steve_69

I'd say going to a new country where you don't speak the language, with a group of players you are unfamiliar with and getting them up to fifth in the league is a hell of an achievement. Doesn't matter if it's not the top league in Spain.

When he left us St James Park wasn't quite the imposing beast it is now. Maybe he was a bit overwhelmed by the change.

Well done Nigel Pearson. Credit where it's due.

Not being a total wanker would be pretty high up on my list. General coaching ability would be a close second

I've posted this on another thread as well because i'm self-righteous but....... Shearer's lack of experience wouldn't necessarily be a problem when it comes to team affairs but with regards to building the club, developing the youth side, signing players etc. i do feel it would count against him. We need someone who has been involved in all aspects of football club development as well as team managment. Right now the job is all-encompassing and for that reason it is too much for Shearer to take on. That's why he is one for the future not for now. Lets get the club sorted from top to bottom before we get him in. That way he can concentrate solely on team affairs and delivering results on the pitch - something i'm sure we all feel he could do. The last thing any of us would want is for Shearer to fail because the job in it's current state is too big for him.

We need someone who can embrace the passion of this club and immerse themselves in it that's for sure. Someone who sees it as more than just their next job. From that point of view Shearer/Keegan would be the ideal choices, but i wouldn't be surprised if Keegan has lost some of his previous love for management, and i certainly think his self-belief will have been affected by his experiences here, at Fulham and at Man City. I think re-appointing him would be a mistake, and thankfully for us I don't think our new owner and Chairman are that foolish. Shearer's lack of experience wouldn't necessarily be a problem when it comes to team affairs but with regards to building the club, developing the youth side, signing players etc. i do feel it would count against him. We need someone who has been involved in all aspects of football club development as well as team managment. Right now the job is all-encompassing and for that reason it is too much for Shearer to take on. That's why Shearer is one for the future not for now. Lets get the club sorted from top to bottom before we get him in. That way he can concentrate solely on team affairs and delivering results on the pitch.

You never know, maybe even the great Alan Shearer has respect for other men in football, and could understand why a guy who has already been a success in the Premier League and has won trophies wherever he's been would get appointed ahead of him. Perhaps he would even feel he could learn a few things from working with a world class manager - things that would stand him in better stead of being a successful manager himself in the future.

Again, surely the mere fact that the man won 5+ trophies with that group of players is testament to the man's ability.

So if Houllier inherited a class Lyon side who played great football from Le Guen and kept them playing great football despite losing some of their most important players, that should stand in his favour shouldn't it? He didn't inherit Le Guen's class Lyon side and try to get them playing defensive football.

Houllier certainly ticks most of the boxes. Youth development, speaks english, handles big club expectations. Just not sure about the stylish football. Gus Hiddink fits the bill as well i think

Always rated him. Get him in. He's massive, experienced and has played in the Premiership. £4m ppffft!

I thought those comments about wanting attacking football blah blah blah were denied by the club. They were made up by some News of the World journalist.

He also turned a pretty average Liverpool side into trophy winners again - 4 in one season i believe. He took Lyon to the French Championship and the latter stages of the Champions League, and was the man almost solely responsible for the development of the French football academy that led to France winning the World Cup and European Championships. That'll do for me

Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce. 3 of the dullest men in football. What a night out it must've been

Sam Allardyce is convinced Wigan Athletic boss Steve Bruce will eventually manage Newcastle United. Allardyce partied until the early hours yesterday - and openly backed Bruce to take over his old job. Allardyce, 53, joined Bruce and Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson in Manchester following his former team's miserable 6-0 drubbing at Old Trafford. The trio downed bottles of champagne and lager at the city's Ampersand club with their wives. The managers chatted until the early hours of the morning and openly discussed Bruce taking over the job at St James' Park. One clubber, who was close to Allardyce, told the Mirror: "You have to say he did not look too sad about losing the job. "Big Sam was certainly enjoying a few drinks and did not seem too upset about Newcastle United's performance. "I think he was starting to spend some of his pay-off! "At one stage, the three managers were all stood at the bar talking as if Bruce was a real candidate for the job. "Allardyce seemed to think there was a fair chance he would be offered it, and they all spoke about him being unveiled at his hometown club. "Bruce was just smiling sheepishly about it. "Obviously this was after the news that Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp had turned it down. "Bruce has only just arrived at Wigan, so you would think he would be a long shot, but they were not talking that way Thankfully it's from Tribalfootball so it's almost certainly bullshit

I honestly cannot believe how many people have voted for Keegan. We're doomed!

FFS, Ashley is a businessman and he's running the club like any of his other business acquisitions - bring in your own team to generate the results you expect. This means eliminating weaknesses and getting rid of people you feel you can't work with. They wanted their own man in from the start but decided to give Sam a chance. He was garbage so they got rid. They obviously feel they can salvage something from this season with a new man at the helm so they've made a ruthless business decision. Ignore everything that has happened in previous years. That is all irrelevant now. You can't blame the new guys for the way the club was run in the past. Ashley wants to take the club forward and he didn't think he could do that with Fat Sam in charge of team affairs. End of! Redknapp would've been a much better appointment than Allardyce. We'd have been happier with the football on display and he'd have almost certainly brought in some good players. The fact that we've been throwing around names like Mourinho, Lippi, Houllier etc meant we were disappointed when someone less Hollywood was approached. If you'd have been told we were going to sack Allardyce and replace him with Redknapp after the Portsmouth, Liverpool or Derby games the response would have been a lot more positive. I don't give a stuff if they haven't been involved in football before. FF was a self-confessed fan, and as such put us on the verge of financial ruin by letting his passion for the club (and love of the limelight no doubt) get the better of him. The fact that we have astute businessmen in charge of the club now gives me a lot more hope for the future.

It's one of those things you feel shit saying though. I just don't see what alternative we have.

Bit harsh on Duff isn't it. He's undoubtedly one of our best players

I honestly believe our new manager has to be a foreigner. Firstly most foreign managers will be less aware of the poison chalice reputation of the Newcastle United job. Now i know this sounds like a naive comment but British managers have experienced the demise of NUFC from very close quarters and have seen all the negative press coverage that has come with it. Although a lot of the foreign managers will be aware of the hirings and firings i doubt a lot of the other crap will have filtered through. There are no British managers that we consider good enough to take us where we want to be with the exception of Ferguson, Moyes and possibly O'Neill, and none of those are going to happen. Even Hughes is yet to prove he has what it takes to challenge the top four. I would rather take a chance on one of the up-and-coming Championship managers than the current crop of British Premier league bosses. Respect from the players. That little bit of mystery that comes with a foreign manager mght be enough to get some more effort out of the players. Our player's reputations would count for nothing. They would all have to prove themselves to the new man and do their best to earn his respect. Tactics. It seems that continental managers piss all over British managers when it comes to tactics. There are too many one-dimensional fixed-format managers in the English game, and there's no place for them any more. We've seen our nearest rivals pull away from us by having the forsight to look abroad. If we don't do the same i fear we'll drop back even further.

..............................Given Beye.........Taylor..............Faye..........Enrique Milner........?.....................?................N'Zogbia ................Martins............? 2 players for every position means we need: 1 x lb 1x rb 2x cb 4 x cm 1 x rw 3 x cf Looks like we might need more than that £100m

Good enough: Martins Milner Duff N'Zogbia Beye Taylor Faye Possibly Enrique given time Given The rest are gash. Every central midfield player we have is woeful.

I'm sure the board have been inundated with CVs for the manager's job. It's normally the case when a Premiership job becomes available. I would expect Mclaren will be one of the applicants but hopefully they'll wipe their arses with his application and flush it away. They must realise we'd go spastic if that penis was hired.

People who take over companies almost always bring in their own people. People they trust to deliver the results they expect. I'm sure that Ashley and Mort would've wanted to start their tenure with their own man in charge. They are clearly very unimpressed by FF and the way he ran the club so i'd be surprised if they wanted to keep his man in charge of the team. But as they say 'it's a results business', and if we were winning games under Allardyce then they would have had no choice but to keep him. As it is he was fcuking dreadful so good riddance.

The fact is they sacked a manager they clearly didn't want from the start. If we'd have been where Man City are having played the way they've played this season he'd have been given more time, but he hasn't impressed them at all and they don't trust him with any more money. He was clearly going to be asking for more funds for players this month so i can absolutely understand their timing. Better spending no money than have Allardyce throw another 8m away. He did himself no favours at all. Despite what a lot of you are saying Redknapp would've been a huge improvement on Allardyce, not least because he believes in going out to win games. He'd have got us creating and scoring goals and i reckon we'd have been challenging for a European place by the end of the season. Anyway that's by-the-by now. As the board said they've a number of people in mind and hopefully we'll end up with a decent one.