http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/6632295.stm
After 73 games in charge, Glenn Roeder discovered the Newcastle hot-seat
was too fiery a proposition.
Roeder initially took the manager's job on a caretaker basis in February
2006 after the club sacked Graeme Souness.
Three months later, Roeder was handed a two-year contract after taking the
Magpies from the bottom half to the top section of the Premiership table.
He said at the time of his appointment: "It shows that dreams do come true.
"If you work hard and fight for the dream it proves that anything in life is
possible - and when the opportunity comes along you have to be ready for it."
Fast forward a year and many will question whether the dream was a nightmare
and if Roeder was ready for such a role.
Certainly there were those who raised their eyebrows at his appointment -
remembering his record at West Ham, who were relegated from the Premiership
under his stewardship in 2003.
Strictly speaking, Trevor Brooking was in charge of West Ham when they went
down but he was only placed in temporary charge for the final three games of
the season - when the Hammers were already four points adrift of the safety
zone.
Roeder needed a break from the game after being diagnosed with a brain
tumour in the April of that season and later revealed the health scare had
given him a "whole new perspective on life".
Initially, Roeder's reign at West Ham had started well as the club finished
seventh in the top flight in his first season in charge in 2002.
And there are incredible similarities between his tenures at West Ham and
Newcastle.
When Roeder took the job at St James' Park, Newcastle were a lowly 15th in
the table and he turned them around to end the season in seventh place.
However, some argued he should never have had the chance as he lacked the
necessary qualification for the job, a Uefa Pro-Licence, and was only allowed
to stay in the role after receiving special dispensation from the Premier
League.
But instead of going back to school to gain a coaching badge, Roeder went
into Europe after Newcastle entered the Intertoto Cup - and won a Uefa Cup
place.
Ironically, it was that success which led to one of Roeder's biggest lows
as Newcastle manager.
In March this year, Newcastle looked on course for the Uefa Cup semi-finals
after beating AZ Alkmaar 4-2 at St James' Park in their quarter-final
first-leg.
But the Magpies contrived to throw it away when they played in the
Netherlands a week later and were dumped out of the competition on away goals
after losing 2-0.
And with Newcastle struggling to get anywhere near Roeder's publicly
announced target of a top-six finish in the Premiership, unrest was growing in
and around the club.
However, Roeder insisted that circumstances beyond his control were
responsible for the situation.
He declared at the time: "No-one else, with what's happened here and the
injuries we've had for six months now, would have done any better.
"I am not living on Fantasy Island or cloud cuckoo land."
True enough, Newcastle were robbed of the services of England striker
Michael Owen, who was injured for virtually 15 months and was fit enough to
start only two matches under Roeder.
Yet, pointing to the loss of one key player was never going to prove to be
a sufficient excuse - particularly when the major problems Newcastle faced
were in defence anyway.
And once the goals, which were never in constant supply, dried up, too,
there was nowhere left for Roeder to hide.
The fans made their fury known on Saturday as they watched their team set
an unwanted record of over eight hours of playing time without a league goal at
St James' Park - their worst run since 1951.
And Roeder became a victim of being unable to fulfil his own prophecy.
When he first took the job, he stated: "Fifty-two-thousand supporters turn
up every other week to support a team that has not won anything for 37 years.
"What the next manager has to do is make sure it is a great club because of
the supporters and results and achievement on the field."
Newcastle have now begun another search for that elusive manager - for the
fifth time in under a decade.
過幾天再看要不要補翻譯......
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