merlin

As you asked who we thought it WOULD be, rather than who each poster wanted, I cannot give a realistic answer. I have already said that my choice would be Mowbray from WBA, but there is almost NO chance of him leaving there at this stage - they are likely to win Promotion to the Prem and the club would be unlikely to agree to him going...also, he has only been there for 15 months. I also said that I didn't think Mort & Ashley would fire Allardyce until they had a proper replacement lined up or until the end of the season ; well, he HAS gone, so we can only hope that someone is lined up - clearly, they are not going to start until after this week-end, as Pearson is in charge at OT... The other option is that they HAVE someone lined-up and this person cannot come until next season - and we all know who THAT could be..if that is the case, we may well see a caretaker brought in to keep the club up - I am fairly sure we will get stuffed at OT ; Fergie will want to do his old mate a favour and we need to get out of this losing streak quickly. Interesting times ahead, but I'm not surprised that he has gone - thought it would be May, though.

Totally agree about Chimbonda, partially about Defoe - he might just leave London if the right offer came along..

Better than Martins as a footballer, more likely to score regularly, but worries over commitment and fitness - better than what we have(in view of Owen's fitness problems), but not top notch - however, would take him in our current situation.

This is probably right - the guy is streets ahead of anyone we have currently(if fit).

....'a slick passing game'...now THAT would be something to see ; remind me - is THAT what football is supposed to be about..!??

Its negative because the team is negative -also, most people can see how far behind the top 6 we have fallen and they don't see progress being rapid....

No - that ship has sailed - he's too old and we need a younger manager to BUILD A CLUB.

There has to be a balance between buying and development of youngsters - NUFC's problem. over many years, has been to concentrate solely on the former and pay lip-service to the latter. Of course, developing young players doesn't get the big headlines for managers & chairmen, so they tend to do the same as most things in the UK - take the short-term view, grab the kudos & run... The club now is currently trapped in the spiral of having to spend big money on players because they have consistently neglected youth development - this is the biggest gripe I had with the KK regime and Keegan himself both scrapped the Reserves and downgraded the Youth side ; compare this with Wenger's approach and which one reaps the biggest dividends..?? Yes, BIG money will have to be spent to keep abreast merely with clubs like Spurs & Everton, because the bad buying over the last 10 years has wasted too much money on very little real talent. The problem Mort & Ashley face is that they see some of the buys made by Allardyce and wonder if he will ALSO waste big money when and if he gets it, so that is a constant worry - the other problem faced by the club is being able to attract REALLY top talent, and not just mediocre second-raters who demand a huge wage because the top players just WON'T sign for NUFC... All this could have been so different if SBR had taken over from KK - plenty of money available, Bobby's reputation would have ensured no problem getting top players interested, and the club had a TRULY high profile at that time, with CL Football in 1997 - we are now viewed as a second-rate club with big support, probably a worse version of Germany's Schalke 04, so getting great players is almost impossible. We need to have a mixed policy of buying the truly best players we CAN achieve, and being serious about young development - and that means the BEST coaches & scouts available for that job, NOT someone like Wharton, Clarkie, Beardsley etc simply because they played for the club - professionalism badly needed at NUFC.. That way, reasonable improvement, season on season, would both keep fans happy and improve the club's position & standing until we CAN compete for top players again.

You should have seen Billy Whitehurst....!!

This really IS grasping at straws - Stoke were a set of donkey do's so what does that make the current NUFC side...? Too many on here satisfied with mediocrity - OK, a difficult game in difficult conditions - it didn't stop Arsenal at Burnley, and Burnley looked better than Stoke on the day - they actually passed the ball better than NUFC also, so what does THAT mean, if anything ?? The FA Cup is all about going to these places & getting a result, regardless of conditions - as nufc.com have said 'the replay is by no means a foregone conclusion'.... All sides who win the FA Cup have a difficult game along the way - the problem here is that NUFC are playing badly ALL the time in the Prem as well as the Cup ; its the general standard of play which is causing concern , not just this result but never mind - it'll be better in 5 years' time....

Absolutely right - that goal at SJP when he left Dabizas for dead before sticking it in, just about all in one movement, was sheer class... Admitted it was a fluke didn't he? Either way, for my money the best player the premier league has had the pleasure to host I wouldn't mind seeing a few flukes like that from players in B & W shirts....!

Probably his position as executive on the league managers association. A position which he takes quite seriously by all accounts and always contacts sacked or recently employed managers. Oh yes, he takes it seriously alright - so seriously that he stoops to making suggestions that Forest & Leeds would lie down when they played NUFC so that we could pip Man U to the title... A worthy representative of his profession - NOT.. Was he in it then? Anyway, Allardyce is also on the LMA committee, so it's no surprise to see Fergie sticking up for a colleague. http://www.leaguemanagers.com/lma/structure-3.html Does it matter whether he was in it then or not? he still did those things and would do so again if he thought it would help his own cause. the only person/club Fergie cares about his himself and Man U - I read an interview with him just after they had pipped us to the title in 96 and he was reflecting on how he had been watching Liverpool play us in the 4-3 game and urging them on 'Come on Reds', he was saying to himself and recounted how he had always thought that L/Pool & Man U were worthy clubs etc etc - Do you honestly think he gives 2 s----s about Liverpool ? Does he still say 'Come on Reds' when he's watching them in today's Premiership ? Does he b--------ks !! They are rivals, and nothing more - it was 'any port in a storm' for Fergie then, and would be again. You won't find me giving him credit for being anything other than a great manager - and that's all...

Totally agree - there has been too many media people trying to blame the fans and anyone else bar Allardyce for the problems the club currently faces ; the manager HAS signed quite a high percentage of the current side, so must accept at least that percentage of blame ; his judgment has proven not to be as good as has been made out.. However, this is a rare piece of decent comment from Green - he IS generally a tit..the only surprising bit is his courage on naming Fergie - THAT won't go down well on his next visit to OT..!!

Probably his position as executive on the league managers association. A position which he takes quite seriously by all accounts and always contacts sacked or recently employed managers. Oh yes, he takes it seriously alright - so seriously that he stoops to making suggestions that Forest & Leeds would lie down when they played NUFC so that we could pip Man U to the title... A worthy representative of his profession - NOT..

Absolutely right - that goal at SJP when he left Dabizas for dead before sticking it in, just about all in one movement, was sheer class...

Oliver could get sacked over this if it's a lie and Mort goes to the editor with it. Yes, unless there is any substance in it, he could really have cooked his goose this time ; many of his claims have been somewhat 'wide of the mark'....

Yepp! I love Obafemi as a player. But his carreer will soon be ruined if he stays with NUFC. I would love to see some magic from Martins in the future. So far Sam sticks with the S*** tactics, it won't happen in NUFC. So it's allmost I hope - but that doesn't mean I like it - Martins gets a club where they play attacking football. He deserves to show his qualities you'll all be kicking yourselves if he moves to another club in england - put martins in a team with (a) a coach that can drill some runs into him, remind him how to make the best of his pace and (b) have the players/tactics to best exploit that pace and he WILL score a lot of goals and be dangerous does no-one think coaching is necessary any more? he's patently not had any since he left inter so is it any surprise his game is getting poorer? martins needs to be put through the middle and his sole purpose needs to be using his pace to unsettle defenders with better runs, stretching defences and creating space for others...he'd gain confidence and start scoring again right now he's being asked to play like a winger and the only time he sees the ball it's going over his head, flying at him at chest height on the wing, or he's got his back to the goal on the touchline the best thing for martins would be to leave NUFC if allardyce stays, if allardyce goes we need to keep him and get a coach who can improve players, not just piss and moan because those players can't play his "system" 10m too much, get a fuken grip man...we paid 6m for smith for christ'ss sake, is someone trying to tell me 10m is too much for martins in this climate? clowns I agree that coaching IS important, but in that case, what are those among the 20 back-room staff Allardyce has signed doing for their cash..?? I have long thought that the team as a whole plays as if there is NO coaching other than HOOF IT & Chase... A top coach could improve ANY player, but I doubt that Martins will ever be in the really top bracket of strikers - he's not aware enough. Would swap for Ashton.

Hamann didn't 'screw us over' - he actually liked the NE, but his words when asked why he left Newcastle were 'The Board was average, so the club was average'... He also didn't get on with Gullit and found him arrogant. Was a top class signing by Dalglish, would have played for us for years in the right circumstances..

This is Fairy-Land stuff - no one will be signing Ashton for less than 12m - if for that...

HAS to be Sir Les - if he had not been sold when Shearer picked up that terrible injury at Goodison in the close season of 97/98, the whole history of the club would have been different ; Tomasson would have been able to play OFF a big CF instead of trying to BE one, and I reckon he would have been just as big a success at NUFC as he eventually was at Milan - also, we would have probably qualified for Europe that season instead of struggling to get by and I doubt that there would have been enough discontent to sack Dalglish when they did. At the time the sale was mooted, it looked a good fee for a 30 year old, but it proved a total disaster for NUFC...

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought that the year must really be going faster than ever because I wondered if it was April 1 already.... The current board WOULD be able to justify getting rid of a manager who wasn't their choice IF he was being unsuccessful ; if Allardyce does not get the team achieving better results by May, he WILL be gone because we will be lucky to avoid being drawn into the relegation battle - this will not be a good stimulus for fans to buy new Season tickets, esp if the economic situation continues to deteriorate, which looks almost certain.. Many fans take loans to buy STs, and those loans are going to be harder to come by and more expensive to service......there is pressure from all sides, and I agree with what SBR has just said, which is that only Allardyce can save himself by improving the football and results....

Glad you put a smiley on that ..! I have ALWAYS thought he wasn't a top striker,nor ever would be...

What complete and utter tosh. Without the takeover we would all be hating FS still and BSA would be his man and we would hate him more. The reason we are impatient is because we have had to put up with absolute dross on the field for way too long whilst pumping more money into this club than a hell of a lot of other clubs. We had to put up with the biggest arsehole of a chairman the world has ever known (constantly shitting on the fans and publicly bragging about it) and watch the fat man hire the worst managers for the job. BSA was a good choice to improve our club in the way it is run but we need as a club on the pitch someone with creative flair who can get the best out of whatever players he has and get them attacking. And for gods sake can we get a manager who can teach our players to keep possession I am sick of screaming at them every time they give it up. This has been happening since the last year and a half of SBR. Totally agree with this ..

Tony Mowbray of WBA - if you want to know why, read my piece on the Kevin Keegan thread ; too much to type out again here.... Oh - one thing I missed on there is the fact that it WOULD be possible to get him, unlike most of the names being bandied about...!

We've got to stop living in the past with ideas like this - I agree with Wallace that some sort of PR/World Scouting role would be about the only thing KK would wish to do now.. We had some fantastic times under his managership, but we didn't win anything and that is the ONLY criteria of a successful big club - he set us up so that, had SBR come in when asked straight away, I reckon we WOULD have started winning things but it didn't happen. I said before that we need a special kind of manager - someone who knows what the fans want, but also knows football ; someone young enough to BUILD A CLUB DYNASTY - NOT just a team that might get Euro football in 3 years and then get old ; we need someone who, although experienced, is ambitious and open to new ideas ; we need someone who is respected enough by the players to enforce discipline, but in a way that makes them respect him....its not too much to ask, is it..!!!? Allardyce fails in several of the categories I have outlined, and people forget - he is 54 next October, just a couple of years younger than KK, who many are saying is 'past it'... A person like Hiddink , whilst he would undoubtedly be a short-term success, would not be here for more than 2 years at most - we need long-term continuity, BUT - with someone in whom the fans, and the Board, have confidence enough to give 2 or 3 seasons because they can see the plan unfolding..Allardyce is not meeting that criteria, but the type of guy we want will not be available at this time. It will be May before that type of guy is available - my choice, based in his record at two clubs, his age, the style of football his teams play, and the fact that he knows the NE, would be Tony Mowbray of WBA - but I wouldn't give him, or anyone else, the job until I was satisfied both from interview and references from previous employers, that he fitted the bill. There are others, such as Pardew and Boothroyd, but Mowbray comes closest to what we need - promotion for WBA would seal my choice as worth a real go; Bruce Rioch, who took Boro through their Administration crisis in 1986 made Mowbray Capt at the age of 22 and is reputed to have said that if he had to Fly to The Moon, he would want Mowbray alongside(hence the name of Boro's Fanzine) - Rioch was a tough cookie, so that is no mean compliment.....