Season Review - Newcastle United. Part Two.

Continuing our new series of articles reviewing the past season's fortunes of teams from across the footballing world, here's the second and final part of Guest Writer Tom Galley's Season Review on his team Newcastle United.

By Tom Galley @tgalley91

Andy Carroll's January transfer to Liverpool did not result in the predicted
negative repercussions on Newcastle's aim of Premier League survival.

January marked a difficult month for the club. A brilliant start saw the Magpies win compellingly against West Ham 5-0, a game in which Leon Best managed to become another Newcastle player to score a hat-trick in the league this season. However, a cup upset at the hands of Stevenage in the FA Cup 3rd round and conceding stoppage time equalisers when in leading positions against Sunderland and Tottenham, left a sour taste in the mouths of players and fans alike. 

However, it was the end of the month and closing of the transfer window that rocked the club most. With Chelsea pursuing their chase for Liverpool frontman Fernando Torres, Liverpool were looking for a replacement and they had shortlisted Andy Carroll to be their man and were adamant in their chase for the England prospect. So much so, that after receiving £50 million from Chelsea for Torres, they were willing to pay £35 million for Carroll, an offer that just seemed too good for the board at Newcastle to turn down. So with all this movement going on so late in the transfer window, this didn’t leave any time for Newcastle to find a replacement for their number 9 striker, leaving them to finish the season with their current playing squad.

Cheik Tiote celebrates his stunning equaliser
in Newcastle's 4-4 draw with Arsenal.

A Newcastle United squad without Andy Carroll seemed like they were going to lack goals and confidence up front to try and successfully survive in their first season back in the Premier League. Yet, when Arsenal visited St James Park in February 2011, it was a match that would go down in the history books. Arsenal had taken an early lead in which they were 3-0 up within 10 minutes, a lead which became 4-0 by half time. However, the turning point of the match happened about 15 minutes into the second half, when Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby received a straight red for raising his hand to Joey Barton. Newcastle players and fans inside the stadium saw this as a chance to stage one of the most remarkable comebacks football has ever seen. Two Joey Barton penalties either side of a Leon Best strike had brought Newcastle back to 4-3 with less than 4 minutes to go. Then up stood Cheik Tioté, who had been Newcastle’s star player for most of the season, to volley the ball into the corner of the net and complete the comeback. 4-4!

The Toon Army will be hoping that the money from the
Andy Carroll transfer will be used to bring in new players.

St James Park had witnessed two great games during the season that would remain classics in Geordie folklore, and although without a great home record by Newcastle’s standards, their Premier League safety was guaranteed with a home victory over Birmingham, three games before the season ending.

So, with the end of the season and survival guaranteed, optimism is even higher for next season. With Alan Pardew reportedly having the vast majority of the Andy Carroll transfer money available to him, he has a lot at his disposal to build his legacy at St James Park and try to establish Newcastle as a consistent top half club and potential contenders for Europe, something that arguably the Toon Army deserves.

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Season Review - Newcastle United. Part One.

In the second instalment of a new series of articles reviewing the past season's fortunes of teams from across the footballing world, Guest Writer Tom Galley gives his thoughts on his team's performance in 2010/11.

By Tom Galley @tgalley91 

Chris Hughton made a promising start with Newcastle United on
their return to the Premier League.

The start of a new Barclays Premier League season was filled with optimism amongst Newcastle fans. A return to the Premier League on the first attempt was beyond what many pundits were expecting of a team that has drama written all over it. And yet, they went on to win the Championship convincingly and earn their place back amongst the elite in English football.

With a relatively small playing squad going into this season, manager Chris Hughton was only able to complete the signings of Cheik Tioté, James Perch and Dan Gosling on permanent deals whilst sorting out a season-long loan for the exciting talent of French international Hatem Ben Arfa. 

Andy Carroll was living up to his 'new Shearer' billing,
scoring a hat-trick in only the second league
game of the season.

An opening day loss to champions Manchester United was followed by a 6-0 thrashing at home to Aston Villa where local lad Andy Carroll managed to bag hat-trick and a 2-0 home loss to Blackpool which signalled the inconsistent season that was to be for Newcastle United. An away win at Everton and a home loss to Stoke City supported this, before an impressive away win at Arsenal where Andy Carroll, once again, managed to be the star performer and get the only goal of the game. 

However, one highlight that will surely stay in the memories of those in the Toon Army will be their unforgettable victory over arch rivals Sunderland at St James Park, where they came out on top in a 5-1 win. Captain Kevin Nolan grabbed the headlines and the match ball when he managed to become the second Newcastle player to score a hat-trick this season. Chris Hughton was easily winning over any critics that he may have had as to whether he could manage at the top level and a new contract was surely on the horizon for the Irishman. 

Newcastle United, however, is a club that in the past, have played to their own downfalls and appeared in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and in December 2010, they didn’t disappoint. Two days after a disappointing 3-1 defeat at West Brom, with the club sitting a comfortable 11th in the table, owner Mike Ashley saw fit that Chris Hughton was no longer the man to lead his club and decided to hire Alan Pardew to replace him. This left the footballing world shocked at the news as many had felt Chris Hughton had done a great job with what was available to him. Fans were shocked and the playing staff were left in a blur of confusion as to why their manager, with whom a great bond and team spirit had been created, was now out of the club and jobless. The task of repairing the spirit inside the dressing room was left to former West Ham and Southampton manager Alan Pardew, who signed a 5-year deal. Many journalists were citing his appointment as Mike Ashley bringing in his ‘cockney mates’ as it was reported that Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew were often seen together in a London casino.

Hughton's replacement, Alan Pardew, proved to be initially
unpopular amongst the Newcastle faithful.

Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool were the first team to challenge Newcastle under Pardew and it was the perfect start. Newcastle’s main trio of Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Andy Carroll grabbing a goal each which saw them win 3-1 at St James Park using a formation and tactics that were present in Hughton’s regime. Nonetheless, Pardew’s enthusiasm and vision for success was soon to be proven as he managed to tie down the impressive Cheik Tioté on a new 5 and a half year deal and complete a permanent deal for Hatem Ben Arfa from Marseille, who unfortunately suffered a double leg break in only his 5th appearance for the club which was to rule him out for the whole season.

Make sure to check back tomorrow for the second and final part of Tom Galley's Newcastle United Season Review.