On this day: Zurab Khizanishvilli, Geremi, Danny Guthrie; it’s fair to say Newcastle are rather more prepared for the second tier this time around under Rafa Benitez.
General view of fans looking at the statue of Alan Shearer outside the ground ahead of the match
While Newcastle United have made light of the Championship’s billing as the most unpredictable league around this season, their previous venture into the unknown contained more than a few surprises.
A 2-1 defeat to Scunthorpe United on October 20th is not a memory many Magpies will want to revisit. But what happened to the XI that started that dismal night at Glanford Park?
Steve Harper
You couldn’t fault Steve Harper’s commitment. In 20 years at his boyhood club, the eternal number two played just 157 league games. Ever the understudy, Harper’s brief spell as Newcastle’s first-choice following Shay Given’s departure to Manchester City was short-lived as Tim Krul emerged to consign him to the bench from whence he came.
Typically, Harper is now Newcastle’s academy goalkeeping coach, returing to St James’ after a very brief spell at Sunderland. But we don’t need to talk about that.
Danny Simpson
A solid, steady performer for the most part, few Newcastle fans would have predicted that Danny Simpson would add another Premier League medal to the one he earned while breaking through the ranks at Manchester United.
Currently enjoying the form of his life at Leicester, few on Tyneside would begrudge Simpson his success after three reliable years in the North East.
Ryan Taylor
Like Harper, Ryan Taylor has spent more time watching on in frustration, missing a grand total of 26 months of action following a devastating knee ligament injury in 2013. A regular scourge of Newcastle thanks to his remarkable penchant for scoring against them for Wigan Athletic, Taylor’s never-say-die attitude soon endeared him to the Tyneside faithful.
However, aged just 32, he is currently without a club following his release by Hull City last season.
Zurab Khizanishvili
Signed on a three-month loan deal from Blackburn Rovers after falling down the pecking order at Ewood Park, the veteran Georgian defender was never likely to make much of an impact on Tyneside. And, true to form, he didn’t. Gifting Martyn Woolford the winner at Glanford Park remains the abiding memory from Khizanishvili’s seven Championship appearances in black and white.
Jose Enrique
Liverpool went through a lot of trouble to bring the Spanish left-back to Anfield for £6 million in 2011, as reported by the BBC. They needn’t have bothered. In five years on Merseyside, Enrique slipped further down the pecking order by year, a series of injuries forcing him out of Liverpool’s starting line-up an into every tabloids ‘Is he still there?’ XI.
After failing to agree terms on a baffling switch back to Newcastle in January, Enrique returned to his homeland with second tier side Real Zaragoza. He’s still just 30-years-old.
Danny Guthrie
Despite making the grade for Liverpool, Guthrie’s career was never likely to amount to much more than the mediocrity of the Premier League’s middle rungs. And so it proved. Despite forming an initially impressive partnership with the equally combative Nicky Butt at the start of the 2008/09 season, a lack of fitness and form meant he soon slipped down the pecking order before bouncing around the second tier with Reading, Fulham and Blackburn.
Geremi
It’s not often that Newcastle have been blessed with the presence of a Ballon D’Or nominee. Unfortunately, however, seven years had elapsed by the time he rocked up at St James’ via Real Madrid, Middlesbrough and Chelsea.
The 116-time capped Cameroonian certainly wasn’t in contention for any individual gongs during his spell with the Magpies, disappearing without a trace following the defeat to Scunthorpe. Geremi was last spotted in Greece with AE Larissa. We can assume he had quite a pleasant retirement then.
Kevin Nolan
Who would have thought that the thought of Kevin Nolan dancing like a hyperactive jungle fowl would conjure up such pleasant memories? Signed by Sam Allardyce (who else?) in 2009, Nolan scribed his name into Newcastle folklore with a memorable hat-trick in a 5-1 hammering of Sunderland on their Premier League return.
A meticulous professional and a vocal spearhead, Nolan proved to be exactly the man Newcastle needed after the leadership vacuum of previous seasons.
Jonas Gutierrez
Few stories are as sweet as that of Jonas Gutierrez. Testicular cancer robbed the affable Argentine of over a year of his professional career only for him to return with the most fitting send-off; a stunning goal against West Ham which saved Newcastle’s Premier League skins on the final day of the 2014/15 season. Though this fairytale ending had a horror sequel, Gutierrez suing the club for ‘disability discrimination’ after he was released just weeks after his moment of redemption in front of an adoring St James’ faithful.
After a solid season in Spain with Deportivo, the 33-year-old returned home with Defensa y Justicia. Well its about time Jonas got a bit of justice.
Alan Smith
One typically thunderous John Arne Riise free-kick was all it took to leave a promising career, not to mention Smith’s leg and ankle, shattered. A belligerent, fiery forward who made his name with Leeds, Smith quickly became a folk hero at Manchester United thanks to his Mark Hughes-esque aggression and penchant for dramatic late goals.
However, the BMX-loving battering ram remained a shadow of his former self at St James’, remarkably failing to score in 94 appearances. Smith is now planning for the future, however, combining playing duties with a coaching role at Notts County.
Andy Carroll
While almost every armchair pundit in the land would queue up to profess Andy Carroll’s £35 million move to Liverpool in 2011, as reported by the BBC, as one of the greatest transfer flops in English football history, it’s a testament to the Gateshead-born grafter that such a fee was bandied around in the first place.
After all, his remarkable tally of 11 goals in 19 appearances as the Magpies returned to the top flight marked him out as one of the most talented young forwards in European football, with opponents scared into submission by his superhuman leap and left-footed rockets.
Still, West Ham have enjoyed rather better value for money, although a spate of injuries means his career remains at an eternal crossroad.
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