merlin

This is undoubtedly the correct answer. Over here in Oz we get the UK Daily Express for Expats weekly - last week, a certain Mr McKay featured very prominently in the back page report about the Stephens Report on corruption in Football - apparently, McKay was accused of being one of the Agents who were obstructing the Enquiry by refusing to give personal Bank Account/Taxation details. Interestingly, one of the findings of the Report was that(Quote); 'Significant Conflicts of interest identified, including payments by an Agent to a firm managed by a relative of a club official.One agent acted for 2 clubs AND a player in a single transfer' (Have any of you managed to find out who this refers to..!!??). Also, Boumsong was the subject of scrutiny by the Quest team 'following his transfer from Rangers to Newcastle'...

As one Brian Clough used to say ; 'If your Aunt had b---s, she'd be your Uncle.... We didn't do it - end of story. You've got to MAKE History, not try to re-write it.. Don Revie once got a Gypsy to exorcise Elland Road because of a so-called Curse.

The Club IS cursed - by bad Direction/Management, complacency rules due to Over-Loyal fans who 'Demand' 'Attacking' football, which leads to trophy signings without any real check on the long-term fitness or loyalty of these players. There is no real Long-term planning, and KK certainly was NOT Shankly - witness the over-hasty and illogical scrapping of the Reserves'Juniors instead of all-out Investment on Academies of Excellence, both home & abroad. There always has been a lack of professionalism , which, when Liverpool were at their peak, was the hallmark of the way the Club were run under Peter Robinson - the 'Boot-Room' system pioneered by Shankly ensured continuity on the playing side, witness the seamless continuation of success after Shanks retired(in fact, the Club went on to win the European Cup AFTER Shanks had gone). To me, Liverpool are the club most like NUFC in their geographical situation(former major seafaring City, with Football-mad working class population who share a sense of humour), but there the comparison ends - they are still run on far more professional lines, and the fans expect success - ours are simply happy with 'Attacking Football' and being proud to be Geordies.Neither of these qualities will put pressure on the club to be run successfully. I remember Nelson Cairns being shown on Sky back in 96 when we looked like winning the Prem that year, and feeling sad for him that we fell at the final hurdles. I never expected that he would still be waiting for success now(or even, to be honest, that he would still be around !!), but I'm afraid that he will have to reach the magic ton if he is to see Newcastle as winners again. I am nearly 40 years younger than he, but even I am not confident of seeing the title at SJP again. Any new Board has a great deal of hard work in front, and the Game itself is corrupt.

Earlier in this thread, I said I was waiting to see what happened in the 3 tough games before passing any form of judgement...Do we really need to see what happens on New Years' Day to confirm anything!!?? Roeder MAY have taken on a difficult job - but that was HIS choice.The Transfer Market activities before the Season were NOT promising, and I remain to be convinced that he has full control of that area, but its is simply now a matter of survival until May - anything else is a massive bonus. Cannot see any other than big changes at the Club over the next year, WHOEVER is in charge...

Some of the negative comment about Moore is well out of order - OK, he didn't play for a while through injury, but I am willing to bet that the Club would NOT have made Europe last season if he hadn't come in and steadied the ship.Yes, his pace has gone, but his reading of the game is still good & he had a good WC for Australia. Don't forget, he cost us NOWT in the transfer market except wages - now, if you want to take the example of Bramble....!!

I find that bizarre. I always felt safer with Hislop in goal (even though he wasn't that great either). Disagree - neither were top class, but Hislop was much slower at getting down to ground shots than Pav - once saw Pav make a really tremendous save at SJP against Everton ; ball hit defender & Pav was going wrong way - changed direction in mid-leap, and not only stopped it, but held the ball too.

Agreed - I doubt whether the results at Anfield or Ewood Park would have been altered by having Given in goal.Shay is better in most aspects of being a GK, but he doesn't have Pav's height, and at Anfield, two of their goals were headers in the box, so I doubt if Given would have stopped them either. Also, don't think Given would have stopped Cantona's goal at SJP - it was the result of bad defending on the far post that allowed the unspeakable Frenchman to sneak in, and he finished well.We could & should have massacred Man U at SJP, but even though we lost, it was a moral victory as we played them off the park - had Ferdinand scored just before half-time when Asprilla put him in, we would have got 2 or 3. They DID go on a great run, but we should have held our nerve - we can always speculate with hindsight, but had KK been able to use players to kill off the games at Anfield/Ewood when we got in front, we would still have won, regardless of Man U.We lacked a hard, professional edge when we needed it, and clubs who win titles always have this - the only team ever to win a major trophy with all-out attack were Brazil in 1970, and they were a really brilliant side.Even then, they only had to play about 6 or 7 games to win the trophy - the League is a long slog, and you have to be able to dig in sometimes. I know many NUFC fans don't like that, but that's reality. That season killed us off as realistic challengers - certainly for the foreseeable future, and maybe for ever.

Agreed - also, don't think Martins is a sole up-front type of striker, he's not big enough to hold the ball properly. he actually needs a big guy like Ashton for him to play off, using his pace to get on to the target man's lay-offs.

Does anyone here(they will have to be 50+) remember Lennie Hepple ? Lennie was Bryan'Pop' Robson's Father-in-law, and he was a balance expert.He was credited for making Pop into the striker who was instrumental in us winning the Fairs Cup in 69 by improving his sharpness & balance on the ball. Well, during KKs time as manager, I used to see Lennie regularly in the Lounge before games, and he was a top bloke . KK invited him down to Maiden Castle where the team used to train, in order to work with some of the players, and Lennie told me a really interesting story about Pav - apparently, he was so athletic, despite his stature, he could bend down from the waist and pick up a pound coin in his mouth !! Anyone like to try that !!?? He could also kick his leg up the ring of a basketball net !! He was, as those who remember his first stint here will confirm, one of the best GKs at dribbling the ball round attacking forwards when defenders played the ball back to him to boot out - sometimes, it gave you heart-failure, but it was great to watch ! The crowd used to sing ' Pavel is a Geordie', and one day, he whipped his jersey off to reveal the slogan printed on his vest !! Think it might have been after promotion, can't be sure. Great Character, and really loves NUFC.

Agreed - these two, with Beardsley at his peak playing just behind them, would have been easily the best pairing . They were both great players with slightly-different strengths but complimentary and a real handful for any defence.Shearer's speed, prior to his injuries(don't forget the cruciate at Blackburn before he joined us) and his fierce competitive spirit, with Sir Les' all-round skill & excellence in the air would have been a nightmare to face. Goals could have come from a variety of sources - in the air, balls behind defenders(laid on by Beardo), powerful long-range shots ; you name it. These 2 have the edge over the other candidates.

As a follow-up to my posting, I have to add that Pearson seems to be doing a great job with the defenders, esp the young players. I was very sceptical when he was appointed, given his links with 'Captain Lager', but there is no disputing the improvement which is there for all to see. If this continues, I am prepared to admit being wrong, and give him much of the credit for the all-round team improvement. You will never have a great team unless you have a solid defence - even Clough, a former CF always built his teams from the back, so Pearson may turn out to be more important to our future than Roeder...

Credit where it is due . You cannot fault the improvement of late , but it is only a few weeks since we looked a relegation side. The true test will be performances against the likes of Man U and even Bolton and Everton away from home.Spurs seem to have been our rabbits for most of the last 10 years, yet I can remember when we could never beat them no matter how well we were playing. Another gauge will be the type of players signed in Jan - there have been links with Bailes & Barnes, both look quality young home-raised prospects.We would probably have to fight off Arsenal for at least one of them, so if Roeder succeeds there, he's definitely making real progress. My judgement waits until the end of the season - and NOT just in terms of any Silverware ! I think Knightrider has it right in the title ' the Right man for THIS Newcastle United...'

Couldn't agree more - he was awesome and we could do nothing about it (except buy him ) Don't you remember how he applauded the Milburn Stand fans who clapped him off the field..!!?? I thought then, that in the right circumstances, this guy might just sign for us...!! That's true, believe it or not, but his performance was still not the best from an opposition player(at least, from my experience). Sorry, guys - this comment should have been attached to the Owen Hat-trick thread - clicked on the wrong quote..

Couldn't agree more - he was awesome and we could do nothing about it (except buy him ) Don't you remember how he applauded the Milburn Stand fans who clapped him off the field..!!?? I thought then, that in the right circumstances, this guy might just sign for us...!! That's true, believe it or not, but his performance was still not the best from an opposition player(at least, from my experience).

Lets be honest everybody likes a drink and for the most part it is harmless. However guns have only one urpose and that is to kill people. Do you honestly think that the French would have any qualms about supplying arms to anyone that the UK(or anyone else)refused to supply ?? Have you not read about the deal with the Saudis that was under threat because the Serious Fraud Office thought some ' inducements' had been paid...?? The French immediately tried to hijack the deal for themselves, and the UK Govt had to back down - get into the real world , son(OR daughter..!!).You can't put the Genie back into the bottle...

Are you sure!?? Dalglish took the Club to Court, and they settled before the case arose.... As for Gullit.... Gullit got nothing on departure and Dalglish got less than £500k.

Yes Mick, but when he played at SJP his International team-mate, David Craig used to keep him well under wraps - Craig was under-rated by London Press, but many thought him the best right-back in Britain at the time.He suffered many injuries or would have had far more caps for NI, and appearances for us. Would have been as much a legend as Bill McCracken in the early 1900s.

Dalglish did NOT resign - he was fired. Gullit HAD to go, or HE would have been fired too. They just came to an arrangement with him to resign AND get a pay-off, to avoid(further)embarrassment.

Sorry for coming on again, guys, but I've got to give a mention to England's best ever keeper, Gordon Banks. Saw a game in the early 70s when we played Stoke City at SJP, and Banks was in goal. You've all seen his save from Pele in the 70 WC(absolutely incredible), but he made at least 2 similar ones against us that day.We tore into them from the off, and Banks kept us out by himself.We should have won easily, but I think they pinched a draw.Apart from Banks' performance, the highlight of the day was the Leazes End singing 'He's the best Goal-Keeper in the Land - GORDON BANKS' to the tune of 'She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes..!!' as Banks walked towards them for the second half. Banks , of course, saluted them , but they probably inspired him to his heroics - unfortunately !

Yes, Rep was going to be another choice of mine - his goals in the return game with Bastia knocked the stuffing out of us, one of them a cracking 25-yarder in the early part of the game. I agree with those who put forward Owen's Hat-trick for Liverpool in Gullit's first game in charge, but only as a contender from the modern era - we were basically disorganised when this happened, whereas the Mulder example was from a time when we were serious performers in European competition, and didn't lose winning positions easily. There was also a friendly, back in 1973 against SC Internacional of Brazil at SJP - these guys were ALL terrific, and one of their young players was a certain Falcao, who played for Brazil in the 82 World Cup. He scored twice against us , I believe, and also, twice against Italy in the WC Semi in Spain, the second being an equaliser that should have taken Brazil to the Final,but Rossi nicked another at a corner and the best Brazilian side for 12 years were out.

Yhis is going back a long time, but - Jan Mulder, the Dutch CF who played for Anderlecht in 1970. We had won the Fairs Cup the previous season, and were defebding the trophy. We lost 2-0 to Anderlecht in Belgium, but in the return at SJP, we pounded them for most of the game and went 3-0 up with 5 mins left. The atmosphere was unbelieveable, with 60,000 in the ground and the noise being heard over the river. However, whenever Mulder got the ball , he was really dangerous and had our defence(which was a strong one at the time)in constant panic. He set up a goal for them with a minute to go, and we were out - the atmosphere was like a funeral within seconds, and no-one could believe what had happened. Arsenal went on to win the trophy that year, when we could probably have retained it had we beaten Anderlecht.But Mulder - what a player !

Voted for O'Neill - he deserves the chance to run a club in the Prem with NUFC's potential and his record at previous clubs is very good. Has had the best of all mentors in Clough, will have learnt a great deal from him(O'Neill is an intelligent & thoughtful man), but also wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to passion for his club - in other words, he is like KK with more depth to his knowledge of the game & tactics. Has a proven system using the same coaches which has worked wherever he has been. Those who were around in the 60s will remember how Bill Shankly had a similar record to O'Neill before he went to Liverpool, except that Shanks never managed a big club like Celtic first.Shanks was basically unproven at top level, but took Liverpool from 2nd Div to a dynasty lasting 20 years. O'Neill has done a steady, but not spectacular , job at Villa, but these are very early days for a club which was struggling.Once he has been able to buy the players he wants and bed them in, I am willing to bet they will be in the top 5 - whether NUFC are there too remains to be seen - there will be many changes once the takeover goes through, but I cannot see Roeder surviving as Manager long-term. He has done well enough so far, but the better results have come about mainly because of team-changes forced on him. The issue with Parker & Butt will tell us a great deal, as will the dealing with Bramble.My feeling is that O'Neill would play the players best suited to his system - REGARDLESS of who they were. Everyone has a right to an opinion about this, and whilst O'Neill may not be the BEST manager about, he was the best that NUFC could have got in the last year, and maybe even the best one suited to the club. We will now have to go with whats in place & see what the new owners do.

Funniest Poster is easy - Kitman for his two excellent short stories ;- 'Wind in me Willows' and Clarkies Coaching Diary....best laugh I've had whilst reading this board !

You DO have a point there, Kiwi - wasn't like that in my day(remembers match-days in Leazes End)..!!!

They think we are the equivalent of the England Cricket team's Barmy Army - generally loud and supportive of the team , but with falsely-high expectations of success...!! Plenty of characters in the ranks of fans, but mainly support the team as a way of having a good day out. Many Football fans in the UK resent the amount of coverage we used to get from SKY, as the performances in the last 3 or 4 years have not generally warranted it - we will not be accepted as a genuinely big club until we win not one, but 2 or 3 trophies. Those jealous of our support/stadium etc take great pleasure in our lack of success, and the only way to shut them up is genuine success on the field.