Newcastle
Toon saviour Glenn Roeder
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Tuesday, 01, Aug 2006 04:35
Steeped with tradition, Newcastle, with Roeder at the helm, could finally be a position to deliver.
But they are a team currently living in the shadow of two immense strikers, one having retired after ten great but ultimately fruitless years with his boyhood club, while fans and executives alike sweat on the fitness at another at the start of his St James' Park career.
The combined effect of the absence of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen, injured until Christmas, is difficult to gauge in terms of morale, but Glenn Roeder as yet has not splashed out on a replacement, long-term of short-term, for either.
Up until Owen's heart-breaking World Cup injury, the picture had looked uncharacteristically rosy in the north-east, after a phoenix-like Roeder had won Toon Army hearts last year after managing to reach the distant shore after Graeme Souness' leaky ship had threatened to be completely lost at sea.
The ex-West Ham manager was handed a two-year deal with fanatical Magpies genuinely hopeful he could succeed where 22 others had failed before him in delivering a major domestic trophy, a prize that has eluded Newcastle since 1955.
Forward problems aside, Roeder's main priority may lie at the other end, although he was able to coax the best out of chuckle brothers Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong towards the close of the season, if he can do the same with mercurial Albert Luque and Emre, Newcastle fans may have something to cheer about after all.
Facts
Formed: 1905
Home: St James' Park, capacity 52,387
Nickname: The Magpies, The Toon Army
Adult 2006/07 season ticket prices: £333 - £835
Pedigree
League champions: 4 - 1905, 1907, 1909, 1927
FA Cup winners: 6 - 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955
Uefa Cup: 1 - 1969
Community shield: 1 - 1909
People
Chairman: Freddy Shepherd
Manager: Glenn Roeder
Assistant coach: Kevin Bond
Team captain: Scott Parker
Last season
Premiership: 7th - P 38 W 17 D 7 L 14 GF 47 GA 42 GD +5 PTS 58
FA Cup: quarter-finalists - lost 1-0 to Chelsea
League Cup: fourth-round - lost 1-0 to Wigan
Major summer ins
Damien Duff - from Chelsea - £5 million
Obafemi Martins - from Inter Milan - £10 million
Giuseppe Rossi - from Manchester United - loan until January
Antoine Sibierski - from Manchester City - undisclosed
Olivier Bernard - from Rangers - free
Major summer outs
Michael Chopra - to Cardiff - £500,000
Lee Bowyer - to West Ham - £1 million
Amady Faye - to Charlton - £2 million
Jean-Alain Boumsong - to Juventus - £3 million
Unheralded stars
Shola Ameobi or Shay Given.
Both Ameobi and Republic of Ireland custodian Given have been in the north-east for ten years, with the striker coming through the club's academy.
Ameobi has been understudy to a raft of big names, not least Shearer, Les Ferdinand, Faustino Asprilla, Ian Rush, Duncan Ferguson and more recently Owen.
While all of these players save the last have since departed, the Nigerian-born hitman has remained.
Commentators will cruelly jibe this is because no-one else will have him, but the fact that Roeder has so far not splashed out on another forward and Ameobi's pre-season form suggests that this could be his year to shine.
Given meanwhile has consistently delivered performances that make him at least the third best goalkeeper in the league, but rarely gets the credit he deserves.
Having refused to moan or complain after playing behind perhaps the most comically inept defence in Premiership history for the majority of last season, he should be given the freedom of Newcastle.
Starlets
Steven Taylor or Charles N'Zogbia.
Local boy Taylor was injured for most of last year, and despite his tender age his absence was keenly felt.
After winning many fans with his Platoon-style handball antics, Taylor's importance to Newcastle's back four was underlined when he aggravated a longstanding shoulder injury a week before Owen broke his foot against Tottenham on New Year's Day.
Taylor is back in training now, however, and Roeder will be relying on the 20-year-old to marshal the back line once more.
Another 20-year-old who Newcastle have relied upon in the past, N'Zogbia, is a talented attacking midfielder who more than managed to step into the effete shoes of departing Laurent Robert last season.
Affectionately nick-named Zog on the Tyne by fans, the French player is something of a cult hero, but the signing of Duff has raised questions as to how many games he will get this season.
However, the pint-sized player prefers to operate in the middle off the front-man, which hints at how Roeder will at least start the season.
Predictions
League position: 6th.
Roeder to go one better than last year.
Chances of managerial change: Do not bet on it.
Having only signed a contract at the tail end of last season and the club in search of some much-needed stability, Roeder is in the unexpected position of having one of the Premiership's securest top jobs.
Top scorer: Miroslav Klose.
Something of a big shout considering that the German is not even a Newcastle player, but the Magpies have been continually linked with a £15 million move for the Golden Boot winner, and to be honest, no-one else save perhaps Ameobi looks likely to score more than ten league goals this year.
Player most likely to rock the boat: Kieron Dyer.
Only mentioning enfant terrible Dyer at the end of a Newcastle profile would have been unthinkable until a few years back, but an injury-ravaged Dyer is a slither of the player he once was. If he can get back on his feet and avoid mystery injuries then he could play an important cameo role, but Newcastle fans have never forgiven him for publicly falling out with Sir Bobby Robson before he was even knighted. Much-maligned Luque could also cause a stir as he tries to wing himself a move back to Spain, despite Souness spending £10.5 million on the ineffective forward only one year ago.
Matt Champion.