Taylor Swift

And how do you know this?

That's what fan power is about man. Genius. Amazing. The paragraph about the 19 minutes of silence followed by that goal is simply sensational. Special moments, what football's all about. Imagine the scene!! The home team scoring and is basically met by utter fucking silence. Not a whisper (according to my German mate). Just nothing. Nothing but silence. Then the clapping starts, and continues, and builds and builds until it reaches a crescendo. It reaches a moment of nearly deafening noise-level, followed by a thunderous strike that was 1 second after the 'protest' was supposed to end. Written by a perfect hollywood writer, that script was. That's the stuff of legends man. That is what football's all about. I'm in awe of the whole thing. Loved the article.

That figure, the 51% mentioned in the first article, is from here. http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=39746.0 Right now it's 53% but I remember seeing it yesterday and it was closer to 51%. What a fucking prick Oliver is though.. Why the fuck would he be amazed? Why is Eriksson a non-starter? What's so bad about the idea of employing Sven that makes Alan freaking Oliver 'amazed'. Nevermind the rest of the article, and the second article in which both Shepherd and Oliver come out looking like stupid pricks again, Oliver is full of it.

If Owen's not here on September 1st, are you willing to be banned?

You need to understand the difference between managing a club and managing a country though. He'll have time to train the players in the way that he wants, not just a couple of weeks each time. He'll also have time to implement his diets, training programmes, pro-zone and what-not. Managing a club and managing a country are two different things. He might not be the best country manager out there, but his club record speaks for itself.

Houllier man! I can't believe it hasn't dawned on EVERYONE ON THIS FREAKING BOARD that Gerard Houllier is the man.

This particular quote cracked me up then and still does now

Berbatov captain was an inspired decision. I made him mine as well

HP's just hit the nail on the head I think. He's not as good as everyone seems to be thinking. It's all wishful thinking on our part. He IS good, and definitely better than our previous two managers but he's still a small-time manager who hasn't proved that he's able to manage a 'big' club. I know we'll improve with him but I don't think we're going to be competing for a Champions League spot in a year or two as some posts seem to be inferring. Anyhow, how much time are people willing to give him then? Hopefully Freddy won't sign him to a ridiculously long contract and give him something more sensible like a 3-year deal. I'll give him a year to show that he's changed the way our football is played, and then one more year to show an improvement in terms of league position/cup runs. We knew, after a year, that Roeder was shite and he can't coach the players, which is why I reckon a year is enough for Big Sam to show that he's able to coach the players. Even if we're unsuccessful, as long as he's making his mark on the team, I'd continue with him because he has big ideas. Lets hope he's successful though, this might be our last chance to push ourselves up into the next echelon for years.

trust Parky to come up with something like this 4pm on a Monday

Why not Sven, Skirge?

Steve fucking Bruce.

Interesting post and it makes me recall something from ages ago. I was worried about the appointment of Souness when I heard it announced on the car radio, but I could see the reasoning behind it. The players were supposed to be off the rails and needed some discipline. I believe the Board appointed Souness on that sole reason. This prompted a post from all that time ago explaining my belief that the main limitation of this Board is how they appoint a manager generally based on a single character trait only. You can trace it through right back to when Keegan left with Dalglish, Gullit, Robson and then Souness. Appointing someone based on such a narrow criteria doesn't work and this is where they've gone badly wrong imo. Of course, I can't accept criticism of the Board and I am a massive supporter of Fred because I don't harp on about him being a pie eating, fat b******...... Aye, your spot on about the narrow minded apointments. Thats why i think Allarydce is a good appointment he covers alot of the criteria. I can't stand anyone that posts abuse about anyone at the club, whether they are right or wrong. There aint any need for the stuff. Critical yes, abusive no. So i agree...... ya big prick! They all say that. I'm not sure about Allardyce. There's no doubt he's better than Roeder, but if this appointment happens I see it as a bigger risk than appointing Dalglish, Gullit and Robson. Allardyce is a small club manager which means he's only ever worked to a low level of expectation. Even Souness had operated at clubs that had big expectations. Compared to Bolton it's an entirely different situation at a club like Newcastle with the expectation now surrounding the club. I'm not sure how he will do under the weight of that expectation. There is also the issue of buying players to think about. Yes, he's signed some big name players and looks to have their respect, but to compete at the top he will have to spend bigger (assuming the Board can back him) than he has at Bolton and that will be another test of his judgement and his ability that he hasn't had to face so far as a manager. It's very risky. In short, this is an entirely different job that he'll have to tackle in a different way imo, there will be tests and challenges for him that he hasn't faced at all yet and has no experience of. Definitely agree. There's no way telling how he'll adjust from managing a club not expected to do much except hover around mid-table to managing a club expected to score goals and win loads of football games.

Sacking was timed to perfection. If we get in a manager soon, he'll have ample time to conduct his transfer dealings. Any decent manager would already be scouting players, especially someone like Allardyce. Now since Bolton are above us, I don't think we can snigger at the players he surely has been keeping an eye on because well, if they did sign for them, they'd have been signing for a better team. With regards to Roeder resigning at Christmas, that's really a shit idea. If we sacked him then, which decent manager would want to join us halfway through the season? And since we did sack him, it'll obviously mean we're in a bad position, so the possibility of relegation (and our current form suggests we'll be heading there eventually) is there as well. Do you trust Roeder to clear out the deadwood? I certainly don't. He dallies over his signings, meaning we might get rid of 5 players but only get in 2 or 3, meaning we have an even smaller squad, which will of course be a perfect excuse for him. Freddy's done the right thing by sacking him now and the new manager will have plenty of time to sign/sell the players he wants to.

With regards to Houllier, there have been rumours for a while now that he's unsettled at Lyon. I also think he's been quoted in the press in the past saying he would like to manage in the Premiership again. We were also linked with him after Souness was sacked. Another factor I also believe is important is what his previous club's fan's think of him, and from what I've read/seen/heard, the scousers think he did exceptionally well with them. I think he's a really logical choice for us. He'd need time obviously, but he'd build from the back. His teams have always been disciplined as well which shows that he's able to drill players to do certain things which were 'unnatural' before. He's able to drill them to move into certain positions/make certain passes without thinking too much. That's a sign of a good manager. It's the same with Fergie tbh. That's why when Manyoo played at SJP this season they dominated with Scholes and Fletcher in the center of midfield. Not the fastest, biggest, strongest players but everything they did was instinctive and compared to what some of our players do (ie. Parker twirling on the ball), it just showed how good they were being coached and how our players weren't really being coached at all. I believe, given time, Houllier can transform our team. Obviously he'll transform our team in a different manner than what Fergie's doing with Manyoo, but our team will be well coached, Houllier's team always have been, even if they're a little boring. I also believe this with SGE and to an extent, Allardyce (although his ability to attract players and maybe control the dressing room are two things which I'm unsure about).

Is Houllier available? I thought he was still employed by Lyon. And imho there is no better time to take a risk then now. The club is lumbering in mediocrity. No European football next season. A bunch of overpaid, but underperforming yokels. The club needs a total revamp at every level. At the moment it is run like a pub team. And I'd have more faith in Klinsmann doing it, because he has a certain philosophy and ideas than someone like Eriksson who I don't think as someone with strategic thinking. I also don't get the difference between club and country. A lot of those things Klinsmann did for the national team were rather things you expected being done at club level. In fact there was a huge controversy with club managers who thought that Klinsmann's work was too much interfering with their own work. A lot of them now starting to implement some of the ideas now... I stand by my point of view that Klinsmann would be a rather inspirational choice than a manager who lives from his club track record ages ago... The main difference between club and country is when managing a country, you get 2-3 weeks to drill the players into a style of play which you desire, which is a very difficult thing because the rest of the time, those players are drilled to do something different for their club. Which is more likely? A player behaving in a way he normally does for 40+ weeks or him changing his natural behaviour/response for 2 weeks? That's why the best managers usually tend to change their formation to hide the prevalent weaknesses of the his players and focus on the strengths that they already show (note - Brazil). With club managers, you get months to drill the players, which of course helps. But if you don't know what you're doing (note - Roeder), then the players will come out playing with no shape, no tactical awareness, no idea of where to pass the ball next, what runs to make, where to defend etc. etc. Klinsmann doesn't have a track record with managing clubs. He hasn't shown that he can handle everything associated with managing a club, especially a big club whose fans are incredibly demanding (like us). What he's done with Germany was special, and his reputation is deservedly better because of it, but we're still taking a leap of faith if we expect him to be able to handle everything involved in managing a club (ie. day-to-day stuff) when he's had no prior experience. He won't have 3 months to create a game plan, he'll have 3 days. Massive difference. Massive jump.

I do believe the club has the foundations in place to attract the best managers in the world. We only need one to right the so many wrongs at our club. The only thing I'm uncertain about is how much control will Fred give to the new manager. If it's a 100%, then this job is not a 'poison-chaliced' (as soccernet dubbed it a couple of years ago), but one that should be incredibly attractive.

Been linked in the papers as recently as today? I'm just putting the names that have cropped up. If you were Ramos would you even consider coming to NUFC? Chance to revive arguably one of the biggest clubs in England? If successful will elevate him into the level of Mourinho, Wenger etc. meaning his next job could be anything? Will have finance? A new challenge in a new league and all? Sure, why not? Fact is, at Sevilla he'll achieve something this season (probably win the UEFA Cup) but there'll come a time when his best players will be sold (Alves, Kanoute, Maresca, the pacey right winger whose name escapes me atm) and then Sevilla will become an also-ran much like Deportivo. There are parallels between how the two clubs have elevated into the top of the Spanish league and much like Depor did, I expect Sevilla to drop down in a couple of years. Ramos' stock is nearly as high as it can possibly be (barring a fantastic Champions League run next year - if his players are still all there of course), which is why it'd be logical for him to try to step up into the next managerial stratosphere. Look where Irureta has ended up after his success with Deportivo, surely Ramos can learn from that.

Been linked in the papers as recently as today? I'm just putting the names that have cropped up.

Managing a country and a club are two different things though. This is not a time to take stupid risks like Klinsmann if people like Eriksson and Houllier are available. If we're stuck between Bruce, O'Leary, some other riff-raff and Klinsmann then we can take a leap of faith. But why take it unnecessarily?

What a shit thread

No This is much more sensible than yours!

In our current state, we're not going to be able to attract managers such as Wenger, Mourinho etc. etc. These are a list of managers whom we've been previously linked with and/or can attract them to the club. Eriksson has said he wants to manage in England, there've been rumblings in France that Houllier wants another crack at the Premiership, Allardyce is of course the favourite to take over atm, whilst Koeman seems to leaving PSV with the intent of joining the Premiership. There's also the usual names that keep cropping up ie. Shearer, Hughes and Bruce (please no!). Vote for you who you want out of these lot, bearing in mind their experience, style of play, ability to attract players to the club, ability to control the dressing room, ability to tell FS to 'fuck off' if needed and other abilities that you think a manager of our club should have. VOTE AWAY! Edit - If you vote 'Other', state your preference and explain why he'd be a better fit than the current crop that I've listed. I doubt there are more than a few managers that we realistically will be better off if we hire them (that aren't on the list), but if you think there are, do mention.

OMFG, someone voted Steve Bruce and another one voted David Moyes. DOES ANYONE SERIOUSLY THINK THEM TWO ARE BETTER THAN MOURINHO/WENGER/HOULLIER/LIPPI/SCOLARI!?!?

Maybe the list should not include someone as unlikely as Mourinho? I mean, honestly, who's not going to vote for him or say Wenger? Does someone seriously believe Allardyce is better than Mourinho?