It could be seen as cruel twist of fate when a Gareth Barry shot was deflected in by Damien Duff but Newcastle didn’t take the game to Villa even though so much was at stake. Once again, Newcastle deserved to lose after putting out another listless performance.
Newcastle needed to get a better result than Hull on Sunday to avoid the drop.
“The fact is we haven’t been good enough over 38 games. You can talk about luck, about refereeing decisions and so on, but the teams that are in the bottom three at the end of the season are the teams that deserve to go down,” said Newcastle manager Alan Shearer after the game to the BBC.
The Shearer experiment did not work out for Newcastle and a complete re-organization is in order. The former Premiership “big club” will have to decide what to do with star players like Michael Owen, Damien Duff, Obafemi Martins, and Mark Viduka. The Mike Ashley ownership situation and Shearer’s future with Newcastle are additional uncertainties.
Villa who had already secured a place in the new Europa League next year by finishing in sixth place will probably need to find a replacement for Gareth Barry who is in demand from bigger clubs.
“As for the future, we would be delighted to keep Gareth Barry, of course. He has a year left to run [on his contract] and has been a fantastic servant, but while I’d love to keep him, I accept the fact that there are other things that may materialize. I’ll say no more than that,” said Villa manager Martin O’Neill.
West Ham United 2, Middlesbrough 0
Another bombshell hit a North East Premier League team as Middlesbrough was relegated along with Newcastle on Sunday.
West Ham, who was in good form, took the lead when the Democratic Republic of Congo international Ilunga crossed one in for Carlton Cole to get his 12th of the season after being out of action for six weeks with a groin strain.
Middlesbrough looked in trouble when they went one down and it was always going to be a long way back for the team that has scored the fewest goals in the Premiership.
But the visitors were given some hope when Gary O’Neil blasted one in at the beginning of the second half to equalize.
But the hope soon faded as Middlesbrough conceded a soft goal when a Junior Stanislas drive snuck past goalkeeper Brad Jones at the near post—a costly error by the Boro keeper.
“It’s a low for our football [soccer] club, our supporters, our players and staff,” said Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate.
“The club will grieve tonight but the future will start tomorrow. It’s a painful blow but we have to take the pain and move forward.”
Hull 0, Manchester United 1
Manchester United, who has already secured the Premiership title with an eye on the European Champions League final this Wednesday, did not field, by their standards, a strong team on Sunday.
But it was strong enough to go to the KC stadium and get the win against a Hull team in freefall. The only possible first team selection Sir Alex Ferguson fielded was Darren Fletcher who is unable to play in the European final due to suspension.
There was predictable tension in the air but Hull was never really in the game. A wave of optimism rang through the air when the home crowd heard that Aston Villa went a goal up against Newcastle.
With Newcastle losing and getting relegated, Hull managed to survive by the skin of their teeth with a lowly point total of 35. The 35 points is the lowest point total for a surviving Premiership team since West Brom’s 34 four years ago.
Hull manager Phil Brown took to the microphone and sang to the crowd, “Let me go home this is the best, best trip I’ve ever been on …” and the home crowd echoed the words. It’s rare to see such joy after a loss and a dismal end to the season.
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