Jump to content

Recommended Posts

3 minutes ago, ILCAML said:

If I may offer a neutral perspective.

 

Full disclosure: I'm not a Newcastle fan. I have always been a Juventus fan, but liked Newcastle because of similar kits, colors, Shearer and through FM became really invested in the whole first failed takeover, later successful. What also helped the likeness is my fondness for Allegri who was free at the time and through some media linked with Newcastle which I started to follow more and more and now you guys have some of my favorite players in the world. Bruno was heavily linked to Juve before he came to Newcastle, Isak was a monster on FM etc.

 

I see in your discussions a lot of my discussions from last season with other Juve fans after we got a new sporting director in Cristiano Giuntoli from Napoli. Another parallel between Juve and this situation is that 2 years ago the whole Juve board resigned and left Allegri alone at the club, among them his closest friends and confidants at the club. Staveley and her husband who I understand were huge Howe supporters left the club suddenly. I also convinced myself it would all be fine, Allegri is a people person, he will get along with anyone.

 

Few months later here comes Giuntoli (who rumors had it didn't like Allegri and vice-versa), but when he came in July of last year it seemed like an idyllic relationship. Giuntoli was full of praise for Allegri, present at every training session, said things like "we have to bring Juve to his level, not the other way around" etc.

 

Fast forward to the end of the transfer window, we barely signed any players, biggest signing was Timothy Weah for 12m, we lost some veteran players etc. We also convinced ourselves this was because Giuntoli came in late, didn't have time to bring in his own people, didn't have time to sign players etc.

 

Season starts, we are on pace to break the points record in the league through January. Problem is Inter is a point above the whole time. During the season up to that point Allegri reached some kind of milestone, I think became second for number of wins in the history of the club, but despite good results and publicly fine relationship there were all these rumors about Allegri leaving at the end of the season, his replacements etc. which I always took for "media trying to destabilize the club" etc. After Allegri reached this milestone Giuntoli again publicly said Allegri is there to stay, even went as far as saying Allegri will reach Trapattoni in wins (over 200 wins away).

 

January comes, both Allegri and some players are publicly pleading with the club to sign some help because they were just one point behind Inter and lost two best midfielders after the transfer window ended in September (Pogba doping and Fagioli betting like Tonali). The whole window goes by, no players are signed again except at the very end Carlos Alcaraz and Tiago Djalo for very cheap. Both are now gone from the club.

 

After the transfer window in January ends our form plummets. In the end we barely scrap champions league places and rumors are again flying around. We win the cup and in the celebrations after Allegri literally forces Giuntoli off the pitch and prevents him from celebrating with the team. Why? Turns out while the manager and players were publicly pleading for some help by the management in January transfer window in their unlikely title battle Giuntoli was secretly meeting with Thiago Motta to replace Allegri (which he now did) and signing a replacement GK from Monza. Monza's director is a huge Allegri friend, told him all about this and shit hit the fan. Manager and players didn't take it well that the director who was supposed to help them was basically sabotaging the team because he simply wanted to bring in his own people.

 

Another fast forward to now and literally half the team is gone, Allegri is gone, more board members left, more Giuntoli people came in and we have the highest transfer spend in the history of the club.

 

I apologize for the long text, but I say all this to say - I have never seen a new boss coming in ending well for the current manager and most of the players. In any sport. I follow NBA a lot as well and every time there is a change in management the coach is fired within 18 months at the MOST.

 

Maybe there is, maybe there isn't all this toxicity at Newcastle as there was at Juve last season, but I see a lot of parallels between Allegri and Howe, Mitchell and Giuntoli, club unable/unwilling to back the manager etc.

 

I like Eddie, he did a good job overall since he came, I just think it's more likely he's gone within 6 months than he stays for the next 3 years. It's just the reality of the industry.

 

Sorry if I annoyed anyone by the long post, by my Eddie statement or the fact I'm not a Newcastle supporter. I just became really disillusioned by the whole Juve situation, by our fan forums which I don't write on anymore and had a need to leave my thoughts somewhere. I like you guys, hope you do good this season.

 

Appreciate the effort in this post but there's no evidence that there's any 'toxicity' here at all. Maybe an adjustment period and some instability that happened too close to a transfer window. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Also, the new sporting director appointment was forced upon the club with Gardener Dan leaving so it wasn’t a calculated decision to bring in someone new to undermine Howe 

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Appreciate the effort in this post but there's no evidence that there's any 'toxicity' here at all. Maybe an adjustment period and some instability that happened too close to a transfer window. 

Yeah, there probably isn't.

 

But trust me, there was no evidence of any discomfort, let alone anything more, at Juve last season either. Publicly everything was perfect but looking back at it there were red flags. Red flags I see now here looking from the outside and a lot of discourse we Juve fans had on our forums, some things are literal copy-paste from you guys.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have very much enjoyed all the late night angry fan fiction being posted in the last couple of days.

 

I myself am thinking of dreaming up various scenarios where everything is terrible later on, it's just going to be difficult to come up with something new.

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Also, the new sporting director appointment was forced upon the club with Gardener Dan leaving so it wasn’t a calculated decision to bring in someone new to undermine Howe 

It was forced on Juve as well when the whole board resigned during the trials after the WC in Qatar. And Giuntoli wasn't signed as someone who had to fire Allegri from the start, he had enough time to do that as soon as he came. It just evolved into a situation like that because there are egos and power plays involved. Incumbent manager who did a lot for the club already wants some power for himself. New director doesn't want to relinquish any, he was hired by the owners to develop the club further etc.

 

Look back at any recent ownership/management upheaval in football or any other sport. Manager is always the first to go. (I think ten Hag's days are numbered as well).

 

Eddie will stay as long as he plays good football, delivers top 4 this year and doesn't rock the boat too much.

Link to post
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Abacus said:

I have very much enjoyed all the late night angry fan fiction being posted in the last couple of days.

 

I myself am thinking of dreaming up various scenarios where everything is terrible later on, it's just going to be difficult to come up with something new.

 

I'm sure they'll all be covered, don't worry. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, ILCAML said:

It was forced on Juve as well when the whole board resigned during the trials after the WC in Qatar. And Giuntoli wasn't signed as someone who had to fire Allegri from the start, he had enough time to do that as soon as he came. It just evolved into a situation like that because there are egos and power plays involved. Incumbent manager who did a lot for the club already wants some power for himself. New director doesn't want to relinquish any, he was hired by the owners to develop the club further etc.

 

Look back at any recent ownership/management upheaval in football or any other sport. Manager is always the first to go. (I think ten Hag's days are numbered as well).

 

Eddie will stay as long as he plays good football, delivers top 4 this year and doesn't rock the boat too much.

Top 6-7 maybe. They won’t expect top 4 neither should anyone else. Bonus if they get 4-5.

Link to post
Share on other sites

“I understand the fans frustration over the transfer window. We’re all in it together. We need one united cause - and that’s a cause against everyone we’re playing. What we can’t do is tear ourselves apart. We’re a formidable force when we’re united.”

Amen Edward.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...