The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Roeder’s Magpies turned despair into a place in Europe
NEWCASTLE United’s 2005/06 season had been written off with seven games to go and caretaker boss Glenn Roeder’s team sitting in 13th place. The campaign, which saw Graeme Souness sacked and Roeder coming in as emergency boss from the Academy, had taken a major dent during a 3-1 defeat at the Valley with then captain Alan Shearer furiously boarding the team bus after an inept performance in the capital. When asked for an interview, Shearer simply told reporters that day: “What is there to say about that?”
Shearer had a point but Roeder was duty-bound to explain what had gone wrong and wasted no time getting straight into the huge issues that had haunted Souness previously.
Roeder said: “It’s not good enough. All three goals were really poorly defended and should not happen at this level.
“We have to set our standards much higher and for us to lose 3-1 isn’t encouraging at all and for Newcastle it isn’t good enough.”
Roeder was very much a man who was obsessed with standards, whether at senior level, the reserve team or the club’s Academy.
I was there one night when he kicked the door open and burst into the dressing room to berate the club’s second string, then managed by Lee Clark, as they lost 2-1 to Whitley Bay at Kingston Park. He told them that they’d never have a chance of playing
Danny Koevermans celebrates after scoring the second goal for AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup
for Newcastle with performances of that manner, and then warned them that wearing a Toon shirt was a privilege not a given for any player at the club.
Backed up by Shearer going into the final seven games of what was the number 9’s last ever at the club, Roeder had demanded an improvement from his players.
They had seven games left to improve on 13th place but even at that stage nobody had expected what was to follow.
In those seven games, Newcastle faced some tough tasks against Tottenham and Chelsea at home plus local derbies away to Middlesbrough and Sunderland.
Incredibly, Roeder guided United to three consecutive victories in the top flight and propelled them into seventh place.
Given that place would be rewarded with a slot in the old Intertoto Cup and a back door entry into
Europe, suddenly there was talk of what felt like an impossible mission.
Beating Sunderland would be a major boost but Roeder was more interested in local pride than talk of the Intertoto!
At 1-0 down at half-time Roeder endured Wearsiders boss Kevin Ball taunting him when the home side, doomed for relegation, went ahead.
But the second half was a thing of beauty for Newcastle fans and is still spoken about to this day as Michael Chopra equalised on the hour mark and then goals from Charles N’zogbia, Alan Shearer (pen) and Albert Luque wrapped it up.
Roeder told Ball: “The game lasts for 90 minutes, Kevin, not 45.”
That Easter clash would prove to be Shearer’s last in action on a competitive note with a knee injury ending both his career and season early.
All of a sudden though Newcastle found themselves in with a genuine shot of getting into Europe. If they could hold their nerve in the final three matches of the season, they’d be in the hat for the Intertoto Cup!
United easily strode to a 3-0 win over West Brom before holding Steve Bruce’s Birmingham to a 0-0 draw and sending them down in the process.
It was then all about the final day against Chelsea in which Newcastle triumphed 1-0 over the Blues thanks to Titus Bramble’s winner.
And that was enough to transform