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Guest Howaythetoon

 

Love Ginola, was really interesting to hear him talk about his time at Newcastle and I thought he covered that season and why we didn’t win it really well and you can’t really argue with his analysis. Damn we should have won that title :(

 

Loved it when he said during the first part of the season they would go into games not even thinking about the win or opposition because they were going to beat the other team anyway.

 

Its not arrogance, they were so confident that the way they played was always going to be too much for the other team which freed them from the responsibility of winning in a way where they couldn’t lose so long as they were free to play how they wanted.

 

That’s powerful stuff that, imagine being a player in that team under KK who sent them out to express themselves, to free themselves of any thought about winning, losing or drawing so they could just play and do their thing.

 

The second half of the season they went into games thinking about winning which Ginola said made them fearful about the consequences of not winning.

 

It’s interesting we scored more goals in the first half of the season than we did the second half, yet conceded fewer goals in the second half of the season. Despite the myths about how guns ho we were we conceded 2 goals less than Man Utd and they scored a good few goals more than we did despite so many seemingly 1-0 wins.

 

Again we should have won the title, but there are no mysteries as to why we didn’t looking back. We lacked leaders, experience, key players were out of form and had hit a brick wall or ran out of ideas and collectively the pressure become too much.

 

And in Man Utd we had an opponent who were like a machine who finished the second half of the season so much stronger and better than they started the first half of the season.

 

Ginola said that should have been the start, not a set-back or a failure, but the bare minimum to build on and although we went again signing Shearer, it’s obvious the whole club was built on the ideals of one man KK who Ginola likened to a cult leader who created that team, vision and took us so close, once he left that was it really.

 

Back to Ginola, his own form dipped which didn’t help, but had we just beaten Liverpool and Blackburn we would have won the title. Had we beat Man Utd at SJP I think we would have ran away with it in record fashion for the then fledgling PL.

 

I think Ginola would make a good coach/manager btw, but is perhaps too emotional and nice for the cut throat game at the very top right now. Was like listening to a French KK at times when he talked, still as handsome as ever too.

 

Great player, great times and a refreshing change from the usual talking heads. Glad he seems to have made a good recovery from his heart attack too.

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Guest firetotheworks

:thup: I thought he was great too. The whole thing would have been worth watching just for the clips of him merkin' right backs alone (the bit of skill shown against Southampton in particular is jaw droppingly sublime), but as it happens, his insight into that season with that team and a manager we adored was excellent.

 

Took his point about football not being as much about entertainment now as well, because of the cost of losing and winning and the investment in tactics as a result of that.

 

I'm not sure I totally agree though. Okay maybe the priority is now on tactics, but the entertainment that comes as a byproduct of that priority in the likes of Barcelona, Man City, Dortmund, and Liverpool shows that the entertainment's there at the very highest cut-throat level. IMO it's surpassed the entertainment of old, even if the type of entertainment we're getting is maybe more heavily centred around the quality of football, rather than the more balanced competitiveness of the leagues and teams of old, and therefore comes down to your preference.

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:thup: I thought he was great too. The whole thing would have been worth watching just for the clips of him merkin' right backs alone (the bit of skill shown against Southampton in particular is jaw droppingly sublime), but as it happens, his insight into that season with that team and a manager we adored was excellent.

 

Took his point about football not being as much about entertainment now as well, because of the cost of losing and winning and the investment in tactics as a result of that.

 

I'm not sure I totally agree though. Okay maybe the priority is now on tactics, but the entertainment that comes as a byproduct of that priority in the likes of Barcelona, Man City, Dortmund, and Liverpool shows that the entertainment's there at the very highest cut-throat level. IMO it's surpassed the entertainment of old, even if the type of entertainment we're getting is maybe more heavily centred around the quality of football, rather than the more balanced competitiveness of the leagues and teams of old, and therefore comes down to your preference.

 

This season how many teams are genuinely fun to watch in the PL? City. I like watching Bournemouth and Fulham were a laugh for the wrong reasons. Liverpool are far more pragmatic this season.

 

The technical skill of teams now is very impressive. Due to rule changes and stricter refereeing there's more room for more technicians these days.

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Guest firetotheworks

The one I think you rarely see now is a winger just knocking it to the byline, beating the full back and whipping a cross in like Gillespie, Kanchelskis, or Ripley. I can't remember the last time I saw a goal that came from that sort of play.

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Guest Howaythetoon

I find City kind of boring to watch as I did Barcelona. I much prefer watching Liverpool or even Bournemouth and I used to love watching prime Arsenal under Wenger.

 

Obviously City are entertaining, but it’s kind of mechanical in terms of the play and giving the dross in the league, they are playing an entirely different sport almost which makes them more enjoyable or entertaining to watch even by default compared to the majority of others.

 

I’m biased of course, but KK’s Newcastle played a style of football that was far more entertaining and more true to the game in terms of the players as individuals and the whole object of the game, scoring goals and going all out to outscore the opposition which if you do, you win.

 

I thought we played better football in our promotion season under KK and for the first few months of 94/95 season than we did when we lost out on the title. Sellars, Cole, Lee and Beardsley were on another level in some of the moves they would put together and finish off usually with a Cole goal or two.

 

That fourseome cost less than 5m combined and outside of Beardsley were all unknown, journeymen men or hardly top players and even then Beardsley was 32 when he rejoined.

 

Today they would cost you 100-150m at least.

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The one I think you rarely see now is a winger just knocking it to the byline, beating the full back and whipping a cross in like Gillespie, Kanchelskis, or Ripley. I can't remember the last time I saw a goal that came from that sort of play.

 

Leroy Sané.

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Guest Howaythetoon

Ginola by the way was something unique to our game at the time, a winger who was as tall as a CB and just as strong, two footed and equally able to knock the ball past his man and race onto or dribble or trick his way past by skill. He could also cut inside to shoot or cross and he could also play through the middle.

 

In many ways looking back, he kind of under performed given the team he played in and the freedom he enjoyed. Today you would expect a return of 10 goals and 5 assists at least from someone as talented even in a less talented team.

 

In his defence though, he once said that the way NUFC played and the talent in that side meant play went through so many players and so many areas of the pitch he could go 20 minutes without seeing much of the ball. In a sense, as good as he was which made him arguably our best player at times, his importance wasn’t that essential he was the deciding factor.

 

I do feel though, he was someone who could have stepped his game up more and whose own dip in form was a critical factor as to why we lost out on the title.

 

I remember when he joined and thinking wow, no-one will be able to deal with him and that he was so much more than a winger in the way Gillespie was. We’ve had more talented footballers as recently as Ben Arfa and Robert produced more end product, but Ginola was something else we’ve never seen before or since.

 

We only got him at the price we did because PSG did the dirty on us over George Weah who we not only tried to buy, but thought we had actually secured. I guess Sir Les wasn’t a bad back up. Weah though, that’s the kind player we were in the market for and tried to bring to the club.

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Well ffs, just twigged we're away at Everton next Wed. I'll be in Liverpool that night for wifie's 70th, so not only am I right there, but I'll be underground in The Cavern Pub on Mathew Street, so unable to watch or listen. Super. :lol:

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Guest firetotheworks

I remember reading a comment about Lukaku on Reddit about how he looks like he's playing in jeans :lol: and now I can't unsee it whenever I see him play.

 

I've never really got the hype with Lukaku at all, but he still seems like just another Mourinho victim at the moment.

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