TRon

Seems like the Mail has cobbled together two quotes from different dates to try and make a story. Personally, I think Bruce would come IF we avoid relegation. A big if at the moment.

Some parts of that article ring uncomfortbaly true in all honesty. I don't know how much there is in the rumour about the neck and back problems but he clearly couldn't run properly when he came on on Saturday. Doesn't surprise me that he didn't go back on the team bus either,leaving with Nicky Butt instead, the two players who are always ready to defend each other through the media. Thank fuck we withdrew that new contract offer before Owen realised he isn't in as much demand as he thought.

I realise it's the dubious "club insider" view spouted in a tabloid but basically Ashley's actions will prove it accurate or false. If we stay up he will be vindicated to a point, if we go down then can these decisions be put at the door of anyone else?

ain't gonna happen That is the logical back four, so you can bet your life Hughton will pick something different.

He looks closer to 36 yrs old than 26 tbh.

I would stick Beye alongside Coloccini and drop Ryan to right back where he himself prefers playing. With a couple more weeks training under his belt I'd back Habib to do a great job filling in for Bassong, and Ryan should look a lot better at RB than he does playing in midfield. These are obvious changes to make, but I fully expect the clueless numpties picking the team to shove David Edgar in at right back instead.

Like all things success is a cycle and identifying when within that cycle one may be proactive and when one should hold fire. Football is a business where identifying this is more precarious than most other types of concerns as even when the investment is in place, a myriad of other things need to go your way as well. All one can do when dealing with these challenges is limiting risk during the investment phase, at a football club this would mean having an inferstructure and personell that as much as they can limit risk. In plain terms the most important person at a football club is the manager of the football team and if he is right, then you have gone a long way to reducing all other risk eventualities. A lot of things can be fixed if you start by hiring a good manager and let him get on with it. I think that's probably the best review of what has been wrong with Ashley's approach regarding finance. The problems with the lack of investment in the squad are not just down to Mike, he obviously inherited those and anyone who was watching the throwing of good money after bad players year after year must know that it couldn't continue. My beef with Ashley is that on football matters he clearly hasn't got a clue and obviously neither has anyone in his team. The fact that we are are on the verge of being relegated while we wait for an over the hill manager to recover from heart surgery is testament to Ashley's inability to grasp the reality of what is happening. We talk about the media hating us but we have got off lightly so far on this one because it is an absolute joke.

What is noticeable that people who usually stick up for Coloccini are accepting he was bad yesterday, no one is trying to pretend otherwise. The Colo bashers have gne into overdrive though unsurprisingly. I think we still need him at this stage of the season and hopefully he'll bounce back from it.

What is noticeable is that the better teams have no trouble in passing the ball around and never get hustled off the ball like we do. There again we seem to kick the ball up in the air a lot so keeping posession is always going to be that much harder.

Shepherd was a poor Chairman who made his share of daft appointments but I can't imagine him ever giving Kinnear a job never mind a contract extension because he liked or trusted him. Never mind the results or whether he is signing good players or not, he gets on with Mike so that's ok

Is Cacapa fit? Could be an option for the centre of defence, although can't see either him or Colo being able to subdue Drogba.

Not saying he has done brilliantly since coming back from injury, because he hasn't, but with Lovenkrands and him in attack we have seen attacking moves you simply wouldn't see with Owen in the team due to his lack of movement (unless played in midfield, something Hughton and Kinnear wouldn't even consider). Martins has also scored a goal yesterday from nothing, although he missed one or two he should have scored. He is capable of playing better than he currently is, but I personally don't think Owen would have done better, certainly not in terms of contributing to our general decent attacking play.. Owen looked really off the pace when he came on. It was like watching someone in slow motion. At least Loven and Martins looked like they could compete equally as athletes against Arsenal's players. Wenger actually said they were very lively throughout. Loven should not get a new deal but the fucker worked his balls off yesterday. I think the lad should get a new deal. Put at this way, when everyone is fully fit who would you rather came of the bench, Shola or Lovenkrands? I'd give him a new deal ahead of some of the other wasters we are chucking contracts at.

Not saying he has done brilliantly since coming back from injury, because he hasn't, but with Lovenkrands and him in attack we have seen attacking moves you simply wouldn't see with Owen in the team due to his lack of movement (unless played in midfield, something Hughton and Kinnear wouldn't even consider). Martins has also scored a goal yesterday from nothing, although he missed one or two he should have scored. He is capable of playing better than he currently is, but I personally don't think Owen would have done better, certainly not in terms of contributing to our general decent attacking play.. Owen looked really off the pace when he came on. It was like watching someone in slow motion. At least Loven and Martins looked like they could compete equally as athletes against Arsenal's players. Wenger actually said they were very lively throughout.

this is basically the gist of what i am saying. However many people have contributed to this mess no one else is responsible for Ashley's decision not to hire a competent manager.

He's still been one our best attacking players though.

I'll put it higher when it's no longer in our hands. As it stands we've got plenty of games against those down there with us between now and the end of the season. A couple of good results and we might have lifted ourselves clear. To have it at a 9 with 8 games left and only a handful of points in it is a bit chicken licken. The problem now is that we have to win all of our games against direct rivals. Not draw, win - and that's possibly without two central defenders who would be automatic starters.

Mark Hughes will be getting familiar with the axe alright, but he won't be the one wielding it.

I still don't think he's a bad player, it just looks to me like he's not fancying it much any more, he's definitely way off the pace of the game ATM. He was standing up to attackers with much more conviction earlier in the season, recently he has looked less motivated to battle it out.

All of that is true, I have never thought otherwise BUT...there was a crossroads point in the season where Ashley made the decision to take the club off the market and he should have made a proper managerial appointment. The truth is he decided Kinnear was his man to the extent he offered him a new long term contract, even when he was given a get out of jail card with Kinnear's illness he failed to grasp it. We are now paying for this decision not only in terms of league position, but with mediocre signings like Nolan and Taylor, something plenty of people were concerned about once Kinnear started talking about spending in the transfer window. How can Ashley blame anyone but himself for that? Would Keegan or SBR ever have signed the likes of Nolan?

This. The question is, are there managers out of work who would want to put themselves in the shop window by rescuing Newcastle with a job to the end of the season? Would they have a better chance of getting results than Chris Hughton? I believe the answer to both questions is yes.

In his first game back he was throwing the ball out to defenders to start playing from the back which all proper football sides do, now he's gradually punting it upfield more and more just like Given did. I don't know whether that's due to instruction or just playing safe. Otherwise he is what he is - a competent keeper who will do an unspectacular job. Krul and Forster are probably much more gifted but are inexperienced.

Sam Allardyce was making this point BEFORE yesterday's game. Ashley and mates will keep their heads in the sand though because Joe's going to save us from his sick bed.

Get an out of work manager like Curbishley to do a rescue job till the end of the season, although he is just an example I would prefer someone else as he's a loser.

Unfortunately this is one of the problems with packing your midfield with slow, one paced midfielders. I thought Butt and Nolan did ok in the first half, but they busted their lungs to keep up with the pace, in the second half Arsenal's younger, faster players ran them down and left them for dead.

Yeah, you would think another chance of getting points has passed us on that day or something. I tell you what Decky mate, everytime there's an incident in our next match I'll make a new thread. Its such a waste of bandwidth, this is stating the obvious. Find me anyone here who would not blame the owners should we be relegated. Its stating the bloody obvious. Oh oh new thread, "Martins has a really hard shot why didn't he score that Penna today like? " "Hughtons tactics showed he's not a manager". I don't like Ashley, I don't like Nicky Butt, or Shola Ameobi, Harpers starting to grate on me, but I don't go making new threads every Saturday night to highlight points that have already been covered in vast detail. Makes you wonder why the local newspapers have three stories about Newcastle every day when they could put them all under one headline? You are comparing this place to a newspaper that strives to make money? Jesus It seems a relevant thread to me, seeing as how Llambias has given interviews to the local press outlining the club's plans for the future, not to mention the opposite view held by the NUSC for example. I don't agree with either side as it happens, but the managerial situation is the one area I don't feel Ashley has a leg to stand on so I felt it was worth a thread concentrating on just that aspect.