JH Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 United half-term report special Jan 1 2008 by Alan Oliver, Evening Chronicle WHEN Newcastle United fans look at the Premier League table today they will feel disappointed. And they have every right to be more than that. For quite simply United once again have not lived up to their magnificent supporters expectations in the first half of the season. And, quite frankly, I cannot see things improving. I believe the best United can hope for is to finish top of the bottom half of the table. Top of the flops, if you like. When United picked up that fine opening-day victory at Sam Allardyces former club Bolton Wanderers, I bumped into an ecstatic chairman Chris Mort coming out of the Reebok Stadium. I joked with him that it was downhill all the way after that. And it has been. In fact, I cannot believe how bad things have been. Knocked out of the Carling Cup by Arsenal Reserves. Humiliated at home by Liverpool and Portsmouth. The only team to lose to Derby County . . . I could keep going, but lets stop there. I dont want to worry Sam. But remember when Graeme Souness was sacked? That was after two Newcastle players ran into each other at Manchester City a couple of seasons ago and Freddy Shepherd was not amused. Well on Saturday at Stamford Bridge Alan Smith and Abdoulaye Faye did exactly the same. And as a result Smith spent Saturday night in a Tyneside hospital, and yesterday Faye went to hospital after he left Stamford Bridge with his arm in a sling. Sam Allardyce was allowed to bring in nine players in the summer, all be it for a mere £9m when you take into consideration he sold both Kieron Dyer and Scott Parker to West Ham. And how many of those nine have been a success in the first half of the season? Certainly not Joey Barton. Or Geremi. Or left-back Jose Enrique, who cost £6m. Things have been bad on the pitch. But they havent been much better off it. Uniteds £5.8m midfielder is currently languishing in jail in the North West of England. Allardyce has been forced to relieve the player he appointed as skipper of the captains armband. And a players deputation went to see the manager after the defeat at Blackburn Rovers. Some of those players made it known that they were unhappy at the managers plans to take them straight to London for the game with Chelsea after the Boxing Day match with Wigan Athletic. There are lots of reasons why United have struggled after a promising start. And for me the main one is the fact that as we go into the New Year, Allardyce does not seem to know what is his best team. He hasnt decided who his best central defenders are. Or who he wants to form his midfield and its the same up front. The back four have been uncertain. The midfield has had no legs or creativity, and the strikers have stopped scoring goals. As a result, because of all the chopping and changing, United have been unable to create any momentum at times their shape has been all wrong. And the tragedy is with games at Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa looming, I cannot see things improving. For the fans sake, I hope Im wrong. For once, Oliver is making a bit of sense What about your Half-Term report? Improvements? Failings? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BooBoo Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 My marks out of ten so far: Given- 5 Harper- 5 Beye- 6.5 Enrique- 4 Carr- 6 Faye- 5.5 Rozehnal- 4.5 Cacapa- 5.5 Taylor 6 Geremi- 4 Barton- 3 Smith- 5 Butt- 6.5 NZogbia- 7 Milner- 6.5 Duff- NA Emre- 5 Martins- 6 Viduka 5.5 Owen- 3.5 Ameobi- 3 Big Sam- 4.5 In a nutshell- complete dross, must try and achieve a hell of a lot more in 2008. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest andynufc84 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I'm not dissapointed, we're exactly where we should and probably deserve to be. We will soon be overtook by Spurs, probably fight it out with Reading to finish top of the bottom half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Pity the bloke was so supportive of Souness and the bloke who sacked him, not because we were shite but because a couple of player collided during a game. Oliver now seems to see players colliding as a valid reason to sack the manager, utter mong of the highest order. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Swift Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Is 'all be it' Oliver's attempt at trying to say 'albeit'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto2005 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 My marks out of ten so far: Given- 5 Harper- 5 Beye- 6.5 Enrique- 4 Carr- 6 Faye- 5.5 Rozehnal- 4.5 Cacapa- 5.5 Taylor 6 Geremi- 4 Barton- 3 Smith- 5 Butt- 6.5 NZogbia- 7 Milner- 6.5 Duff- NA Emre- 5 Martins- 6 Viduka 5.5 Owen- 3.5 Ameobi- 3 Big Sam- 4.5 In a nutshell- complete dross, must try and achieve a hell of a lot more in 2008. Wouldn't say N'Zogbia's been our best player, i realize he's out of position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Improvements / Fitness of the squad improved / Bigger, better squad / Money spent more carefully/conservatively. Not blown away with a blaze approach. Not all signings have worked, but none of Souness' or Roeder's did (except Martins), and they cost a lot more. - Thus leaving a lot more in the tank for when the squad is to be properly improved (it merely needed bulking in the summer) / Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye - fantastic signings / Recent focus on youth transfer policies / The squad has more flexibility, more formations are available (i understand that this can be easily countered, but it's nice to have some versatility) / Stronger, more together dressing room / Removal of wasters; Sibierski, Bramble, Babayaro, etc / Revitalisation of N'Zogbia, and Martins to some extent (better all-round player imo, when utilised correctly) Failings / *Lack of continuity in teamsheets, thus resulting in poor results* / Favouritism of Alan Smith / David Rozehnal, poor signing, however this is easily countered given that he brought in two/three other centre-backs who have done alright-to-very well That's off the top of my head anyway. Unfortunately, although there are more individual positives than there are negatives, the pos/neg scale is equally balanced, as the *main negative* is so vast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Pity the bloke was so supportive of Souness and the bloke who sacked him, not because we were shite but because a couple of player collided during a game. Oliver now seems to see players colliding as a valid reason to sack the manager, utter mong of the highest order. Absolutely. He missed off "and the manager won't even speak to me" off his rant. As always the Chronicle is a forum for his own views, as if he's some sort of fans champion. And its got even worse now he's so far out of the loop at St. James' Crap Journalist. End of thread. (Although probably not) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Given - 5 Harper - 5 Beye - 7 Carr - 3 Faye - 6 Caçapa - 5 Taylor - 5 Rozehnal - 3 N'Zogbia - 7 Enrique - 4 Milner - 6 Geremi - 5 Butt - 6 Emre - 6 Barton - 3 Smith - 3 Duff - NA Martins - 6 Owen - 3 Viduka - 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Absolutely. He missed off "and the manager won't even speak to me" off his rant. As always the Chronicle is a forum for his own views, as if he's some sort of fans champion. And its got even worse now he's so far out of the loop at St. James' Crap Journalist. End of thread. (Although probably not) How can he call it a half term report special? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stubbs Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I think its a shit article and reflective of Alan Oliver's subjective reporting style. He didnt like Allardyce before he joined Newcastle and I dont believe he does now either. He was best mates with Roeder and even admitted this. We were doing just as bad, if not worse, at this point last season, and he didnt publish comments like that. Shepherd was an atrocious Chairman, but because Oliver got the scoop on transfer stories and had access to him, he was beyond criticism. We are 11th and although things arent great, we were playing worse and accumulating less points with more money spent under Dalglish, Gullit, Souness and Roeder. Journalists should report objectively and impartially, not in a subjective way that is determined by the relationships they hold with people. He is a major factor in "the problems" that contribute to the Newcastle manager's job being a poisoned chalice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Absolutely. He missed off "and the manager won't even speak to me" off his rant. As always the Chronicle is a forum for his own views, as if he's some sort of fans champion. And its got even worse now he's so far out of the loop at St. James' Crap Journalist. End of thread. (Although probably not) How can he call it a half term report special? Because he is Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I think its a s*** article and reflective of Alan Oliver's subjective reporting style. He didnt like Allardyce before he joined Newcastle and I dont believe he does now either. He was best mates with Roeder and even admitted this. We were doing just as bad, if not worse, at this point last season, and he didnt publish comments like that. Shepherd was an atrocious Chairman, but because Oliver got the scoop on transfer stories and had access to him, he was beyond criticism. We are 11th and although things arent great, we were playing worse and accumulating less points with more money spent under Dalglish, Gullit, Souness and Roeder. Journalists should report objectively and impartially, not in a subjective way that is determined by the relationships they hold with people. He is a major factor in "the problems" that contribute to the Newcastle manager's job being a poisoned chalice. I agree with most of that, the bloke must think everybody is thick. I wouldn't mind his stance if he was consistent, which he definitely isn't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Tiny elements of truth mixed in with the usual shite Anal propaganda. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 My marks out of ten so far: Carr- 6 NZogbia- 7 wtff? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasy Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 He's an arsehole and still says some pretty inane things (players running into each other) but overall he's right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Libertine Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I don’t want to worry Sam. But remember when Graeme Souness was sacked? That was after two Newcastle players ran into each other at Manchester City a couple of seasons ago and Freddy Shepherd was not amused. Well on Saturday at Stamford Bridge Alan Smith and Abdoulaye Faye did exactly the same. sack sam asap!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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