alexthegreat

If we really are trying to get Bent then perhaps Pardew has something like this in mind: HBA Bent Cisse Sissokho Cabaye Tiote

Attempting to find some rationale and reason for optimism: Firstly, it appears Ashley genuinely does rate Kinnear. He managed 20 points from 18 games when he was here, and we went down with 34 from 38. Those stats hardly tell the whole story but they evidently mean something to Ashley, and Kinnear seems a likeable bloke to some who have got to know him, even if his public persona is a complete car crash. It seems that Pardew and Carr have been at loggerheads over transfers, with Pardew claiming that Carr’s signings aren’t good enough. This appears to be a ludicrous stance from Pardew – there are always going to be one or two duds, and of the ones who cost serious money there aren’t many who stand out as complete no hopers. When you consider he was widely reported to want Danny Graham in January, it doesn’t look like Pardew has a leg to stand on. But when you look at our squad the thing that stands out for me is the complete lack of Premier League experience. I think there is only Coloccini, Jonas, Shola, and Taylor who have clocked up 100 Premier League matches, and two of those simply aren’t very good. It’s a state of affairs that could never materialise at a club like Man United. At the back Debuchy has given away 2 pens and been sent off once in 14 matches, Mbwia is following in the footsteps of Luiz and Coloccini in ending up in some bizarre positions on the field, and Santon and Haideira have a fair bit still to learn. I think that given time we will have a very good defensive unit, but if our first choice pairing of Colo and Taylor were to get injured early in the season, I think it could be catastrophic. It’s a similar story throughout the team, although I’m less optimistic about the players further forward. I don’t think there’s been much wrong with Carr’s signings so far, but if he thinks the way forward is to continue looking for players with no experience of football in this country, then I can see Pardew’s point. The first thing Kinnear has done is say that he doesn’t want Douglas. I think I agree that yet another defender who may well need time to adjust isn’t what we need at this time. Perhaps Kinnear wasn’t making it up when Pardew said he was pleased he was here. Ashley must realise that there is no way Kinnear is able to run a football club day to day, he simply must. Surely he is only here as someone Ashley trusts to act as a referee between Pardew and Carr. I think what we really need to hope for this season is that we can keep a spine of: Krul - Colo – Taylor - Cabaye – Sissokho – Cisse in place (perhaps with another good striker). If we can get those players on the field 10 times in a row at the start of the season then I think we will have few serious problems. Beyond that we have some talented players, but for one reason or another, very few have shown they can produce regularly in this league. If the spine of the side cant get on the field, then we really could look a leaderless outfit that concedes loads of goals and doesn’t score many. I think that of more importance to us than the personalities off the pitch, and I hope we do get some experienced Premiership players into the club. Hopefully if we get a good start we can keep the whole show on the road.

Going off those reports it's not that much for Pardew to ask really - just shut the fuck up and say as much as every other director of football in this country. Highly doubtful JFK will be able to manage that though.

I don't hate Kinnear. Genuinely think that he's lost his marbles and possibly isnt very well. The idiot who has allowed him to wander into an office at SJP deserves the hatred.

Looks like Pardew or someone close to him has had a word with at least one journalist: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/alan-pardews-warning-to-joe-kinnear-i-am-still-the-newcastle-manager-8662635.html

Just listened to an interview from a few months back called "Joe Kinnear still deluded about Newcastle". He says he believes that he would still be in the job today if he hadn't had the heart attack (perhaps that doesnt look so deluded now) Says Mike Ashley rang him out of the blue. He had been "touting himself around London" and Ashley called him up, met him for lunch and offered him the job. After the heart attack he knew he would have to leave football alone and its very hard to get anyone to give you a job when you have a medical condition.

I know all that "cockney mafia" stuff doesn't reflect very well on Newcastle fans, but since appointing Keegan it's hard not to notice a slight London based bias towards Ashley's appointments: Vetare, Jiminez, Wise, Pardew, Hughton, Kinnear twice. Llambias came in a few months before Keegan left, and Redknapp claimed he was offered the job as well, as did Venables when Kinnear came in the first time. I suppose he gave Shearer the job but he was in a bit of a corner then. Does he really just make appointments by bringing in whoever he bumps into in London?

If Pardew were to do what Keegan did, and walk out the door in September or August, then that will put us in a very very similar situation to the one in 2008, where it all unfolded into a nightmare. I don't think he would walk, although Im not 100% sure on that, and I really hope he just puts up with whatever shite Kinnear produces and sits it out until JFK's next heart attack.

Sentence in an article in the Independent today: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/10123496/Joe-Kinnear-set-to-make-shock-return-to-Newcastle-United-as-director-of-football-in-management-shake-up.html He just really rates Kinnear, it's as straightforward as that imo. I really think it's likely he'll replace Pardew at some point this season.

I think Ashley genuinely rates Kinnear for some unfathomable reason and he wants to show that he knows better than anyone.

Sounded like Carr would be staying and JFK isnt going to be involved in managing the squad. Hopefully he'll not be able to do too much damage. Nightmare scenario is that he ends up in the dugout - hopefully what happened to him last time will rule that out.

I believe he'll get the job 100%. Everytime something dreadful and unbelievable involving Ashley gets reported it turns out to be completely true.

Speaking to The Sun, Ashley said: 'Joe’s the man to do the job. He’s my hero. Is he better than Capello? Definitely. We are going to be in Europe by the end of the season.' Newcastle's 3-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park last weekend hauled the Magpies out of the Premier League relegation zone, but European qualification through the league is optimistic. Ashley, however, is adamant Newcastle will retain their Premier League status under Kinnear, who will remain as manager until the end of the season. The chairman said: 'We will stay up. Yes, definitely.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1097439/Ashley-Kinnear-steer-Newcastle-Europe--hes-better-Capello.html#ixzz2WOEwkeTG Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I'd rate Scott Parker as being quite hard. That tackle on Joe Cole and being carried off twice (or 3 times?) v Arsenal are the sort of ludicrous things you'd expect your grandad to tell you about, like strikers who'd literally break the net.

Hopefully he'll be the understudy to a Cabaye - Sissokho partnership and mainly appear from the bench to help finish off games (as Perch often has). Hopefully Anita will develop into something useful as well.

Ancelotti's autobiography was a very good read, although I seem to remember it was about a third of the length it could have been. He comes across really well. I'd recommend Billy Furious' book "A Mag For All Seasons" and The Far Corner to any Newcastle fan. Both are really passionate north east football fans, and both are actually very talented writers. Really liked Roy Keane's book when I read it, was very raw. However I suspect if I read it now it'll seem a bit more holllow now that he's become one of the bullshitters he claimed to hate. The Secret Footballer is worth a look, although I think it could have been a lot better. Normally it would be quite easy to paint a favourable picture of yourself when you're constantly confiding to your reader, but I thought he came across as a bit of a cock.

I'd imagine the Cisse / Wonga story is an attempt by the player to get more money, and the Darren Bent story may well be the club showing him and his agents that he is far from irreplaceable.

I actually had a look back at that season as I knew the media version of Keegan having a breakdown after Fergusons mind games and then blowing a 12 point lead is overly simplified bollocks, but it was still all a long time ago now: Our home form was imperious for the whole season: WWWWWWWWWWWWWLWWWWD Away we were consistently average after a gentle run of fixtures at the start where we won the first 4 out of 5: WWLWWDDDLLWWLDLLLWD Man U were 12 points behind us before they beat us 2-0 in December. That was the start of a run where they won 15 of their final 19 games. We could match that form at home but KK’s team didn’t ever quite get to that level away from home. They had 2 class players who had been and done it all at each end of the pitch and I recall they carried them at times: In the 2nd half of the season Schmichael kept 13 clean sheets, and they won 7 games 1-0. I’ll bet Cantona was the scorer in about 5 of those games as well. It’s easy to forget how it really panned out in the final couple of months of the season. Heres how it went week by week after that home defeat to that Cantona goal: 04.03.96 1 Newcastle United 28 +26 61 2 Manchester United 29 +27 60 16.03.96 1 Manchester United 30 +27 61 2 Newcastle United 28 +26 61 18.03.96 1 Newcastle United 29 +29 64 2 Manchester United 30 +27 61 20.03.96 1 Newcastle United 29 +29 64 2 Manchester United 31 +28 64 23.03.96 1 Manchester United 31 +28 64 2 Newcastle United 30 +27 64 24.03.96 1 Manchester United 32 +29 67 2 Newcastle United 30 +27 64 03.04.96 1 Manchester United 32 +29 67 2 Newcastle United 31 +26 64 06.04.96 1 Manchester United 33 +30 70 2 Newcastle United 32 +27 67 08.04.96 1 Manchester United 34 +31 73 2 Newcastle United 33 +26 67 13.04.96 1 Manchester United 35 +29 73 2 Newcastle United 33 +26 67 14.04.96 1 Manchester United 35 +29 73 2 Newcastle United 34 +27 70 17.04.96 1 Manchester United 36 +30 76 2 Newcastle United 35 +28 73 28.04.96 1 Manchester United 37 +35 79 2 Newcastle United 35 +28 73 29.04.96 1 Manchester United 37 +35 79 2 Newcastle United 36 +29 76 02.05.96 1 Manchester United 37 +35 79 2 Newcastle United 37 +29 77 05.05.96 1 Manchester United 38 +38 82 2 Newcastle United 38 +29 78 In Keane’s book he says they knew there was no way back for us after their win at SJP, but looking at that we were right there until the point they stuffed Forest 5-0 in their 37th match of the season. The goal difference that gave them was the first time there was any real daylight between us. After finally getting a clear advantage Fergie went and wound up the Leeds team, although we actually got a rare win away from home against them. KK then had his rant after the match and it’s gone down in history as a “meltdown”. It just didn’t happen like that. Ferguson got a reputation as being a “master of the mind games” off the back of that. I’d hardly call it masterful. After playing Leeds on Monday night we had to play Forest on the Thursday (while Man U put their feet up) and Woan fired in a 75th min equaliser from miles out. There is not a manager in the game today who would not go beserk about player tiredness in that situation. We then went on to play Spurs on the Sunday, and that turned out to be a dead rubber anyway. In the end they were slightly better than us, and we were also a bit unlucky, but I genuinely don’t think it’s fair on KK to say he bottled it that year, and I’m certainly not one of those who says he can never do any wrong.

He should stick it out with us. I can't see Man United or anyone else paying what we'd want for him on the back of his performances last season. And in Sissokho he could well have as good a midfield partner as he could hope for anywhere.

In fairness to the clown in the pub, Debuchy has given away 2 penalties and been sent off once in 14 appearances, which is pretty unacceptable really. Off the top of my head I can't recall Simpson doing either of those things in his whole time here No doubt who the more talented footballer is, but he still has an awful lot to learn if he is going to suceed here.

One of our main issues throughout the season was that we only really had 1 goalscorer in the squad after Ba left That is true. Limited striking options have been a problem before with Ashley, and will continue to be so unless he has a change of attitude. Put simply, he doesn't like to buy them because its difficult to get them cheap, hence we're still slogging away with Shola in 2013. Compare to a previous era: Ashley / various managers spending on strikers 2007 - 2013: Viduka 0 Xisco £5.7m Zamblera 0.5 Ranger 0 Lovenkrands (twice) 0 Best £2m Ba 0 (+various add ons) Cisse £10m Gouffran £2m Total: £20.2m Keegan / Hall spending on strikers 1993 -96 Cole £1.75m Beardsley £1.5m Allen £0.3m Mathie £0.25k Kitson £2.25 Ferdinand £6m Huckerby £0.45m Asprilla £7.5m Shearer £15m Total: £35m Shelling out £7.5m and £15m within the space of a few months on centre forwards is an unlikely prospect with Ashley in charge, despite the fact that we have done it before and its what we desperately need now. We are not as small as Llambias likes to make out.

I really don't rate him but appreciate he works hard. Think the most he can aspire to is to be the next Kevin Gallacher or Peter Lovenkrands. 7 goals in our last 10 league games is woeful and if we are still picking a strikeforce from Gouffran, Cisse, Shola, and Campbell then we will continue to struggle. He might be useful to have on the bench but isn't good enough to start for us imo.

He always had the finanacial advantage you would expect at the biggest club in the country throughout the 90s. They broke the transfer record for Cole (in 95), had been able to buy Keane for a record before that, Yorke was the second highest fee to an English club in 98 (after Shearer), and Stam was a world record deal for a centre half at £11m in the same year. It was just after this period that he could really make their commercial strength count though: He got Veron for 28m in 2001 so he could "freshen things up" (put him on the bench as it eventually turned out), and they got van Nistelrooy for 19m in the same summer as well. He spent £30m on a centre half when he bought Ferdinand in 2002. Thats still an enormous figure now. Yet Wenger was still able to finish above him in 2002 and 2004. If the Glazers hadnt appeared perhaps they would have been able to carry on spending in a similar fashion to Real Madrid. However, both Fergie and Wenger appear to have had to deal with severe financial restraints since that era, whatever they may claim in public, and there is no doubt who has coped better. If Fergie had gone ahead and retired a decade ago then maybe the finances argument would undermine his achievements a bit, however I think the last 10 years going up against Chelsea and then City with the Glazers in charge are enough to refute that argument, and theres 3 European Cup finals in that time as well.

Sissokho - 23 years old capped for France at every level including 8 caps at senior level. Cabaye - 27 years old, 20 caps for France Anita - 24 years old, played for Holland, won the league with Ajax starting most games as a defensive midfielder Tiote - 26 years old, Ivory Coast international won the league with Twente as a defensive midfielder when he was 23, however struggled to start matches under Steve McClaren who said this about him: "With Checkkie in the team it was all a bit unpredictable, capricious. "Although he is on the bench, I've always told him that he was ready for the top. I also think that the English game is better for him. The pace in the Premier League is so high that it is less noticeable when he has lost the ball. "The game is up and down, up and down, so you always get the ball back quickly." Never as simple as just looking at stats, but I really think its time Pardew started looking at using him in the role he is supposed to have had at Twente under McClaren - squad player coming off the bench in the 2nd half. I'd far rather see what Sissokho can do for us next to Cabaye next season, and Anita is supposed to have excelled at taking the ball off the back 4 in Holland, which is something Tiote has struggled more and more with in England, and judging by McClaren's comments I expect it was also a problem at Twente.

Different take on Ferguson to anything thats been printed in the last couple of weeks below. Don't agree with it at all myself, although I do think it is true that he was ready to rip his own club apart over some horse spunk, in sharp contrast to the selfless "leave the club in good hands" mentality thats been written about so much recently. http://yerknowthedance.wordpress.com/ I think the rumour shortly after the time was that Stam had been peddled after Man United got wind that a large number of the Dutch squad were taking nandrolone, including Stam. He was banned shortly after the transfer, and I think Davids and de Boer were as well. In fact, having read it again it really is a crap article, but it does go to show the slightly strained relationship some Man United supporters had with the man who gave them everything yet openly pandered to the Glazers. Often thought it strange that they never had a chant for him, not one that I ever heard anyway.