremi Owen Martins Owen Viduka Ashton McCartney Malouda Lescott

Last updated: 7 May 2008

[[2007–08 FA Cup|FA Cup]]

Emre Caçapa Milner Duff Butt

[[2007–08 Football League Cup|League Cup]]

Martins Denílson

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

|- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season

Coaching staff

References

References

1. Doyle, Paul. (9 January 2008). "Allardyce cut adrift by Newcastle". The Guardian.
2. (12 January 2008). "Redknapp rejects Newcastle offer". BBC News.
3. (16 January 2008). "Keegan returns as Newcastle boss". BBC News.
4. (29 January 2008). "Wise gets powerful Newcastle role". BBC News.
5. "Football Results & Tables". Sky Sports.
6. (22 May 2008). "Beye tops Toon fans' end of season poll". chroniclelive.co.uk.
7. "King Kev to make Toon return". Newcastle United F.C..
8. Beye was born in [[Suresnes]], [[France]], but also qualified to represent [[Senegal]] internationally and made his full international debut for [[Senegal national football team. Senegal]] in 2001.
9. Ameobi was born in [[Zaria]], [[Nigeria]], but also qualified to represent [[England]] internationally and has represented them on [[England national under-21 football team. U-21]] level. However, he later opted to represent the country of his birth and made his full international debut for [[Nigeria national football team. Nigeria]] in November 2012.