Newcastle United’s Disappointing 11
A favourite pub pastime for many of us is selecting Newcastle United’s best ever team, or even better, United’s worst ever eleven because of the amount of competition!
When we signed Barnes, Rush and Pearce for our assault on the Champions League in 1997 though, I always thought the history books will show these players did actually play for us but it was all a bit bizarre because they were knackered by the time we got them. Pearce actually didn’t do too badly at centre-half, while Barnes did I admit finish top scorer (with 6 or 7! – I try to erase it from my memory) but Rush was totally rwecked.
These weren’t just any three players though, these were three iconic figures who would have walked into a ‘best eleven in the Premiership’ at their peak, sadly Rush was literally ‘walking’ by the time he turned up at St.James’ Park.
Anyway, it got me thinking the other day about the worst ever eleven we’ve had, compared to their overall profile in the record books. Some like the three above had the excuse of age but some of my ‘top’ eleven should have been looking for their conscience as well as their energy levels.
Mark Viduka
Stephen Carr
Sol Campbell
Stuart Pearce
Damien Duff
Geremi
Alan Smith
John Barnes
Michael Owen
Patrick Kluivert
Ian Rush
Manager – Kenny Dalglish (won titles at Liverpool & Blackburn but not a single friend at NUFC!)
(I couldn’t think of a keeper so I thought I’d wedge Viduka between the posts and the opposition might struggle to get it past his bulk)
Can you do better?
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