La Parka

Hopefully we will get some classic quotes such as this: 'Shaun Wright-Phillips has got a big heart. It's as big as him, which isn't very big, but it's bigger' That is mental.

How dare you not agree with the charvas? You post a lot of sense mate. Keep it up. I hope he is a success, I just don't like the reasoning behind this. A chance for a change goes begging, with so many good names in the ring we get nostalgia. I just don't want to have to say I told you so if it all goes tits up.

Er... Good luck to him, I'll get behind him. But this kinda backwards attitude isn't good for the club.

I don't have an opinion on Deschamps tbh. Not seen enough of his teams, and Juve were miles above the other teams when he got them promoted. Still if he is the man I won't complain.

BBC is showing the lot too. I love watching it. Brilliant tournament. Does anyone know if it will be on the BBC I player?

Why are you telling us? This is a Newcastle forum. Well its more of a general football forum and NUFC forum. You are fairly new right? You missed the whole split boards/post moderation stuff I'll tell my dad (the soft southern gooner he is) that this is starting. Ta!

That will be their second feeder club then. They have on in china IIRC.

Good point really. Also I am pretty sure playing on the streets gets you in bother with the nick nowadays. We used to play every night, carrying on until you couldn't actually see the ball and on Sundays nearly all day on a local car park. I don't see kids doing this anymore! This. I can't remember anything I did from my childhood other than playing football. That's all we did. Ever. We were still s****, though... so maybe that's not the answer either. Yeah but I look at myself now and I have become a fat fucker since I stopped doing this. no wonder our kids are fat. Also our kids need good training but that is half the equation. Playing every night surely helps. We used to play before school, at every break and then after school. It was literally all we did.

Good point really. Also I am pretty sure playing on the streets gets you in bother with the nick nowadays. We used to play every night, carrying on until you couldn't actually see the ball and on Sundays nearly all day on a local car park. I don't see kids doing this anymore!

Fucking hell. I give up. This is stupid. Just appoint someone!

Is your sig a joke? Or do you really think Nesta would come here? Before the start of the season, most football supporters would have described SA as four of those five things. To be fair he was all of those things.

Still its for the Best

HEY MONTY WE ARE A s*** MIDTABLE SIDE. No world class manager would ever walk into this mess. Simple as that really. Yep, your spot on. But why are we "a s*** midtable side"? I say, because we have had s*** midtable management, at the club and footballing level. Now, I am still prepared to say that I think Ashley and Mort could be a dramatic improvement in the management at the club level, but we are still hiring s*** midtable football managers. So, whats the remedy.... don't hire s*** midtable managers. Pretty simple really. There are plenty of clubs over the years, throughout the world, who have been strugglers but when the right club management offered the right conditions they brought in a quality football manager and turned their fortunes around. Managers will come to a club like ours if we offer the right package, the right transfer kitty and the right authority over the squad. So lets do that and stop being a s*** midtable club! Name an example of such a manager then. Well, arguably the most recent example would be Man City with Sven. Yeah, Sven struggled with England, but prior to that he had a very good record and since he joined Man City, who put in the right conditions, he's done really well by them. That was more down to chance that a manager of Sven's quality was unemployed. I see where you are coming from though. For us, unemployed high class managers are Lippi and I doubt the pressure here is his cup of tea.

Would you rather have Strachan? Midtable side = Midtable manager. Yeah but the same goes for Spurs, City and Villa. They're mid-table clubs and they did not get "mid-table managers". By the way, I don't think you can compare O'Neill and Strachan, as O'Neills track record in England is much better. He won the League Cup at Leicester. Strachan sent Coventry down and played a big part in Southampton's relegation. steve mcclaren won the league cup...its hardly a headline on a cv...i'd rather a prospective manager just had decent consistent prem form than a league cup win But I don't think just "decent consistent prem form" is enough. We need some ambition and need someone with good consistent top-3 top-league form in one of the major European competitions. Someone who has consistently kept their club in the top 3 in one or more of Spain, Germany, Netherlands, France, Portugal. Surely of the 7 or so leading European competitions someone who has kept their club at or near the top consistently can be tempted by a 5mil per year pay packet. I doubt it. I don't think those kind of managers need the pressure, the money or the potential career ruining job. Its good for 'Arry as it is a potential step up, we are a sleeping giant and for him he was little to lose. I'm not deliberately trying to piss on your bonfire, just trying to be realistic

HEY MONTY WE ARE A s*** MIDTABLE SIDE. No world class manager would ever walk into this mess. Simple as that really. Yep, your spot on. But why are we "a s*** midtable side"? I say, because we have had s*** midtable management, at the club and footballing level. Now, I am still prepared to say that I think Ashley and Mort could be a dramatic improvement in the management at the club level, but we are still hiring s*** midtable football managers. So, whats the remedy.... don't hire s*** midtable managers. Pretty simple really. There are plenty of clubs over the years, throughout the world, who have been strugglers but when the right club management offered the right conditions they brought in a quality football manager and turned their fortunes around. Managers will come to a club like ours if we offer the right package, the right transfer kitty and the right authority over the squad. So lets do that and stop being a s*** midtable club! Name an example of such a manager then.

I doubt he would leave Blackburn. But then again I'd say the same 'bout 'Arry!

HEY MONTY WE ARE A SHIT MIDTABLE SIDE. No world class manager would ever walk into this mess. Simple as that really.

Would you rather have Strachan? Midtable side = Midtable manager.

We are an average club, no two ways about it. I expected no one above Harry's class. If it is him I wish him all the best and hope he can cope with the pressure (which Sir Bobby likened to his time in Spain in his autobiography). The problem with the club is unrealistic expectations, I know Sam was struggling but who is to say with more time he wouldn't have changed us around? Lets hope whoever comes in gets support, backing and most important of all respect from fans and players alike.

Good call. An interesting playing career for sure!

money talks, for any human Not really. These managers are comfortable, experienced and I doubt they need the money. Why would they risk their career?

Not many Reading fans take our stability for granted. We have a chairman man that has pumped in a decent amount of money over the years to keep us afloat and get us to where we are today. You'll still here moans and gripes that we don't spend big etc etc but on the whole we're very realistic and grateful for having him in control of our destiny. I can understand frustrations at club like Newcastle when things don't go so smoothly, but from the outside it seems a decent proportion of your fans have been against nearly all your managers since Sir Bobby. Thats not healthy and I think it can only contribute to your short comings, even if the likes of Souness and Roeder were potentially poor appointments. Given the lack of backing and support they were never going to succeed. I keep a semi-close eye on goings on st SJP because I've a soft spot for the club and quite a few Geordie exiles as mates down in these parts, so I've got a bit more of a feel for the atmosphere than you might give me credit for, but I'd never go as far as saying I have a great insight. Reading forums such as this or our own only gives you a glimpse of whats going on because of the nature of the extreme opinions forums generate but I still think the atmosphere and expectations for immediate change which seem to be quite prevailent amongst Geordies is hindering your rebuilding. An of course, I agree you get that at almost any club, but some clubs it seems more vocal than others. Great post. Far too much expectation on the manager, far too much pressure, fans expecting far too much too fast. Hell fans expecting world class managers. Midtable Club = Midtable Manager Simple as that really.