On This Day – 27th August
Kenny Dalglish was shown the door by Newcastle United on this day back in 1999 following a poor start to the season.
Dalglish had come in to replace Kevin Keegan in the Newcastle hot-seat midway through the 1996/97 season and steadied the ship. He helped the side that Keegan had assembled finish as runners up, seven points behind champions Manchester United.
During his tenure, the Scot began to break up the Newcastle team that had almost won the league back in 1995/96 and tried to make his own side. This was to prove to be his downfall as the replacements were unable to match the success on the field that was seen under Keegan.
Key players such as Les Ferdinand, David Ginola, Faustino Asprilla, Robbie Elliott and Shaka Hislop were shown the door. Weaker players such as Andreas Andersson, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Temuri Ketsbaia and Alessandro Pistone were brought in to replace them.
Dalglish also tried to bring in Liverpool legends John Barnes and Ian Rush who he had played alongside and later managed at his former club. Both were past their best and were considered poor signings.
Not all of Dalglish’s signings were poor though. Shay Given was signed for £1.5 million from Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 1997, the club the manager had guided to the league title on two years before. Given would go on to become a Newcastle legend, playing in 462 matches for Newcastle over a 12 year spell at the Toon Army.
In his first full season at the club, Dalglish’s men finished in a desperately poor 13th position. They lost 16 of their 38 league games over the course of the season. That was the same amount of defeats as the 1995/96 and 1996/97 combined!
A run to the FA Cup Final somewhat papered over the cracks in Dalglish’s only full season at St James’s Park. They needed a replay to overcome Conference side Stevenage Borough after a 1-1 draw in the first game at Stevenage’s tiny Broadhall Way ground. A marrow 2-1 win at the replay saved Dalglish’s blushes.
They lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the Final, meaning that the North London side clinched the League and Cup Double.
A 0-0 home draw against Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the 1998/99 season was followed by a 1-1 draw at Chelsea. The board had made their minds up at this point and five days after the draw at Stamford Bridge, Dalglish was out of a job. He wasn’t seen in a dugout until January 2011 when he returned to Liverpool, staying there until May 2012.
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