Thursday 21 May 2015 15:32, UK
Newcastle were in the top half and 10 points clear of the relegation zone when John Carver took over midway through the season, the Champions League places closer than the dreaded dotted line.
Now they go into the final day of the Premier League season with their top-flight status on the line, a fraught, fractious campaign fraying nerves until the last.
Hull - in dire straits two points below them - face a daunting clash with Manchester United but only a Newcastle victory against old boss Sam Allardyce and his West Ham side will guarantee another term in the top tier for a team that has mustered just two league wins this calendar year.
It's a remarkable nosedive for a team that ended champions Chelsea's unbeaten run in December. How did it all unravel? We chart the Magpies' month-by-month slump ahead of Sunday's decider - and how the odds on an apparently unlikely drop dipped dramatically...
JANUARY
League form: DLLW
Points won: 4/12
Position at end of month: 11th - 11 points above drop zone
The story: They chant, print flyers and even drive a branded van to the gates of St James' but Alan Pardew rides the protests and leaves - it seems - on his own terms, back into the bosom of Crystal Palace. Up steps Carver - boyhood fan - and only George Boyd's late intervention prevents the promoted No 2 from ringing in 2015 with all three points. After a keenly-fought 3-3 draw with Burnley comes defeat at Chelsea but a routine-looking 2-0 scoreline belies a performance that frequently gives the leaders the jitters. Another loss - at home to Southampton - follows but the month ends with victory at rain-lashed Hull, Remy Cabella declared a man finally on the rise after after a blistering shimmy and strike. There's little to celebrate in the transfer window, though; compensation is banked for Pardew, while Davide Santon and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa are sold, but no fresh faces arrive.
The stat: Cabella scores his first Newcastle goal in 24 appearances since a £12m summer move from Montpellier.
The reaction: "It was very emotional at the end when I went over to fans," Carver - who has now been handed the reins until the end of the season - says after securing his maiden win. "Not so long ago I was one of them and now I am in charge of this club. Bobby Robson told me: 'If ever you get the opportunity, don't be afraid of it and take it with both hands'. I want this job and we have refocused the guys' season. They now know I am the head coach and we’re going to go forward."
FEBRUARY
League form: DDLW
Points won: 5/12
Position at end of month: 11th - 13 points above drop zone
The story: Awkward fixtures against Crystal Palace - Pardew's first match in charge at Selhurst - and Stoke yield a point apiece but then comes a drubbing, Manchester City netting three of their five unanswered goals inside 21 minutes. Carver has now won just one in eight but relief arrives on home turf, Papiss Cisse's lone strike seeing off a lowly Aston Villa side still adjusting to life under Tim Sherwood.
The stat: Edin Dzeko ends a 15-game goal drought as Manuel Pellegrini's side rack up their biggest win of the season. Newcastle haven't beaten City in the league since 2000.
The reaction: "It wasn't scintillating, it was two nervous sides," Carver says after a reviving first win at last on Tyneside. "It wasn't pretty but it was a godsend getting that goal before half-time. We have a long list of people who aren't available and we've fought every inch of the way to get the result. It's been a long week (after the 5-0 defeat by City). The expectancy of this crowd is massive."
MARCH
League form: LLL
Points won: 0/9
Position at end of month: 12th - 10 points above drop zone
The story: Ashley Young pounces on a late Tim Krul error as March opens with defeat at home to Manchester United but the headline acts are Cisse and Jonny Evans, caught on camera spitting during a heated first-exchange. Cisse begins a seven-game ban and one defeat becomes three. Carver's men are swept aside 3-0 at Everton - Fabricio Coloccini sent off - and then, despite an improved second-half showing after beeing booed off at the break, fall 2-1 at home to Arsenal, Oliver Giroud's damage done.
The stat: Newcastle have now won just one in nine away games.
The reaction: "It's dead easy to disappear in a stadium like this," a bullish Carver tells the media amid suggestions his players have switched off early for the summer. "I told the players at half-time: 'Be proud of what you do, give the fans something to shout about' and we did that. People said we had our flip-flops on but if you saw our second-half performance that's not the case. I'll keep driving them on, they want to work."
APRIL
League form: LLLL
Points won: 0/12
Position at end of month: 14th - 5 points above drop zone
The story: The nights might be getting lighter but April gets darker by the day for Newcastle. Jermain Defoe's stunning volley settles the derby in Sunderland's favour for the fifth match in a row and a disjointed side is easy prey for a far-from-fluid Liverpool team a week later. 'Sack Pardew' becomes 'Ashley Out' when Tottenham - 3-1 winners - come to town and though the threat of a full-on fan boycott never quite materialises, an attendance of 47,427 is the lowest of the season. Frustrated Toon fans - who discover their club has had £34m of unspent funds in the bank - boo off the team at full-time after a sixth league defeat on the run. Swansea soon travel north to dish up a seventh.
The stat: Newcastle fail to manage a shot on target against Sunderland until the 78th minute. A winless run against their arch-rivals now stretches back seven matches to August 2011.
The reaction: "It has been a (relegation) battle for four or five weeks now,” Carver - who is the first Newcastle manager to lose seven in a row - tells Sky Sports. “We can’t hide from it, we’ve got to deal with it and get on with it. When you lose so many games your confidence is going to be hit - not just the players, everyone around the stadium. But what I will say is that there’s character in the dressing room."
MAY
League form: LDL
Points won: 1/9
Current position: 17th - 2 points above drop zone
The story: Newcastle head to Leicester hoping to stop the rot but the resurgent Foxes - who later secure their Premier League status after a staggering haul of 19 points from 24 - take the lead inside 40 seconds, before easing to a 3-0 win against freefalling opponents reduced to nine men. While visiting fans turn up the heat on Ashley, Carver takes an extraordinary swipe at his own player, accusing Mike Williamson of deliberately getting sent off. A home draw against West Brom finally ends a record-breaking eight successive defeats but despite taking the lead at condemned QPR, an insipid second-half display means Newcastle miss the chance to scramble clear. Just one point from 30 means a tortuous final day - memories of 2008/09 suddenly fresh - awaits.
The stat: The Magpies go 10 Premier League games without a win (D1 L9) for the first time since May 2009 - a season in which they were relegated.
The reaction: "I've tried everything in the book," Carver rues after defeat at Loftus Road. "Sometimes the quality's not there - you're just not good enough - and Saturday might have been that situation. We have eight days to get our heads around the scenario. This game (against West Ham) is the biggest game this football club has faced in a long, long time."
Watch Newcastle, Hull and Sunderland's decisive final-day fixtures live on Sky Sports this 'Survival Sunday'. Newcastle v West Ham is live on Sky Sports 3pm from 2.55pm, Sunderland's trip to Chelsea is live on Sky 1 from 2pm and Hull's visit of Manchester United is live on Sky Sports 1 from 2pm.
ALL THREE matches are behind the red button on Sky Sports 1.
