Newcastle United managers – The good, the bad and the ugly | OneFootball

Eddie Howe may have been hogging all of the tabloid headlines since Gareth Southgate announced his resignation as England manager, but I am going to do two lists of Newcastle United managers today, and Eddie won’t get a mention.

He may well top the first list though one day, if he hangs around at Newcastle United long enough…

I did an in-depth article on all of the Newcastle United managers in my lifetime a while back.

However, after recently reading some of the comments on The Mag, I thought it might be a good time to remind people of who the good and bad guys really were.

First up the good Newcastle United managers

My number one is Joe Harvey.

Joe managed the club between 1962 and 1975 and brought our last piece of silverware back to Tyneside when Newcastle defeated the (at the time) formidable Ujpest Dosza in the 1969 Inter City Fairs Cup Final.

Kevin Keegan is quite rightfully adored by Newcastle United fans. After saving United from almost certain relegation to the old 3rd Division in 1992, he had us challenging for the Premier League title a few years later.

Next up is Sir Bobby Robson. Bobby inherited a squad of players in disarray on his appointment in 1999. By 2002, the Toon were flying high in the Champions League.

I always call Arthur Cox the Honorable Arthur and he certainly was. His entertaining team spearheaded by Keegan, Waddle and Beardsley had the fans drooling, as we secured promotion from the Second Division in 1984.

Rafa Benitez did a remarkable job turning things around after inheriting such a shambles thanks to Mike Ashley and Steve McClaren. Basically had to completely rebuild the team/squad in summer 2016 and promotion as second-tier champions was the result.

Broken promises from the club’s owner then led to Rafa badly undermined after promotion, nevertheless he managed minor miracles on a shoestring, ensuring mid-table finishes on a tight budget, based on having an excellent disciplined defence that saw only six Premier League clubs concede less than NUFC in both of the seasons.

Last but not least, is another thoroughly decent man who was treated extremely badly by the people who were supposed to be running the club responsibly. Chris Hughton initially took the United manager position on a temporary basis following relegation in 2009.

Within months Newcastle were flying at the top of the Championship and Chris was given the job permanently. The United juggernaut went on to crash through the 100 points barrier, bulldozing their way back into the Premier League as Champions.

We then went and hammered Aston Villa 6-0 on the opening day of the 2010/11 season (which was so sweet after what had went on at Villa Park 16 months earlier). Sunderland were demolished 5-1 at St James Park to make it a Happy Halloween, and we followed that up by beating Arsenal at the Emirates.

What could possibly go wrong then eh? Which I’ll try to explain in the next phase of this article.

Well we’ve had the good, so now on to the bad (and dare I say it sometimes downright ugly) Newcastle United managers

I did say that I would never mention this next manager’s name in any of my articles again, but, I am going to break that rule for the one and only time.

Out of all the managerial appointments at Newcastle United, none of them was a bigger hoof in the Henry Halls for yours truly than when Steve Bruce was given the job. I never ever had wanted Bruce on previous occasions and I didn’t believe that he was sincere when he said that he was a Newcastle United supporter.

It came as no surprise that he was just the latest in a long line of Mike Ashley’s puppets (he was actually perfect for the role) and the football on the pitch was dire. Seemingly Bruce wasn’t really into tactics, or even spending much time on the training ground for that matter. The team weren’t even fit enough and by the time he was paid off in 2021, United were bottom of the Premier League.

Next up is the most arrogant man that has ever sat in the Gallowgate hotseat. That is some accolade considering who two of the managers to come are. Alan Pardew was the final piece of the jigsaw for the Cockney Mafia, Derek Llambias’ buddy.

He replaced the popular Chris Hughton and promised the fans that Andy Carroll wouldn’t be leaving Newcastle under any circumstances. Andy was sold on transfer deadline day within two months of Pardew’s arrival in January 2011 and replaced by Shefki Kuqi. Apart from the fluke 2011/12 season, United were perennial relegation strugglers under Pardew

Joe Kinnear was Kevin Keegan’s eventual successor in 2008. Initially manager on a caretaker business until Kind Mike ‘sold the club’, Kinnear strung the media and fans along and was leading Newcastle to relegation until ill health took its toll and he was forced to step down. We were deservedly relegated nonetheless. Kinnear made a comeback a few years later as supposedly the club’s Director of Football with Pardew as team boss. Jobs for the boys and you just couldn’t make it all up.

In at Number four is Graeme Souness. After Sir Bobby was axed it seems to have been decided that a strongman was required at the helm to help restore discipline in the ranks. What we ended up with was a thoroughly unpleasant man, whose idea on how the game should be played was alien to the Geordies who had got used to watching entertaining football again.

Souness was stubborn and the likes of Laurent Robert and Craig Bellamy didn’t fit in with his football ideology. When he was sacked in 2006 it wasn’t a moment too soon.

The last of my bad guys is Sam Allardyce. Big Sham would have had football done away with if he had lasted more than eight months on Tyneside. I soon realised that the ‘ego had landed’ so to speak, whenever I listened to his interviews and media briefings. The football was garbage and we were heading for disaster once again before the third coming of King Kev.

Six of the aforementioned Newcastle United managers (good and bad/ugly) were appointed at some stage by Mike Ashley.

Keegan, Rafa and Hughton can hold their heads up high, revered by the fans for how they did their job in the face of adversity. The dignity they showed, despite the spiteful and cruel way they were treat, will forever be remembered.

As for Bruce, Pardew and Kinnear, the least that’s said of them from now on the better. Along with their puppet master, they will remain an indelible stain on our football club.