chicago_shearer

Given Carr-Taylor-Cacapa-Enrique Milner-Emre-Zoggy-Duff Viduka-Owen Plain old 4-4-2, everyone except Zoggy in their favourite positions. If that XI can't beat Stoke at home, then I don't think there is anything left to say.

Well I suppose we will have to take Lovejoy's word for it. Very well connected isn't he? Dealing with a bitter and hostile national media must be one of the bigger challenges (and there are several) that comes with the job of manager. No other club gets anything near this sort of treatment.

Weird logic. "Shame the mid table Premiership manager doesn't want the job. I suppose we'll have to settle for three of the most successful managers in Europe." Would greatly prefer Hitzfeld or Houllier to Van Gaal, but any one of the three would be exceptional tbh. Just hope it happens with time left in the transfer window for some changes to be made.

He might be too old and too ill for any sort of full time position, but it might be a good idea (as well as a shrewd PR move) for Mort & Ashley to announce that they were appointing Robson to lead the search for the new manager (if Shearer doesn't want it, or Mort/Ashley don't want Shearer). Someone universally respected who knows football and knows the club. Would give us all more confidence, that much is for sure. And I'd rather have him selling the club to a potential manager than anyone else.

All the right words but it doesn't explain the timing of the decision or what his plan is (if he even had one). Attractive football with great results is what every supporter in the world wants from their club. You don't need to sit with the supporters to realize that. I need less long term vision and more action.

If he wrote this then he can't be that far gone. Bring back Bobby!

No, I'd be rid of him too. Young doesn't always equal promising.

Yes, they are all fucking world beaters.

If he doesn't show up for Pompey's match against the mackems (which the Guardian don't think he will) then I would say done deal.

Fuck it. Shearer for manager. I don't care anymore and this sack & search bollocks is just boring. Who knows, it might work.

Habib Beye for captain. Join the campaign.

http://www.tapijtplaatsing.be/borduren/borduren9/droopy%20i%20am%20so%20happy.jpg

This holds true if we appoint Steve McClaren.

September 2008

We don't know Mort had his socks blown off at all. We know that Alan Oliver "was told it nearly blew the chairman's socks off". So this is more second hand information from unattributed sources.

sorry again, but I don't really care how they do things in the USA

Yes. And he wasn't REPORTING ON SPORT. Jesus christ, do you really think Alan Oliver is talking to anonymous informants in dark alley ways like in the films? You only don't disclose if they are speaking on a condition of anonymity, which I doubt. And even if this were the case, there is still no reason not to name the agent. And certainly no reason to abandon the story the next day.

Expectations like that are why you are left with a gutter press in England. It is not acceptable for a journalist to write "According to an unnamed source, an unnamed agent for a top unnamed client may be interested in the Newcastle job!" and then walk away from the story the next day. I can't understand why this is so difficult to grasp.

The obvious reason being to lie and fabricate information. Alan Oliver's latest story is linking Mark Hughes to the job. So it is becoming apparent that the entire "top agent" myth is bullshit, wouldn't you agree?

Hughes would just be another future ex-manager of Newcastle United. He won't provide instant results and instant good performances, and therefore will be lucky to last until summer.

Alan Oliver's career should be on the line over this. If it is bullshit, he should be through.

I don't know how to respond here. Are you clear on the concept of journalism? You do realize that it isn't supposed to be made up? So, you are saying that Oliver has to tell his readers who his sources are mackems.gif Fantastic. Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. This isn't Watergate. Nobodies lives are at stake, and I doubt anyone's job is either (probably because he MADE IT UP). I at least want to know the agent's name, if not the person he spoke to. Especially if we end up appointing Harry Redknapp. Because I'd be very surprised and interested to learn that Harry Redknapp's agent was "friends with the Jose Mourinho camp".

I don't know how to respond here. Are you clear on the concept of journalism? You do realize that it isn't supposed to be made up?

Mort & Ashley are not journalists. Oliver is. He is under a professional (and legal) obligation to print the truth, or as close to the truth as he is able to get with available factual information. He has said he was contacted by a top agent, and has speculated that it may be Lippi or Jose Mourinho. This isn't an old boy's club. A nudge and a wink don't suffice. As his reader, I am expecting one of those two to enter contract negotiations or I am expecting some concrete information as to why they changed their minds. I am not expecting Harry Redknapp who, as far as I know, is not managed by one of the world's top agents. It is not acceptable for Oliver to print this story without revealing his sources or following up. If I was his editor, I would sack him. Are you personal friends with Alan Oliver? Because it is the only reason I can imagine for making this personal. We don't know yet what the outcome will be. But do you agree that if he lied (and he was not, in fact, contacted by a top agent of a top manager interested in managing Newcastle) then he has to go?