KaKa

Started brilliantly, as Jonas did, at Man U in the first game and slowly but surely they both faded badly.

The turmoil with the team and the constant changes definitely had an effect, as did the adjustment of having to play in a much more physical league for the first time, which meant they wore down much quicker.

Both good players imo. Everything was against them this year though.

Cometh the transfer window cometh the Kingdawson drama ...

Having watched the Fulham game live it was firghtening to see how slow Butt was to get back into position in front of the back four. It really stands out in a live game, and this is what is most worrying to me.

We absolutely need someone who can really get around the pitch and break things up to make life easier for the back four. Someone like Reo-Coker would be ideal but he won't step down into the championship I don't think.

Nicky should only be kept as an experienced pro in the dressing room who can serve as a backup when injuries or suspensions occur.

Shearer will present Ashley and Derek Llambias, the managing director - whose statement expressing “disappointment” in the immediate aftermath of relegation contained no apology to supporters - with a list of players he wishes to retain. Steve Harper, the goalkeeper, Steven Taylor and Nicky Butt will figure prominently, but offers on most other players will be considered.

 

 

Buyers will also be sought for Joey Barton, Xisco and José Enrique

 

This Nicky Butt thing is just crazy at this point ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/may/25/alan-shearer-mike-ashley-newcastle

Alan Shearer will meet Mike Ashley tomorrow to try to thrash out an agreement which would see him sign a four-year contract as Newcastle United's manager.

 

Before signing Shearer will drive a hard bargain with the owner of the newly relegated club. While Ashley has placed a deal running until 2013 on the table, the former England captain seems set to demand total autonomy over recruitment, a radical backroom revamp and a significant transfer budget.

 

After failing to prevent the team from dropping into the Championship during his eight-game stay, Shearer will inform Ashley that the club require root-and-branch reform and advise the owner to help fund an immediate return to the Premier League by making a further investment, possibly as much as £30m.

 

While the legal loose ends of Shearer's contract may not be tied up overnight, he has stressed the need for Ashley and his managing director, Derek Llambias, to act quickly. "Newcastle needs to be filled with people who love this club," he said. "The problem we've already got is that we're lagging behind the other Championship teams who have already started preparing for next season. Newcastle will be a huge scalp for the whole of the Championship and we're up against it already so big decisions need to be made and need to be made soon. I will give my opinions to the men in charge and then it's up to them to see where they want to go."

 

Changes behind the scenes are expected to include the replacement of the senior coaches Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood with John Carver. Until recently the manager of Toronto FC in Canada, Carver was extremely highly rated by Ruud Gullit and Sir Bobby Robson while serving as first-team coach under their charge. It is thought Carver's sudden resignation from Toronto and recent return to Tyneside are not entirely coincidental.

 

Shearer also appears ready to create a role for his tactically astute former Newcastle and England team-mate Rob Lee, while Bob Dowie, the brother of Shearer's assistant Iain Dowie, may also become part of the new regime.

 

Shearer and Ashley are agreed that there needs to be a mass clear-out of high-earning players Newcastle have 15 of them commanding in excess of £50,000 a week although, with many on long-term contracts this may be easier said than done. At first glance they look unlikely bedfellows but Newcastle's owner has been effectively backed into a corner by the club's record scorer and, with Shearer in a position of considerable strength, he is expected to bow to demands.

 

Should negotiations break down and the local hero instead return to his former job as a pundit for the BBC, Ashley would face the full wrath of Newcastle fans who have struggled to forgive him for allowing Kevin Keegan to walk out last September.

 

Moreover senior Newcastle players have urged the multimillionaire retailer to do everything in his power to retain Shearer. Steven Taylor and Damien Duff believe a major rethink is required at St James' Park and that Shearer is not only the right man to re-formulate philosophy and policy but also to lead them back into the Premier League. In a damning indictment of the modus operandi of previous managers, among them Joe Kinnear, Keegan and Sam Allardyce, Duff revealed. "This has been a proper club for eight weeks now."

 

Tellingly Shearer, who has already overhauled the medical and scouting departments, is the first manager working for Ashley to have extracted significant concessions about the way the club is run from a man with whom Allardyce and Keegan struggled to communicate.

 

The Ireland winger, signed three years ago from Chelsea by Glenn Roeder, feels such managerial clout will pay long-term dividends. "It's the first time in a long time that this place has felt like a proper football club," Duff said. "Alan Shearer has been brilliant for eight weeks. If there is one man to get us back up into the Premier League, it is him. Hopefully the gaffer will stay."

 

Taylor, an England Under-21 centre-half, said: "There have to be big changes after this. People have to realise it is an honour to play for Newcastle United football club. You have to give it 100%. The past 10 months haven't been good enough. We need more belief and a positive mental attitude back. We need stability. The only person I think can take Newcastle back up to the Premier League is Alan Shearer. He has been fantastic to work with."

If this all comes off there is no doubt that we will be in a better place as a club overall than we have been in a long time now.

As long as Shearer is in charge it is going to be very hard for the club to continue going in a downward spiral as he just won't let it happen.

I'm actually excited about the prospects should Shearer be backed to the hilt.

This guys got a nerve.

Cheeky bastard.

Unselfish.

Oba Martins.

The legend continues ...

So happy right now ... I don't even know what to say at the moment.

This may very well be the season Taylor became a man and finally matured. Has scored some unbelievably important goals this season.

Very pleased for Oba. You always have a chance with him on the pitch no matter how horrible he might be playing. Said it time and time again. For all the rough edges the guy makes defenders uncomfortable and can score in a variety of unconventional ways.

Owen ... well I think I've said enough about this guy. Depressing to see him out there just going through the motions and unable to do much else.

Hats off to Shearer. I am most pleased for him tonight because he has tried absolutely everything with this team and given everyone a chance to prove themselves rather than sticking doggedly with the same team. Great to see Guthrie get a chance and grab it with both hands and Loven also.

Just heard about Martins being out!

Very worrying. We absolutely have to play Loven in his place as we need some pace.

Owen behind Loven and Viduka.

Owen and Viduka alone upfront and we are down.

Yeah just seen it.

 

Think the only way Inter would want Martins back would be as in impact sub or 3rd/4th choice striker, and I can't see him agreeing to going back to that.

Was linked with Chelsea when Mourinho was there wasn't he?

Mourinho likes his African players and managed to really get a lot more out of Drogba than many thought possible, as he was written off as an expensive flop after about his first month by the likes of Andy Gray. The standard claims of not having a decent touch and not having a football brain either. The kind of stuff that has always been said about Martins.

If the move happened it would be fascinating to see how he would develop under Jose.

Shearer hasn't been perfect but he has been far more good than bad.

This team is unbelievably bad. He is trying everything to turn things around and it's something I will give him credit for.

There is no obvious answer, no obvious lineup, no obvious formation nothing.

The team is a mess and a gathering of awful players.

Another great finish from Owen.

If Lucas scores against you then you really are unbelievably shit.

I love Shearer. Keep smiling dude 

Don't let these fuckers get you down.

Bassong is an all world defender.

An absolute class act.

We're never holding onto the boy.

joey barton has cost this club 13 million in transfers and wages

 

we could of saved a fortune by sacking him last summer

Ashley wanted rid but Keegan wouldn't have it.

Keegan's then fucked off and left us in a mess.

I feel terribly for Shearer. I just love the guy.

Did you see that reaction to the pass just then.

The guy is in despair over the play of these guys.

Joey Barton has been a fucking disgrace.

Just so hard to be positive about this team.

They all deserve to go to hell.

WE ARE RELEGATED!

Basson gis so classy.

Great, as if he isn't bad enough with two feet, now we get a one footed Nicky Butt.

Brilliant.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smith is a weirdo. What a goofy challenge.

I actually can't believe how well Viduka is playing.

Pretty impressive. Just need him to link up with Martins now they are alongside each other this half.

I think we'll get a goal at least.