macphisto

Linked to this, I once thought it would be a good idea to produce a national football newspaper based on regional papers. Basically it would have the football sections from the Evening Chronicle and other papers like the Evening Standard, Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, etc. All these papers publish in the evening and the football part could be collated and printed the following morning.

I always find it interesting that a lot of people rate Beardsley as the best ever Newcastle player and yet never mention him when referring to Dalglish's time as manager. I would say Beardsley getting too old had more to do with the club going downhill than anything else.

I'd love a trophy signing like Ferdinand or Shearer, why do we only remember the bad ones on this board?

I wasn't referring to Calderwood leaving, I was thinking more along the lines that actions speak louder than words. Allowing Hughton to appoint a new number 2 would demonstrate their backing more than a statement. There may already be someone lined up & hopefully they are in place soon.

I'm on record as someone who wouldn't have Hughton as manager but if the club think he is their then they should allow him to get an assistant ASAP to demonstrate their support.

The players can be as determined as they like, but if they can't win home games they are not good enough - determination is great but without the necessary skills it is useless. Cream always rises to the top.... Yeah, but that would be a criticism of the players... Hughton can only work the players he has. And it seems he is relatively good at getting better ones. Serious question, who do we think we could get in who'd be an improvement at the moment? Also, maybe more importantly, who do we think we WOULD get in bearing in mind Llambias and Ashley manage us? All things considered, I think I'm inclined to stick... Think there's something to be said for junkhead's attitude. Not saying this is definitely the case, only that it's possible, but it might even be best that we stick with Hughton if we get relegated - if he can/we let him retain his authority, keep running the club the way he wants to etc. with a view to ultimately being better off, as I think he could get us promoted again if we did go down yet again, while still improving things behind the scenes even though things are bad on the pitch. Again, the reason I say this is that I'm scared of who else might come in after him bearing in mind who'd get to decide - things could end up being a lot worse. On a semi-related note, I think too many young, potentially decent managers are booted so soon as a relegation takes place. Stupid the way someone can unexpectedly get a club promoted twice in two seasons and then as soon as they go down from the Premiership they become s***. It's not as though the club's often end up returning thanks to such a decision, after all... Not on the wind up but how do you know things are improving behind the scenes? Any of our Premier League teams before we got relegated would have walked the Championship last year and it would have looked like they too had great team spirit and everything was great behind the scenes. Is it not just the case that we have a lot of very average players who know they'll never be any where better than Newcastle, indeed they probably count their lucky stars that they are playing for the club. Also a sign of how far our standards have dropped that their is not discontent in the camp after two miserable home defeats.

We are never going to agree but just a few points, I would say now more than ever is the time you want an experienced manager. You can take a chance with either a proven manager/poor team or unproven manager/good team but not an unproven manager/poor team. Again you list Championship teams who have potential but none of them are in our league, nowhere near apart from Leeds. I honestly think Newcastle fans are really suffering some sort of identity crisis, there’s an aversion to thinking big. All you hear on here is “no more trophy signings” with people like Boumsong and Luque in mind completely forgetting “trophy signings” like Ferdinand and Shearer. Also hear stuff like where have proven managers got us? We haven’t really had that many, the only one with a good track record was Robson and his record speaks for itself. Every other proven manager had a long record of being s***, Dalglish being the exception. Finally this thing about living up to the Sky Sports/media stereotype, well I couldn’t give a toss about them. All I know is that there is a lot of money coming into our club, we have a lot of full paying fans and for that alone we should be doing a lot better than we are. Black and white. I don't fall for all this stuff about the club having no money. Final point is that I don’t think we are that far off the top boys as I think this is the poorest the PL has been since its inception. We’re a long way off top 4 but to get to around 7th would not be too difficult with a good manager and a bit of backing. Indeed my only hope of us staying up is that the league is not that strong. Someone said Hughes hasn’t proven anything but he does have experience of the top flight and did an alright job at Blackburn. Nothing spectacular but a steady job. If not Hughes there are other managers, I can’t imagine many on here choosing Hughton last summer after Shearer did not get the job. Everyone would have opted for other managers, managers that are still out there.

See my post above about the nature of the criticism on this thread about Hughton, I posted at 7:42pm. Do you really want to talk about the merits of our squad with regards to Hughton doing a good job? I don't know the exact figure but I would bet we had by far the most expensive squad to have ever been in the Championship, a squad with 2 current Argentinean internationals, three experienced central midfielders, £4 million-ish left back, England under 21 centre half, Ameobi/Lovenkrands who have a lot of experience of top level football/European football. I don’t think it was fantastic to win the Championship with our team, the Championship is a poor league. If Hughton did a fantastic job, how would describe what Holloway did at Blackpool? Attendance has got everything to do with it, it shows how much money is coming into the club, it shows how much potential is there if we have a good manager who knows how to build a team without the owner putting money in. It is also an attractive to a potential manager. You quote Derby who may be get 5-10,000 more fans than some premier league teams, we get more 25,000 more than some teams in the league, that what makes us a lot different. With regards to who I would propose, again see my post at 7:42pm. Not fantastic managers but managers who are realistic and could build a platform at Newcastle for some later to take on. All proven managers. The reason that the last part is relevant is that football is central to lot of people’s lives in Newcastle and as such the most important person at the club, i.e. the manager, should be someone who has managed at the top level, someone who has a proven track record. The club is far too important to too many people to have Hughton in charge.

Carroll surely is? He's only going to get better as well. Who should you have in charge instead? Of course people question the manager's tactics. That's what fans do and go to Man Utd, Arsenal, Barcelona, Accrington and Sunderland forums and you'll see it is exactly the same. With this game, where I and seemingly everyone else thought Hughton got it wrong, it is up to him to respond, and respond swiftly. Also, home results this season would indicate you've had 2 poor results, not that you "haven't improved at all". Would the team from 2 years ago have come to Goodison and outplay a top 6 aiming team for large parts, for example? 2 quotes from a page or two back: "Like someone said, his loyalty to Nolan could cost us and him badly." "we are going to lose matches....and Hughton will eventually lose his job" Both inferring that Hughton could lose his job soon and there are others I could quote. I don't disagree with those sentiments but it's crazy that people are even writing these things so soon into the season. I haven't checked but I'm sure other fans are not writing this type of stuff. This is because of the simple fact that Hughton did not "earn the right" to manage NUFC at the top level, no one knows what he's going to be like in the top flight but so far it has not been good. To think that this team would have really been up for it after Blackpool and we still got beat of Stoke. If the team from two seasons ago performed like they did at Old Trafford on the opening day then yes I would be confident of beating Everton this season as they will not be top 6, more mid table. With regards to managers available, since the summer we could have got Mark Hughes and Houllier if we showed a little ambition, both miles ahead of Hughton.

Doubt there's a club in England where that's not happening tbh. Nature of the beast. The rest of your post is a load of nonsense, he got us promoted with 100+ points. Stuff about "club of our size" is just arrogance based on nothing. He earned the job unlike a lot of Premier League managers who get given them as soon as they've hung their boots up because of what their name is or who they played for. Fans of other clubs are not questioning their manager like people are in this thread. I'm also sick of all this earnt the job rubbish, are we the only club in England where people earn a job? It was the same with Roeder, there's nothing in Hughton's background to suggest he's suited to managing a club like Newcastle. For once can we not appoint a manager with a proven track record? Getting promotion means nothing to me, not with the squad he had. That's not with the benefit of hingsight either as I just didn't rate the Championship. Look at the managers who have got other clubs promoted last season and in the past, not many I rate. Maybe I am arrogant but I do believe a club with the 3rd highest attendance should have a manager better than Hughton, that's what I base my opinion on. Bit of an aside but a few weeks ago there was a programme about Newcastle on BBC 4, which looked at the city over the last 100 years and you could see on there how central football is to the city unlike a lot of other places. I've moved away from the Newcastle and that programme reinforced a lot of what I've felt for a long time, it really is a special place to play, manage and that we are abig club.

Is this thread not evidence enough why Hughton should never have got the job in the first place? A few games into the season and we already have people questioning the managers tactics. I also find it amazing that people are willing to put up with a 52 year old manager learning the game. For a club of our size we should never have him in charge, home results this season would also indicate we haven't improved at all from 2 seasons ago. Worrying times when we almost have a fully fit squad.

I don't need some johnny foreigner telling me a local boy playing for his local club living his dream is going to fuk off at the first opportunity to anyone flying higher than us, its pure and utter bollocks. I'm seeing this from a Geordie point of view and when it's about a situation like this it does fuking matter, sorry if the foreign contingent find that hard to swallow, but if you don't understand that then you don't understand why he'd want to stay. Even though you're going on like a bit of a radgepacket, I agree with your sentiments 100%. It would be a dream to play for Newcastle and it would take a hell of a lot to leave if you were a boyhood fan. Although I don't know where you draw the line. If you're supremely talented and Newcastle have been loitering around the Championship for a few years, big offer comes in and the people upstairs are pushing you out the door... you can never say never. But in the current circumstances, I'd absolutely expect Carroll to stay for a few years yet. I'd be off if I was him. Newcastle means a lot to me and I wouldn't be able to put up with the way Ashley is running the club, I also wouldn't respect the manager. Big thing for me would be ambition in respect to the club that came in and Spurs are miles ahead of us. Even if they drop out the CL places I'd be far more confident of them getting in again ahead of us. Look at the managers and players they've had for the last 5 years compared to us.

All this Lawro, Motto, Quinny and other nicknames for presenters on the TV and radio get on my nerves. Just a right load of crap, I actually find it quite offensive how they view this as appealing to the "working class"!

Jonny Hall, are you truly saying Duff and Owen are not Premier League quality? As I said in my first statement, I would get him on loan which would be a good deal but I can't understand why anyone would want to pay for a player who is in decline at the age of 30 (no one in this thread is disputing that he is in decline). He's only going to go get worse and we will be stuck with him in a year or two when it will be a struggle to offload him.

Do you not question why other teams are not in for him? Why are Spurs letting him go when they are now in the Champions League? Related to this, he has not been at his last two clubs for more than a season without them trying to get shot of him. Someone said he's not in decline, well I would say going from Liverpool/Spurs to Celtic/Newcastle (if it happens) gives you an idea that he's not what he used to be. Maybe because he's not good enough for the Champions League? Oh no, he's so not worth it then, with our ambitions for the top four and all And on the nobody else being interested front, this was in the Echo today: Now I know it's a newspaper, but it's just as valid proof as you randomly stating 'nobody else is in for him' with no evidence whatsoever. You do realise you're contradicting your first statement about comparing him to Duff and Owen which you found amusing? The proof will be where he ends up.

Do you not question why other teams are not in for him? Why are Spurs letting him go when they are now in the Champions League? Related to this, he has not been at his last two clubs for more than a season without them trying to get shot of him. Someone said he's not in decline, well I would say going from Liverpool/Spurs to Celtic/Newcastle (if it happens) gives you an idea that he's not what he used to be.

Only be worth it as a loan to give us options for this season because signing Keane would be going down the Smith, Duff, Geremi, Viduka, Owen, etc. route.

I'm pretty sure Man City were bought with about two to three days left of the transfer window and they bought Robinho on the last day. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. As you say it is all opinion and I agree that the team would be far behind the middle table teams but not the bottom teams. I don't think we'll be far behind a cluster of clubs at the bottom, take your pick from Wigan, West Ham, Blackpool, West Brom, etc. It would not take much investment to be clear of that lot. If anything your argument about how poor the team is backs up my theory (I must stress it's just a theory!) because it looks like you think we're certainties for relegation. Why would Ashley take this risk if he wasn't looking to bail out?

How do you know that? I would not be surprised if Newcastle was sold before the window closes. I'm not saying it will happpen but it does explain the lack of activity at the club. Overhead my head why you and Roger Kint found that so funny. I'm not saying it's going to happen but I would not be surprised if it did. I do think that when he does sell the club that it will be over very quickly without rumours in the paper. Going off Ashley's past form, there's two things that most people agree on: 1) He's good at keeping news out of the media (see transfers and how he bought the the club) 2) He's desperate to sell (I don't think anyone thinks the club is really off the market) Trying to sell the club would explain the lack of transfer activity and to a certain extent Houghton still being in charge. Tbh i agree with you and also think they are actively trying to sell the club but we know nowt about it but time will tell ,imho if a bid came in he would be off like a shot as long as he gets his money back = healthier finances and a certain amount of short term investment to hopefully keep us in this division then a long term business plan involving THE FIRST TEAM and not Perch,Best and whoever else comes in same standard players who fatten out the squad but dont improve it drastically . Thanks Biggs, I didn't think my orginal point was too crazy despite what others think!

How do you know that? I would not be surprised if Newcastle was sold before the window closes. I'm not saying it will happpen but it does explain the lack of activity at the club. In answer to your question - I DON'T know that, but there are a number of facts which make me believe that you theory is unsound. 1. Had any person or group, of substance been interested in taking the club over, they would have had it done long before this stage and probably by the end of June. The reason I say this is because they would want to have either their own manager installed OR want to provide Hughton with the funds to guarantee the club's place in the PL...why pay a fortune for something only to see it be worth much less in 9 month's time?? 2. There is no way that such a large transaction would have escaped the media's attention. 3. If there was any likelihood of this happening, Ashley and Co would not have put out that statement about their future plans for the club. They would just have kept quiet. The only thing that has happened in the last week or so which MIGHT give some credibility to your view has been MON's walk-out at Villa - he is one of the few managers that a new and ambitious owner MIGHT be able to persuade to take the job at SJP...and only then because of his fall-out with Lerner. To answer your points above: 1) When did Man City get bought? I think around about now is the ideal time to buy a club because you've got more bargaining power. To be honest there's a lot of dimensions to buying a club at this time that I'm not sure who is in the strongest position, buyer or seller? A potential buyer could let Ashley sweat with the threat of pulling out the deal and him having to spend money in the last few days of the transfer window to ensure Newcastle stay up. To get the price low as a buyer of the club I would be prepared to miss this transfer window as I would be confident enough with the squad we have to be able to safeguard relegation by buying players in January. Ashley on the other hand can play the card of asking for a higher price now to let the new owners have time to buy players/bring in new players. 2) We only knew about Ashley buying the club in the space of a few days, Ashley has proven he can keep big deals secret. Don't forget Ashley likes to keep his business dealings very private. 3) I would not waste your time or my time debating a statment from Ashley as he is a proven liar, his statements mean nothing. I don't think O'Neil has anything to do with it, I understand why you said it but I don't think it has any bearing on the matter. I tend to think the follwing has more to do with the possibility of the club being sold: Ashley desperate to sell Little transfer activity Cheap management structure Loyal/large support base (potential for a lot more) 3rd biggest fully developed stadium Cheapish wage bill

How do you know that? I would not be surprised if Newcastle was sold before the window closes. I'm not saying it will happpen but it does explain the lack of activity at the club. Overhead my head why you and Roger Kint found that so funny. I'm not saying it's going to happen but I would not be surprised if it did. I do think that when he does sell the club that it will be over very quickly without rumours in the paper. Going off Ashley's past form, there's two things that most people agree on: 1) He's good at keeping news out of the media (see transfers and how he bought the the club) 2) He's desperate to sell (I don't think anyone thinks the club is really off the market) Trying to sell the club would explain the lack of transfer activity and to a certain extent Houghton still being in charge.

How do you know that? I would not be surprised if Newcastle was sold before the window closes. I'm not saying it will happpen but it does explain the lack of activity at the club.

Also shows that a fair few people don't realise the effect one insidious prick can have on a club. What, Champions League Football?

Going down with the way things stand, haven't got a lot of confidence in the strikers, midfield and manager, all Championship standard. We need a big, big season from Barton for us to stay up but how likely is that to happen?

I said it earlier, I don't buy this argument. Our group had some very average teams in there who we should have been beating, simple as that. Our failure at this world cup has got much more to do with attidude. We didn't have many foreign players before the Premier League and our record was pretty much the same as now, indeed we didn't qualify in 1974, 1978 and 1994 when there was not that many oversea players in England.