Newcastle United caretaker Glenn Roeder was appointed officially as head coach after signing a two-year deal with the club on Tuesday, the Premiership side announced on their official website. “It gives me great pleasure today to announce the appointment of Glenn Roeder as our new manager on a two-year contract,” Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd was quoted as saying on the official website. The former Newcastle skipper, who took over as caretaker after the departure of Graeme Souness in February, succeeded in guiding the team to hold seventh place in the Premiership standings, as opposed to the original 14th place. “Glenn was a very popular and dedicated servant of this football club between 1983 and 1989, helping the club win promotion back to the top-flight in 1984 before going on to become our skipper. “Glenn picked up 32 points from 15 Premiership matches at the end of the 2005/06 season and the run of the results saw us climb the table to finish seventh, beating champions Chelsea on the last weekend of the season to qualify for the Intertoto Cup, and hopefully, earn a place in next season's UEFA Cup,” he added. On the other hand, the 50-year-old coach expressed his happiness at being appointed the new Newcastle coach and described the contract as “a dream come true”. “It's hard to describe how I feel at this moment, I know all about this club, having played here for almost six years and having captained the club,” Roeder said. “I'm an extremely lucky person to have been given this opportunity, and it is an opportunity I want to take,” he added. Roeder has yet to earn his Pro license from UEFA next season.
