The Prophet

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...

Coming to a store near you: http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9166/pcnufckitut8.jpg

We need some talkers on the pitch, should get some of the birds that live next door on the pitch they never shut the fuck up.

The PC brigade will be all over this one.

I think people have lost sight of what is being discussed here. We're not comparing boards, we're not asking if Ashley has done a good job, we're discussing has he shown ambition. The rest of the topics have been discussed to death.

Excellent post. One thing though, I haven't read the full thread but what I have read I don't think too many have said they would want Shepherd back. I think what most are trying to say is they hoped Ashley would be and still can be ambitious by backing his managers like Shepherd usually did.

I give up, my French treble fucked up as well. Toulouse won 3-0, Nice won 2-0 but St. Etienne drew 1-1 conceding three minutes from time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm A better indicator if you have the time.

But it had nothing to do with the amount of players Keegan wanted it would appear it was the actual players brought in that Keegan was narked about

The problem with Owen is his lack of self sufficiency. He's at that stage in his career where he needs service to thrive as a footballer, service that is becoming less and less frequent the poorer we play. At this moment in time we need self sufficient strikers, ones that will make things happen. Yes I know he's fantastic at what he does but when he isn't getting the chance to do it makes him little more than a passenger.

People are still basing their posts on speculation, all we know is what can be seen through statements to the media and players that are transferred in and out of the club, the rest is just reading between the lines, an educated guess if you like. What we do is know is Freddy Shepherd would always and would sometimes recklessly back his managers. I was never a fan of the bloke but money was more than frequently spent, he was ambitious. When Ashley came in I welcomed him with open arms, a man who can take us to the very top, oh how wrong I was. What Chelsea and Man City are now attempting to do is destroying the game, an un-level playing field is developing. But no matter how much I dislike what they are doing if you dream and have ambitions of reaching the very top, and you want to do it quickly you have got to spend money in vast amounts. Now I applaud Ashley's sentiments. To run an academy Arsenal-esque with a seemingly limitless conveyer belt of talent coming through the ranks but there are two observations to make about this: 1) Arsenal already had a title winning team when they began their youth development programme 2) They're struggling in the current climate. So yes we'd all love to be run by Arsenal but they're going to have to spend money themselves, they're in serious danger of falling behind. So you look at Ashley's motives for wanting to run the club like this. I don't know if it was Mike who made the comment but I read somewhere that he wants to be able to buy players dirt cheap and flog them for a huge sell on value, in other words he wants a profit. Being a businessman this is understandable but that's the problem, he's a businessman, personally I feel his mistakes have come through not understanding the game properly. But Ashley's been in the game for a season and a half now, he must know the climate, any old divvy can see the only way to the top is spending money, then once your at the top you start to reel in the profits, it's give and take. Ashley is still in a position where he can salvage the club. He's shown glimpses of showing ambition with the signing of Colo and the attempted signing of Modric but we need more. I'd love to do things the Arsenal way but right now we can't think about our long term future when our short term future is in such perilous danger. If Ashley really wants to show us he has ambition at this very moment there's only one way to do it, get the bloody cheque book out.

That's an intresting knee-jerk reaction right there. While I agree with some of your post your forgetting one key factor. Form, it can change, even with the slightest bit of luck. Yes in current form it isn't looking good but it only takes one large slice of luck to turn the whole issue on it's head. We just need to hope it changes sooner rather than later.

I think if we looked hard enough we'd find a keeper good enough to replace shay, I think it would be the symbolism of him leaving that would do the damage.

Let's put this in perspective. He's 16.

And we are supposed to be basing our whole future on youth At the end of the day sticking a youngster in here and there isn't going to do us any harm. To me our current form is due to a lack of confidence after getting battered by Liverpool. We need some luck to turn it around even if the ball deflects of somebody’s knob end and into the back of the net to give us an undeserved win, we need some slice of luck to turn our form around. Anyway I'm getting side tracked as per. Basically a lot of the players out there have thrown in the towel. You can have all the quality in the world but if you don't try why bother? One thing you know about any youth coming into the side is they will try. They'll be hungry and what they'll lack in quality they'll certainly give in effort. The question is what do you want in the team during the current injury crisis? A couple of senior players who have quality but don't apply it. Or a couple of raw talents who are no where near the finished article but will still give it there all?

Gutted. They don't need him. Still you might as well go in for ireland now. They won't sell Ireland, he's been their best player this season. Better off going for Gelson or Johnson, both very good players from what I've seen. Gelson is rubbish im and Johnson is injured, Besides i doubt city would want to sell. Not to bothered with us missing out on Palacios but we need Appiah. Aye you need an injury prone midfielder to go with your injury prone back line.

It's not really a predictor though is it? Will our form change? What about the form of those around us? Will we get injuries? Will they get injuries? What about incoming players? What about outgoing players? Will lady luck have a say? What about the bubbly pitch? What about the swirling wind? Will Kinnear get a happy ending or will he have to polish his own wood? You get the picture...