AlanSkÃrare

Problem for Benitez at Real was, understandably, that he came into the job with little credibility after seeing his stock fall in the jobs he had just lost at Inter and Napoli. Point to external factors and unfair treatment, sure, but the fact was that he was in a downward spiral since leaving Liverpool, disqualified by supporters, unable to create the defensive stability that he had relied upon before, but now suddenly in control of a club that is arguably one of the two best in the world. It was always going to be vulnerable. As much as I'm taking to him and love what he has done at NUFC so far, I'm still vary of what he will serve up over a longer period of time in the Premiership. On a positive note, he's got everything in place to apply his methods and thinking here. We're a club at the perfect frequency for him. He's been allowed to sign players with a hunger to learn from him, they're receptive of his message, he's shaping pretty much everything to suit his approach, and we'll reap rewards from that. There is every reason to believe he'll have much greater success here than at the clubs he left prior to coming here because of the timing and where we are meeting him in his career, but also because of the working conditions. All in all, he's the best thing that has happened to us for fucking ages, I'll be happy for us to fight under his leadership for a long time, regardless of the speed of our progress, but that doesn't forbid questioning of his tactical orientation. To me, there is no denying that his idea of football is not exactly at the forefront of the tactical development at the moment. For all his sharp, sophisticated and calculated ideas, for all the defensive solidity we're showing, there is not much emphasis on the high pressing or formational flexibility that is characteristic for most ground-winning managers at the moment. I think his orientation may be able to do wonders for us anyway, like I said above, and all teams don't have to play in the same way - but I'm waiting to see how well it serves him when he comes up against the increasingly competitive managerial opposition in the Premier League. To me, the more cautious approach, deeper defenses, seem to be sitting ducks when coming up against high-intensity, high-pressing sides, a little too often. Hopefully his analytical mind will see this and develop us into a dynamic team, capable of coping with different sorts of opposition. There is evidence in the past that he has that tendency.

"Effective unit" is Rafa's speciality - how exactly isPochettino and even Puel better than Rafa at doing this?? was spot on until the building of effective units bit, and throwing Howe in there. Agree with Howe, don't why I had to throw him in there, but judging from Rafa's performances at Inter and Napoli, he has struggled to build effective units at top level in recent years. That's why I'd trust the other names to do that at top clubs, but Rafa is perfect for doing so for us. Pochettino's crafting of Spurs is extraordinairy. They've honestly been the better side in just about every game they've played for the past 1,5 years.

The thing with Rafa for me is the perfect timing. He needed this platform to revive the essence in his leadership as much as our club needed him. I think it's very difficult to keep getting the same effect at the level he was at, any moment or period of stagnation or poor results, and players will start question you in the same manner I think players have started to question Mourinho in the past two years. His idea of football won the league recently, but once players stop believing in your orientation, it stops transmitting in the way it needs to. The key for these managers is pedagogics and the players' receptivity. He needed to take a step back to a context where his message would be conceived in the right way again, and it'll help him rebuild himself. As for swapping with other managers, I think Pochettino, Conte, Klopp, Pep and perhaps Puel and Howe are very modern and progressive in their thinking, and I think they are ahead of Rafa in terms of developing effective units, but I'm not sure any of them would be or would have been a better fit for us at this moment in time. Rafa is the right manager at the right club at the right time. Doesn't happen very often.

The Asoro rumour: I met Carr at Sweden-Netherlands on Tuesday (my article and quotes). Did not get the impression we're after him, just that he and Arsenal's Bobby Bennett were both really impressed with him when they watched Sweden-Spain U21 the day before. Spoke to Carr for quite a while. Very open and honest, somewhat feels he's been harshly criticized. He was clear on the fact that Rafa runs the whole show now, said all of the signings this summer was Rafa's. Referred a lot back to Tioté, Cabaye, Debuchy and Ben Arfa and said that in Ben Arfa's case, it was all Pardew. "He only played him at times because he was a fan favourite. Just look at him now" was his conclusion. He also said Saivet was meant to be Tioté's replacement in January as the club was certain he was going, and badly misused as a consequence of that. All in all, I'd not expect him to be part of the club's setup for much longer. He said some things that made me quite certain he's not in any significant power, and from the sound of it, Benitez has a very different idea of who to sign.

This set things in motion. It challenged his model, first by moving Pardew out, forcing Ashley to turn to the next charade, which revealed the model's vulnerability. This is the end result of both campaigns in my opinion, Ashley forced to treat NUFC as a football club. Rafa would never have been in the job if AO and SP didn't happen.

Look, I have been to 4 games this year (previously had a season ticket for 16 years). The reasoning I gave myself at that time, other than the fact that I had a baby and my priorities changed somewhat, was that maybe just maybe if enough people stopped going something might change. But then the realisation set in... No one has yet given me a reasonable explanation of how not showing up is going to change anything? He wouldn't man. That's not how businessmen work. If and when he decides to sell, it will be when the value of the club is at it's highest he can make it. If you're talking about emptying the stadium every week, seeing us relegated further divisions, in the hope of eventually reclaiming our club and rising back up like some kind of metaphorical phoenix, is that REALLY worth the risk? Genuine question. He will never sell the club in the Premier League, the rewards for mediocrity are now too great. Worth the risk to me as I certainly won't be back while Ashley's there. Number one priority to me is to be able to go back, and feel proud to support them, instead of guilty. Whether that's in the Premier League or the Conference, I honestly don't care a jot. This is the bottom line. I don't care that we're relegated because I took no enjoyment from being a Premier League team and I take no pride in supporting the imitation of Newcastle United that was just demoted. He needs to go before that can change, and that looks more likely to happen away from the tv deals and commercial exposure.

His CV is great but fans of Inter, Napoli, Chelsea and Real Madrid seem to hate him. Napoli fans especially. Better than we've appointed in a long time, mind.

I think this is the model failing. The equation "good enough to keep us up" and "no demands" was close to collapsing under Pardew. In McClaren they thought they'd be able to replicate it, adding a bit more spending because of the tv deal and to get rid of last seasons revolutionary tendencies. But no. Is there anyone left to choose from? I don't think so. I don't think anyone that match their criteria will step up this time. I don't see why Moyes or Rodgers would walk into this, not under the circumstances Ashley would want them to. And if someone is stupid enough to do it, I don't think it'll help because of what they inherit. He's created a incurable and poisoned culture of failing that he's not going to fix. We're fucking doomed and it's probably for the best.

Who is Wendy Taylor? Head of Media, I think. At least that was her former role. May be a stupid question, but why would he need her advice to change manager? That's why I wrote "tells its own story". I'd say that part is very likely to be true, and it says something about the level of competence within the club. No wonder they involve the likes of Moncur.

Who is Wendy Taylor? Head of Media, I think. At least that was her former role.

FWIW: Was told through work a while ago that Charnley asked around a lot before the game against Liverpool, one of those he asked for advice was Wendy Taylor (which tells its own story). After we won that game they cooled things and decided to buy in January. So they've been close to axe him before. Keith Bishop is still heavily involved behind the scenes. Suggestion is Ashley has no intention whatsoever to sell but, according to Bishop, "could wake up one day and decide its time".

The quality isn't the problem, it's the gutless, loser mentality encapsulated by McClaren more than anyone. This whole situation is also a consequence of creating, accepting and overlooking a tolerant culture of poor performances and bad results for years. McClaren leaving probably won't be enough, but it would signal that we're not comfortable with going down. Anything else does.

This is wonderful.

I thought everyone apart from Lee Ryder knew this?

Squad wasn't too bad to begin with. It's atrocious that he's been given all these players and all this time. It's criminally stupid of Ashley not to sack him and a big risk. Shows how much he hates changing managers. Having a spokes person pretending to manage a football club is tough on his asset if it's only broadcasted in the Championship. He'll have to choose soon.

He's not smart enough, but tries hard. Decent squad player, we've massively over paid like most people thought and he'll frustrate more than he'll delight.

This was all entirely predictable and f***ing boring more than anything. I can't even bring myself to analyse what he's doing and not doing right and wrong. It feels irrelevant when he was brought in to make us good enough, not the best we can be. He wasn't the best or next best alternative. He wasn't even remotely acceptable in the first place. It's idiotic and sad but right now, having Steve McClaren as our manager and being in the bottom three is a f***ing brilliant example of what Ashley is doing. It's his concious mediocrity on show, failing badly. The only way he can get out of it is to re-think regarding the manager's work description and credentials. I don't think it'll happen and it will be his and our downfall.

https://twitter.com/Bruno_Constant/status/690908788753371136

Stabbing outside the ground?

This will be immensely enjoyable.

They're discussing Bendtner in another thread. Cisse Demba Ba Ben Arfa Tevez Lambert Yes he's clearly an idiot and doesn't know what he's doing..

This will be wonderful. They can't cope without Bolasie and are starting to ship them now as well.

Craig Hope has been spot on in the past months, he goes with this story as well. He's the English version of Obertan. It's madness to pay good money for him.

During the same period, we've been beaten by three goals or more on 16 occasions.

We need a left back who doesn't treat the ball like a hand grenade and McClaren needs to try something different in midfield. I think Anita has proven himself not to be a problem in himself, but rather not functioning with Colback's lesser brain besides him. He should try Moussa or Gini with Anita, or try to get Tioté running again. Still don't see the point in violently removing Abeid.