Newcastle United's surprise 1998 £8m signing opens up on Sunderland Tyne-Wear derby controversy
A former Newcastle United striker has opened up on his time at St James Park.
He was once involved in one of the most infamous moments in the long history of the Tyne-Wear derby and has now revealed he did not want to join Newcastle United.
In the bizarre world that was the Magpies in the late-1990s, when managerial changes seemed to take place on an annual basis and Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ were quickly dismantled, Everton striker Duncan Ferguson became a somewhat surprise addition to Ruud Gullit’s United ranks. The Dutch boss had promised ‘sexy football’ when he was named as successor to Kenny Dalglish in August 1998 and the signing of Scotland international Ferguson, who was known for his physical and powerful prowess, seemed at odds with those claims.
The signings was completed just over two months after Gullit’s appointment and came after Newcastle had just suffered a defeat against Ferguson’s old club. The former Rangers frontman marked his United debut with two goals in a 3-1 home win against Wimbledon and went on to score 12 goals in 41 appearances during a two-year spell on Tyneside before returning to Everton in a £4m deal in August 2000. However, the former Magpies striker has now revealed he was initially against a move to Tyneside before the Toffees appeared to indicate they were struggling financially and needed funds from the deal to warn off threats from the banks.
He told The Rest is Football podcast: “It was quick. It came around very quickly. Everton was going skint. Yeah, this is their story to me. They were going skint, needed a few quid. I was a saleable asset. The banks were closing in seemingly. That was their spiel to me. That was their story. I did (believe them). I did at the time, but you just don't know. As you get older, you get more wiser.
“Maybe they just wanted me off the books. Maybe they just wanted me gone. But that was the story to me, that the banks were closing in. They were going to get £7m for me, plus another £1m in add-ons, £8m quid for me. They thought it was a good deal and it happened very quickly because in a few days, I got a phone call, this could be happening, really. Walter (Smith, then-Everton manager) was there at the time. He never knew a lot about it either.
“I didn't want it to happen. There was always a choice. I could have come back and I always think about it. I went up to Newcastle. I stayed there for three nights, three days, never signed the contract, (I) stayed there waiting and waiting. All the fans were kicking off. It had all gone off because at the time we were struggling in the Premier League, this could have relegated them - and I said to Walter, I want to come back - and I could just sense they wanted me gone.
“For whatever reason, they wanted me off the wage bill, they wanted me gone - so you can't go back.”
“Their relationship wasn’t great”
Ferguson also opened up on one of the big controversies of his time on Tyneside as he and strike partner Alan Shearer were named amongst the Magpies substitutes for a 2-1 home defeat against Wear-Tyne derby rivals Sunderland. The Black Cats had just secured promotion into the Premier League and they claimed all three points on a stormy night at St James Park when the Dutchman left his £23m strike duo on the bench and named young forward Paul Robinson in his starting eleven.
The Magpies actually got themselves in front with a Kieron Dyer goal - but it was the visitors that claimed the points thanks to second-half strikes from Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn. Speaking after the game, Gullit doubled down on his decision to omit Shearer and Ferguson by saying his side were leading before their belated introduction into the game. The former AC Milan star left his role less than 48 hours after the defeat and Ferguson gave an insight into what would be a dramatic end to his year-long reign at St James Park.
“I was a part of that to be fair. Gullit has brought me in. We played Sunderland and normally Gullit would play 11 against 11 on a Friday. Me and Alan were in the reserves playing the team that would play Sunderland and the reserves, as they always did, won two-nothing. Alan scored, I scored a header, he scored a left-footed shot and he never changed that. He never put Alan in, he never put me in, he went with the same team. I was coming back from injury, my story was a little bit different from Alan’s, he was pushing Alan out, he wanted Alan out of the club.
“Their relationship wasn’t great, Ruud was young, he was a wonderful player and he just wasn’t ready to manage another world class player. Their relationship wasn’t great but I got on well with Ruud, more or less all of the time, other than maybe one occasion.”
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