Roeder strengthens hand as Magpies end season in style

GLENN ROEDER laid down his credentials to the men who will decide his future when he steered Newcastle to a top-seven finish with a final day victory over champions Chelsea.

The 50-year-old saw his side ride their luck to clinch a place in the Intertoto Cup and a chance of UEFA Cup qualification through Titus Bramble’s 73rd-minute strike despite Stephen Carr’s dismissal two minutes later.

It was a personal triumph for Roeder, who took his points tally to 32 from a possible 45 since replacing Graeme Souness as caretaker.

The fact that the Magpies two years ago had been heavily criticised for finishing fifth and missing out on the Champions League under Sir Bobby Robson was long forgotten during a warmly-received lap of honour at St James’ Park.

“I feel exactly the same as I’ve always done when I come up here after we have won a game, very satisfied,” said Roeder.

“It’s a shame the season is finishing, isn’t it? We have come from nowhere. They normally say there’s a team that goes down that comes from nowhere in the middle of the table.

“But this time around, it’s gone the other way, we have come from nowhere to get a stab at the UEFA Cup next year via the Intertoto. It’s immensely important. There’s a financial issue, which is always very important, and there’s an issue that our fans — and rightly so — expect it.

“You can say it is only the Intertoto Cup, but nevertheless, it is an entry into the UEFA Cup and the fact that we have got a chance of playing in the UEFA Cup gives us a little bit more of an edge in attracting other players to come to the club in the summer.”

Newcastle will face a team from Northern Ireland, Norway or Iceland in a two-legged Intertoto clash on July 15 and 22, with the winners going straight into the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

By contrast, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho — whose team suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time — was furious at referee Mike Riley after feeling his side had suffered at the hands of Steve Bennett in their midweek defeat at Blackburn.

He was particularly angry with the official’s decision only to book Celestine Babayaro for a cynical trip on Arjen Robben, as well as rejecting a penalty shout against substitute Jean-Alain Boumsong.

“Newcastle did this game, Chelsea did this game and the referee did not do what he should do,” Mourinho said.

“Babayaro is a red card in every country, in every division on every pitch; Boumsong is a penalty in every country, in every division, on every pitch.

“A clear penalty, a clear red card, at Blackburn two penalties — people cannot think because you are champions, you don’t deserve respect or because you are champions, you don’t want to win.

“Because I came with a team full of young boys and without the stars, if you want to say that, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to win. You want to play a game, you want to have the same chance as the opponents.

“We are not guilty that Blackburn needed a victory to go to the UEFA; we are not guilty that Newcastle needed a victory to go to the Intertoto. We are not guilty of that. We just want to play a normal game of football, and these two matches were not normal games of football.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho revealed that Carlo Cudicini had suffered a nasty ankle injury during the warm-up and that Ricardo Carvalho had gone to hospital with a head wound, and continued to make his point over Babayaro’s challenge on Robben.

“Robben is a lucky boy,” he said. “He’s a very lucky boy to be going to the World Cup. Achilles is the worst injury you can have, and the way he was tackled from behind, he’s a lucky boy, a very lucky boy.”

NEWCASTLE: Given, Carr, Bramble, Moore, Babayaro, Solano (Boumsong 31), Faye, Emre, N’Zogbia, Chopra (Clark 77), Ameobi.

CHELSEA: Pidgeley, Paulo Ferreira, Huth (Wright-Phillips 45), Ricardo Carvalho (Smith 81), Gallas, Johnson, Diarra, Maniche, Robben, Joe Cole, Duff (Carlton Cole 45).

Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).