Sournes/Souness

[Ronaldo]

Robert did more for us than Ginola. I'd prefer to watch Robert, too. There's just something about a player who can score from anywhere. I loved him and miss him everyday.

[JJ7]

And remember, we were about on par with Liverpool the season before Souness. They let Houllier go at the right time, appointed Benitez and won the Champions League. We held onto Bobby a bit too long, sacked him at the worst possible time, and made the worst possible replacement.

[Cronky]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a shite manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

[Frazzle]

Everyone else had turned it down had they?

[wormy]

These past 2 pages are so depressing! Like someone said, imagine us now if Sir Bobby had accepted to come to us after Keegan. One of the few men who wouldn't see the need to break up a team just to 'stamp his mark'...

 

Souness, easily our worst appointment. Dalglish was a shite regime, but too many factors that imo he had out of his control. He had to rebuild the whole reserves and academy again, remember. So that's why his signings look so shoddy. Still got a lot of good players that we remember fondly to this day. But Souness, everything was his own doing. He still had many good years in Bellamy, and a year or 2 from Robert (from how his career's panned out since). But he had to 'prove a point'.

 

I agree that as a person he seems like a good guy. To be honest, he's probably a football name I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a couple of pints with. If only to see if I could get a more candid explanation of how he felt his time was here, off the record. But out of the hotseat and in the hotseat, you can be complete opposites, and I think that's his biggest problem. Had to play up the hardman image after his playing days ended. And his general bad decision making of course.

[madras]

These past 2 pages are so depressing! Like someone said, imagine us now if Sir Bobby had accepted to come to us after Keegan. One of the few men who wouldn't see the need to break up a team just to 'stamp his mark'...

 

Souness, easily our worst appointment. Dalglish was a s**** regime, but too many factors that imo he had out of his control. He had to rebuild the whole reserves and academy again, remember. So that's why his signings look so shoddy. Still got a lot of good players that we remember fondly to this day. But Souness, everything was his own doing. He still had many good years in Bellamy, and a year or 2 from Robert (from how his career's panned out since). But he had to 'prove a point'.

 

I agree that as a person he seems like a good guy. To be honest, he's probably a football name I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a couple of pints with. If only to see if I could get a more candid explanation of how he felt his time was here, off the record. But out of the hotseat and in the hotseat, you can be complete opposites, and I think that's his biggest problem. Had to play up the hardman image after his playing days ended. And his general bad decision making of course.

the thing is we needed major surgery at the time keegan left but many people just see dalglish coming in and splitting up the team out of spite.

[Big Geordie]

Shearer haters are out \o/ This 'influence' that he supposedly had is nothing more than a smokescreen for the under-achievement that was allowed to happen.

[quayside]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a s**** manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

 

I would love to know who did turn it down - Steve Bruce seems pretty convinced that the job was his if he'd wanted it and I'm sure I read somewhere that Fat Sam was also offered it. Anyone else? I would think the brainless timing of SBR's sacking left the board with very few options. Managers didn't want to make the switch 4 games into a season with no time left to do anything in the transfer window - unless of course they were about to be sacked from their current job.

[Guest neesy111]

These past 2 pages are so depressing! Like someone said, imagine us now if Sir Bobby had accepted to come to us after Keegan. One of the few men who wouldn't see the need to break up a team just to 'stamp his mark'...

 

Souness, easily our worst appointment. Dalglish was a s**** regime, but too many factors that imo he had out of his control. He had to rebuild the whole reserves and academy again, remember. So that's why his signings look so shoddy. Still got a lot of good players that we remember fondly to this day. But Souness, everything was his own doing. He still had many good years in Bellamy, and a year or 2 from Robert (from how his career's panned out since). But he had to 'prove a point'.

 

I agree that as a person he seems like a good guy. To be honest, he's probably a football name I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a couple of pints with. If only to see if I could get a more candid explanation of how he felt his time was here, off the record. But out of the hotseat and in the hotseat, you can be complete opposites, and I think that's his biggest problem. Had to play up the hardman image after his playing days ended. And his general bad decision making of course.

the thing is we needed major surgery at the time keegan left but many people just see dalglish coming in and splitting up the team out of spite.

 

A team finishing 2nd twice in a row needed a major revamp, i've heard it all now.

[Optimistic Nut]

McClaren was another one I think.

[Cronky]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a s**** manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

 

I would love to know who did turn it down - Steve Bruce seems pretty convinced that the job was his if he'd wanted it and I'm sure I read somewhere that Fat Sam was also offered it. Anyone else? I would think the brainless timing of SBR's sacking left the board with very few options. Managers didn't want to make the switch 4 games into a season with no time left to do anything in the transfer window - unless of course they were about to be sacked from their current job.

 

O'Leary, O'Neill and Shearer were other names I've heard mentioned, but we'll never know the whole truth.

 

But the main reason why Souness was appointed was Shepherd had run out of options.

[quayside]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a s**** manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

 

I would love to know who did turn it down - Steve Bruce seems pretty convinced that the job was his if he'd wanted it and I'm sure I read somewhere that Fat Sam was also offered it. Anyone else? I would think the brainless timing of SBR's sacking left the board with very few options. Managers didn't want to make the switch 4 games into a season with no time left to do anything in the transfer window - unless of course they were about to be sacked from their current job.

 

O'Leary, O'Neill and Shearer were other names I've heard mentioned, but we'll never know the whole truth.

 

But the main reason why Souness was appointed was Shepherd had run out of options.

 

Yup - I really can't see that the choice of Souness came from anything other than desperation.

 

I think the O'Leary rumour sprang from a car being seen at St James with a number plate that was thought to belong to DOL. In fact the car (and the number plate) belonged to Les Rayner, a mate of Shepherd's. The O'Neill rumour was an Alan Oliver exclusive in the Chronicle. Apparently Oliver was asked by Shepherd to ask MON if he wanted the job and the answer was yes according to Oliver. I'm sure I read an interview with MON in which he said he was never offered the job, but I can't find it on the net. Dunno about the Shearer rumour....

[wormy]

These past 2 pages are so depressing! Like someone said, imagine us now if Sir Bobby had accepted to come to us after Keegan. One of the few men who wouldn't see the need to break up a team just to 'stamp his mark'...

 

Souness, easily our worst appointment. Dalglish was a s**** regime, but too many factors that imo he had out of his control. He had to rebuild the whole reserves and academy again, remember. So that's why his signings look so shoddy. Still got a lot of good players that we remember fondly to this day. But Souness, everything was his own doing. He still had many good years in Bellamy, and a year or 2 from Robert (from how his career's panned out since). But he had to 'prove a point'.

 

I agree that as a person he seems like a good guy. To be honest, he's probably a football name I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a couple of pints with. If only to see if I could get a more candid explanation of how he felt his time was here, off the record. But out of the hotseat and in the hotseat, you can be complete opposites, and I think that's his biggest problem. Had to play up the hardman image after his playing days ended. And his general bad decision making of course.

the thing is we needed major surgery at the time keegan left but many people just see dalglish coming in and splitting up the team out of spite.

 

A team finishing 2nd twice in a row needed a major revamp, i've heard it all now.

 

I can see where madras is coming from in a way, a few changes were needed. Like mentioned, Ferdinand, at first glance seemed like a smart move. 6 mill for a 30 year old, getting a young starlet like Tomasson. Just a shame Shearer got injured and Ferdinand's a man of his word and wouldn't cancel his move to Spurs after he verbally agreed to sign. Beardsley finally losing steam. But I don't feel to the extent that the team changed. When you consider some of the signings he made, it wasn't as bad as people make out (Didi, Speed, Solano, Given). But I still wouldn't say he needed to splilt the team up as much as he did.

[Frazzle]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a s**** manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

 

I would love to know who did turn it down - Steve Bruce seems pretty convinced that the job was his if he'd wanted it and I'm sure I read somewhere that Fat Sam was also offered it. Anyone else? I would think the brainless timing of SBR's sacking left the board with very few options. Managers didn't want to make the switch 4 games into a season with no time left to do anything in the transfer window - unless of course they were about to be sacked from their current job.

 

O'Leary, O'Neill and Shearer were other names I've heard mentioned, but we'll never know the whole truth.

 

But the main reason why Souness was appointed was Shepherd had run out of options.

 

He sure did exhaust all options there then.  I don't see how it's Shearer's fault that Shepherd couldn't look beyond a handful of managers.

[NG32]

These past 2 pages are so depressing! Like someone said, imagine us now if Sir Bobby had accepted to come to us after Keegan. One of the few men who wouldn't see the need to break up a team just to 'stamp his mark'...

 

Souness, easily our worst appointment. Dalglish was a s**** regime, but too many factors that imo he had out of his control. He had to rebuild the whole reserves and academy again, remember. So that's why his signings look so shoddy. Still got a lot of good players that we remember fondly to this day. But Souness, everything was his own doing. He still had many good years in Bellamy, and a year or 2 from Robert (from how his career's panned out since). But he had to 'prove a point'.

 

I agree that as a person he seems like a good guy. To be honest, he's probably a football name I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a couple of pints with. If only to see if I could get a more candid explanation of how he felt his time was here, off the record. But out of the hotseat and in the hotseat, you can be complete opposites, and I think that's his biggest problem. Had to play up the hardman image after his playing days ended. And his general bad decision making of course.

the thing is we needed major surgery at the time keegan left but many people just see dalglish coming in and splitting up the team out of spite.

 

A team finishing 2nd twice in a row needed a major revamp, i've heard it all now.

 

I can see where madras is coming from in a way, a few changes were needed. Like mentioned, Ferdinand, at first glance seemed like a smart move. 6 mill for a 30 year old, getting a young starlet like Tomasson. Just a shame Shearer got injured and Ferdinand's a man of his word and wouldn't cancel his move to Spurs after he verbally agreed to sign. Beardsley finally losing steam. But I don't feel to the extent that the team changed. When you consider some of the signings he made, it wasn't as bad as people make out (Didi, Speed, Solano, Given). But I still wouldn't say he needed to splilt the team up as much as he did.

 

Rush and Barnes?

[NG32]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a s**** manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

 

I would love to know who did turn it down - Steve Bruce seems pretty convinced that the job was his if he'd wanted it and I'm sure I read somewhere that Fat Sam was also offered it. Anyone else? I would think the brainless timing of SBR's sacking left the board with very few options. Managers didn't want to make the switch 4 games into a season with no time left to do anything in the transfer window - unless of course they were about to be sacked from their current job.

 

O'Leary, O'Neill and Shearer were other names I've heard mentioned, but we'll never know the whole truth.

 

But the main reason why Souness was appointed was Shepherd had run out of options.

 

He sure did exhaust all options there then.  I don't see how it's Shearer's fault that Shepherd couldn't look beyond a handful of managers.

 

Fat man had the whole world to look for a manager.

[Optimistic Nut]

He was more concerned about taming the dressing room than a footballing appointment.

[wormy]

I said he made some good signings, of course he had some shite in there as well. But there was some good deals in there too. And I've already stated I wasn't a fan of just how much he broke that squad up.

 

Besides, can we really complain about Barnes? He was our top scorer one year! :lol: Fucking hell, John Barnes top scorer, said it all really.

[quayside]

Worst managerial appointment in the club's history? We were a top-class appointment away from building on the work Sir Bobby had started which was to firmly establish us as a top 5 club with a bright future ahead. We have never been the same club since most of our woes can be traced directly back to the appointment of Souness. Freddy Shepherd and co knew they had made a rick appointing him but given his huge contract and not wanting to lose face, they thought by handing him huge money and signing the likes of Owen would not only make him look good in the eyes of fans but also paper over the huge cracks in the side. It showed just how deluded the old regime were and just how poor a manager Souness was. As a pundit he is one of the best in my opinion and as a "bloke" he seems pretty decent. He was just a s**** manager who couldn't handle certain characters and was the wrecking ball of this club. Whatever possessed those clowns to appoint him...

 

Everyone else had turned it down, because of the influence that Shearer was allowed to wield around the club as the fans' hero and the future manager in waiting. It did for Robson and only a man who had no other options would put their career at risk like that.

 

I would love to know who did turn it down - Steve Bruce seems pretty convinced that the job was his if he'd wanted it and I'm sure I read somewhere that Fat Sam was also offered it. Anyone else? I would think the brainless timing of SBR's sacking left the board with very few options. Managers didn't want to make the switch 4 games into a season with no time left to do anything in the transfer window - unless of course they were about to be sacked from their current job.

 

O'Leary, O'Neill and Shearer were other names I've heard mentioned, but we'll never know the whole truth.

 

But the main reason why Souness was appointed was Shepherd had run out of options.

 

He sure did exhaust all options there then.  I don't see how it's Shearer's fault that Shepherd couldn't look beyond a handful of managers.

 

Well I certainly wouldn't go as far as blaming Shearer for anything much but, given his status as captain and club icon, I would be pretty astonished if Shepherd didn't at least consult Shearer on who to appoint.

 

I think its probably a fair point that only a handful of candidates was considered, in fact I doubt that anyone properly "foreign" got past first base. Alan Oliver, the club's mouthpiece at the time, said at a live talk in"we don't want a foreigner managing our club man". 

[Guest Howaythetoon]

The Dalglish era was a strange one. On paper you could argue his appointment was one of if not the worst in the club's history given how he took a team that had finished 2nd to 13th and of course dismantling what was regarded then as a top side in selling the likes of Ginola and Sir Les and bringing in veterens like Rush and Barnes. However, the bare statistics don't tell the whole story or even come close. Dalglish arrived at Newcastle at a time when the club and indeed game were going through a major transition. From Ltd company to PLC, from world record signings to recouping money, from free flowing care free football to technical and thought out football (Arsene Wenger's arival for example), and of course, the biggest issue as far as the club itself was concerned and the whole ethos of NUFC at that time - replacing the "messiah", King Kev himself.

 

Me, I thought Dalglish wasn't to blame for our slide, looking back now, I think it was inevitable given our rapid progress in the years prior to his appointment and the way the game itself was changing, a game Dalglish skills wise was ill equipped to master.

 

Whenever I assess a manager's place in the club's history, I look at legacy left. Dalglish restored the reserves and gave Sir Bobby several top players in which to build a side around, i.e. Given, Speed and Nobby in particular. When Souness left, he left us with Luque, Owen, Boumsong, Faye, Emre, Parker and Babayaro - none of whom are at the club today which says it all. We made a huge loss on that lot and collectively they gave this club nothing but trouble.

 

Dalglish did a poor job here and wasn't the best manager skills wise but he left us with something to work with. Souness destroyed everything, Sir Bobby's team, and on top of that, left nothing for his successor(s) to work with.

 

By the time Sir Bobby came here, 14 or so months after Dalglish's departure, he was left a reserve and academy set up, Shay Given, Dabizas, Hughes, Speed, Nobby and a certain mackem destroyer who was just coming through the ranks, the ranks Dalglish helped restore.

 

In terms of managerial appointments, I would regard Gullit, Souness, Big Sam and Joe Kinnear as worse appointments.

 

And speaking of Kinnear...

 

I completely forgot about him, forget about Souness being the worst appointment in the club's history, Kinnear is your man.

[TheGuv]

The Dalglish era was a strange one. On paper you could argue his appointment was one of if not the worst in the club's history given how he took a team that had finished 2nd to 13th and of course dismantling what was regarded then as a top side in selling the likes of Ginola and Sir Les and bringing in veterens like Rush and Barnes. However, the bare statistics don't tell the whole story or even come close. Dalglish arrived at Newcastle at a time when the club and indeed game were going through a major transition. From Ltd company to PLC, from world record signings to recouping money, from free flowing care free football to technical and thought out football (Arsene Wenger's arival for example), and of course, the biggest issue as far as the club itself was concerned and the whole ethos of NUFC at that time - replacing the "messiah", King Kev himself.

 

Me, I thought Dalglish wasn't to blame for our slide, looking back now, I think it was inevitable given our rapid progress in the years prior to his appointment and the way the game itself was changing, a game Dalglish skills wise was ill equipped to master.

 

Whenever I assess a manager's place in the club's history, I look at legacy left. Dalglish restored the reserves and gave Sir Bobby several top players in which to build a side around, i.e. Given, Speed and Nobby in particular. When Souness left, he left us with Luque, Owen, Boumsong, Faye, Emre, Parker and Babayaro - none of whom are at the club today which says it all. We made a huge loss on that lot and collectively they gave this club nothing but trouble.

 

Dalglish did a poor job here and wasn't the best manager skills wise but he left us with something to work with. Souness destroyed everything, Sir Bobby's team, and on top of that, left nothing for his successor(s) to work with.

 

By the time Sir Bobby came here, 14 or so months after Dalglish's departure, he was left a reserve and academy set up, Shay Given, Dabizas, Hughes, Speed, Nobby and a certain mackem destroyer who was just coming through the ranks, the ranks Dalglish helped restore.

 

In terms of managerial appointments, I would regard Gullit, Souness, Big Sam and Joe Kinnear as worse appointments.

 

And speaking of Kinnear...

 

I completely forgot about him, forget about Souness being the worst appointment in the club's history, Kinnear is your man.

 

Good post

[Pilko]

Kinnear was a fucking brainless twat but he wasn't the worst appointment, at all. If he hadn't been taken ill, we'd have stayed up with games to spare imo.

 

Arguably, Shearer was a worse appointment, but no-one will accept that. Will they?

[Ronaldo]

Daglish deserves a fair bit of credit for us finishing 2nd before 13th, by the way.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Kinnear was a f***ing brainless t*** but he wasn't the worst appointment, at all. If he hadn't been taken ill, we'd have stayed up with games to spare imo.

 

Arguably, Shearer was a worse appointment, but no-one will accept that. Will they?

 

Kinnear was a joke man, an embarrassment to this club. Shearer's appointment was an act of desperation and on his part a naive move, one borne out of wanting to help keep the club he clearly loves, in the division. It was a bad appointment because it didn't work, but we are talking about managerial legacies here and their respective standings in the annals of our club's history.

 

I think by the time Shearer was appointed we were already doomed. I remember writing on here after we drew with Stoke at SJP when Faye scored a last minute equaliser that we were going down and the following Shearer appointment did little to change my opinion IIRC. We would have actually been better off (using hindsight) leaving Hughton as temp manager as the players clearly respected him as the core that were left after relegation have since proven. Kinnear though if the rumours were true was the joke of the dressing room, players just took the piss in terms of training and what time they turned up and left.

 

In my opinion I'd rate Kinnear as the worst appointment in the club's history in terms of his skills as a manager, results or lack of, his patter and lasting legacy etc.

 

I can just picture Michael Owen's face when the news of his appointment broke. I bet he thought it was a piss take. That's what Kinnear's appointment says to me now looking back, a complete piss take and a dark stain on this club's history, an embarrassment. 

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Daglish deserves a fair bit of credit for us finishing 2nd before 13th, by the way.

 

Aye, if anything we become even more cavalier in the remaining months of that season. When we beat Forest 5-0 to clinch CL footy that was one hell of a performance, better than the one that we put in to beat Man Utd 5-0. Great day that with the mackems and boro ganning doon. Happy days.

 

I thought we did reasonably well in the CL too, beating Barca 3-2 was a classic, that will never ever fade from the memory. He had a good eye for talent too.

 

He always has good things to say about us as well. Considering he has played for Celtic and managed Liverpool, he still maintains the atmosphere at NUFC and the fans are the best. He could have easily become bitter about his time here but he didn't which shows he's a decent fella.