Graham Carr

[loki679]

Have no issue with Carr being on board.

 

I think its hard to judge his track record as i am lead to believe the power at NUFC have not been picking his top picks, but went far down the list for the cheapest options.

 

I think he can be a good asset to Rafa, in a environment where the manager has the final say in transfers.

 

I get the list thing but it kind of falls down a bit when Riviere is somehow on a list not titled 'Fucking wank players we should never ever think about signing'.

 

I mean, was it a list of good players or just a list of players?  i'd have second thoughts about including Gouffran in the phone book.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

He wants to fucking retire simply for putting forward his mate McClaren for the job.

[relámpago blanco]

Have no issue with Carr being on board.

 

I think its hard to judge his track record as i am lead to believe the power at NUFC have not been picking his top picks, but went far down the list for the cheapest options.

 

I think he can be a good asset to Rafa, in a environment where the manager has the final say in transfers.

 

I get the list thing but it kind of falls down a bit when Riviere is somehow on a list not titled 'Fucking wank players we should never ever think about signing'.

 

I mean, was it a list of good players or just a list of players?  i'd have second thoughts about including Gouffran in the phone book.

I forgot about Riviere. I wonder what hell be like in the Championship. Shite most likely but you never know.

[Guest antz1uk]

He wants to f***ing retire simply for putting forward his mate McClaren for the job.

[DJ_NUFC]

He wants to f***ing retire simply for putting forward his mate McClaren for the job.

[mrmojorisin75]

He wants to f***ing retire simply for putting forward his mate McClaren for the job.

Aye, if it's true he pushed McClaren in any way then his judgement is beyond questionable. That decision relegated us basically.

[Optimistic Nut]

It should never have been his job though. He's a scout with contacts put in that position to save a few quid on a proper DoF.

[Guest neesy111]

It should never have been his job though. He's a scout with contacts put in that position to save a few quid on a proper DoF.

 

Yes, but he still backed Steve McClaren to get the job though.  Should be instant dismissal.

[Optimistic Nut]

It would be like putting a senior player as manager and sacking him completely because he picked the wrong players, when he should never be in a position to do so. If Benitez is happy to work alongside him because he feels he offers something in a his true capacity, then fair do imo.

[Ronaldo]

He can 'spot a player' my left nut, like. f***ing Stifler from here could've recommended Cabaye and Ben Arfa. Every time his scouting abilities have actually been put to the test we've signed utter rubbish or players not right for the PL.

 

Except hardly any of us knew who Cabaye was when we signed him and don't lie.

 

 

Fuck off.

 

He'd been suggested on here before we signed him, man.

[Guest neesy111]

He can 'spot a player' my left nut, like. f***ing Stifler from here could've recommended Cabaye and Ben Arfa. Every time his scouting abilities have actually been put to the test we've signed utter rubbish or players not right for the PL.

 

Except hardly any of us knew who Cabaye was when we signed him and don't lie.

 

 

Fuck off.

 

He'd been suggested on here before we signed him, man.

 

French international, captain of the team that went to win the double that season.  Hardly plucked from obscurtiy.

[STM]

Most players are "known" these days. You have to go quite far from Europe to find players who haven't been scouted these days.

 

Cabaye, Sissoko (for the money) and Ben Arfa were brilliant signings and if he was involved in them, then he deserves credit.

 

Spotting talent is probably not all that difficult but spotting attainable talent is quite tricky I would have thought. Especially when we leave ourselves such little scope in terms of resources.

[Ronaldo]

Spotting a price/contractual vulnerability and spotting a player are two completely different things. Anyone giving him credit for 'spotting' those three needs a fucking slap. I don't even like French football but I knew all 3 would be very good signings before we got them.

[Foluwashola]

I knew next to nothing about Sissoko like, didn't have a clue how that would turn out. Turned out shit. Carr out.

[Guest neesy111]

He just knew about getting good deals for players and how to launder money through that agency in france.

[Guest neesy111]

I knew next to nothing about Sissoko like, didn't have a clue how that would turn out. Turned out shit. Carr out.

 

For the price we paid, he's still been a very good signing tbh.

[STM]

I suppose alot depends on how his job was defined. Either way, he's Rafa's bitch now, perhaps he's being fazed out.

[r0cafella]

I knew next to nothing about Sissoko like, didn't have a clue how that would turn out. Turned out shit. Carr out.

 

For the price we paid, he's still been a very good signing tbh.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I didn't know anything about Sissoko except he was supposed to be one of the most sought-after midfielders at the time. Still think he would have had a great career as a CM if we hadn't messed with him.

[TRon]

FWIW I think he will be phased out, if only because Rafa will want his own scouts that he trusts in place. But it might be he quite likes the look of some of the players like Ayoze, Wijnaldum and Sissoko. You have to bear in mind that Carr's remit was to buy players under 25 and usually coming to the end of their contract. That policy in itself was going to tie one hand behind his back.

 

Can't say I was a fan of buying midget central defenders or defensive midfielders, but again a lot of those players were bought with a mind to making a profit rather than buying the players we needed.

[Segun Oluwaniyi]

Spotting a price/contractual vulnerability and spotting a player are two completely different things. Anyone giving him credit for 'spotting' those three needs a f***ing slap. I don't even like French football but I knew all 3 would be very good signings before we got them.

A litany of other clubs could have signed them for the same fees and wages we paid. None of them did. They were fine signings. Even the likes Debuchy and Gouffran were relatively good signings. Debuchy was very good after a period of adjustment and for what he cost, Gouffran played a fairly important role in keeping this team up three years ago (obviously there has been a sharp decline since then). A demotion seems a just reward for him, given the small amount of information we are privy to about his position in the football club. He seems useful, but was given too much responsibility, a situation that has been common in the Ashley regime. What about his qualification or history lends itself to near total control over a club's player staff?

He wants to f***ing retire simply for putting forward his mate McClaren for the job.

Eh...in my mind, the main reason for this relegation is the poor recruitment/general transfer activity (along with the extremely poor management of the recruits) of the past two seasons and the reluctance of the club to sack McClaren. I had no real issues with his initial hire. While not particularly exciting or ambitious, he was certainly qualified, willing to come, an improvement on Carver, and seemed a steady enough hand to rebuild after the genuine disaster that marked Newcastle in the first five months of 2015. It didn't work, but managerial appointments across the world fail constantly. If you look at the rate managers are sacked in football, it is a position in which failure is normal. What is also normal is for clubs to cut out the personnel that is failing and continue to work to change and improve. For a club of Newcastle's stature to respond to a season spent almost entirely in the relegation zone with no change until March is madness. The level of complacency and lack of care at the top is what has ruined them once again.

[Ronaldo]

Words fail me.

[TRon]

Words fail me.

 

Words would help for the rest of us though.

[Ronaldo]

The thing I've questioned, repeatedly, is Carr's ability to find players - ie seeing things on the pitch that you average bloke couldn't, then bringing the right players to the club for our purposes. Nobody would argue the 3 players mentioned don't represent good business. It obvious his 'skill' lies in discovering when players are sometimes going for less than they're worth. That isn't scouting, it's networking. He's a shit scout with decent contacts, basically.

 

[DJ_NUFC]

Aside from his (in)ability as Lord Scout around the club, my concern with him staying on with Rafa lies in a potential power struggle or an undercurrent of awkwardness that may result from him being stripped of his throne and being made to work just as a regular scout, sharing bus rides with Rod Stewart's sister. I think we desperately need to get rid of the stench of failure around this club, and Rafa signals a new beginning, and relegation a chance for us to chuck out the old and just sanitize the fucking place top to bottom.

 

Is Derek Wright still around? If so, fuck me.