The Prophet

Pah, we don't need your optimism, with our internet streams, high horses and knee jerk reactions. It's hardly a knee-jerk by now tbf. :-[ What the hell, dont start trying to use logic on them Yes sorry your absolutely correct. We 're doomed, our future rests on this second half of football. Your actually being serious. We have played like this for weeks, what makes you think we will suddenly improve? Aye football is just that damn predictable. We'll just play like this forever. It has nothing to do with an injury crisis and fragile confidence.

Pah, we don't need your optimism, with our internet streams, high horses and knee jerk reactions. It's hardly a knee-jerk by now tbf. :-[ What the hell, dont start trying to use logic on them Yes sorry your absolutely correct. We 're doomed, our future rests on this second half of football.

Pah, we don't need your optimism, with our internet streams, high horses and knee jerk reactions.

Got to admire the optimism. Are you still certain we'll stay up, Midds? Certain? No. Pretty sure? Yes. Other teams are on s*** runs too. I thought we'd lose this one tonight. But we're a goal down to City, it's the end of the world. You have to be watch this game to understand how stupidly bad we are. to top it off Man City are not playing well but are so much on top. Aye we're going down. Innit.

Got to admire the optimism. Are you still certain we'll stay up, Midds? Certain? No. Pretty sure? Yes. Other teams are on s*** runs too. I thought we'd lose this one tonight. But we're a goal down to City, it's the end of the world.

Is Ashley there?

He isn't but I wouldn't look too much into that, Kuzmanovic and Montolivo are both very highly rated. Montolivo is f***ing brilliant on his day. Aye, the old cliche of "would he turn up on a rainy day away to Wigan?" applies to him though. Perfect example is of when they faced you lot in the Wafa Cup last year. At the Artemio he (and the rest of their midfield) tore you to shreds. However in the reverse fixture when you had the momentum and the crowd behind you Montolivo along with others just didn't look up for the battle.

I think it's one of those games where any result is realistic. Both sides are pretty damn inconsistent and that makes it difficult to predict a result. The problem is with the confidence of the team being as fragile as it is at this moment if we go behind we'll struggle. If we go behind early we could get battered. We just need a lucky break, something to install a bit of confidence for future fixtures.

I haven't seen them play consistently this season so I'm going off previous seasons, but for me: Lennon - Good technique, good pace, lacks end product. Milner - Good grafter, half decent technique, lacks end product. Pennant - Good technique, half decent end product, lacks consistency. They are all young lads and all have potential to get better if they work on the weaknesses in their game. I'd agree with Kaka to an extent, currently Pennant is probably the most rounded player but his attitude and general inconsistency is probably why he's never made a real impact. Another thing to note is that Pennant looks like he's reached his peak while I feel there could be much more to come from both Lennon and Milner. They are both comfortably capable of exceeding him as a player.

http://www.furniture4schools.com/product_images/medium/589_lrg_9018.jpg

Have you not heard? A low-net spend shows a lack of ambition.

Currently I'm on edge but I think that's due to a lack of sleep rather than the club. Our inconsistancy means you just never know, take tomorrow for example, it's a tough game to call because both teams are capably of beating the other depending on what side of the bed they wake up on. Overall I'm still pretty confident we'll stay up. I think it will be tight due to the nature of the league but I think we'll just do enough. Having said that the current rot has to stop.

maybe he will talk about new transfers then FA: "Are you aware of the rules you have broken?" Joe: "Yes, but the good news is I expect new bodies in over the next couple of days"

Eh? His job is defined as: Basically Ashley and the board didn't (and possibly still don't) have a scooby how to run a football club so they asked Wise to not advise them on footballing matters due to his experience in the game. This as it says above conducting their end of the transfer business and adding to the academy. The problem is defining how far those roles of "assisting" the board go. Does he go scouting? Does he sit on the negotiating table and most importantly does he work with or above the manager. Like you say, it's ambiguous but it's a starting point hence being "fairly clear" as a pose to being "crystal clear". Youve said it yourself, and showed why people are suspicious, its not clear enough is it (especially in amongst all the speculation)? Yes, he's an easy target for who he is. But what makes me angry is the fact his role has been described in such a way that it cover's a lot of potenial roles. It makes me angry that this system, i.e. him bieng involved in the first team, and potentially forcing players on the manager, has had a negative effect on a potential positive direction the club could have went under Keegan, and that a legend such as KK deserves much better. It is annoying that even now, amongst all the speculation, Wise has still not confirmed what his role is definetely about. That not only worries me in terms of the structure and the credibility ofi it, but the silence also feels like two fingers up at the fans. I was being a pedant more than anything in the post above (also it makes little sense now I've re-read it). No his position isn't entirely clear but had Wise been in say Jiminez position he would of still got flack. Why? Because he's Dennis Wise. I don't like him as much as the next man but that shouldn't influence people's opinion on the job he's done. Even if his role his clarified he will still be surrounded by this negative vibe: a) Because of who he is b) Because he will be forever associated with Keegan's departure. As for your other point the system could potentially take the club in a positive direction. It was just a mistake trying to fit Keegan into it.

Eh? His job is defined as: Basically Ashley and the board didn't (and possibly still don't) have a scooby how to run a football club so they asked Wise to not advise them on footballing matters due to his experience in the game. This as it says above conducting their end of the transfer business and adding to the academy. The problem is defining how far those roles of "assisting" the board go. Does he go scouting? Does he sit on the negotiating table and most importantly does he work with or above the manager. Like you say, it's ambiguous but it's a starting point hence being "fairly clear" as a pose to being "crystal clear".

It's fairly clear what he does as it says in the article. It's just to what capacity does he carry out those roles. For example how involved is he in player recruitment?

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1227633,00.html NEWCASTLE United announces that Dennis Wise has agreed to join the Club in the role of Executive Director (Football). Also joining the Club are Tony Jimenez as Vice President (Player Recruitment) and Jeff Vetere, who joins from Real Madrid in the position of Technical Co-ordinator. Dennis will assist the Board on football-related matters, including the development of the Club's Academy and player recruitment. He will report to the Chairman. Tony and Jeff will also assist in player recruitment. The arrival of these three new recruits follows on from the recent appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager. Kevin will be responsible for all matters related to the First Team. Chairman Chris Mort said: "This is all part of the vision that recently helped us to secure Kevin Keegan's return to the Club as manager. "Two of the conclusions of our strategic review, since acquiring the Club, were that the Club would benefit from having a football person involved at Board level, which it has not had historically, and that further senior resources are needed for recruiting players of the highest quality from this country and further afield. "Dennis would like to move away from day-to-day football management to a Board role and, with his considerable energy and intelligence, we believe he will do very well in this new position. "With Kevin able to devote his efforts to developing and running the first team squad, Dennis, Tony and Jeff will each help us to secure success for Newcastle United Football Club at all levels and for the long-term. One or two further key appointments will follow in the months ahead."

I was looking at Wise's current influence on proceeding rather than the influence he had on Keegan's departure. The parties obviously didn't want to air it's dirty laundry in public and that's why we can only base our opinion on media speculation and the very breif statements we were given by the club and the LMA. Yet from these things people have managed to villainise and develop Wise as a hate figure. We really don't know if Wise himself was hugely influential in the departure himself. For me it's a case of people wanting a figure to point the finger at and Wise fits the bill perfectly. And also you can't be a good scout based on who you've managed? What a load of bollocks.

We all know the history of the man. He was appointed "executive director" of the club, his job? To assist the board with football related matters, including the club's academy and player recruitment. Just after the summer transfer market closed Kevin Keegan left the club and a large number of fans pointed the finger at Wise. So history aside, at this moment in time is Dennis Wise a disruptive influence or are the fans making him one? Currently what is Wise doing? Well we constantly hear of him jetting off to France, Germany, Brazil and various other counties in an attempt to find the latest talent for both the first team and the academy. Has he been successful? Well we are seeing a fairly constant stream of foreign lads being pumped into the youth system which suggest he's at least trying to do a good job on that front. The real test will be how many of these young lads actually make it. Even a handful could be deemed as a success. It's when we look at what role he has in first team recruitment where it all gets a bit hazy. It was clearly stated by Kevin Keegan upon leaving that certain players were "imposed" upon him. Given the timing it's reasonable to infer those players were Gonzales and Xisco. This begs the question is Wise imposing players on Kinnear? Kinnear insists he has a grasp on first team transfers but its unclear how big a role Wise has to play in the current system. Is he a scout? Does he conduct the negotiations? Or does he do everything short of picking Kinnear's sunshine dress up from the cleaners? Giving what we know we can only hazard a guess at where things lay and there are two schools of thought. Either Kinnear has the power to sign who he wants and Wise is now simply a scout or Wise has control and Kinnear is simply a "yes" man. Either way we've had little complaint from Kinnear but I'd still consider Wise a negative influence and I'd say this is obviously down to the fans. When Wise was appointed I was bemused as anyone. I didn't like the man I still don't, and when Keegan left I think people assumed the blame laid at his doorstep simply because they didn't like him. We've heard of the cockney mafia and other equally pathetic name calling and all this when we still don't have a clear picture what went down last summer. If I were Ashley I'd have considered sacking Wise by now. Whether he's doing a good job has become irrelevant really. Wise has become a hate figure amongst many fans and this only adds to the negativity around St. James'. So is Wise actually doing anything wrong? Well we don't really know. Kinnear has had very little to say on the issue and for the time being that can only be a good thing. Despite the lack of inside knowledge a large group of fans still persist to call for the head of Wise (and board in general) and this is only adding to the negative vibe surrounding the club. Wise may have done a good job but he is such a hated figure amongst our support I'd say his influence is becoming largely negative. If Ashley is determined to stick with the current set up I think it would be sensible of him at least to consider getting shot of Wise and replacing him with a less controversial figu

It's a small squad full of quality but injury prone players with distinctly average players to plug the gap.

Chill out Kaka you can't win. We sign a player from a bigger team: "He's past it" We sign a player from mid-table team: "He's a side ways step" We sign a player from a smaller team: "He isn't good enough" Some people will never be happy, let them get on with it. For the record I think it would be sensible to take him on loan for the rest of the season with a view to a permanent deal.

Cue "She has (a) big/small nose/eyes/chin/ears/smile/other irrelavent feature" post. Looks like a right dirty bitch in that picture aswell.

*gulp* On a completely unrelated note it's interesting that the top sides have progressed so far that in this day and age our two highest points totals in the last decade, which left us 1st and 4th respectively would now mean we would be positioned 5th and 6th.

We know there are three camps on the Kevin Keegan front. Those who will always stick up for him, those who backed Ashley over him and those who are sick to death of hearing about it in every other thread. So why not create thread one thread where we can either slag him off or defend him until the cows come home. Think of it as an NE5 v The World type thread. Enjoy.

I've heard they have big dicks as well...