Championship - Countdown: Newcastle United

Eurosport - Thu, 06 Aug 09:54:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! completes its countdown to the Championship season with a look at fallen giants Newcastle United.

2009 Newcastle United Kevin Nolan - 0

Manager: Chris Hughton (caretaker)

Last 10 Seasons in Championship (1999/00 to 2008/09): None - all in Premier League

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Steve Harper

Habib Beye - Fabricio Coloccini - Steven Taylor - Ryan Taylor

Damien Duff - Kevin Nolan - Joey Barton - Geremi - Jonas Gutierrez

Shola Ameobi

BACK-UPS FROM: Tim Krul, Jose Enrique, Nicky Butt, Danny Guthrie, Andrew Carroll, Xisco, Alan Smith, Kazenga LuaLua, Nile Ranger, Tamas Kadar, Fabio Zamblera, Ben Tozer

TRANSFERS:

In -

Out - David Edgar (Burnley, free) - Michael Owen (Manchester United, free) - Mark Viduka (released), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg, £9m), Fraser Forster (Bristol Rovers, loan), Nacho Gonzalez (Valencia, undisclosed)

POSITIVES: It has become so fashionable to write the Toon off that people might just have lost sight of some pertinent facts. Of the three relegated teams, Newcastle scored the most points last season, and they still have a squad full of established internationals. People love to talk about how difficult it is to get out of the Championship, but the bottom line is it is a sight easier than the Premier League, experience of which the Newcastle squad have in spades.

NEGATIVES: Where to start? Well, they have no manager and reportedly offered the post to a man with a worrying history of heart problems who has already failed in the job once. Then there is the owner, who could hardly be any more unpopular around St James' if he ran over the tea lady's cat. On the playing personnel side, they have lost strike trio Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka, and their best defender Sebastien Bassong is on his way out.

VERDICT: It might provoke a few chuckles, considering the chaos on Tyneside is actually visible from space, but we are backing Newcastle's quality to shine through. They will go up as champions.

Eurosport

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  1. kmon on thee toon :D up this seasonn n f**k all u­ retards who think that newcastle aint gunna win the­ leauge ha n we will beat west brom on sat 4-0 n haha­ boro scum u may b up next season but ull b 2nd :P­ newcastle 1st in the champions ship premier league­ status next seasonn !!

    From jordan e, on Fri 7 Aug 3:13PM
  2. Toon will fight this season and will win the league,,,­ what gives us the 'big club mentality' is our­ fans which no doubt are by far the best in the north­ east,, which you will see even this season by the large­ turnouts both home and away, and possibly 2nd or 3rd­ best support in the country! come on u toon! we will be­ back better and stronger!

    From Jane, on Fri 7 Aug 2:43PM
  3. I'm a Muslim and don't understand why someone­ will put like comment 26 with Allah's name. This is­ not the place as the comments are for people's­ views on the topic i.e. Newcastle. You're being­ stupid and giving others reasons to put comments like­ 27 & 28. Please go somewhere else and let me let­ you something else, you think you're doing great­ for yourself in the Hereafter then think again. By­ choosing a name like you have you're showing your­ immaturity and lack of any wisdom. Come on Newcastle.

    From jarikamal, on Fri 7 Aug 1:47PM
  4. One day to go until the Doon's 1st defeat (of many)­ of the new "fizzy pop" season. West Brom­ WILL WIN, the only question is by how many goals. Go­ On You Baggies, have a laugh at the Toongerines (or is­ it Custard Creams?) in their silly new away strip!! ­ LOL

    From toonrdoon, on Fri 7 Aug 1:21PM
  5. allah sucks my balls, if he does anyone else's he­ is a cheat!

    From Paul C, on Fri 7 Aug 11:33AM
  6. allah sucks balls

    From davetrace9, on Fri 7 Aug 8:56AM
  7. Sorry only one way ticket, down Again

    From davefbolburn, on Fri 7 Aug 12:56AM
  8. we will be relegated then go into recievership, Ashleys­ swan song to the toon. he was chased out of the toon­ and now he has come back for his revenge

    From ben, on Thu 6 Aug 11:55PM
  9. 20 ... is that allan Shearer promoting himself ???

    From Harold, on Thu 6 Aug 11:03PM
  10. Comment 21 where was the "scrap" from the­ Boro players last season?

    Don't mention the word­ scrap to Barton he may get the wrong idea.

    Back to­ some common sense, don't think it would do us any­ good to go straight back up the state the club is in at­ present and it's going to take more than a season­ to sort in my opinion.

    From Mark, on Thu 6 Aug 10:16PM
  11. Never in a million years will Newcastle win the league,­ their will do well o finsh in the top 4. The club is in­ chaos and full of prima donnas who believe they are too­ good to be in this division. Newcastle will get a­ shock when the likes of Sheffield Utd and Palace and­ others come snarling and kicking at them.

    Newcastle­ have not the players for a scrap unlike some off the­ other teams like Boro, WBA, Shef Utd, Reading too name­ just a few. No manager, no money, non caring chairman,­ and not enough local players with the passion.

    Boro,­ W.B.A. and Shef Utd to go up

    UP THE BORO.

    From David S, on Thu 6 Aug 9:03PM
  12. never been on here for a while but for some reason­ every one seems to be talking sense instead of the­ usual idiots sharing a cell . okay sunderland seventh­ was slightly deluded but thye other comments seemed­ good . the way i see it is newcastle will either crash­ or fly . if they get a good start they should get­ promoted a bad start and they could very easily lose­ confidence and be relegegated . please install shearer­ to give the chance we deservs

    From Allan, on Thu 6 Aug 8:36PM
  13. Nightmare Scenario I know but all I'm saying is, if­ Ashley doesn't sell (for whatever reason),­ doesn't spend on players, Hughton stays on as­ caretaker till Kinnear comes back, you've got­ 50,000 fans looking at relegation from the­ Championship. Just my opinion.

    From KEVIN P, on Thu 6 Aug 7:39PM
  14. If it was all about fan base then NUFC wouldn't­ have got relegated in the first place would they now?­ It's about a settled team, an owner who gives his­ manager the wherewithall and freedom from interference.­ Look at the top 10 of the BPL and you will get my­ drift. If NUFC get sorted they will be up where they­ belong. If not, I don't know. Owners can take clubs­ a long way down before they depart (or even stay).

    From KEVIN P, on Thu 6 Aug 7:18PM
  15. not a chance in hell the Geordies will win the league­ unless they get a new owner n manager within a month.­ The Boro and the Baggies may have less talent in both­ squads but they have more stabillity and along with the­ likes of Sheff UTD and Ipswich these four clubs will­ challenge for automatic promotion while Newcastle will­ struggle for the play-offs.

    From carllea81, on Thu 6 Aug 7:07PM
  16. well said conorbyrne

    From andy m, on Thu 6 Aug 6:59PM
  17. ever heard things happen for a reason? evryone­ questioned barton and nolan signings but they mite be­ just what toon need-a couple of hard b******s!­ newcastle need to start from scratch but if a takeover­ can be sorted and shearer installed the 52,000 geordies­ who pack out st james twice a week can send them back­ as champions and look at the belief it gave them last­ time they managed that trick.just hope the fans stick­ with them thru thislatest disaster they deserve a break­ good luck toon-arsenal for life

    From conorbyrne24, on Thu 6 Aug 2:30PM
  18. please forgive me tom #11 but can you remind me exactly­ what safc have achieved since erm 1973? nufc ARE a big­ club but have been nowhere near the top four since sir­ bob got sacked and I truly believe that 99.9% of us­ mags have never had 'top four syndrome'. Its­ just a case of terrible management from top to bottom­ and also the pile of sh**e signed by previous managers­ on massive wages.And as for crowing about a top 7­ finish,I think you're living in cloud cuckoo­ land,remember yous only narrowly avoided relegation­ yourselves last season and I cant see darren bent­ getting a stack of goals.Dont care how we do it but I­ would LOVE IT! JUST LOVE IT! if we went up this season­ but it will be tough.

    From andy m, on Thu 6 Aug 2:25PM
  19. UMMMM , well i do not want to see them down and out,­ we all seem to have them as a second or third choice­ team for some stupid reason.. but has Southampton not­ shown what Chaos brings .. Sorry no manager in place..­ the forward line gone.. no matter how good the Squad­ might be on paper.. you have to see them near the­ bottom not the top.. Unless the manager is in soon, and­ knows the division, and can swap a few players around..­ As for the Boro. maybe Southgate is better than i­ think, or he has learned a bit the last 2 seasons.. but­ they seem no better placed to go straight up either..­ You need some fighters in your team in this division..­ mind it is the easy way to just go for the relegated­ sides to go straight back up.. and pick the promoted­ sides to come straight back down.. Shame Stoke and Hull­ did not think so last season.. and there players did­ not realise Newcastle on paper are much better and­ should have been mid table..

    From john.fowler18, on Thu 6 Aug 2:04PM
  20. Will be fighting relegation but will stay up.

    From Jeff, on Thu 6 Aug 1:44PM
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