The mid-to-late 1990s was a strange time to be a fan of the Toon Army. Sandwiched in-between challenging for the title (twice) and losing consecutive cup finals, we had players with names like Georgi Georgiadis and Andreas Anderson in our team.
Gullit's gamble of benching Shearer and Ferguson, spectacularly backfired as Newcastle lost to arch rivals Sunderland and remained stuck down the table. Not long after, Gullit was sacked with Newcastle becoming marked as relegation contenders, despite having the likes of Alan Shearer and Gary Speed in their prime.
It was Robson's first match at home as the Magpies' manager, something he had dreamed of for many years. A lot was riding on a big result. Put simply, Newcastle United needed to win, and win they did. Aaron Hughes only scored 4 league goals for the Toon Army and he escalated proceedings with the opener. Not long ago after, Shearer had scored a brace after the half hour mark and converted it into a hat-trick by half-time.
At 4-0 up you would have forgiven Newcastle for taking their foot off the accelerator and go into defensive mode. After all they hadn't won a home game in 7 months. But that's not their style. On this day they were galvanised and were flawless. The nascent Kieron Dyer scored after the restart. For a while at least Wednesday had got their act together until Gary Speed knocked them back down again. In the closing stages, Shearer added two more goals (the latter being a trademark penalty), putting his tally to 5 for the match. He became only the second Premier League player to achieve this feat as Newcastle won 8-0.
Seeing as I love fantasy football, it's only fair if I also retrospectively evaluated this match from that perspective too:
3 - Alan Shearer
2 - Aaron Hughes
1 - Gary Speed
27 - Alan Shearer
14 - Aaron Hughes
9 - Gary Speed
Harper - £4M
Barton - £4.5M
Hughes - £4.5M
Goma - £4.5M
Domi - £5M
Solano - £7M
Lee - £6.5M
Speed - £8M
Dyer - £6M
Ketsbaia - £7M
Shearer - £12.5M
Not long after this famous win, the Geordies still toiled around the relegation zone until after New Years' Day 2000, as Sheffield Wednesday capitulated and eventually went down instead. That said, a new dawn had broken over the North East under Robson's tutelage. In a space of a few years, with a some extra manpower, Newcastle once again played in the Champions' League. Sadly, it wasn't to last. Sir Bobby was unjustly sacked in 2004. He died of cancer not long after. The club is indebted to the good times that he brought with his vast experience and natural class.