merlin

Rumour mill has him in the running to replace Benitez at Liverpool - Benitez prob going to Juventus.

And for those who think the sun shines out of his arse, it won't matter how badly we might do, none of it will be his fault. I thought he did a sterling job last season but I've drawn a line under that now. Doing well in the premier is a different kettle of fish and I'll judge him according to what he does from here on in. I'm especially interested to see if he manages to upgrade the quality of the squad and if he's going to have the strength of character to drop influential players this campaign who might not be good enough to step up a division. There are certain midfield combinations he used this season which would get slaughtered in the premier. Spot on Big Tron - I share your views. There is little doubt in my mind that Hughton WILL have a transfer budget - it may be 15m, it may be more, but for sure, Ashley does not want the club to go back down after escaping the CCC this season. I for one - and most of the fans - will expect some signings that will give the club a decent chance of staying up, and running with the current squad is not an option for survival in my view. Nobody expects 10m signings galore but most will expect the team's Prem deficiencies to be addressed and that means at least 3 decent signings..we all know which positions these need to fill. As you say, Hughton will have to be prepared to drop those who are not going to be up to the faster pace and skills requirements, no matter WHO they are - this will be a major factor in determining whether he makes a success of the job or not. As far as I'm concerned, this season is 'job done'...now its time to get stuck into preparation for next season ; waiting until July before strengthening the squad will be a bad sign as to what is going to be done because any potential signings from WC squads may see their value rocket if they happen to do well. Players that are targets in the UK should have been judged on their merits over the past season or so in any case. We will face stern competition for so-called 'bargain' signings from established Prem clubs because everyone is trying to save money apart from Man C etc. Essential to get the players we need without penny-pinching over a month's salary - its not an easy job being a Prem manager but that is what they get paid for and if Hughton ducks out of strengthening the squad because he is too loyal to the current bunch, he will get no sympathy from me if he starts to fail - and he won't deserve any.

The kit Craig is wearing was the one used from around 1975-78. It was the strip the side wore during Gordon Lee's time as manager.

It IS David Craig and the Man C player is Joe Royle. The stand behind them is the East Stand and it IS the Gallowgate goal that Craig is defending. Craig was RB in the side that won the FA Youth Cup in 1962, promotion in 65 and the Fairs Cup in 69. He was an Ulsterman and his illustrious colleague, George Best, thought he was one of his toughest opponents. A fine player who scored our equalizer in the first FA Cup game with Forest in 1974(the pitch invasion one). We were lucky, we had Irving Nattrass coming through to replace him and Alan Kennedy replaced Frank Clark - it was CD that was our weakness after Bobby Moncur past his best in 74 and we never successfully replaced him and Ollie Burton, the mainstays of the Fairs Cup side(with John McNamee).

Whatever you think of Mourinho as a person nobody can deny that the guy is a great manager. He didn't really have the conventional background for management but has turned out to be a natural. Players obviously want to play for him and that is a large part of the job - he is also a shrewd tactician. Would have him at SJP like a shot and think its one of the club's biggest mistakes in not encouraging SBR to recruit him ages ago.

If Vuckic is only contracted even to 2012 and he continues to progress, the odds are that we will never see him at his best in a B & W shirt. Think Gazza, Beardsley, Waddle - all went and did their best business for other clubs where they won trophies. If Man U or Chelsea really want this player and we only have him tied down for 2 years my bet is on him being sold for around 5m in a year's time because he will know full well that they want him and won't sign another contract ; the club will then have to take the best offer they can get. The only way I see this altering is if either ; 1.The club is bought by a very rich ambitious owner as with Man C 2. Ashley suddenly decides to try to make the club a top outfit, but even then, he hasn't got the mega-funds to compete with the Chelseas,Man Us and Man Cs of this world. We may not like it but, as with all but about 3 clubs in the Prem, we ARE a selling club if we haven't got players on long contracts. That's the way it is now.

Carroll has made dramatic strides this season - if he maintains his improvement at shielding the ball and getting more savvy in the box for half chances he is going to be one of the best CFs in the UK. There are very few currently playing that have his strength - he is going to be MUCH stronger than Crouch who is a lanky player - and not many CDs are going to enjoy playing against him. He is getting more like the young Duncan Ferguson all the time and he was a major threat to any defence. Even the Germans were terrorised by him in one of his early internationals. However, as with most things, there is a BUT...in this case, it is whether he improves as a person and keeps out of trouble ; also, whether his feet can be kept on the ground so he continues to work at his game. This is where the manager comes in, but in the end, its down to the player. If he does the business next season - and many will be watching to see if he does - he will be the target of most top clubs.

I would buy Dyer for negative £1 million. I would not even allow West Ham to pay our club for the misfortune of having to give that man wages. I feel filthy for even accomodating the thought. Agree totally.

Could be the fact he's completely unproven at top level. When a company launches on the Stockmarket, that too is unproven at the highest level - the shrewdest buyers are the ones who pick the winners. That applies in football transfers as well ; if a manager believes Dorrans will do the business, they will pay the going rate. I would pay more than 4m for him - I reckon it will take at least 7m to shift him right now as WBA will face a backlash from their fans if they sell.

Waste of money - no good for the Prem.

Yes - totally agree.

A game that they lost, and a game that produced a once-in-a-lifetime comeback win. Definitely top four material Who said anything about Top 4 etc ? We are talking about teams we will have to beat to stay up and Wigan fall into that category ; its not as if we have a great record against them anyway - have we ever won at their place ? They may well sell players, but they seem to do a reasonable job of replacing those that they sell which is a skill NUFC have yet to master at the top level. The only time I remember this happening in the last 20 years was the exchange of Cole and Gillespie, because we ended up with Ferdinand some months later AND a good winger in Gillespie - UNTIL his 'big buddy' at Man U, Phil Neville, crocked him in the 95-96 season at OT..he was never the same after that. When we start WINNING at places like Wigan and West Ham, then we can start taking them lightly...

Yep - this.

How anyone can start saying we have a good chance of staying up because the likes of Wigan are in the Prem, I do not know. I watched both their games in the past week against Arsenal and W.Ham, and they played well in both of them. They are a better footballing side than we are and much quicker at getting the ball through midfield(notice I said THROUGH it and not OVER it...). We are going to have to step up the pace of the game by at least 25% and improve the accuracy of passing when we go into the Prem if we are to stay out of trouble, and we won't do it with this squad at present. If we make the right signings we can do it, esp with the 'new team' factor which will be present when we first go up...as has been said, it will be interesting to see if Brum maintain their place next season.

Totally agree .

I honestly couldn't think of one we could realistically get. I also don't see much chance of them buying any strikers, that's how I think our squad will look. Goals are very expensive. You're not going to get a "proven" goalscorer for less than 10m. You'll have to take gambles. That said, a lot of sides manage to stay up without one (see Bolton, Wolves, probably West Ham...) That is why I suggested going for Kuranyi - a proven scorer in the Bundesliga and free of contract at the end of the season. Yes, his wages will be on the high side but NO FEE and we need all the money we have to strengthen other parts of the team too. I reckon he and Carroll would get enough between them to keep us mid-table as long as others in midfield chipped in.

This is correct, but it won't last if we are bottom(or near) of the Prem in November.

Because he looks relatively young, people tend to fall into the trap of assuming Hughton is a 'rising young manager' - this is not true, he is 51 and this is the FIRST proper management job he has had. All the top managers(Clough, Shankly, Fergie, SBR, even our own Joe Harvey & KK)were making a success of the job long before that age ; KK was 40 when he took over at NUFC, Clough a mere 29 when he joined Hartlepool owing to the fact that his playing career ended through injury. It is not cast in stone that the best managers are establishing themselves as such before the age of 50, but most of them do, so Hughton is at best a late arrival. That doesn't mean he will necessarily fail at the top level but it does make the chances of doing so higher because he has less stature with top players who will naturally want to be with the best clubs/managers. The top clubs always attract the top managers eventually so the two things go together - as does the ability to win trophies. If Hughton does OK next season, he CAN make a decent career as a manager - if we struggle badly, I fear he won't be in the job by next April.

They won't in the Prem - unless there are decent signings, WE will be the ones getting the arsekicking from at least half the teams...

Agree with this. The article contained a lot of rubbish, but certain points were correct. There ARE doubts over our CBs - Williamson because he has no PL record and lacks pace, Coloccini because of his less than convincing performances last season against the top strikers. The article DIDN'T say Carroll was rubbish - it stated, quite rightly, that he cannot do it on his own and we DO need a top class striker to play alongside him if he is to continue to improve...if this doesn't happen I can see him leaving because there WILL be Prem clubs after him. Not convinced that Jonas will be away ; or that the fans will put too much pressure on the club unless results are really poor after 3 months ; not convinced that Shearer will be a factor either, we are past that at present. The point about Ashley is valid - he does have to provide enough finance or we will struggle. Interesting that Cronky thinks we might not adapt as well as WBA or Forest(if promoted). I agree to a point, certainly with WBA because they played us off the park for 30 mins at SJP and would probably have won if they possessed a decent striker...they also stuffed us in the FA Cup but we played a weakened side. They WILL look better initially in the Prem unless we make some decent signings because they do keep possession better but I think they will also struggle to get goals. Dorrans is certain to be sold if they look like going down but is better equipped for the prem than any of our midfielders. Back in the 60s when we got promoted , the other club to go up were Northampton - they were expected to do better than NUFC because of their record in the lower div, but they went back down...... It all depends on Ashley......

A great post Doug - very well said. I also noticed the records and announcements made at Plymouth last night and thought it was exceptional sportsmanship, esp for a club that we had finally condemned to relegation ....how many at SJP would have been happy if the reverse had occurred in Newcastle ? In the main, the fans of CCC sides have been far less hostile to the presence of NUFC in their midst than was expected and they certainly took less glee in the club's relegation than many of the so-called 'elite' in the Prem. There have been many congratulatory messages on, for example, BBC 606 boards from other clubs' fans, often saying that Newcastle were worthy Champions - even from WBA fans. If we believe that to be the case, then it is the responsibility of the fans at SJP to show the same application and dignity that the team has displayed and rub the accusations of arrogance, delusion etc into the faces of those who wish to rubbish the club, by showing the right kind of support for the side this Saturday - and EVERY match-day next season. Forget about mocking Keane - he has enough problems to sort out and if his record is any guide, he won't have to look far for more next season...Ipswich are a friendly club who, let us not forget, were managed by SBR for many successful years so let us enjoy the day and show them that we are a fine club - both on AND off the field. If NUFC wants to be a really top club, the constant siege mentality of many fans and suspicion of outsiders has to stop - we need as big a following as we can get and it doesn't matter whether they are from Hexham or Hong Kong. That is why the likes of Liverpool will be a more attractive target than NUFC at this time for overseas buyers - they have a big fanbase OUTSIDE of Merseyside.

The club has rarely had the team spirit that is necessary for all successful sides/clubs. This needs to be cultivated if we are to get through the rigours of next season - some pundits have said that Newcastle were not the most attractive side in the CCC, but who cares about that ? We have had all the 'Entertainers' crap and a fat lot of good it did. I would far rather the side was functional and difficult to play against and sneaking 1-0 wins than playing all out attacking football and losing 3-2 every week. Leeds of the late 60s/early 70s were an example of a side with great togetherness who achieved but were unpopular...ask their fans what they would rather have now......

Yes, its a great feeling - was at Blundell Park in 1993 when we won 2-0 there to clinch it and as far as I can remember, Ned Kelly's clinching goal was similar to Routledge's last night...spooky. Hope Saturday is a great day for all at SJP and that the team celebrate in style with a victory. A few weeks to enjoy what has been achieved, then the hard work begins to get the side ready for the Prem. Well done lads.

He's done a great job and exceeded most people's expectations....written himself a place in the club's history now, whatever happens in future. The club have to back him to a decent level in the transfer market if he is going to be able to build on this success and there will be hard decisions for him to make with players but if these things happen there is no reason why he cannot go on to better things with NUFC. Very well done Chris - and the Coaching staff too.

Certainly agree about the last bit - the club committed suicide after a great start at OT where we deservedly got a point. The ridiculous obsession with Wise & Co, the double-dealing over the Milner affair which caused KK's walk-out and the subsequent fiasco would have caused many clubs to implode. The whole episode has set the club back for years and we face a tough struggle to establish the club back in the PL, let alone challenge for European places.. I think the decline had started long before that really, we were struggling to stay in the top half of the Premiership and we were overspending pretty massively to do it. Exactly. Barring a run under Roeder, and 6-7 games under Keegan, we'd been shocking and heading towards where we are now since we finished 5th. Even that season you could see the decline beginning to set in. Had KK been allowed to manage with a decent budget, he would have kept us up AND improved the side. Whether you like him or not, he was a successful league manager wherever he went...nobody got relegated with him as manager. He was coming to the end of his time as a manager, but would still have given us 3 good years - enough to make the club an attractive proposition for top players again. All the downward drift was due to Shepherd's regime after SBR went.