jimmymag Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/11/newcastleunited-premierleague Newcastle United are poised to gamble on Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood steering them to Premier League safety while Joe Kinnear recovers from a heart bypass operation. It emerged today that Newcastle's manager is scheduled to undergo major cardiac surgery – understood to be a quadruple bypass – before the weekend, and Hughton and Calderwood were immediately placed in charge of team affairs until further notice. According to club sources the plan is that, with Hughton occupying the senior role, Newcastle's assistant manager and first-team coach will take charge for the final 13 games of this season. Should results go awry, a firefighter figure will be brought in to try to avert the threat of relegation. The Toon Army may be relieved to learn that there is said to be "next to no chance" of Dennis Wise – a man they love to hate – exchanging his director of football role for the St James' Park dugout but Terry Venables could yet receive another SOS call from Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner. The former England coach is understood to have regretted turning down the job before Kinnear took it last September and may be persuaded to step in on a short-term basis if Hughton and Calderwood fail to convince. Moreover Venables is believed to be the man Ashley would be most inclined to turn to in a potential hour of need. Kinnear is contracted to Newcastle until the end of this season but has been offered a two-year extension to his current six-month deal, which he has postponed making a decision on until the summer. Given the scale of the surgery and the fact that he is 62 years old, there have to be doubts as to whether Kinnear – who suffered a heart attack 10 years ago when managing Wimbledon and was admitted to a Sutton Coldfield hospital on Saturday morning after feeling unwell in the build up to Newcastle's win at West Bromwich Albion – will return to the stress-filled arena of full-time frontline management. That said, all the indications are that Kevin Keegan's successor will be extremely reluctant to give up the St James' Park post and those close to him were today suggesting that, providing all goes well, he could possibly be back on Tyneside by early May to oversee the season's closing stages. Hughton is familiar with wearing the caretaker's hat, having donned it twice during his lengthy stint as a coach and assistant manager at Tottenham Hotspur. The 50-year-old former Spurs and Ireland international full-back also served as caretaker on Tyneside between Keegan's departure and Kinnear's arrival. Unfortunately Newcastle lost all four of the games they played under his watch and he did not appear entirely comfortable in the role. Now though Hughton at least has a former manager, albeit one lacking Premier League experience, alongside him in Calderwood. Formerly in charge of Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest, the 44-year-old has only just joined Newcastle following his recent sacking at the City Ground in the wake of Forest's Championship travails. Although Saturday's victory at The Hawthorns – choreographed by Hughton and Calderwood – en and consequently eased growing relegation fearsded a run of eight games without a win, Newcastle face some tough fixtures between now and the season's closing afternoon on 24 May. While Everton, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are among those sides still to visit St James' Park, impending away trips include Liverpool and Aston Villa. With the team just four points clear of the relegation zone, there is little margin for error. By way of exacerbating existing problems, Newcastle are expected to be without the injured Michael Owen, their captain, talisman and key striker, for at least the next month. Owen's club contract expires in June and he refused the now withdrawn offer of a new deal during January, but Derek Llambias, Newcastle's managing director today hinted the erstwhile England striker may yet be talked into staying. "We'll be sitting down again with Michael soon and seeing what he wants to do," said Llambias before visiting Kinnear in hospital. "It's down to Michael – but watch this space." I hope this isn't true otherwise it'll be a huge gamble that might just get us relegated. Have the board forgotten how shite Houghton was before JK arrived!? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/11/newcastleunited-premierleague I hope this isn't true otherwise it'll be a huge gamble that might just get us relegated. Have the board forgotten how s**** Houghton was before JK arrived!? gamble my arse, there's precisely no chance of anything good happening with Houghton in charge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/11/newcastleunited-premierleague I hope this isn't true otherwise it'll be a huge gamble that might just get us relegated. Have the board forgotten how shite Houghton was before JK arrived!? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Same sources as the BBC then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
papo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Hughton= we are going down Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Fuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 At least he has someone by his side this time. Looked woefully out of his depth last time though. Although he didn't exactly take over at a good time. Now all the shit has settled he might fare a bit better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 had it man, jesus put fucking Wise in charge, get Roeder back, anything but this clueless wimp Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Hughton = going down Hughton and Calderwood = less likely we'll go down Calderwood at least has experience of managing a football team, and this time around it isn't just Hughton on his own. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Very different circumstances from last time he was in charge, hopefully he can keep us up, would prefer a proper manager like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 More Xisco Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 They passed on making the difficult decision, and fucked up immensely. All I remember about Houghton was the fact that Kinnear was a massive improvement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Heneage Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Further reason why Kinnear won't be here next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It doesn't matter who's in charge imo - we'll live or die by how many matches Viduka and Martins play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LucaAltieri Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Couldn't give a fuck any more. We're devoid of any real leadership whether it's Kinnear or Hughton in charge. Our Premiership status lies with the wasters in black and white (both on the pitch and in the stands ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 had it man, jesus put fucking Wise in charge, get Roeder back, anything but this clueless wimp He may be a poor manager but that is simply because he isn't one. He hasn't asked to be in charge of the team, and I think your being harsh with that description of him. It's not his fault he's had to cover for our ill/stroppy/banned managers when they've pissed off. Hughton seems to work so fucking hard for this club, he's been employed doing caretaker care quite a lot, it seems to be just him and Kinnear doing training, and he seems to be getting a raw deal. Has he complained? Has he hell, he's gotten on with the job. I agree with the fact he's poor at managing the team, but now he's broken his duck, and also with Calderwood on board (managerial experience, albeit at a lower level) I'm not as pessimistic as some. Regardless of what division we're in next season, Hughton deserves a fucking massive bonus and a medal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VegasToon Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Now it not the time to protest, we need to get behind Hughton and the players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leazes1986 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Hope this isnt true. The fact that we'd be gambling on our future with Hughton is bad enough. The fact that we'd be taking such a risk for the sake of having Joe Kinnear as our permanent manager is tragic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ7 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Horrified once again. Nothing against the man, infact I like him, but he isnt a manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenham Mag Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Cheap way out of the situation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Surely we are waiting for doctors to confirm wether or not its safe for Kinnear to resume managing us after his op? If so then we should get some communication from the club sooner rather then later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
afar Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 We're fucked Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtype Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 fucking idiots. They need to be fucking shot. Seriously, what a bunch of complete monkeys. How can they not see the writing on the wall? Houghton leading us the Championship this season and then Kinnear back on for the foreseeable future. I give up. What a fucking joke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I just don't see the point, there's no reason why we can't bring in a permanent manager. Surely they aren't clinging onto the hope that Kinnear will get over his heart problems and sign a new deal, if that's the case then they're a bunch of lunatics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toonarmy Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 had it man, jesus put f***ing Wise in charge, get Roeder back, anything but this clueless wimp He may be a poor manager but that is simply because he isn't one. He hasn't asked to be in charge of the team, and I think your being harsh with that description of him. It's not his fault he's had to cover for our ill/stroppy/banned managers when they've pissed off. Hughton seems to work so f***ing hard for this club, he's been employed doing caretaker care quite a lot, it seems to be just him and Kinnear doing training, and he seems to be getting a raw deal. Has he complained? Has he hell, he's gotten on with the job. I agree with the fact he's poor at managing the team, but now he's broken his duck, and also with Calderwood on board (managerial experience, albeit at a lower level) I'm not as pessimistic as some. Regardless of what division we're in next season, Hughton deserves a f***ing massive bonus and a medal. I agree. It's not his fault at all, I can't be upset at him at all. He's not a manager, he's just doing the best he can quietly, he's done nothing wrong with the roles he set out for and wasn't forced into. But once again, the board sets him up to fail with one of these "we'll see how it goes, we have this other savior in the wings at the first sign of a loss" things that totally undermines him. Doomed to fail at this point, and it's not his fault at all. Either get someone in immediately, or make a commitment through this season so that he has a chance to succeed. Obviously, I'd prefer to bring someone else in immediately, but if they don't want to do that for whatever reason, then at least give him a real shot! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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