On Monday we kicked off our End of Decade series with Football Publishing Editor Mark Douglas donning the tin hat to pick his best XI of the 2010s.
As many pointed out on social media, it has been an underwhelming decade for the most part: one relegation and far too many brushes with trouble jostle with that one season where the club pushed for the top four.
But despite the tumult, there have been some very good players to don the black and white in that time. Here’s who the readers opted for.
Goalkeeper
Tim Krul got the nod in between the sticks, beating competition from Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow, who was Newcastle’s custodian for most of the Championship season. Long-serving Krul left while Rafa Benitez was manager and his only real competitor here was current stopper Dubravka, who got plenty of votes.
Defence
Readers agreed on Fabricio Coloccini , whose contribution spanned a good chunk of the decade. He’s the only player in black and white to make it into a PFA team of the year during a decade in which Newcastle mainly flattered to deceive. He has been partnered by Fabian Schar in the readers team: proof that the Switzerland international has made some impact.
At left-back Jose Enrique got the nod over Paul Dummett while Newcastle fans have chosen to forgive Daryl Janmaat for his final few months, handing the right-back the starting slot.
Midfield
Our readers could pick any formation they wanted but opted for a 4-4-2 with Yohan Cabaye predictably taking up the playmaker slot. Cheick Tiote , who served as a midfield disrupter with distinction, got the nod alongside him.
Kevin Nolan, who was a superb captain in the 2010/11 season, misses out.
Perhaps our most contentious call was not picking Hatem Ben Arfa , whose alchemy was intoxicating while he played in black and white. I didn’t think he did enough over a long enough period to get in the side but readers clearly disagreed, handing him the right-sided midfield slot.
Jonas Gutierrez , whose heroic battle back from testicular cancer to the Premier League, got the nod on the left.
Strikers
They never really gelled as a pair but individually they contribued much. Readers felt Papiss Cisse deserved to partner Demba Ba , whose brief spell as a Newcastle forward coincided with the period where they were at their most dangerous.
Ba was an obvious pick but Cisse split opinion. He still makes it in here.
