chicago_shearer

Christ Ameobi....damn.

It will be on Setanta Broadband also.

No Jonas, no win.  Also, the fact that City are able to start Robinho while we are still starting Shola Ameobi in the Premiership in 2008 makes me feel simultaneously embarrassed and ill.  Some of us never get second chances when we make mistakes.  Ameobi, on the other hand, has more lives than a cat.  He is the footballing equivalent of Bill Murray from Groundhog Day - not matter what he does on the pitch he wakes up in the Newcastle first team. 

One of the many great things about 3 points against City would be the chance to finally stop worrying about our own shit start to the season and more fully appreciate the mess at Spurs.

Just heard the BBC interview where Rio calls the supporters booing Cashley "idiots" and "morons".  Can't say I disagree, but it's unusual to hear a player come out and say it.

2-1, appalling game, England scoring their winner late in the second half.

I didn't know Jonas was fit.  Dare I say that I'm looking forward to this match now.  

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/thegame_podcasts/article4869463.ece

I don't want to download that massive file (and I think they are all idiots to begin with) but can anyone who listens to that podcast briefly explain why they think Defoe is a better bet for Capello than Owen?  Do they have a genuine argument or is it more anti-Newcastle bollocks, before they go on to defend the situation at Spurs?

I think he will leave, and I think he will be justified in doing so.  I also think we will be even more f***ed when he goes.  Fingers crossed it won't be in January.

Newcastle stars are convinced that Kevin Keegan’s return is imminent.

 

Spirits in the St James’ Park dressing room soared on Thursday when Keegan, who walked out last month, turned up at a charity golf event hosted by Magpies keeper Steve Harper.

 

Keegan spoke privately to several senior players intimating that moves are afoot on two fronts to secure his return to the ground where he is worshipped as a folk hero.

 

It was the first chance Keegan had to explain the reasons for his departure. He left them in no doubt that he could be back as early as next month.

 

A club insider said: “Kevin spent a lot of the golf day on his phone clearly talking to people interested in bringing him back to Newcastle.

 

When asked in public about the chances of a return he just winked and said, ‘Watch this space’.

 

“But privately he told some senior players things were happening that could secure his return.”

 

Investment bankers Seymour Pierce have sent takeover details to seven interested parties. They hold talks with serious potential buyers this week.

 

The outcome of those talks will decide Keegan’s fate. The source added: “Kevin knows there are a lot of obstacles to overcome, not least his impending legal battle with Newcastle over his departure and he has to establish the credibility of some of the people claiming they want him back.”

 

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/10/04/retoon-of-king-kev-115875-20773949/

So he's out playing golf and making sure the circumstances are right for him to return to the club.  I hope I'm not the only one who finds that completely obnoxious and annoying given the current circumstances. 

Part of me hopes that these African bids are turned down and that we end up instead with some seriously rich Arabs, Americans or Asians who don't have any time for all of this nostalgic, dramatic bullshit.  People that will buy the club, invest enough money to attract a young, ambitious manager from somewhere in Europe, give him their full backing, assemble a top notch coaching staff and ignore the soap opera.  I don't want an owner or a manager who desires to make himself popular, I want a proven winner.  Maybe we can't attract the elite managers, but we sure as hell shouldn't be bending over backwards to attract old, tired second or third tier candidates.  Show some ambition for f***s sake.  If Keegan wants his job back, he should sell himself to the new owners and prove to them that he has the skills and passion to turn things around.  The burden is on Keegan to prove he still has the ability, not on the owners to keep him happy.  We shouldn't be organizing the affairs of the entire organization around one man.

I say we give the man a cricket bat, a chainsaw, a case of Jack Daniels and then let him do whatever he wants.  If he wants 4-5-1, fair enough.  If he feels like savagely beating Shola Ameobi for a poor performance or attacking the press corps with a paint ball gun, fair game.  If he decides to set the dressing room on fire at half time when we are 0-2 down, I'm cool with that. 

I believe in Joe Kinnear. 

LEGEND.

I'm smiling just reading that.  Finally someone calls the media on their bullshit.  FINALLY.

Seriously, final straw?

Never in my wildest most fever induced nightmares would I have imagined this 3 months ago.

Keegan resigned?  Possible, hope not.

Ashley out?  No way...but there was all media speculation.

Second bottom of the league?  Poor squad, but not that poor.

Joe Kinnear as manager?  Fuck me...well I suppose we could do worse.

Stephen Carr back?      

I don't mind Butt in the holding role as long as he is supported with a bit of pace either side or ahead of him.  Butt is slow, but he still can read the game and close a man down or make a great tackle to break up play.  His game tends to turn s*** when he realises that nobody else is attacking from midfield so he takes it upon himself to play it forward.  Problem is that he is dump at forward passes, long passes and long shots.  Sure, he has his moment where he does get them right, but 80% of the time he fails to make decent forward passes/shots.

I don't know if that is the case anymore.  31 year old Nicky Butt might have made up for his lack of pace with his intelligence and distribution, but 34 year old Nicky Butt is all but finished IMO.  Next stop is Oldham or retirement. 

A successful "holding midfielder" is really just a good midfielder who can defend a bit and plays closer to his back four.  The same essential qualities that make a good midfield player at this level still have to be there.  The fact that Butt can't run, can't pass and generally looks past it won't be remedied by reclassifying him.

Who do we bring in? The onle one i'd really think about chucking in is Ranger.

 

You're right it's very difficult. It always was a difficult step from reserve level to first team, nowadays it's a huge gap to cross.

Stephen Taylor was probably the best reserve player we've had in ten years but at senior level looks Championship standard at best.

Maybe thats why he was handed a long term contract.

Well we have fans saying "Wengers ringing changes thast what a good manager does". We can't ring the changes. Marwood,Ranger,Baheng are the onyl few (Ignoring Bahengs injruy atm) i'd put in.

No, a good manager holds his players accountable.  We might have no choice but to keep many (not all) of them in the team, obviously.  As injuries subside we can have more competition for places.  But regardless, we need a manager with the courage to call a dogshit performance a dogshit performance.  That is what impressed me about Wenger.  No more excuses, no more guff from Houghton about the attitude of the players being good when it clearly isn't.  For too long at this club it seems the focus has always been on the manager's part in our failure and never on what the players themselves failed to contribute.  Has to change.  It encourages me that Kinnear got angry enough to shout at half time.  We need that IMO.

“There will be changes on Tuesday, certainly,” Wenger said. “I will see how many, but there will be changes. There were enough ingredients today to make me physically sick.

 

“What we delivered today was not good enough and we know that. What was the most disappointing is that we were 1-0 in front and still lost the game, after having struggled in the first half to score.”

Arsene Wenger's comments after the Hull defeat.

This is what good managers do.  There is a time for morale and nurturing the confidence of the players, and there is a time to wield the motherfucking axe.  These players are embarrassing the club, and it will not stand.  I hope Kinnear follows Wenger's example.  Forget Keegan, forget Ashley - each and every player on the pitch should be accountable for their own level of performance.  If they can't summon any sort of pride in their own performance, then they should be shamed in public.  No more atrocious performances written off as the result of "off the field" difficulties.  Fuck that. 

At the minute, we are the "Derby" in the league 

What does that make Spurs?

We knew this in June.  We knew this last season, when the same players were getting humiliated and still had the same inadequacies.  Only Shola and possibly Cacapa are playing because of the injury crisis.  Even with Guthrie, Gutierrez, etc. all fit there would still be a very good chance that Butt, Geremi, Taylor and Duff would be in the team.

With every point dropped I get angrier with Keegan.  How many of us have worked in jobs we hate for obnoxious bosses?  How many of us have been lied to and undermined at work?  And how many of us just quit after each of these arguments, leaving those who depend on us in the shit? 

I don't want him back.  I don't care how justified his arguments were, his timing was selfish. 

Isn't Nacho injured?

Urr...how about Harper then?

I don't see why Shearer would want to assist under Keegan.  His own chances to take over and reputation would be a hostage to Keegan's decisions and ultimate success.  And I don't think Keegan would go for it either.  Shearer would be an insurance policy, that has to be clear.  If Keegan isn't successful, or if he walks out again, you can call on Shearer to take over and keep the fans from protesting.  Keegan must have known when he delivered his ultimatum to Ashley that most fans would side with him and not Wise & Ashley....he loses that certainty when Shearer is affiliated with the club.  I can't see Keegan accepting that. 

It is fairly clear that Shearer wants the top job at some point and may have a fair chance of getting it straight away.  It is also fairly clear that he doesn't want to clean up someone else's mess or "prove himself" at some 3rd division club.  Is it arrogant to pick and choose?  Maybe.  But as one of the greatest players of his generation with his coaching badges I think he has worked himself into a good position.  He can afford to be careful in his next move.  And based on the chances afforded to the likes of Klinsmann, Coleman, Southgate, Keane and Keegan himself back in 92 there is a fairly compelling argument to just go ahead and let him have his chance.  Why should Shearer have to risk his career in management on some lower league club when many of his peers haven't had to?  Why does he have to earn a reptuation as a good manager with a club with smaller resources when many of his peers have been given bigger, better chances based on their reputations as players.  The sense of entitlement might seem annoying, but if you were in his position then you would probably play your cards the same way. 

-----------Given------------

Taylor-Cacapa-Bassong-Edgar

Geremi---Colo---Nacho---Zog

--------Xisco----Owen------

Positives: No Butt, No Duff

Negatives: It's a shit team

I have to say, I was reasonably impressed by his interview with 5 Live.  No bullshit, no illusions, no false optimism, just an eagerness for the challenge ahead. 

Whether the new owners are Nigerian scam artists or whoever, I think a top priority will be removing the club from the weird time warp we seem to be stuck in.  I mean FFS...Keegan & Joe Kinnear?  Terry Mac?  Nicky Butt still playing in the Premiership?  Are we all still listening to Oasis, watching the X-Files and using Windows 95?  Jesus christ, let's move on.  I hope the next owners have some new ideas instead of leading us on another nostalgia trip.

It's a Howard Wilkinson moment

That was my first thought.