Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

It's been a bumpy couple of weeks for my beloved Newcastle United...

First the Magpies sacked manager Graeme Souness, as the premier league club languised at bottom end of the table. Since the Scotsman took over at St James' Park, the Magpies had won just 26 of their 83 games. He also spent almost 50 million pounds (UK) on new players, with unimpressive results.

Former Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson was critical of some of Souness's transfer decisions, and said his sacking was inevitable. He accepts a bad run of injuries didn't help him, but the calibre of his players should have returned better results. Robson also criticised his successor for letting a lot of good young player leave the club.

Robson himself was sacked in August 2004 after a five year stint at the helm, following a fifth place finish for Newcastle United. The team were sitting in 15th spot just a week after Souness was dumped following his 17 month term.
Former England captain Alan Shearer took on the role of assistant to caretaker boss Glenn Roeder. Shearer then broke Newcastle United’s goal-scoring record in a 2-0 win at Tyneside over Portsmouth, overtaking Jackie Milburn's record of 200 goals for the club.

The win was Newcastle’s first in seven league games. However, Shearer says he wishes his former boss got to see him beat the record.

"The goal was a big, big goal for me... I wish Graeme was here to see it because whatever anyone thinks of him, he's an honest, decent, hard-working, genuine man."

Souness' biggest achievement was signing star striker Michael Owen from Real Madrid for a hefty 17 million pounds. However Owen's initial impact of the team halted when he broke a bone in his foot, knocking him out of action until at least April.