merlin

What a surprise - SAF getting upset when the prospect of one of his potentially fiercest rivals looks to appoint a World-Class manager which just MIGHT make his own job more difficult..... Oh, and he feels the same about Man City as well.......(think about it !!!!) We have heard this somewhere before - it was January, I think....!!

Its touch & go in my opinion - the news that Scolari is likely to take over at Man C may encourage him to 'wait & see' by meeting the new manager before making a decision... He may well be p----d off that Sven is going, but there WILL be a part of him that will be intrigued by what Scolari may be able to achieve. It would, of course, have been an open & shut case had City appointed Allardyce - Dunne would have been at SJP before you could say 'KK',but as we have already discovered , players are not exactly climbing over each other to join NUFC right now - as I said before(and as others have also pointed out), it will be a long haul to restore our former reputation as a top club.

No - are you really a Gimp ? Those who continue to live in the past about SBR are welcome to their dreamworld fantasies ; As for Ferguson, you can bet that he WON'T be at OT when he is 70 - the Man U Board will ensure that the succession is done WHEN IT SHOULD BE, which is something NUFC are not reknowned for .. Ferguson himself won't want to do that, although I DO expect him to move upstairs at OT. Too many sacred cows held by some fans on this board - just because SBR was from the NE, people think he is above criticism - wrong, and although I am quite prepared to give him credit for a job well done, I am also prepared to acknowledge his faults ; and he DID have them. As I said before, no room for sentiment in Football - I think you'll find that under Ashley & Mort, this will happen less & less at NUFC so you had better get used to it...

I disagree somewhat with your assessment of SBR final moments at the club, i just think theres a hell of a lot of supposition in what you are saying (i.e the cracks appeared he was old and losing the dressing room, we were bound to fail) and a fair bit of discrimination of his age, i think if he was 20 years younges and was having the same problems but similar success then i cant help but think the crowd would of stuck by the manager more than they did, instead his age was used as a stick to beat him with, despite the fact his record stood at steering us to 4,3 and 5th all in his late 60's. I agree that there may of been an air of stubborness from the man, it seemed clear that he felt he had unfinished business with the club and felt he hadnt taken them as far as he could, and in my opinion, he could of taken us further, he had an incredibly poor season by his standards yet still finihsed 5th, this was after a season where he wasnt backed so after the high of getting a 3rd position finihs the season before to dropping to 5th the following season with the dterimental loss of a CL place he was unceremoniuously shown the door after all he had done. I dont know of another man who i would of trusted to turn it around, he was constantly undermined under his tenureship and had key players like Speed sold without his knowledge, something which effected the team somewhat in hindsight. Maybe theres an argument to say that his stubborness would of meant that he would of held on longer than would of been healthy for the club, but i dont think for one second it was fair, or even clever to sack him after the poorseason he had, there was no footballing reason to sack SBR, losing out on CL for 2 years was a major blow but we had an impressive run in the UEFA cup the season before having failed to qualify for the group stages and had also qualified again for the UEFA cup again, where maybe we would of started as favourites for the entire competition. It was a ridiculous sacking without the benefit of hindisght and a sacking in ridiculous circumstances. Something that i think this club paid for massively, some say that the apoointment of Souness was what damaged us the most, but i think those people need to ask themselves if there was a manager out there, better than SBR who would of taken the job after the manner of his sacking. Even the fact that he wasnt backed after his 3rd place finish, would of been a major sticking point in many managers eyes. He should of been given at least one more year to prove that the club wasnt about implode, every top manager has a poor season, Fergie has, Wenger has, Benitez has as well, Moyes has, every single one, and yet they are given the benefit why wasnt SBR given the same benfit....because of his age, ridiculous. Like it or not, he WAS too old - which other top EPL(or European) Club employs a manager over 70 years of age..?? Is it true that some of the players were taking advantage of him ? YES. Even Shearer & Speed made their feelings known about the attitude of some of the younger players, and your point about the crowd etc being more prepared to stick by SBR if he had been 20 years younger is irrelevant, because he WASN'T - he was 70 years old and the majority of fans knew he would soon have to be replaced. If SBR loved the club as much as he says he did, he would have tried to make this transition as beneficial to NUFC as possible..would YOU try to hang on at that age in a job which was clearly becoming too strenuous for you, because I wouldn't, esp if I had his money..

Even if he was quite right as you put it which I don't think he was at all, I was more bothered about the tone of Beardsley's comments, kind of sneering. I think even he knew he was being a bit tough because he added "don't get me wrong, he did a lot for me and I like the bloke"... but I think something has happened between those two myself as Beardsley did come across as a bitter/cynical person at times about one or two things that were discussed during the evening. Btw Beardsley never mention the finishing 5th season, he referred to the start of the following season, calling it a mess. Regarding their thoughts on Shearer, I thought the fact that both were very careful with their words was telling. I've heard this said many a time that Shearer is one hell of an influential and powerful figure within football, especially at Newcastle, even with the takeover and change of managers. They were ripping the piss out of everyone, including KK, all night, but Shearer.... you can tell he's not to be messed with or taken lightly for some reason. He didn't really have an answer to my brother in law and my question regarding life after KK, didn't seem to want to acknowledge it, I thought he was missing the bigger picture. I even said, look we've had X amount of managers, all failed to live up to KK, this massive figure, its getting to the point that only KK can manage this club, is that dangerous etc. Not the night for a serious debate about that I suppose, one for the forum maybe? Some other things.... Said Roeder was a great team-mate, captain, confidante and coach, especially to youngsters, loved the role and everyone loved him, becoming manager changed him however, went to his head and no-one respected him within the dressing room. Should never have been giving the job said Beardsley, none of them bar Dalglish and SBR were good enough for Newcastle. Called Souness a c*** I think and wasn't equally complimentary about Big Sam, said he was a fake basically. Lost his job the day fans shouted you don't know what you're doing, reckoned Beardsley. He's desperate for a role in the academy (Bez calling it criminal), spoke very well about that side of the game in terms of what's going wrong, what's needed and what he would like to see done (room full of coaches and junior club representatives so it struck a chord with many). I dunno like, jobs for boys and all that, and he did say he would struggle to show a kid what he can do as he would rather a kid learned something new and natural by trying it out for themselves rather than have someone break it down and show them, has to be spontaneous and from within. I agreed. He also mentioned how he got knocked back when he was younger, says he always knew he had ability because he could read a pass, but didn't have the physical side to play a pass, was weak in that sense. Very encouraging considering just how f****** good he went on to become. Regarding Oliver, says he's a thorn to NUFC, can't keep his gob shut, will leak a major story in spite of NUFC to be seen as the know it all exclusive reporter which was very telling. Said the Dunne story should never have went to print, could jeopardize the story. I reckon the Dunne link btw is very real and reading between the lines, is happening, maybe this is the renowned player someone behind the scenes reckons we're close to signing, along with some youngsters. The antics of the players and the spirit under KK first time round man Nee wonder they all love him and just why he was so good for us and just why how hard it will be to replicate because you can't buy those things, those moments and times when everything just clicked. Btw, Bez, f****** top bloke, had time for people well before and after the talk in, as he arrived before Pedro I think, a genuine nice down to earth bloke who you get the impression would talk all day long about NUFC and his days here. Best of all though a few quid raised for our young footballers and their clubs in the City. Whatever agenda Beardsley has about SBR , he was, in my opinion , STILL correct in his basic assessment of the situation. SBR should, at his age, have been ASKING the club if he could arrange the managerial succession instead of hanging on without a plan for an orderly change-over ; he could even have brought Mourinho in if this had been done soon enough... SBR was 66 when he STARTED being the club's manager, and it was the third time Newcastle had asked him to do the job since 1975....did he think he would go on past his 70th birthday? Was he happy with the aggro he was getting from the likes of Dyer ? Surely, he must have realised that things couldn't go on that way..instead, he left himself open to being undermined and eventually sacked, by Shepherd, when he could have either gone with dignity earlier, or moved on to being some sort of Overseas ambassador for the club with his invaluable contacts. Bobby did a very good job for NUFC in his first 4 years, and should have left it at that - there is NO ROOM FOR SENTIMENTALITY in Football ; ask KK how Shankly used to despatch players from Liverpool when he knew they were reaching the end ; ask SBR himself how he had to ruthlessly sort out the Ipswich dressing room(in one case, physically)when he first took over as manager...he was past all that kind of stuff when he arrived at SJP. You are fully entitled to your opinion, and have given us a good review of what went on, but the stuff about Shearer being an all-powerful figure - well, this may or may not be true, but all I would say is that IF he one day becomes manager - by no means certain - he can carry this aura around with him as long as he likes PROVIDED he brings success with it..no-one would say that SAF is a nice person, but he WINS THINGS. I couldn't care less how ruthless Shearer is as long as he wins things for NUFC and makes us a feared club ; couldn't care LESS about 'being liked' - if other fans like the way we play, great, if not, tough s--t, as long as we beat them. We are not in the EPL to win a popularity contest - maybe the Media will realise that one day - we are in it to be successful. If you don't follow that mantra, you are just there to make up the numbers, and I for one do not want NUFC to be that sort of club.

As long as this rule is extended throughout FIFA, I agree with Blatter. He is quite correct in stating that the domination of the EPL by the Top 4 IS damaging the game in England and clubs are not putting enough effort into finding and developing young players. It is too easy for them to sign a ready-made player from elsewhere an we all know that big money changes LOTS of hands when this happens. The rule CANNOT just apply to England - it must be extended everywhere to be fair but, as Opt Nut says, Spain & Italy operate something similar. As for the EU, the French ignore any rules it makes when it doesn't suit them, so I don't see why other countries/organisations don't. Far too many bureaucratic rules emanating from that set-up, and I'm sceptical - tough.

Agreed, Mick - I'm not surprised that Harper is attracting interest from other clubs ; in my opinion he is a steadier keeper than Given all round.He may not be quite as eye-catching at reflex saves, but even some of these have been top-drawer this season. He should have been given a longer run in the side over the years, but still probably has at least 4-5 good years left in him and I wouldn't sell unless we had a really top-class replacement - where is one of these ? I hope no-one is going to suggest Jaaskelainen.. The fact that KK has tried to ward off the sale shows that he regards Harper as a necessary part of his plans and probably now rates him above Given - rightly.

Beardsley NOT harsh about SBR - he was quite correct.. Both him AND Bez are right about most of today's team, ESP Geremi - he is well-below what we should have in midfield.. Disagree with Beardlsey about 'just enjoy it, never mind the future'...that has been what was wrong with NUFC over the years, ans successful clubs ALWAYS plan for the future.. Agree with Bez's view of Shearer more than Beardsley's, but the whole thing sounded quite interesting. Also agree that KK DOES have a ruthless side, and so he should - he probably learned that from Shanks.

Has to be a game at SJP around 1969, and a dog ran on the pitch - it started racing around,and players were making abortive attempts to catch it... Without any hesitation, the Leazes End all started singing 'Will you get Joe Baker off the pitch?' to the tune of 'Coming round the mountain when she comes'... Baker had recently signed for the Mackems from Hibs....!!!

Keegan has changed since we started to win games. He seemed very quiet and looked if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but recently he's been back to his best. It'll be interesting to see what the years after leaving us have done to him. I think he has a lot more about him now but he's still got something inside telling him that we can score more than the opposition. We've got interesting times ahead and it's been a long time since I felt that way. This is a good point Mick - I have noticed that too. I reckon KK HAS changed slightly since he was last here, and not for the worse - sure, he's older and maybe slightly less exuberant, but that has been tempered by his more calculating and realistic assessment of where the club is, and what the side needs to progress in today's game. Given a bit of luck on the Transfer market, I reckon he will build a side which, if not quite as spectacular as the 95/96 one, will prove to be more suited to long-term success. Yes, interesting times lie ahead, and I feel that we may just get a surprise on the lines of 93/94 when we would all have accepted a Top 7 finish before the season started, and ended up doing much better by finishing 3rd....getting to 5th or 6th would be the equal of that next season.

Agree with this - main asset pace but no way can he be compared to the likes of Henry etc.

Would be a good signing if it comes off(see my post about Modric and waiting until its announced at a Press Conf..); a very good central defender, WAS excellent against Liverpool, but you cannot judge on one game - nevertheless, he has been fairly consistent and would be an improvement on what we have in CD. The key point will be how much the club offer Man C - too little and it allows other clubs to jump in,too much and it defeats the object of trying to get a quality player at a good price because his contract is nearly up.. The worst case is that Man C talk him into signing another contract - hopefully, KK & Co have made contact with Dunne and he is on board with the transfer... We'll see.....

Absolutely NOT...NUFC should not be a 'Feeder' club for ANYBODY, and it shows a real lack of ambition even to suggest such a thing...would you have said this in 1996..!??

A typical end-of-season match with nothing at stake but pride ; Midfield performed poorly, Geremi, despite his goal, was very poor, possession given away regularly and he is often dispossessed by opposition players because he is so slow to pass.. Barton not as good as in the past few games and we missed Faye at the back although Edgar did OK - excellent save from Harper in second half denied WH 3 points and they were the better side for much of the game ; well-taken goal by Martins, another reasonable performance from Enrique who looks a solid defender ; even Ronaldo didn't get much change out of him at OT, and he is very adept at judging his tackles - doesn't dive in.. Looking forward to season's end now..

I warned you that all the hype was just the Croats playing us off against other clubs to get a higher fee ; We will always struggle to get S.European players to move north because we are NOT now seen as a glamour club. It will take several years of consistent success before we will be able to challenge either Top 4 or Spurs(because of their geographical position) for the best players. Some on here need to get real - we have fallen a long, long way since the heady days of 1996 or 2002 and there is a long road ahead to try to out right what has been damaged. Concentration on spotting(and bringing in) young players BEFORE they reach the spotlight that Modric is now in is our best route to success, as well as developing a really good Academy... If you don't believe what I have said, think back to 96- would Spurs have been able to challenge us for ANY player, let alone Shearer..!??

This is definitely possible - I won't believe it until he is announced at a Press Conference with KK at SJP.....

This is the main point - I agree.

I take it all back, he's impressed me more than anyone of late. I was very wrong to call him average, he has the potential to be very good indeed. It takes a big man to admit when he has been wrong - well done ; I agree with what you say.

In many ways a typical derby game - hurried passing and hustle, but Owen's terrific movement and finish for the first goal put us in the driving seat and them on the back foot for most of the first half when we played the better football. Two incidents were pivotal in the result - Owen's penalty was not a good one(too close to the keeper), but fortunately it had enough power to squirm into the net, which gave them a mountain to climb just before half-time. Then, when they had a spell on top in the second half(largely the result of NUFC giving away possession too easily - Barton and Geremi the biggest culprits), Harper made an excellent save to deny Jones' header bringing them back into it. We could have won more easily after that, and after comments made about both Owen and Harper by some on here earlier in the season, those who made them should be feeling rather foolish... Both players have been instrumental in our recovery and KK knows that AND says so, even if their detractors on here won't admit they were wrong.. I am still not certain that Owen will stay, and if not, many fans will have engineered his exit by their hostility to him when he was injured and struggling for form... Safety is now assured and the close season will be interesting - to say the least...!

I don't agree Morts comments are sensible. I think they smack of total naivety, If the club needs players for the present time, they need them, which we do, and the better the quality, so much the better. This is where I came in and all I said in fact. Disagree - he is quite correct not to want signings just to appease supporters ; we used to do that even in Joe Harvey's time.. The signings have to be those that make us a BETTER SIDE - nothing more, nothing less ; if they turn out to be headline-making signings. all well and good, but Robert Lee was hardly that at the time he signed for us, yet became one of our most invaluable signings. If you put this point to KK, I'm willing to bet he will agree, and that is the most important thing...I think we can all be fairly sure that the Manager will be the one to finally decide who he wants..

The trouble with too many Newcastle supporters is that they live in the past - those who were around when we won the Cup 3 times in the 50's always hark back to that ; those like me who were young when we won the Fairs Cup in 69 remember that(as well as the KK first era as manager), and many younger fans think SBRs time was great - the truth is that we have to STOP living in the past. Shepherd's era has gone and gone for ever - if you think he was a good Chairman, that is your perogative, just as it is the right of those who disagree to post their view, but NONE of this stuff is going to change the club. Only the current Board, Manager and backroom staff can do that, so I find these arguments pointless - every few weeks this same topic re-emerges and goes on..and ON...amd ON..... Neither side is going to agree with the other, so its completely pointless ; we have an unexpected chance(which no-one on this board envisaged a year ago)now to regain our self-respect in the Prem and to progress as a club, hopefully to where we all want to be - lets get behind the current set-up and FORGET ABOUT THE PAST ; its gone, won't come back and the indisputable proof of its actions is the fact that we almost got relegated. We didn't even win anything in the 'good' times... This thread started off talking about Mort's comments re signings, i.e., the club WON'T just make them to appease fans. In my view, that is an eminently sensible policy - would Man U, Arsenal or Liverpool do that? I don't think so...half of Wenger's signings were probably unknown to the majority of Arsenal fans, and I wouldn't care if the same thing happened at NUFC - PROVIDED that the result was a successful side... Its nice to speculate on who should be signed - all fans do it - but give the management and board a chance ; look to the future - Shepherd, SJH, Souness, SBR etc etc have all GONE and won't be coming back. Lets hope that one day , we can look back on the next few years as 'Good' times, and with justification this time, not just making numbers up in the CL or beating Man U 5-0 and then spending the next 11 years seeing them treat us mainly as cannon fodder..!!

There is NO loyalty in Football - ask KK how Shankly got rid of long-serving players at Liverpool when he thought they were finished - and quite right too. I would be looking for a replacement for Given now, he is not the keeper he was and Harper deserves to be No 1 ; should never have been dropped by Allardyce.

A good result against a team who have not lost at home to the 'big 4', and on possession and chances ww should have won - 53% of possession away to a top 6 side is a good performance. The team are now playing for each other, and there is far more movement off the ball than there was under Allardyce, which is creating space for constructive passing at speed - this has improved 100%. The aim should now be to pass the 43 points which was the lowest PL total the club has achieved and to make the club as attractive as possible to the signings which are still needed in summer. Very happy with the progress being made - it looks promising for next season - both full backs once again impressed me as away matches are more testing for defenders.

Yes, this was also a classic - anyone remember Supermac's goal against Leicester in the first home game of 75-76? A great move involving Bruce, Nattrass and Mickey Burns jumping over the ball as Macdonald hit it, just inside the Leicester half after we had broken out from their corner kick.. He hit it, on the run, with his famous left foot and it screamed past their keeper into the top corner - he was still diving when it was in the back of the net.. Unfortunately, no TV coverage that day - it would have been one of the goals of all time and certainly goal of the season. I've never seen a shot hit so hard, even Shearer's goal against Everton wasn't as fast.