Chapter 107 Newcastle Downgrade
At 14:00 British local time on May 24, the 38th round of the English Premier League in the 2008/09 season started all 10 games at the same time, and only the final relegation match was still a little suspenseful. In the final relegation competition, Manchester United defeated Hull City 1-0 away and Newcastle away 0 They lost to Aston Villa by 1 and Middlesbrough lost by West Ham by 1 by 1-2 away.
In the end, Newcastle and Middlesbrough were both relegated with West Bromwich.
Who would have thought Newcastle would be relegated at the beginning of the season?
Alan Shearer stood on the sidelines with red eyes and listened to the final whistle... The result of 0 to 1 made them return to the Championship again after 16 years.
There is no need to blame Manchester United, Manchester United 2 defeated Hull City for them; there is no need to expect Chelsea, Chelsea to win Sunderland 3-1 away; there is no need to blame West Ham, they wiped out Miburg 2-1. Release water is not the color of the Premier League, and pity is not the emotion of the Premier League.
God helped the self-helpers, Miburg and Newcastle failed to do it, so they followed West Brom and went to the Championship to reflect on themselves.
Before the game, hell is within reach to see the last few relegation teams, and it is easy to find Newcastle.
Death is shrouded in the northeast of England. Hull City, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle, which are 100 miles away this weekend, will be in full swing. The two teams will accompany West Brom to the Championship next season.
Nervousness, glue, tears and laughter will be doomed to dominate there. Yes, fate will give these football hot land final judgments. But if they keep a point, it is that the northerners will never give up.
This weekend, they didn't have Basson, who was suspended, and there was no injured Bayer, but they never lacked fighting spirit. "This is a great football club that has made a lot of big mistakes. Now we have one last chance to make up for these mistakes. I believe we can do it." Shear wrote a letter of war for himself. He has rejected Ferguson twice, which was repeated by good people in such a ** period. "Listen, Alex and I have met countless times. We said that the past is over, and we get along very well. We laughed it off and even joked about it. There was no problem at all. Shearer refused all interference.
But obviously, Manchester United will not joke about the Champions League final, and they will not send the main lineup, which is understandable.
Ferguson seemed to have prepared an excuse before the game. "This is not the time when Liverpool could win the championship with 14 people. We also had to rotate in the league with Miburg and the FA Cup with Everton. However, they are in control not only their own fate, but also the fate of the top three in the north.
What needs to worry more is Sbraga. Although they have the highest points and home advantage among the four teams that may be relegated before the game, it is difficult for them to get unfairness from Chelsea, who is looking for fairness in UEFA.
Hiddink has already promised, "I may play 10 minutes of exciting videos, some music and some pictures of our wonderful performances before the game. I learned this from Aladace. Before Bolton's game against Arsenal, we often put some pictures of Nolan riding on someone and Davis pushing, which excited the players themselves. Subraga said before the game. Will such tricks work for tough guys like Chelsea and Hiddink? It has laid the groundwork for the final result.
And Miburg, West Bromson-like miracles are difficult to happen to them, because they not only want to win by themselves, but also to lose all their opponents, but also need to save the gap of 4 goal difference in West Ham. They only had a total of 10 goals in 18 away games before.
No surprise, the worst list of Manchester United since the season has disheartened the three northern teams.
And Chelsea's double-forward team, except for Lampard, the list did not give Sunderland any hope.
Villa and West Ham are also in the main lineup. Miburg, who must win, seems powerless in the face of the embarrassment that Alves, Ariander and Downing can't appear on the stage.
When Hull City bombed Manchester United's substitute defense with two consecutive corner kicks at the beginning, Colochini's personal bad performance was constantly giving Villa a chance.
Alain Shearer stood on the sidelines restlessly. After about eight minutes, Duff's long-range shot was blocked by Friedall, Taylor's header was resolved on the goal line. Newcastle finally showed the necessary fighting spirit. But the nervousness makes the team eager to make mistakes in the pass. The only one who didn't make a mistake was Hubble, who saved the opponent's fatal shot three times in a row. The pain got good news. In the 24th minute, young player Drert cleared Giovani's shot on the goal line and quickly got the effect. Gibson's goal brought light to the north, and Macena's shot was bravely stopped by Maher. Otherwise, 2-0 would be the real good news.
But the hope given to them by the other side was accompanied by the disappointing performance of the northern team itself.
Although Miburg had the advantage in possession of the ball, he forgot his goal difference. Stanislas's shot in the goal beam did not give them enough warning. In the 35th minute, Cole's goal almost completely sentenced Miburg to death. Southgate stood on the sidelines, very depressed, but not angry, just frustrated. Shearer, who had just sat down, had to pay for the team's passivity in 38 minutes. Barry's long shot was terrible, but he hit Duff's leg into the corner. Welcome back to the relegation circle, Newcastle!
Just at the beginning of the second half, Anelka's long-range shot with the ball in the middle circle ensured his position as the best scorer of the season, and also told the relegation teams an unchanging truth - rely on yourself and don't expect others to release water. In the 51st minute, Sunderland and Miburg began to respond. First, O'Neal's goal made Southgate raise his fist on the sidelines; then Richardson brought himself and Chelsea back to the parallel line. Miburg's hope was quickly dashed again - in this afternoon full of long-range shots, Stanconilas made Southgate do nothing with a long-range shot. Then, another long-range shot from Kalu can no longer affect the overall situation.
In fact, Newcastle is only one goal away, but not a single shot, so how can he score a goal?
Shearer tested five strikers in this game, but the team did not have any real chance in the final stage. Vera may not be able to get the fifth prize of 7.6 million pounds, but their tenacity has given her invisible moral wealth. With Ameo's two anti-aircraft guns, Newcastle's Premier League also disappeared.
Newcastle was downgraded, but Shearer still wanted to stay.
Alan Shearer will still sit down and talk with Ashley next week. The result of the game will not affect his decision and interfere with his future. He has decided to stay. If Ashley can really open his pocket and let Shear let go of it.
Subrga's ears have been around the names of different big-name successors. Now, he can be relieved and go to Australia for a vacation and forget this short "man's debut".
Phil Brown, who will be 50 years old next month, has been young and frivolous, but when the team ranked in the top three in October, it was considered to be "not outstanding". After the team fell into the relegation circle, it was considered to be "always put yourself on top of the team." But the fact that Hull City has been promoted to the top league for the first time in 104 years will not make the chairman easily give up on him. "My chairman is a friend, a colleague and a confidant. I think I'm making progress. Today is already a great achievement, but we still want to continue. I will be 50 next week. I hope to celebrate happily as a Premier League coach. Now, he can prepare his Harley motorcycle, gallop for a vacation in the south of France, and sip champagne on Chairman Duffin's yacht.
And another tough Hansosgate, who received unconditional support from the chairman, is still strong. I won't let my suffering escalate. I don't like our current situation. I have some self-criticism, but I still have a lot of clear blueprints. There is no doubt that setbacks will make you stronger and make you more grateful for the good days. Everyone will suffer until they reach their ideal end point.
Southgate clearly expounded his philosophy. In the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championship, the overwhelming England and Germany met in Wembley. Southgate's penalty was saved by Copt and became England's sinner. In two years, "Gace Southgate, you are England's penalty sinner" is Mi. Moving in all corners of England. But he survived, and he even accepted Pizza Hut's advertisement with two other " penalty sinners" with Waddell and Pierce. Therefore, there is no need to doubt his will. He falls, and he will get up and then advance to his Garden of Eden.
Newcastle has been relegated! A team with many famous players such as Owen, Martins, Viduka and Alan Smith, a team that was considered likely to hit the European arena at the beginning of the season, was relegated to the Championship after the last round of the Premier League.
Duff's own goal made the magpie lose the key relegation battle, and coach Shearer's expression was dull on the scene. He hurriedly took office and failed to reproduce the legend of that year.
However, none of them should be the person who is mainly responsible for Newcastle's relegation. The fat man in the stands that Magpie fans hate is Ashley, the club owner.
Newcastle's chaotic state of the season began last summer.
Ashley first announced his intention to sell Newcastle Club in September and contacted Middle East buyers frequently.
Until February, there were still rumors of Ashley and buyers bargaining, which made the club uneasy.
The most fatal mistake is the conflict with head coach Keegan.
Last season, Ashley appointed Keegan as the coach and kept the Premier League seat, but in the summer, the conflict between the two intensified.
Ashley's interference in the head coach's work made Keegan unbearable. In fact, Keegan's request was not too much. He demanded independent decision-making power in the transfer market and the removal of his assistant Dennis Wise, who he thought had been bad for him. However, both requests were rejected by Ashley, and Keegan resigned angrily.
Coincidentally, after Shearer came to power, the first person to ask for it was also Wise.
In the selection of the head coach, Ashley made one mistake after another.
After squeezing out Keegan, the team was temporarily taken over by Chris Horton, but the results were very bad. Owen repeatedly called for an end to the chaos and finalize the new coach as soon as possible.
Owen said at that time, "The more we get rid of this chaos, the better, so that we can focus on football again. There are too many rumors, which makes fans and players not calm down."
Kimil later became the new coach of Newcastle, but this proved not to be a wise decision. The easy-going coach was regarded as Ashley's puppet, and former chairman Shepard even said publicly that he would never have appointed Kinnear to lead the team.
Shearer took over in the final stage, but it turned out that the former Newcastle legend, who had never coached, was unable to repeat the miracle of Keegan last season. Although Shearer has brought cohesion to the team, the use of personnel, skills and tactics have not changed much to the magpie. This is limited by his experience. It is not his fault, but the person who assigned him.
In one season, there have been four coaches leading the team (including executive coach Horton) and selling the team. In such a chaotic background, Newcastle slid into the abyss step by step. Former Chairman Shepard said that Ashley was duty-bound to fall into the abyss. The relegation was a disaster. It took us 12 to 15 years to build a big club. After we left, a sudden disaster came. Only one person should be blamed, that is, the one who has the power to decide.
"Many people can buy a football club, but not many people can work well. I think Ashley is a successful businessman, but from the perspective of football, he can only blame himself at this point."
Whelan, the chairman of Wigan, who has always been in conflict with Ashley, is even more ruthless at this time. I remember that Ashley appeared on the board for the first time after buying Newcastle, wearing jeans and a shirt, which showed how tasteless he was. He represents Newcastle, a proud club. I immediately realized that this person may not have Newcastle in his heart at all.
"As a Tottenham fan, Ashley bought Newcastle. All he wanted was to make money, but now, he is on his own. After he came to power, the club had nothing to be proud of. At the Prince's Charity Dinner for disabled children in the Northeast last September, Premier League teams in the same region sent stars to attend. Middlesbrough coach Southgate took the star Downing to the show. Sunderland also sent stars such as Anton Ferdinand and Gordon, but Newcastle did not have a player or coach. At the scene, the account was eventually attributed to the "nothing" club owner.
Last summer, the price of Ashley's sale of Newcastle was 848 million pounds, but now, he is in real trouble. No one will care about the relegated Newcastle. Without the Premier League broadcasting fee, survival will become a problem, and the fifth highest salary expenditure in the Premier League is also a huge burden, which will force the team. Sell players to cut expenses. When Robson Sr. led the team a few years ago, Newcastle was a regular in the Champions League, but now they have fallen into the abyss of Leeds and Southampton.
The economic environment in Europe, like Newcastle, is undoubtedly bleak, especially the British continent that has not joined the euro zone.
After the pound has depreciated more than 35% against the euro in the past 18 months, the UK will raise the tax rate for high-income groups from 40% to 50% in 2010. In this way, England replaced Germany as the league with the highest tax rate among the five major leagues. The exchange rate + tax rate makes it an irreversible trend for the Premier League to change from a gold-filled ball star black hole.
A simple math problem: In 2007, Abu Zeng invited Kaka to join, promising a weekly salary of 200,000 pounds. According to the exchange rate at that time, Kaka could get an annual salary of 15 million euros in London. In terms of tax rate, England is 3% lower than Italy, and the club can spend 450,000 euros less. But in May 2009, Kaka could only get 11 million euros. At this time, the English club will pay 770,000 euros more in taxes than the Italians, which will in principle be charged to the stars' bills.
The salary advantage is gone, and the rest is the threshold of high prices. London has the highest consumption index in Europe, averaging 17% higher than Milan. Kaka takes 9 million euros in Milan and needs 10.63 million in London to maintain the same standard of living as Milan. Lao Bei has to pay 15.5 million euros for Kaka every year. What about the Arabs in Manchester City? This year is 15 million, and next year it will be 18 million. Perez of Madrid only needs to pay 12 million euros a year for Brazilians, which is the key to his courage to give Kaka an annual after-tax salary of 12 million euros.
The income tax rate in Spain is 25%, 40% in France, 43% in Italy, 45% in Germany, and only 13% in Russia in the past two years. Arshavin is 5.2 million after tax in Russia. In London, his salary has been reduced to save, with a weekly salary of 80,000 pounds, only 4.4 million euros a year, and now it is less than 2.5 million.
Obviously, England's new 50% tax rate will be disastrous.
However, these are just the unfounded worries of some experts. At least the Premier League is the best developed league in Europe so far, especially in the inherent continent of Asia, which has seized most of the market. Even China, which does not have any reporting rights in the Premier League, has achieved gratifying growth.
The development of the Premier League has completely reversed the economic environment in Europe, but the general environment is not good, and the Premier League clubs have kept a low profile accordingly. The adjustment of the tax rate has not brought a devastating blow to the Premier League as reported.
Manchester United now have four championships in hand, and now they are about to win the fifth championship, the FA Cup!
The opponent is Chelsea led by Hiddink. Manchester United has preserved its strength for the final as early as the final battle of the league, while Chelsea is the main force. In terms of physical fitness, Manchester United is the first time ahead of the opponent in the final, the FA Cup, the Champions Cup, and Manchester United launched the final sprint to the final trophy!