When we were reading Kevin Keegan’s remarks this morning about West Ham being relegated with 42 or 43 points, we just had to look at the table for that season 2002-2003 and find out the exact number of points.
Sir Bobby Robson – what a manager – what a man!
We looked at the bottom of the table we saw that West Ham went down with a points total of 42 points and a goal difference of -17. Then we looked up the table to see where Newcastle finished that season. Newcastle finished in 3rd place, behind Manchester United and Arsenal.
The great Bobby Robson that season had Newcastle United in 3rd place above both Chelsea and Liverpool with 69 points and a goal difference of +15.
What a performance that was, but it just shows you how far we have fallen as a club. West Ham were relegated with 42 points and Bolton Wanderers were just above them with 44 points.
Who would have thought, given the positions of their clubs then, that Bobby Robson would be sacked from Newcastle just a short 15 months later? And since then both Glenn Roeder and Sam Allardyce have come and gone as Newcastle managers.
5th place wasn’t good enough then, so we were told, but we’ve never been anywhere near that since Bobby left, although Glen did get us into 7th place and European qualification in 2006, but that’s the only year we did it and it turned out to be a flash in the pan.
Seems like Shepherd must have had Glenn and Sam in mind after seeing how they had finished at the bottom that season. 🙁
That’s a cheap shot at Freddy, but the stupid decisions this club have made in the last 5 years are just so unbelievable, and it makes you want to spit blood. Why do we keep shooting ourselves in the foot, and sometimes in the head?
Bobby Robson is twice the manager Glenn Roeder and Sam Allardyce will ever be, there’s no doubt about that. And we suspect Sam and Glenn wouldn’t disagree.
Newcastle United have never given Bobby the credit he deserved for his results as manager of this club. The way he was finally run out of the club is also one of the most shameful events in the club’s history.
Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall were responsible for that debacle – and should be ashamed of themselves – but we all know they won’t be.
It’s only since the new regime of Chris Mort and Mile Ashley started running the club, that they bestowed the honor of unveiling a statue in Bobby’s honor, that will stand on the club premises for all time. Credit goes to both of them for doing that.
That statue is shown above and we have it permanently displayed on our web site in one of the side bars.
That’s how proud we are of Bobby Robson. 😀
Comments welcome.
25 comments so far
Michael
Mar 17, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Comment #1See Bobby was Tactically adroit, he did not spend large sums and made a group of average players look really good. The power of tactics.
t-g-w
Mar 17, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Comment #2What a legend. That was a really great season. Hopefully those dizzy heights will be reached again in the next few years!
Zx
Mar 17, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Comment #33-men substitutions…i’ll always remember that.
🙂
James
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Comment #4I think I’m right in saying that our defence that year was hughes, bernard, bramble and o’brien. Just shows what a class manager can do with ordinary players
Leo
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Comment #5and souness ed
since bobby robson
Jimmie
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Comment #6Roeder and Allardyce, did you forget Souness who actually replaced Sir Bobby? Poor Bobby – He didnt deserve that treatment from our then regime!
George
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Comment #7Time to forget Sir Bobby.
Over the years since old Bobby Robsons employment was terminated, time and time again we are told how great he was, and what he did for the club.
Sir Bobby did not do a great deal.
Under Sir Bobby we won nothing. Fact.
We got into europe with Sir Bobby fact, but we also got there under Joe Harvey, KK, Kenny Dalglish aswell. Fact.
We saw some good football under Sir Bobby, fact. But under KK we saw excellent football.
Under Sir Bobby we had some good players, but he lost control of the dressing room and we payed the price for undisciplined players for quite a few years after.
Sir Bobby wanted to play players out of position, they rebelled and went and got into more trouble.
Under Sam Allerdyce, he tried to play players out of position and was crucified for it, and rightly so in my opinion.
Sir Bobby was too old and his mind was starting to go. I remember being at a reserve game, when he was more concerned about an alleged missing glove than what was going on on the pitch. The glove was in his pocket all the time!
So lets not put Sir Bobby on a pedastal, he was not that good for us, plus earlier in life, he snubbed Newcastle, something which was headlines in the chronicle at the time. The synical amongst us may even think that like a lot of players, he came here to boost his pension fund.
But before all those superficially wounded start with the insults, take time to check all the facts and you will see that Sir Bobby was not such a great saviour at all, he was a favourite grandfather to us.
Chicken
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Comment #8Time to forget Bobby? If you want to forget him that’s your business, George. But I, like most of the rest of the fans on here will choose to remember him as the legend he was – and still is.
We were in the shite when Bobby first came to the Toon and he almost won us the league. In fact, Sir Red Nose himself said that if Bellamy hadn’t been injured towards the back end of one particular season then , in his opinion, the Toon would have been Premiership Champions. So there.
Rich
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Comment #9George – thats utter shite!Sir Bobby deone wonders for us getting us into the top 4 and the champions league to years in a row, would you rather have had a 10th place finish and a carling cup?? I certainly wouldnt have anyway show some respect for the last time we played good football was under this great man, him and keegan will always be legends to me, hopefully KK can do it again!
Gilly
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Comment #10Shame on you George, SBR is simply unforgettable.
ToonKing
Mar 17, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Comment #11We had a worse squad then imo then now and we finished 3rd, damn. Sir Bobby was the only true manager at the club for the last 20 years.
John
Mar 17, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Comment #12George is a MACKEM
Hadji
Mar 17, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Comment #13ToonKing….How can you possibly say that we had a worse squad then and we finished 3rd.
That time there was no competition like now,just check how much money the clubs are throwing,look how many US tycoons are taking over.
How much did Newcastle pay for Alan Shearer that time…14 or 15 mill,can’t remember but it was the biggest transfer in history of football which only 4 clubs could have afford it and he was a world class striker.
Now tell me,how much would we have to pay for world class striker who is 23-25 year old….maybe 3 times more than that.
The bottom line is that times have changed,we live in the past way too much and that’s our biggest problem.
Steve Pulvernis
Mar 17, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #14How you Geordies ever put with Roeder I’ll never know, he was rubbish for us and I cannot believe he didn’t get you relegated too. Robson was supurb, KK isn’t. I think you’ll survive,,,Just,,,with a last minute winner at UP in April. 35 points, 1 point above Bolton who can go back to where they belong……And thanks for all the happy memories in the mid 80’s, when even the coppers would randomly hit us Hammers! lol
Michael
Mar 17, 2008 at 2:11 PM
Comment #15@George. Agreed under Bobby we won nothing, if that means he has done nothing for Newcastle then using your analysis methods Keegan has done nothing for Newcastle. He has won nothing and was famously 12 points ahead of Manchester united and thre it all away.
You also mentioned Keegan we had excellent football meaning excellent football does not necessarily win anything. Despite excellent football from Keegan, he has done nothing for Newcastle united.
Michael
Mar 17, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Comment #16@James: Well said. You see how a good manager can make very very ordinary players look really good.
Soes this then not say alot about Keegan. There should be no excuses there if he is nearly as good as Sir Bobby.
So to blame players is not an excuse. A good manager can make a squad look good. Keegan is not thus we may conclude he is not a good manager.
ObaFan2
Mar 17, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Comment #17Time to forget George (and Michael) IMO.
Sir Bobby Robson is a living legend.
All you seem to think about is winning something, well that would be great but having our team play with flair,passion and skill and being respected around the world is more than enough for me.
I remember an advert a few years ago where a common language abroad was “Bobby Charlton” and “Nobby Stiles” Well in my experiences “Shearer” and “Keegan” are very similar and in the past have made me proud of this team, supporters like you make me embarrassed.
Michael
Mar 17, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Comment #18@ Oba fan: Indeed I agree sir Bobby is a legend and I have greater admiration for him. My point was merely to place emphasis to George who seemingly has an analysis that is robust enough to make judgements on managers.
My assumption is he is a Keegan loyalist and assess Sir Bobby on what he has not won, likewise I am applying his methods to assess Keegan whom I know defend some how.
ObaFan2
Mar 17, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Comment #19Sorry Michael but have seen many posts by you where you state KK is clueless, I cannot agree with that at all. If I am wrong then I am sorry.
Lets all get behind the CLUB and prove to the rest of the nation (mainly southern press) we are not as fickle and pathetic as they portray.
We (as a club) treated SBR badly (understatement of the year) .
BigDave
Mar 17, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Comment #20#5 and #6! Souness is missing from that list, because he wasn’t in the PL that season. Mr. Harrison mentioned 2 teams: Bolton – finished 17th, and West Ham – finished 18th. Bolton’s manager was Sam Allerdyce, and West Ham’s manager was Glenn Roeder. And Sir Bobby, Newcastle’s manager than, made a good team from a not-so-good squad than. But, this great man was sacked, and these two other guys, who are in the 10 worst managers of PL history got this job. Shepherd… what a stupid man…
Michael
Mar 17, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Comment #21Newcastle united seem to think that manager performance means nothing.
Consider, Robson was doing well save four or five games and he was Sacked, They brought in disciplinarian Souness, who had a poor season with the Rovers. He was not brought in for his tactical adroitness. Roeder likewise was brought in considering his performance, one must come to the comclusion he was not drafted for his ability to win the league.
Sam was on the up at Bolton and had them playing effective football and achieced results that defied their frugal budget. Not a man to take us to the premier league title but I think he was the man to take us to Europe not the CL but the Uefa Season in Season out which would be satisfactory considering we are in a season of convalescence.
Then Keegan, out of football since 2004, had not seen a game since 2005, walked out of his last two jobs, England and Man-city, famously said he does not know tactics. Hardly credentials for a man to take what is widely considered one of the biggest footballing managerial jobs.
We should have procured a European manager. Not Keegan. The above says it all.
Doc H Ball
Mar 17, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Comment #22As a W Ham fan, I thought I might weigh in with a comment.
As someone else pointed out above, one of the ironies of this comparison is that Glenn Roeder was our manager when we went down with 42 points. He managed that despite us having David James, Joey Cole, Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick and Paolo Di Canio in the team! In fact, I think that squad was stronger than the one we’ve got now.
I’d also point out that it was Trevor Brooking who stepped in to give us hope in the last dozen games – Roeder would have sent us down with about 35 points.
I remember the Newcastle team back then and the idea that they could appoint Roeder a few years later would have been seen as a joke. Your various chairman have been a joke and the fact that they all kept their jobs and gained huge payouts despite their shocking appointments shows just where football has ended up.
I sincerely hope you stay up and become the club you’ve only previously threatened to become. I say that because you have the support and tradition a top club deserves.
CRAIGG
Mar 17, 2008 at 5:50 PM
Comment #23Michael i swear ive just see you say that
KEVIN KEEGAN HAS DONE NOTHING FOR NEWCASTLE
What are you on?
why dont you do youre research on KKs 5 years in charge not to mention his 2 years as a player and tell me he hasnt done anything for the club you are so clueless its painful.
Also i am a huge fan of sir bobby but all down to tactics hey not spending apparently…
He took on a side including :
Shearer
Solano
Dyer
Lee
Speed
Given
Harper
Barton
Howey
Goma
Ferguson
Very good base and added to it:
Robert (10m)
Woodgate (10m)
Viana (8.5m)
Jenas (6m)
Bramble (6m)
Bellamy (6m)
Milner (5m)
Lua Lua (3m)
O’Brien (2.5m)
Butt (2.5m)
Ambrose (2m)
Carr (2m)
Gallagher (1m)
Distin (Loan)
Elliott (Free)
Most played a part in our revival Bobby dropped a few clangers also, Like i say i love SBR to pieces but as usual your over the top bile is so far off the mark its untrue.
The above list of players apart from Robert, Viana and Distin were signed from english clubs and bobbys extensive knowledge of Foreign football led us to Helder, Viana, Bassedas, Fumaca and Cordone to name a few.
As i say i love bobby to pieces but his record at newcastle is no where near as impressive as Keegans and Bobbys record would never be if it wasnt for the job that keegan finished 2 years prior to that.
You cannot judge KK until at least the end of this season when he can start buying players and maybe not even until the end of next season to see the impact his signings and management have had on our situation.
You show a complete lack of class saying that KK is useless and even more so saying he has done nothing for our club as there would be no club if it wasnt for Kevin Keegan.
And dont call me a deluded KK supporter because these are facts. The thing that you as usual convienently leave out of your posts.
Rooster
Mar 17, 2008 at 11:39 PM
Comment #24Not that i want Newcastle to do well, because of all the stick you gave us at beginning of season, and that you thought yur team was good enough to finish equal 4th with Spurs, but you have some quality players, it just seems their not interested in playing for the toons, get rid of them and get some loyal players in, i dare say we would by martins off you. 🙂
Johnny
Mar 18, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Comment #25Doc H Ball
You forgot to mention Tricky Trevor sinclair (an England international at the time), and Freddie Kanoute (top scorer in La Liga for the past two seasons I believe?), also glenn Johnson,
It is scary what Roeder achieved. It was a special talent to get relegated with that squad.
To Newcastle fans, I hope you stay up. You are one of the few teams that grace the premiership with an attacking philosophy. All power to your collective elbows. I truly would like Bolton to go down.