Newcastle United: second floor, going down

On Sunday Newcastle United – arguably one of the biggest clubs in English football – were relegated to the Championship after sixteen years of PL football, including six seasons of UEFA Cup football and two jaunts in the Champions’ League. If they do not come straight back up – and with the laughable situation at the top of the club and the woeful set of players who wear the shirt there is very little chance of their doing so – they should be worried.

Just weeks before Newcastle’s relegation, three former PL clubs were relegated from the Championship to the third tier of English football, continuing a worrying trend of top-flight clubs becoming third-class clubs in the blinking of an eye. Norwich, remember spent four seasons in the PL and played in the UEFA Cup, while Southampton and Charlton spent thirteen and eight seasons at the top respectively.

Bigger clubs than these three have come a cropper too. Leeds United spent twelve seasons in the PL with two seasons in the CL and five in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City eleven seasons, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City eight apiece (with one and two seasons in the UEFA Cup respectively), Nottingham Forest five (with one UEFA Cup season) and QPR four. So far the only one of these teams to return to the top division is Manchester City.

It’s not all pessimism though – Nottingham Forest were the team that took the longest to climb back out of the third tier, doing so after four years, but QPR spent just three seasons down there while Sheffield Wednesday went up after two seasons and Manchester City and Leicester did it in only one. Leeds will hope for some better luck in their third season in the third tier after two years of play-off heartbreak. At least it can be said that there is a definite split between 6th in Division Two upwards and 7th downwards.

Leeds perhaps are a case apart, and their rise and fall have been well documented in recent years. In spite of the financial controversy surrounding clubs like Southampton and QPR, it could not be claimed that any of the clubs above have been in the same situation as Leeds. However, one thing which does link all these clubs is the lack of coherence in the policy of choosing and keeping managers.

Since October 2006 Norwich have had five managers, Charlton have had four managers in the last three years and this century just about everyone has had a go at St Mary’s, including otherwise successful managers such as Gordon Strachan and Harry Redknapp.

With reference to the other clubs that fell from grace, it was the same situation. From August 1993 to their return to the top flight, Manchester City enjoyed the expertise of nine managers, including the likes of Peter Reid and Steve Coppell. From the sacking of Trevor Francis in May 1995 onwards Sheffield Wednesday have had fourteen managers, including men like David Pleat, Ron Atkinson and Paul Jewell. QPR have had ten managers so far this century.

Between 1896 and November 1994 Leicester City had twenty-six managers; since then they have had twenty more in fifteen years, including Martin O’Neill (1 League Cup, top-half finishes every season and two seasons in Europe). Nottingham Forest have had as many managers in the PL era as they had in the previous 100 years. And Leicester and QPR have had to contend with changes in ownership too.

Now let’s look at Newcastle United. Numerous permutations of ownership in the last decade. Three different chairmen in two years. Four managers this season alone. And as Shay Given remarked when he left the club, the back four has had more changes than the axe that killed Anne Boleyn.

In a sense it could be said that teams generally bounce when they hit the ground; West Brom, Birmingham City and Sunderlandnil are clear examples. The drop is so sudden for some clubs that they just need to drop a little further before they bounce back up. They just need a little longer to sort themselves out before climbing out of their problems.

However, the situation in which Newcastle United find themselves is frightening to say the least, and only a radical change at a fundamental level will enable the club to turn itself round. Either that or a spell in Division Two.