With Newcastle sitting fairly comfortably in the top half of the Premier League at the end of 2014, the board decided to stick with John Carver on an interim basis and restart fresh during the off season.
It was a decision that turned out to not be without risk as the club went on their worst run of form in their Premier League history with several consecutive defeats brought them into the relegation dogfight. The fight went to the final day of the season and a memorable 2-0 win over West Ham at home saw Newcastle secure Premier League football for another season at Steve Bruce's Hull City's expense.
Burnley (h), Premier League, 01/01/2015: Drew 3-3
Jak Alnwick: Reserve goalkeeper, Alnwick came into the first team for around six weeks whilst Tim Krul and Rob Elliot were injured. He failed to keep a clean sheet during this time so he did nothing to convince the management that he deserved to stay in the first team when Krul and Elliot returned from injury.
The Hexham-born goalkeeper left Tyneside the following summer and spent two years at Port Vale in League One before joining Rangers in Glasgow. He is still on the books there but is currently on loan at Blackpool, serving as a back-up.
Daryl Janmaat: The Dutch right back was a mainstay in that position and left the club soon after the 2016/17 Championship season started. He is now in his fourth season at Watford and has made over 80 appearances for the Hornets. Now at the age of 30, he is deemed as back up now at Vicarage Road with the Spanish Kiko Femenia being preferred by Nigel Pearson.
Steven Taylor: Taylor was a mainstay in the Newcastle backline for a number of years and was a breath of fresh air when he performed well in the position that was once occupied by Titus Bramble and Jean Alain Boumsong.
In January 2015, Taylor scored his last Newcastle goal against Burnley in a 3-3 draw, that goal was enough to make him the club's highest scoring defender in the Premier League, overtaking Steve Watson and Robbie Elliott. After Newcastle's 2016 relegation, Taylor, at the age of 30, left to have a brief spell in the MLS with Portland Timbers. He later returned to English football to play for Ipswich and Peterborough. Since July 2018, he has been playing for A-League side, Wellington Phoenix.
It was in this match against Burnley that Taylor scored his last goal for Newcastle before he left the club in summer 2016. It was a fine headed goal that ended up in the top corner to break the deadlock in a game that became a goalfest.
Fabricio Coloccini: After struggling in his first season on Tyneside, Coloccini's career burst into life with the help of the 2009/10 Championship season, similar to Jose Enrique.
He would then go on to be a key figure at St. James' Park, becoming club captain in 2011 before his departure following the club's 2016 relegation from the Premier League. He is still playing for San Lorenzo, the club he joined after leaving Newcastle.
Paul Dummett: Dummett is one of two players in this eleven that is still a Newcastle player. Guess who the other one is? Yes, it is true, Jack Colback is somewhow still a Newcastle player officially after signing a six-year deal back in 2014. This was a difficult season for Dummett, and still finding his feet in the Premier League. He scored an own goal just a few minutes after Steven Taylor gave Newcastle the lead.
Injuries have unfortunately been rife in Dummett's prime years as a player but this season, he made his 150th league appearance for the club after making his debut on the opening day of the 2013/14 season against Man City.
Cheick Tiote: Tiote was key player for Newcastle in the midfield for several years and is most well known for scoring the equalising goal against Arsenal in February 2011 to make the score 4-4 in the late stages of the game, it was an exquisite volley on his weaker left foot from 25-yards out. Sadly, this became the last goal of his life.
He went on to make 156 appearances for the Magpies. His time at the club sadly seemed to fizzle out and, with the club in the Championship, they wanted to reduce the wage bill as much as possible. In February 2017, he was sold to Beijing Enterprises in China's second tier. Tiote sadly died suddenly in June 2017, after suffering a cardiac arrest during a training session, at the age of 30.
Jack Colback: It was a decent first season on Tyneside for Jack Colback and fans often commended him for his work rate. During a season where the team's work rate came under scrutiny by the fans, Colback was a player who then stood out for the right reasons and prompted John Carver to say that he wishes he had a team full of Colbacks.
Following the arrival of Rafa Benitez at Newcastle, Colback's appearance in the first team became fairly regular but once the club returned to the Premier League, he was sent out on loan back to the Championship. He is now still at Newcastle and stuck in the reserves as he is not registered to play in the Premier League.
Moussa Sissoko: A player who was able to turn on the style and be unbeatable on his day. The downside, of course, was that it felt like he did not do it often enough and when it was not his day, he gave off the impression that he did not care which understandably hurt the fans.
After being part of the club's 2015/16 relegation campaign from the Premier League, Sissoko followed it up with being one of the best players of the Euro 2016 tournament which earned him a big move to Tottenham shortly before the transfer window closed. He is still at Tottenham and has recently surpassed 500 career appearances, 133 of those were for Newcastle.
Ayoze Perez: Perez stuck around on Tyneside until the departure of Rafa Benitez in 2019. After the forward ended one of his many goal droughts, he introduced the controversial celebration to signify that he did not listen to the fans. Despite being arguably the club's best player in the 2010s decade, whenever he picked up a decent run of form, he would always express a desire to leave which left fans wondering whether he was intending to play well for the club or just to put himself in the shop window.
In summer 2019, he moved to Leicester City for £35million and scored on his second return to St. James' Park on New Year's Day as the Foxes ran out 3-0 winners. He still did that celebration in front of the Newcastle fans which certainly showed classful disrespect.
Yoan Gouffran: The 2014/15 season saw Gouffran move from a striker to a make-shift left winger. Whilst his work rate was admirable, his quality and end product was often lacking.
However, after being a forgotten man under the next manager, Steve McClaren, he found his form again when Rafa Benitez made him a regular during the 2016/17 Championship season. He decided to leave his time on Tyneside on a high as he saw out his contract in 2017 and then joined Turkish side, Goztepe for two years and is now on the books at Ararat in Armenia.
Emmanuel Riviere: Riviere's time at Newcastle was simply a nightmare for the striker. With two years on Tyneside, he amassed just three goals in all competitions (two of which came in the same game).
Under Rafa Benitez, he was sent out on loan to Osasuna before being eventually sold to Ligue 1 side, Metz. He remained there for two years before joining Cosenza in the Italian Serie B where he is now.