Shepherd and his IDIOTIC choice Allardyce have DESTROYED NUFC

[sicsfingeredmong]

Granted Allardyce couldn't adapt his 'underdog/spoiling style of football' here on the big stage, but Mort and Ashley's handling of the club has been nothing short of comical in the wake of the Allardyce's appointment. Shepherd could not have seen Allardyce's eventual inability to adapt to a bigger stage/bigger club. This he cannot be held accountable, but the club's dealings in the wake of Sam's appointment fall squarely on the cautious/conservative buggers who now run the club.

 

For starters they financially didn't back Allardyce in the Summer, for example several of our incoming transfers hinged on players departing once we had secured the incoming revenue streams. The sales of Parker and Dyer in particular acted as the twin catalysts behind our spending flurries at the bookends of the transfer window - the already secured transfer of Barton, at least at the agreement stage between ourselves and City, was put on hold as Mort quickly established a 'sell to finance buys' policy. During the above mentioned window i would've preferred to have seen Ashley pump another 20mill into the transfer coffers, as opposed to him reducing the club's debts and making the club a more lucrative asset for potential buyers in the event of him wanting to pull the plug & cash-in later on.

 

Sacking a manager so late in a transfer window, without having a successor already signed sealed & delivered on the dotted line, leaving Keegan - or whoever else - inadequate time to strengthen the sqaud was amauterish bordering on suicidal. Sacking Allardyce at the beginning of the window, and appointing Keegan soon after whilst having the neccesary time and financial backing to make things happen in the window just past would've been a good move.

 

As much i respect Keegan as a club manager circumstances beyond his control, circumstances which been dictated by the powers that be aka Mort & Ashley, have put him behind the 8-ball from the outset. Right now i'm prepared to label the Keegan appointment as being a desperate gimick, a desperate roll of the dice. In the form of Souness we had a manager who relied on having Lady Luck rescue the team from it's on-field doldrums, it appears that we now have top-level pair - aka Mort & Ashley - who gambled the club's future on similar footnote.

 

There was nothing wrong with Shepherd's appointment of Allardyce, if he indeed was the sole string puller on this front. Allardyce had Bolton punching above their weight. The same rule of thumb would apply to Moyes as well, and i'm sure many supporters would've applauded such a move - ie. a football based decision - if the previous board had pulled off such a move.

 

Judging by the original post's motive the power of hindsight, and the blame game which can ensue, is certainly a beautiful thing.

 

 

I agree about the Allardyce appointment, he wasn't a recognised serial failure like his previous two appointments, very few if any could have seen the way things would go with him.

 

The Barton transfer was put on hold while the greedy b****** held out for his loyalty bonus, a bonus we had to pay in the end to get the transfer through, it had nothing to do with a sell to buy policy.  I'm also sure we brought somebody in for £6 million while the Dyer transfer looked to be going nowhere after we had problems with the way West Ham were trying to do the deal.

 

 

Shepherd was at one stage slated for trying to get Souness to jump ship, rather than paying him off and getting rid of, and rightly so because the incompetant manager was causing immense damage to the time. Yet in accordance to your version of things it's okay to for Team Mort & Ashley to put a major cog in Allardyce's building plans - ie. Barton's transfer - on hold in order to pay-off another bloke. Different courses for different horses there Mick.

 

 

 

 

[plenum]

And what of Ashleys choice of bringing Keegan back?

 

Was he thinking tactical genius or was he thinking merchandise?

 

Makes you wonder.

 

Yeah, tactical genius he is certainly not. I also wonder what the players think of KK. The fans love him, but do the players? Somehow, I sense KK has lost some of his magic/credability

[Rob W]

the whole saga is a grim - a steady downhill roll

 

as stated above teh TIMING of the changes has been as damaging as the changes themselves..............

[Karjala]

Whether people are on KK's side or not, he needs at LEAST the next 2 full seasons to see how we improve, or hopefully all 3 left on his contract.

 

We really must be the most messed around team in the Premiership.

[2sheds]

sicsfingeredmong how can you say this:

Sacking a manager so late in a transfer window, without having a successor already signed sealed & delivered on the dotted line, leaving Keegan - or whoever else - inadequate time to strengthen the sqaud was amauterish bordering on suicidal.

And then say:

The point i'm making is 'newly appointed managers' walking into the hotseat on the back of a transfer window, whether it be the Summer or Winter windows, after his predecessosor has balled his opportunity is just about a formality in football. Inheriting another manager's squad, and having to work with that sqaud is an accepted hazard which goes hand in hand with the profession.

Slight contradiction there, shirley?

 

PS I'll ignore the way you chose only to deal with the case of one of the three recent managers appointed after the transfer window closed.

[Doug]

"tactical genius he is certainly not".

As a matter of interest where did this "fact" originate.

We seem to see statements of this kind regarding KK and his tactical acumen repeated a lot that are accepted as true without any real basis.

KK is now 56 and has been in football all his life at the very highest level. He is articulate and intelligent and is more the victim of his own unassuming nature over his ability than any actual tactical naivety in my opinion.

I suspect this is more received wisdom planted by our friends in the press and media all to easily accepted by gullible people who should know better.

KK is one of the most experienced English managers left in football and we should have faith in his ability. Leave the doubt and skullduggery to the media. They can sling all the mud they want at KK.

We dont have to agree with it.

 

Doug.

[Mick]

 

Shepherd was at one stage slated for trying to get Souness to jump ship, rather than paying him off and getting rid of, and rightly so because the incompetant manager was causing immense damage to the time. Yet in accordance to your version of things it's okay to for Team Mort & Ashley to put a major cog in Allardyce's building plans - ie. Barton's transfer - on hold in order to pay-off another bloke. Different courses for different horses there Mick.

 

 

 

 

 

The Barton transfer was on hold because Barton wanted a loyalty bonus of £300,000 and Man City wouldn't pay him, the transfer went through because we payed him that bonus.

 

Check paragraph 4.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1909844.ece

[Guest alex]

And what of Ashleys choice of bringing Keegan back?

 

Was he thinking tactical genius or was he thinking merchandise?

 

Makes you wonder.

 

I know what you're saying like. We'll see in the summer though whether the backing is there or not.

[Guest Phil K]

the whole saga is a grim - a steady downhill roll

 

as stated above the TIMING of the changes has been as damaging as the changes themselves..............

Well said.

My thoughts exactly.

I feel we needed someone more capable than KK to stop the free fall.

(I was NOT one of those celebrating with KK's return - more "God, I hope I'm wrong....")

 

[Colocho]

And what of Ashleys choice of bringing Keegan back?

 

Was he thinking tactical genius or was he thinking merchandise?

 

Money-spinning before he sells us off.

[bodson]

The appointment of Souness was what destroyed NUFC.

 

And When Graeme set the giant snowball running downhill, Roeder and Big Sam just couldnet stop it, they just made things worse.

 

 

[sicsfingeredmong]

Mick: I couldn't be bothered looking through pages of posts which have been layed out in the wake of my previous contribution here, which you have no doubt responded to.

 

Barton's incoming transfer here was basically signed, sealed & delivered just prior to Ashley's buy-out of SJH's shareholding. Immediately after Mort & Ashley stepped in the aforementioned transfer deal was put on hold until Parker's move to West Ham was completed. When Mort stepped in, amidst talk of a 'billion dollar owner' induced spending spree, he quickly declared the club would be prudent in it's transfer spending.

 

*Is it no coincidence that soon after finalising the Barton deal Mort then came out in the press and inferred that the triple acquisition of Barton, Geremi & *Viduka i think - in exchange for the incoming revenue received courtesy of Parker's departure - was in his exact words 'good business'.

 

The payout given to Barton imo is a bit of a moot point.

 

*This ties in with my opinion that Ashley & Mort have so far run a transfer buying/selling policy in conjunction with a 'financial bottom line' way of thinking. This is all good & well in the financial world, which is of course their respective backgrounds, or if you're running a little grocery shop on a street corner........ the bottom line - re: overheads/expenditure vs income - is all that counts.

 

In our case where this season - both in the summer, and recently for reasons i already higlighted a pathetically organised mid-season window when Keegan took over - we stood on the threshhold of either being a 'darkhorse for a European berth' or 'in danger of dropping like a stone', Ashley & Mort's in their cautious approach in the transfer market when combined with their scattershot/Lady Luck driven strategy last month - ie. bringing back Keegan, abeit with no time & financial backing for Keegan to begin his rebuilding plans as he saw fit -  have imo effectively drawn up the perfect blueprint in how to facilitate a club's relegation.

 

The players deserve a slating of course, from a playing sqaus perspective we're a self-harming mix of 'old players on their last legs' and 'greedy/headturned youngsters who couldn't give a s*** about the team's current plight', but at the top-level the blame falls sqaurely on Mort & Ashley's shoulders.

 

 

 

[sicsfingeredmong]

 

Shepherd was at one stage slated for trying to get Souness to jump ship, rather than paying him off and getting rid of, and rightly so because the incompetant manager was causing immense damage to the time. Yet in accordance to your version of things it's okay to for Team Mort & Ashley to put a major cog in Allardyce's building plans - ie. Barton's transfer - on hold in order to pay-off another bloke. Different courses for different horses there Mick.

 

 

 

 

 

The Barton transfer was on hold because Barton wanted a loyalty bonus of £300,000 and Man City wouldn't pay him, the transfer went through because we payed him that bonus.

 

Check paragraph 4.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1909844.ece

 

I stand corrected, i thougt you were having another crack at Fs

[Baggio]

Perhaps you should go and find Mick's post as he points out the reason the Barton deal was delayed and links to an article which backs up his point, the Barton deal was on hold because of a £300,000 loyalty payment he felt he was due from Man City, a payment that we ended up paying in the end to push the deal through. I also don't see the "sell to buy" policy you're referring too so perhaps you can post up the dates and figures of transfers that back up your claim because apart from the Barton deal which has been explained I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Perhaps you should go and find Mick's post as he points out the reason the Barton deal was delayed and links to an article which backs up his point, the Barton deal was on hold because of a £300,000 loyalty payment he felt he was due from Man City, a payment that we ended up paying in the end to push the deal through. I also don't see the "sell to buy" policy you're referring too so perhaps you can post up the dates and figures of transfers that back up your claim because apart from the Barton deal which has been explained I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion.

 

Mort's press release early in the same transfer window, as i've referred to - somebody will no doubt 'google it', is good enough to back up my claim.

[sicsfingeredmong]

sicsfingeredmong how can you say this:

Sacking a manager so late in a transfer window, without having a successor already signed sealed & delivered on the dotted line, leaving Keegan - or whoever else - inadequate time to strengthen the sqaud was amauterish bordering on suicidal.

And then say:

The point i'm making is 'newly appointed managers' walking into the hotseat on the back of a transfer window, whether it be the Summer or Winter windows, after his predecessosor has balled his opportunity is just about a formality in football. Inheriting another manager's squad, and having to work with that sqaud is an accepted hazard which goes hand in hand with the profession.

Slight contradiction there, shirley?

 

PS I'll ignore the way you chose only to deal with the case of one of the three recent managers appointed after the transfer window closed. :rolleyes:

 

No it isn't, because Allardyce hadn't added to his squad during the previous window prior to being sacked. Mort and Ashley weren't going to back him, in fact Mort questioned Allardyce targetting of defenders.

 

Bold piece: you still miss my point ie. sacking & hiring managers..... and timing.

[NE5]

Perhaps you should go and find Mick's post as he points out the reason the Barton deal was delayed and links to an article which backs up his point, the Barton deal was on hold because of a £300,000 loyalty payment he felt he was due from Man City, a payment that we ended up paying in the end to push the deal through. I also don't see the "sell to buy" policy you're referring too so perhaps you can post up the dates and figures of transfers that back up your claim because apart from the Barton deal which has been explained I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion.

 

Mort's press release early in the same transfer window, as i've referred to - somebody will no doubt 'google it', is good enough to back up my claim.

 

indeed, and the frightening thing is, they ie Mort and Ashley, didn't appear to have seen the error of their ways during the recent transfer window.

 

Back street corner shop here we come if they continue the current direction.

 

 

[Baggio]

So having your theory pulled apart by Mick posting a link to the real reason why the Barton deal was delayed, you're now basing your whole buy to sell theory on one comment from the chairman saying the the players coming in were good business, even though the dates of the transfers don't back up your claim. Considering you didn't even know about the loyalty bonus holding up the deal I'd suggest you try and find out more about the situation before coming out with such bollocks in future. Cheers.

[Mick]

 

No it isn't, because Allardyce hadn't added to his squad during the previous window prior to being sacked. Mort and Ashley weren't going to back him, in fact Mort questioned Allardyce targetting of defenders.

 

Bold piece: you still miss my point ie. sacking & hiring managers..... and timing.

 

The only thing I've ever seen from Mort and us getting defenders is him agreeing that we needed to strengthen that area of the team, I've never seen anywhere other than your post which suggests otherwise.

 

[Mick]

 

Mort's press release early in the same transfer window, as i've referred to - somebody will no doubt 'google it', is good enough to back up my claim.

 

Why don't you google it if you're using it to back something up?

 

The only things I remember him saying is words to the effect that we would no longer be ripped off by paying OTT for players.

[Mick]

 

indeed, and the frightening thing is, they ie Mort and Ashley, didn't appear to have seen the error of their ways during the recent transfer window.

 

Back street corner shop here we come if they continue the current direction.

 

 

 

The "frightening" thing is that this same topic has been covered before and the timelines were all posted yet once again it seems to be dragged up to slate the way the club is being run, we complain about the press having a go at the club yet we're as good as them at spinning, if not better at times.

[TRon]

 

indeed, and the frightening thing is, they ie Mort and Ashley, didn't appear to have seen the error of their ways during the recent transfer window.

 

Back street corner shop here we come if they continue the current direction.

 

 

 

The "frightening" thing is that this same topic has been covered before and the timelines were all posted yet once again it seems to be dragged up to slate the way the club is being run, we complain about the press having a go at the club yet we're as good as them at spinning, if not better at times.

 

For some people it's more important to back Fat Fred than their football club.

[NG32]

Fat freds nob squad f***** up.  End of.

 

Why does this topic keep reappearing?

[NE5]

 

indeed, and the frightening thing is, they ie Mort and Ashley, didn't appear to have seen the error of their ways during the recent transfer window.

 

Back street corner shop here we come if they continue the current direction.

 

 

 

The "frightening" thing is that this same topic has been covered before and the timelines were all posted yet once again it seems to be dragged up to slate the way the club is being run, we complain about the press having a go at the club yet we're as good as them at spinning, if not better at times.

 

For some people it's more important to back Fat Fred than their football club.

 

For some people its more important to slate someone off for eating all the pies than to be able to see that running a club who qualify for europe more than every team bar 4 actually means they are doing a decent job of running the football club.

 

 

[Baggio]

Simmer down you boring old man.