It was in March of 2009 that Newcastle, the team too good to go down, stumbled into a Premier League relegation zone from which they would emerge only briefly before their fate was sealed.
They were on to their third manager of the season by then and the panic induced brought a fourth. In trying to protect tomorrow, Mike Ashley turned to yesterday. Club legend Alan Shearer was appointed on an eight-game deal and, eight games, one win and three red cards later, Newcastle were relegated. They were not too good to go down. They were too blind to the possibility that they might, at least until it was too late.
The club’s relegation was on the mismanagement of the ownership more than that of Kevin Keegan, Chris Hughton, Joe Kinnear and Shearer. The players did not help. Like Ashley, some wore blinkers, internationals whose vision was blurred by self-interest.
‘We had good players, don’t think otherwise,’ Mark Viduka told me in 2021. There was him, Michael Owen, Nicky Butt, Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Oba Martins and Fabricio Coloccini.
But by the time Shearer arrived, they were trapped in a tailspin of negative momentum. The season ended amid fallouts, Ashley and his family abused by supporters and talk of a mass player exodus. Shearer and Owen have barely spoken since.
For Newcastle United of 2009, see Tottenham Hotspur of 2026. Consider these words.
‘There are huge problems at the club – I think that’s clear for everyone to see. Relegation isn’t about today, it’s about what’s gone on this season, last season and the season before. It’s a culmination of everything. In the end, the three worst teams go down and, unfortunately, we are one of them.’
That was Shearer on the final day at Aston Villa on May 24, 2009. Yet, it could well be Igor Tudor - or whoever is in charge of Tottenham - come the final reckoning of May 24 of this year.
When Newcastle entered the bottom three on March 21, it was on the back of one win since Christmas. Tottenham have won once in the league since Christmas. When they likely lose at Liverpool on March 15, they could crash into the drop zone with eight games to play. The parallels are striking, and the lightning that once scorched Tyneside now flickers ominously above north London.
The red cards are a red flag, too. Only Chelsea have received more than Tottenham’s four this season. When Joey Barton was sent off during a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool for a calculated lunge on Xabi Alonso in Shearer’s fifth game, it felt like the writing on the wall was suddenly carved in stone. Shearer and Barton clashed in the dressing-room.
‘He got sent off for no reason and then Alan had a go at him,’ recalled Viduka, who stepped between the pair. ‘I said to him, “Joey, just shut the f*** up and sit down, take it”.’
But anarchy had set in and two more dismissals followed in the remaining three games. Tottenham have suffered two in their latest run of five straight defeats. For a team beset by injury, suspension is an insult they could do without.
Like Newcastle, there is also that dangerous and unnerving presence of good players who know they are too good for the Championship. Relegation for the club does not necessarily mean relegation for them. Fear is a great force in a dogfight.
And while you could feel that in the stands of St James’ Park and now inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, on the pitch the alarm bells are yet to be heard. To misappropriate Take That’s lyrics, ‘Someday this will all be someone else’s problem’.
So, should Tottenham appoint a third manager of the season? Should they, like Newcastle, look to the past? Tudor is the wild card who has turned up without a hand to play. At least Shearer united fans and guaranteed support for those wearing the shirt, even if inspiration was harder to summon.
Tottenham, you suspect, need a jolt before the bolt from above finally strikes. Glenn Hoddle? Jurgen Klinsmann? Ryan Mason? It is not a sure fix, as Newcastle found, but maybe the shock of another change would serve as realisation - Tottenham are not too good to go down.