Thespence Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 MARK Hughes may not be the most obvious choice to give a critique of the goldfish bowl that is Newcastle United, but the Blackburn boss was happy to weigh in with his opinion on the pressures of playing in front of a fanatical following. After watching Rovers overcome Sam Allardyce's side, Hughes was asked about the effect a huge expectant crowd can have on some players. During two spells at Manchester United the Blackburn boss was amongst the best strikers in Europe, but at Old Trafford he saw some team-mates fall by the wayside "There's a catalogue of players who were very good prior to being signed by United (Manchester) and they crumble in front of your eyes," said Hughes. "It does happen, I've seen it myself. That's when you've got to make sure the players you have are able to cope with the demands of the football club they're playing for." The likes of Jean-Alain Boumsong, Hugo Viana, Albert Luque, and Marcelino - purchased for a combined fee of £32m - have all crumbled in recent years. Allardyce can only hope his own buys don't follow that trend, but how some react to recent events remains to be seen. The pressure of playing in front of fanatical support is something that Alan Smith has spent his whole career doing. Having been at Leeds United and Manchester United, Smith knows all about what passionate fans expect of their players. "They (the Newcastle fans) were unreal today," said Smith. "Everyone goes on about the Newcastle support but you don't really grip it until you play for them. "We can go out and give 100 per cent they'll back us to the hilt like they did today. "They both go hand in hand. We deserved booing last Saturday. Nobody came out and said 'why they're booing - we don't deserve to be booed' "It's the manner of defeats that disappoints the fans and the players. Today they were singing us off at the end. "Football fans - they know when a team's given 100 per cent. They know when fans deserve clapping off and they know when they deserve a bollocking." http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/display.var.1875213.0..php Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Spot on Alan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Who the fuck is he to be commenting on the fans after only playing a few games for us, and not playing very well.................. oh no sorry he's praising us, thats OK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dev Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 If we could combine the attitude of Smith, Butt, Milner and Oba with the skill of Zoggy, Emre, Dooks and Owen we'd be set. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danswan Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 If we could combine the attitude of Smith, Butt, Milner and Oba with the skill of Zoggy, Emre, Dooks and Owen we'd be set. Throw in a bit of 'Killer' Kilcline's facial hair and you could be onto something. Any budding Dr Frankensteins out there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil K Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Who the f*** is he to be commenting on the fans after only playing a few games for us, and not playing very well.................. oh no sorry he's praising us, thats OK Theres been more criticism from our own fans - most of whom are doing so because they're merely echoing the rags or BBC. Hey danswan - who's the wooly-woofter of a refree there ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkeye Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 It's a fact! If we, the fans, think that our team has given everything in a game we would cheer and support even if we were beaten. Remember the Arsenal match a couple of seasons back when we played them off the field but, got beat 0 - 1. The atmosphere was amazing that game. And back in 1997 (I think) when we humped Man Utd but, lost to a Cantana goal in the second half!! Great atmospheres, great times! The Liverpool game was THE worst I have seen and I have been going to watch Newcastle for many years!! Although I don't boo, I was gutted. That sort of performance takes a while to get over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 That was 95/96 btw (the Man Utd match). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spark Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I thought Smith was great on saturday like. Worked his socks off. Good to hear him saying that about the fans. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I thought Smith was great on saturday like. Worked his socks off. Good to hear him saying that about the fans. My thoughts too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Spot on words from Smudge there like Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenBartonCentrePartin Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 fair doos but blah blah fucking blah. Yes he gave 110% on Saturday, and yes the fans were brilliant. Still shite atmosphere at home games though! Will atmospheres like that on Saturday ever be seen at SJP again? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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