Now that we have looked at those who have played for the club since the formation of the Premier League, there are still three names that need to be checked off - and not for good reasons. Brian Pinas Brian Pinas was discovered by Newcastle at a youth tournament in Groningen in 1997 and was snapped up from his local club Feyenoord at the tender age of 18. After one substitute appearance in pr-season however, he was relegated to the reserves, never reaching the first team again. Ridiculed by The Sun newspaper on his arrival for his surname, the winger returned to Feyenoord the following summer for £200,000, playing out the rest of his career in Holland and Belgium. Frank Wiafe Danquah Frank Wiafe Danquah was another youngster to join the club, signing from Ajax's academy at the age of 16 in 2006. Danquah sent four years on Tyneside in the youth set-up and with the reserves but was never able to breach the first team, despite being a prolific scorer at the lower level. When his contract was not renewed in 2010, the striker moved onto Hungarian side Ferencvaros, where he spent two years before continuing his career around Europe. Ruud Gullit The last person to be mentioned in this section never played for the club but was certainly around the first team more than Pinas or Danquah. Ruud Gullit took over as manager in 1998 after acrimoniously leaving Chelsea earlier that year and, upon his arrival, insisted that he would bring "sexy football" back to St James' Park. The reality, however, was quite different and Gullit's stint in charge can only be positively remembered for an FA Cup Final appearance in 1999, which the club lost 2-0 to Manchester United. A string of bad results and the alienation of fans' favourites Alan Shearer and Rob Lee came to a head when the Geordies lost 2-1 at home to arch rivals Sunderland on a sodden Wednesday night, with the beloved Geordie No 9 and his strike-partner Duncan Ferguson infamously left on the bench in place of Paul Robinson. The following day, Gullit resigned exactly one year after taking over the post - with Ferguson and Shearer both clamouring to get their hands on the former AC Milan star. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow whatculture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.
NUFC contributor for whatculture.com/nufc.
University of Edinburgh graduate with a love of sport, in particular Newcastle United surprisingly enough. When I'm not shaking my head at Paul Dummett and Yoan Gouffran, I'm usually reading something or watching films of varying quality.
