Sir Bobby Robson's 10 Greatest Moments At Newcastle

3. He Took Us On The UEFA Cup Run 03-04

Sir Bobby gave us many things, but silverware was sadly not one of them. Newcastle had gone exactly 30 years without a trophy when he was appointed, and with perhaps the exception of Keegan, there's been nobody before or after who has taken us closer or deserved it more. Under his charge we had two serious flirtations with the Premier League title, an FA Cup semi-final, and little of note in the League Cup. But failure to progress past the qualifying round of the 2003/2004 Champions League placed Newcastle as one of the better teams in what was a very strong UEFA Cup, and were it not for a horrible crescendo of injuries, and the work of a Mr Didier Drogba, they probably would have won it. NAC Breda, FC Basel, Valeranga, Real Mallorca and PSV Eindhoven had all been swept away by what was, arguably, the strongest side Robson had assembled in his time at the club. Alan Shearer was back to 20+ goals a season, Craig Bellamy had curbed some discipline issues to become of the most direct forwards in the league, Kieron Dyer was establishing himself as a regular for England, Laurent Robert was at this enchanting/frustrating peak, Jonathan Woodgate looked like the successor to Sol Campbell's throne, Gary Speed charged around with purpose and conviction, and a whole host of supporting characters like Jenas, Bramble, Viana, Hughes, Ambrose and Ameobi were surely all just a season away from becoming some of the best players in Europe. Looking back at the players in that list who never really reached the lofty heights that were predicted for them, it seems strange now to wonder how so much belief could have been placed in them, but watching them consistently dominate all but the top teams in the league, and then still manage to beat some of Europe's best during the week, it felt like being a Newcastle fan was something a lot of people envied. In truth the failures of this crop of players signalled the end of Sir Bobby's tenure, but a little bit more luck in that semi-final, and who knows where he or they might have gone from there.