BottledDog

After he embarrassed himself the last time he sent Luque out to warm up, maybe the beaky twat has developed some sort of phobia.

That's right Glenn, they were a team of heroes out there. That ball breaker lady luck deserted them again right? By Christ, she has a lot to answer for these days, eh! blueyes.gif How fucking depressing.

They'll want to make money. This can only be done by, first and foremost, by pursuing success on the pitch and making Newcastle once again a team that people want to watch – something that now seems to be way beyond Shepherd and his cronies. Aye, they might fail. But then again, this is the second season in a row where the consensus is that we're in danger of relegation. So what's to fear from a change at the top? Hoo Victa, answer the man.

You forget that their investigations into a takeover have been rumbling on for some time. How long did the Abramovich deal take? Things may have been going on in the backgroung for a while, but it seemed like a bolt out the blue when it actually went through. This isn't an Abramovich situation though, this is a Glazer. Negotiate with one shareholder then another, then another, always looking for the best value for money. Find out who wants to cling on tto their shares and avoid negotiations, and finally accumulate enough shares to trigger a complete takeover. And as I say, discussions and gentlemens agreements with shareholders may already be in place and Shepherd is just the final stumbling block. They still seem confident, so that does indicate to me that all that may remain is a difference in valuation between themselves and Freddy, and things could move faster than you we might think. Jol, of course you are right, just as NE5 is right to be wary, the grass is not always greener. But we cannot control who Shepherd sells to or even whether he sells. All we can do is continue to express our anger until he bucks up his ideas or gives up. Either way, something has to give. Remaining in the current downward spiral is the worst option by far.

You forget that their investigations into a takeover have been rumbling on for some time. How long did the Abramovich deal take? Things may have been going on in the backgroung for a while, but it seemed like a bolt out the blue when it actually went through.

Gary Speed. A track record second to none in identifying talent, man management, tactics, and driving his teams to success! What a bizzare choice to, as you put it, inspire confidence in players and supporters. Maybe a few years down the line but right now he would be given even less leeway than Roeder if things continued to fall apart. Anyway, I still find it pretty shabby to be talking about another manager already. Direct your ire at Shepherd by all means, but continually hammering the manager with this kind of speculation does nothing to help the team imho, and as we have seen in the past, does little to affect the fat ones decisions in the end anyway.

Don't forget to add your comments to the Telegraph article chaps. blueyes.gif

Matt10's post in another thread (link) gave a rallying call of an article from the Telegraph's Henry Winter, which may see Shepherd having to come out and at least start a public dialogue. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2006/10/24/sfnwin24.xml Pretty shocked that he atually finishes the piece with "Shepherd Out". That's got to have Freddy choking on his Shreddies this morning.

Christ. A broadsheet columnist openly calling for Shepherds head. Well played Mr Winter. Shepherd Out.

awwwwwwwwww you still got a grudge? Awwwwwwww yes! Exactly. Time to put your obvious innate abilities into overdrive.

You go make a banner out of an old bedsheet that your mam doesnt use anymore and spray it with "FAT FRED OOT!" and I'll be standing there camera in hand ready to make you an Internet star. I'll pass. Aye I thought you might. Considering your past form, I'm genuinely surprised you got a civil answer to that.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7388/ruudxd4.jpg Dont think he meant that one! it was the funnier joke though Is that Ruud van Nistelrooy and Savo Milosevic?!? :shok: gay.gif Yes. Yes it is. /on a side note, it's amazing how little you turn up when googling 'pauls ginger pubes'. I can't find that image anywhere.

Yes, he'd be ideal if we were a small club in the top division, wanting to play good football, with no financial resources, for several seasons. But we're not. Although we're not as big as we think we are, we're massive compared to charlton, and the transition from small club to bigger club isn't always a happy one. Whereas he might excel in a no money tight budget low-expectations scenario, he might suck arse at the money-to-spend high-expectations bit. Every single top manager - whether it be Mourinho, Ferguson or whoever - has had to go through the transition that you're talking about there. There's no guarantees, but there's no better indication of a person's ability to handle a big club than their ability to handle a smaller club beforehand. And managers like Mourinho, Ferguson etc had managed to win something at their small clubs which gave them the step up. Has Curbishley managed to win something at his small club? In 10 fucking years? Is he a winner?

http://members.aol.com/merlinstella/www/comical_ali.jpg 'Shepherd Out' chants were only from a small minority of supporters for about '10 seconds'

Gotta keep him sweet so that he signs that contract. And there ain't nothing sweeter, than a heated seat, and a toasty posterior. blueyes.gif

http://www.5d.org/postnuke/images/avatar/Zapp%20Brannigan.gif Some sexy "action"?

"We needed a manager we could all get behind from day one. Roeder is not that man. For fucks sake, we should have just poached Mclaren if we are saying 'give someone a chance because they have had a decent (by no means outstanding) run recently'. Roeder finished 2nd bottom of the football league with Gillingham, did well initially with Watford then oversaw their demise just as he did with West Ham, 7th then relegated. Wow, people complain about O'Neill's record and yet are willing to welcome Roeder with open arms? We have had some dreadful games under him, his handling of Luque begs questions, and his wrenching from the academy does little to help the stability of our club which some people put as one of the main reasons to appoint him. What will his backroom staff consist of. Who did he use at Watford and the Hammers? Will Terry Mac remain? Is it just another dead duck, patsy appointment, treading water until the second coming of Shearer?" My first post in that thread. bluesigh.gif

There we many of us who did not want his appointment, some because of what it symbolised, others because of his track record. Then there were probably an equal number who had reservations but were willing to give him a chance, understandable if a little misguided. Finally there were a very small number of the trusting eternal optimists (once a much larger group until the hammering they have recently endured) who backed him to do well. Very, very few had him as fist choice. Three quarters is just bollocks, as is your constant crowing over something many of us sadly predicted.

All of a sudden that little snippet of gossip becomes a little bit more interesting... If by interesting you mean worrying. I cannot see anything in Curbishley that excites me. Does mid table stability and eventual stagnation excite you? Not at all - just another element in the mix... Let's face it - Freddy has a history of panicking and firing the manager when the fans are discontented. Next, we have a (recent) history of failing to attract quality managers - Curbishley might very well be the best candidate should Roeder be pushed (or jump) Interesting doesn't equal good or exciting - it was an expression to express dismay regarding a sequence of events that can easily be forseen... Fair enough. Even so, I think the most obvious thing for Shepherd to do, going on him priorities and past form, would be to 'poach' Steve Bruce from Brum.

agreed. what? What, what? They are agreeing that you are an idiot I presume.

All of a sudden that little snippet of gossip becomes a little bit more interesting... If by interesting you mean worrying. I cannot see anything in Curbishley that excites me. Does mid table stability and eventual stagnation excite you?

Ian 'another shade of shite' Pearce for caretaker/manager! bluesigh.gif

IMO I humbly disagree. Even Roeder has said that it will take 5 years before Clark will (may) become a top coach, and Terry Mac? Feck off. We had a better coaching set up under Souness, and that is deeply sickening.

My brother keeps banging on about getting Waddle in over Pearce because he got them playing some nice football at Burnley. Unsurprisingly Ardiles remains his favorite manager. Kamikaze to the last.

The amount of in-fighting in the Fenner team was bizzare. They were ripping each other to shreads. /at least we're not quite at that stage yet. bluebiggrin.gif