It was like the seats had collapsed in the dugout and we all felt the same …absolutely devastated
CLARK RECALLS EPIC ANFIELD DEFEAT THAT WRECKED TOON TITLE DREAM UNDER KEEGAN
I don’t think we’ll challenge elite again
LEE CLARK slumps forward in his chair, re-enacting Kevin Keegan’s flop over the advertising boards during Newcastle’s title-wrecking 4-3 defeat at Anfield.
The midfielder, who was sitting just behind his manager on the bench in April 1996, says: “That was the moment we had in our heads: this is slipping away. Aaagh. It’s crashing down around you. It was like the seats had all collapsed in the dugout.
“We all felt the same. Absolutely devastated. It summed up the manager. He never hid his emotions. That’s what we loved about him.”
It is now a different era from 1996, the Keegan “love it” rant, and blowing a 12-point title lead.
A Newcastle side with very contrasting ambitions – avoid relegation, do not concede too many – arrive at Anfield today, and Clark believes a new generation of fans will never experience the magic of that title challenge.
Clark made more than 200 appearances for his home-town club in the best years of their modern history. After his playing career he moved on to managing sides including Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City.
Now, coaching Blyth Spartans while hoping to get back into the league management, he is a fan again and convinced his friend Steve Bruce can win over the Toon faithful.
“We should have won the Premier League in ’96,” Clark says. “Back then, people couldn’t wait for the match. They’d get to town four to five hours before kick-off. The buzz was electric. You could feel the excitement.
“Now there is a feeling of, ‘Here we go again’. What’ll happen? Trepidation. In the Nineties there’d only be singing, a buzz. You couldn’t wait for it to start, and the players were the same.”
Reality is biting at Newcastle. Attendances have fallen and fans are fed up, as Clark cuts from the past glory days to the stark present.
He says: “I personally don’t think it will ever be like that again. Challenging the elite? No.
“Man City, Liverpool are getting stronger at every levels of their clubs. They’ll keep dominating. Is that depressing? It is worrying to think Newcastle, we, have gone so far away from them that we might never catch them up again.
“You are still left hoping for one of those football miracles. Who’d have though Man City would get bought and be in this position now.
“There will just be hope now. Every generation asking, ‘A trophy, will we see it?’” As a Toon fan, Clark disagrees with “the majority” of what owner Mike Ashley has done but believes Bruce simply had to give the job a go.
“Me and Steve love to reminisce,” he says. “We always talked about Newcastle. Put anyone of the 50,000 in that stadium in Steve’s position, they would take the job!
“The club you support, club you love, you’re a football manager, it’s your dream job... would you say no?”
Alan Shearer advised Bruce to turn down Ashley’s offer but Clark says: “He couldn’t. It doesn’t matter who the owner is. Or that he is succeeding one of the most popular managers we have ever had, Rafa Benitez.”
Clark, Bruce and the fans agree on one wish. “I just want my club to do well, to go to Wembley in the FA Cup, be in the top half and not worrying over Christmas in the bottom five,” Clark says. “I get why people are frustrated.” NEWCASTLE (probable): Dubravka; Krafth, Schar, Lascelles, Dummett, Willems; Hayden, Shelvey, Atsu; Almiron, Joelinton.