LONDON – Newcastle will be relegated for the first time in 20 years if it loses at Aston Villa on Sunday in another bleak end to the Premier League season for the teams in the northeast of England.
Two out of four teams Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and nearby Hull will go down after the final round of games, joining already relegated West Bromich Albion.
The fact that none of the four have won the league since 1936 and only one has won a major title since 1973 underlines the lack of success for a region which traditionally has strong support for its teams.
With the league title already secured by Manchester United and the top four positions almost certain to stay the same, the focus of Sunday’s games is who will capture the final spot in the Europa League, the new format for the UEFA Cup, and which two teams are relegated.
The four candidates for the two remaining relegation places all face teams in the top half of the standings.
Middlesbrough has the toughest task because Gareth Southgate’s team is two points behind at next-to-last position. It goes to ninth-place West Ham.
Newcastle, which had high hopes of title success under manager Kevin Keegan, is 18th and now fears being relegated for the first time since 1989. Keegan walked out after complaining he did not have total control over the running of the team and, after replacement Joe Kinnear fell ill, former star striker Shearer took over for the final eight games.
Newcastle is a point behind 17th place Hull and two behind Sunderland.
In charge for his final game, Shearer needs a big performance at Aston Villa on Sunday. His chances are boosted by Villa’s poor run of only one victory in its last 15 league and cup games.
Shearer appointed Iain Dowie as his assistant, and the former Crystal Palace and Coventry manager said the Newcastle fans and players should go into the game at Villa Park as upbeat as possible.
‘People have asked me whether it’s possible to be optimistic after the hammer blow at the weekend,’ Dowie said in reference to a 1-0 loss at home to Fulham. ‘It’s not only possible, it’s imperative that we stay positive.’
Just out of the relegation zone, Hull has also nosedived with only two victories in last 28 matches and now has to take on newly crowned champion Manchester United. It is likely that United manager Alex Ferguson might rest several of the stars who will line up in next Wednesday’s Champions League final against Barcelona in Rome.
Although that might give Hull a big advantage over its rivals, they haven’t publicly raised any objections because another Champions League final victory for an English club would underline the overall strength of the Premier League.
‘You can’t alter the fact they’ve won the league and they’ve got the most significant game the following Wednesday against Barcelona,’ Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said yesterday.
‘You have to be realistic: they’ve got a squad, and therefore you can’t argue that they deploy the benefit of that squad in a game on Sunday.’
Just above Hull comes Sunderland, which has a two-point advantage over Newcastle but a tough game at home to Chelsea.
‘Man United will play a team that can beat Hull, it’s as simple as that,’ said manager Ricky Sbragia, who took over after Roy Keane quit in December.
‘I can understand they have got their minds on the Champions League. If I was in that situation, I would.
‘But they have got a lot of depth in their squad and some very good young players as well, so whatever team they put out, they will totally believe they can win the game, and that’s all we can ask for.’
Everton and Aston Villa are already assured places in the second-tier European competition and eighth-place Fulham, which last season only just escaped relegation on the final day of the season, is favoured to capture another one.
Roy Hodgson’s Fulham hosts Everton and has a two-point advantage over eighth-place Tottenham, which has a tough game at Liverpool.
Sunday’s other games are: Arsenal vs. Stoke, Blackburn vs. West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City vs. Bolton, Wigan vs. Portsmouth.
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