"Kevin's got them playing again" - Mort a year ago

[Yorkie]

I'm not sure how sincere Baggio is being, but the cynic inside me suggests that he's being a bit sarcy...

 

The point was, we did play two or three teams off the park and simply looked a class above the dross that was around us. That can't be denied; yeah - the opposition wasn't great in that little period, but we proved that we were miles better than them. And, as i've said before, the heartache of him going was more to do with the direction we were going in. It wasn't a great transfer window, but the team had been improved and everything just looked so good.

[TRon]

What teams were you passing off the park? If it was a prolonged period of time then I certainly missed it.

 

Fulham and Reading for 90 minutes, a good first half against Sunderland and quality second half performances against Birmingham and Spurs.

 

It was like watching Brazil for just over 300 minutes.

 

Probably why Ashley did the conga in the boardroom in front of the mackems.

[Unbelievable]

take martins, owen, viduka and barton out of the "free flowing month" and would it have been the same? would it f***.

 

anybody remember the months prior to the "free flowing" one?

 

It took time to bring the change about FFS.  He had to get the players minds switched from nagative football to open football.

 

Birmingham was the turning point, where got a draw but could have won it.

 

Libertine always sniping at KK, any little chance.  Its ok tho, you just bend history to suit your argument.

 

it took time to get 3 very good players back (and staying fit) to take the team forward in matches and score goals. the front 3 took the pressure off the s*** midfield the same as a good midfield will take the pressure off a defence. simple as that.

 

Obviously the manager doesn't deserve any credit at all for changing the whole shape of the team though.

 

to some extent. "playing your best players" is what its called at other clubs. dropping smith and ameobi to play martins and viduka isnt rocket science.

 

You're absolutely pathetic.

 

martins or viduka didnt start a game for keegan before the birmingham match and then they come back in and we start doing well. did keegan "change their mentality" or did we just get 2 very decent/vital players back in place of 2 s*** ones?

 

the keegan thing. obviously.

 

The players coming back was obviously instrumental but it was Keegans tactics that got us the results we did. Not many managers would have had the balls to play Owen, Martins & Viduka together. Allardyce certainly didn't.

 

and prior to those players coming back?  where were the tactics and the balls?

 

Keegan did his best to inject confidence into the "name" players like Duff and Smith but in the end dropped them and accomodated all three strikers saying that he couldn't see any goals in the team and he didn't want to go into any future matches without goals in the team. By the way not only did it take balls to play 4-3-3, the most important factor was Keegan's refusal to stop playing passing football.

 

That's actually what this thread is about, not about Keegan, he's gone and you can't turn back the clock. It's about the football and Ashley being overjoyed by the way Keegan's team swept the ghost of Allardyce's turgid s**** away with proper football...carpet football as SBR would say. That's what had Mort saying "Kevin's got them playing again".

 

I just wonder what Ashley's vision for the club is now? With Keegan you knew what it was about. Is Ashley happy with muck and nettles football now?

 

For anybody who's failed to notice, this is the central question in this thread, not whether Keegan could have got or should have been expected to get instant results. The owner and chairman have promoted free flowing attacking football publicy, but their actions in the past year, especially their manager appointments (including contract extension offer), have been in sharp contrast with this. What kind of manager do they want for this club. What style of football can we expect from them?

[TRon]

take martins, owen, viduka and barton out of the "free flowing month" and would it have been the same? would it f***.

 

anybody remember the months prior to the "free flowing" one?

 

It took time to bring the change about FFS.  He had to get the players minds switched from nagative football to open football.

 

Birmingham was the turning point, where got a draw but could have won it.

 

Libertine always sniping at KK, any little chance.  Its ok tho, you just bend history to suit your argument.

 

it took time to get 3 very good players back (and staying fit) to take the team forward in matches and score goals. the front 3 took the pressure off the s*** midfield the same as a good midfield will take the pressure off a defence. simple as that.

 

Obviously the manager doesn't deserve any credit at all for changing the whole shape of the team though.

 

to some extent. "playing your best players" is what its called at other clubs. dropping smith and ameobi to play martins and viduka isnt rocket science.

 

You're absolutely pathetic.

 

martins or viduka didnt start a game for keegan before the birmingham match and then they come back in and we start doing well. did keegan "change their mentality" or did we just get 2 very decent/vital players back in place of 2 s*** ones?

 

the keegan thing. obviously.

 

The players coming back was obviously instrumental but it was Keegans tactics that got us the results we did. Not many managers would have had the balls to play Owen, Martins & Viduka together. Allardyce certainly didn't.

 

and prior to those players coming back?  where were the tactics and the balls?

 

Keegan did his best to inject confidence into the "name" players like Duff and Smith but in the end dropped them and accomodated all three strikers saying that he couldn't see any goals in the team and he didn't want to go into any future matches without goals in the team. By the way not only did it take balls to play 4-3-3, the most important factor was Keegan's refusal to stop playing passing football.

 

That's actually what this thread is about, not about Keegan, he's gone and you can't turn back the clock. It's about the football and Ashley being overjoyed by the way Keegan's team swept the ghost of Allardyce's turgid s**** away with proper football...carpet football as SBR would say. That's what had Mort saying "Kevin's got them playing again".

 

I just wonder what Ashley's vision for the club is now? With Keegan you knew what it was about. Is Ashley happy with muck and nettles football now?

 

For anybody who's failed to notice, this is the central question in this thread, not whether Keegan could have got or should have been expected to get instant results. The owner and chairman have promoted free flowing attacking football publicy, but their actions in the past year, especially their manager appointments (including contract extension offer), have been in sharp contrast with this. What kind of manager do they want for this club. What style of football can we expect from them?

 

Yes that is exactly the point I am making. While it's all very exciting to hear about Veloso's and Mbia's, not to mention Darren Bents, the reality has turned out to be Kevin Nolan alongside Nicky Butt with Ameobi up front.

 

All of thes are on new, improved or extended contracts. All of these are shite and first team regulars. If this is still the case next season then I'd want to know what was the thinking behind it?

 

 

[Guest Brummiemag]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.  A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

[Guest The Libertine]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

[mrmojorisin75]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such shite?

[Guest The Libertine]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such shite?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked shit last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

[mrmojorisin75]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such shite?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked shit last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

righto then, now i see how it ties up...you're suggesting there's a chance that under and/or hughton as stand in these players will repeat the form of last season when they're fit again

 

don't agree with you but i respect your right to think it

[Guest The Libertine]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such shite?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked shit last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

righto then, now i see how it ties up...you're suggesting there's a chance that under and/or hughton as stand in these players will repeat the form of last season when they're fit again

 

don't agree with you but i respect your right to think it

 

"repeat the form" is a bit misleading as this run in is twice as hard as the last one and our manager (whoever) isnt as good but if we get those players all back and playing very soon i think we'll be safe before the shit is hitting the fan in may.

[TRon]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such shite?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked shit last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

[Guest Brummiemag]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

[TRon]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

[maze]

Of course Kevin got us playing again. The Massiah were back. People on here can say whatever they like. But at the moment he (Keegan) came back we had something we have been missing for a very long time, and something we rarely have - optimism!

 

I think Ashley et al. are very aware of that May will be crucial, not just for the future of the club, but also for the fan support. And I'm not talking about people switching favorite teams here, I'm talking about people turning up to see matches. We already know that the attendance has dropped this season. Real fans will never abandon their favorite teams - I won't. Hell, even in worst case I'll still support Newcastle, I'll never switch. BUT if Ashley et al. just continue doing what they do best, I'll get indifferent. Maybe others will too. It's his club now, he owns it, just like you and me own something. He can do whatever he'd like with it. People can protest and boycott as much as they like, it still won't change the fact that he own the club.

 

I hope we stay up. But yeah, thanks to Ashley I'm well on my way to become indifferent. I read the gossip, the news, I'm on this forum - but earlier I read it all, I was interested, now i just read the headlines. I don't bother watching the matches online anymore. Hell, if it hadn't been for N-O I wouldn't even know when we played our next match. And all this, as much as some of you would like to call me a bad supporter, has nothing to do with the true caring or love for the club. It has to do with the fact that the man owning my club is destroying it, and I don't want to be in the front-seat row witnessing that.

 

 

[dcmk]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

[relámpago blanco]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

[ikri]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

 

And yet we got Taylor from Wigan for a knockdown price & sold them Insomnia for what was to them a record fee.

 

Not sure Whelan has the cash available to be too picky nowadays.

[merlin]

After reading Llambarse's latest missive in the Press about the future of Kinnear, nobody needs to concern themselves as to whether Bruce or anybody else would take the NUFC job ; they won't be asked because the Owner/board have got the ideal man - according to them..

 

Whether season-ticket holders will buy THAT one en masse will be interesting to see.

 

It seems NUSC will be getting an uplift in membership soon...!!

[Tooj]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

 

Looking at how JJB is fairing at the moment I don't think he can be overly picky with his finances. Bruce will probably have some sort of clause in his contract anyway.

[Greg]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

 

Looking at how JJB is fairing at the moment I don't think he can be overly picky with his finances. Bruce will probably have some sort of clause in his contract anyway.

 

Dave Whelan has sold his stake in JJB.

[Tooj]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

 

Looking at how JJB is fairing at the moment I don't think he can be overly picky with his finances. Bruce will probably have some sort of clause in his contract anyway.

 

Dave Whelan has sold his stake in JJB.

 

Ah I never knew that. Thanks for letting me know mate.

[NG32]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

 

Looking at how JJB is fairing at the moment I don't think he can be overly picky with his finances. Bruce will probably have some sort of clause in his contract anyway.

 

Dave Whelan has sold his stake in JJB.

 

That was kept quiet.

[Greg]

The fact is keegan got the team playing decent football again. It took him time to turn it round but he did. He had a poor start, it got to the Birmingham away game and he went for broke, 3 up front, he went back to his attacking instincts and at half time all looked lost! But we clawed it back and drew 1 apiece!  And we went on to survive in the Premier league by some margin.   A draw at Man U first game of the season followed by a narrow win against bolton and a typical Keegan win against Coventry. All was well and Kev certainly had them playing again!

At that point I was very optimistic about the future, how things have changed in such a short space of time!

 

and he did this because 2 vital strikers were passed fit to start for him for the first time, meaning we had 3 very good strikers to attack with. his methods didnt just "click" suddenly.

 

did we attack teams in the same manner with smith, ameobi and owen upfront? no, we didnt.

 

dude, you're starting to annoy me with the repetitiveness of this now...i agree with you in the sense that when we had those three things clicked and he changed the system to accommodate, and it worked very well

 

what was the alternative before they came back?  what would a better manager have done with the tools at his disposal? 

 

only thing i can see is throw in untested bairns in the hope they'd do better than duff/smith etc...

 

what else could have have done with such s****?

 

which, again, is my entire point. the thread (i think) is bashing somebody because the football we're playing isnt great but with all the players missing what are people expecting? we looked s*** last year before martins and viduka came back so, like you say, how else can we attack teams with any potency without our best 3 strikers?

 

if we get owen, martins and viduka (and possibly barton) all fit and playing we'll look infinitely better, like we did last year.

 

It's not a bashing thread, more of a questioning one of where are we going? Not now, but come next season. Will we look to bring in a highly rated manager who will build a squad over the next couple of years that will play attractive progressive football? Or will we look to hire a cheap coach who will toe the line and buy hard working players who will graft out a result and try and keep us out of relegation trouble? I'm asking because it's undeniable that Kinnear was offered a two year contract extension.

 

How does that sit with the expectations of last summer when Keegan was downplaying Ashley's aims of a top four place, saying we could aim for top eight maybe? Only the board can answer that in May, the decisions they make will tell us a lot.

 

Good post. I would like to think we will bring in a highly rated manager playing attractive football but I cant see such a manager coming here with the current footballing set up (i.e. without full control over transfers and in all likelihood with little funding available) 

 

There will be funds available according to Llambias, the money raised from Given and N'Zogbia, plus we should be losing a few highly paid wasters at the end of the season. Someone on TT claims to be ITK that Steve Bruce is coming here in May, read what you want into that.

 

I don't think Bruce is mates with our lot in charge can't see it happening.  Gus Poyet if Kinnear can't return imo.

Whelan would never let Bruce join us anyway, he hates ashley after ashey reported his company for price fixing.

 

Looking at how JJB is fairing at the moment I don't think he can be overly picky with his finances. Bruce will probably have some sort of clause in his contract anyway.

 

Dave Whelan has sold his stake in JJB.

 

That was kept quiet.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/6736421.stm

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/migrationtemp/2810288/Whelan-faces-FSA-probe.html

[johnnypd]

At the end of March last year, we'd just beaten Spurs 4-1, Allardyce's dismal brand of Fear Football had been kicked into touch and we were passing all but the best teams off the park. Now the players I am seeing coming into the club are being brought in to do a different job. Are Nolan, Ryan Taylor and Butt really a midfield capable of producing that free-flowing football? 

 

If Ashley sacked Allardyce last season because the football was so dismal, what is the reasoning behind backing Joe Kinnear's signings? 

 

the most truthful answer is that the people in charge dont really have a clue what they are doing and are making it up as they go along. maybe 'good football' was to be our opiate as the club gradually declined under ashley, but that piece of 'planning' was blown out the water when keegan left.