31st May 2005
Q: With Kluivert, Milner, Carr and Butt brought in during
the Summer of 2004, what were your expectations at the start of the
season?
Even though it was obvious that Sir Bobby was, for want of a better
term, ‘losing the plot', I still felt that because of the poor quality
of the rest of the Premiership, we would still be up there, pushing
for that 4th Champions League spot. I felt Nicky Butt was a player
we'd been crying out for, someone to really be the destroyer in midfield
which we'd lacked last season, particularly away from home, where
we lost a lot of points. I thought that a fit Kluivert would be lethal
and that a Kluivert-Bellamy frontline would be one of the league's
most dangerous. I also felt that much of our season would depend on
the fitness of Jonathan Woodgate, that if we could get him fit and
keep him fit, we would walk the 4th place and maybe even push for
higher.
Q: Many back then at the time were calling for Sir Bobby's
head - were you one of them?
I would have been happy to see him go at the end of last season, leaving
a new manager, one who we took a lot of time and effort choosing,
with the squad and the set-up that he had given us. Sacking him when
we did though was mindless. His start to the season had not been as
bad as was made out. Two laughable handball decisions at Middlesbrough
and Villa and a rare Shay Given error against Norwich were the difference
between where we were and a good start, but sack him they did and
the situation was, as usual, incredibly badly managed, something which
set the tone for the season to come.
Q: We had our usual great start to the season and the usual
happened - Sir Bobby was sacked a few games in; who was your preferred
choice of manager to replace him?
The afore-mentioned bad management made it a very difficult time to
try and get anyone in, so I'd have happily seen a caretaker appointed,
such as Carver or even Shearer, so that we could take time looking
at a whole host of managers from Britain and Europe, seeing who was
available, who would be interested, examining managerial credentials
etc.
Q: Your initial thoughts on Graeme Souness' appointment?
It was obvious from the hot air coming from the chairman that the
new man would be one of the awful bunch that make up the Premiership
chaff and so it proved. If you're going to sack Sir Bobby because
you think his two points and fourth bottom position is not good enough
then you would think the first item on the ‘New Manager' checklist
would be to be better than this but obviously our board had not read
the handbook.
For Hall and Shepherd to shout about Sir Bobby's low position and
claim that he going to take us down, then hire one of the few managers
lower than him ranks as one of the strangest decisions I've ever seen,
one which would have been hilarious were it any other club. Hilarity
was certainly the order of the day on the streets of Blackburn, where
the talk was that, were Newcastle to beat Rovers the following week,
which we did, Souness would be out of a job and would have to pay
him compensation. Instead we paid them to take him off their hands.
Once again, our board had hired a manager based not on his managerial
credentials, but on what they saw as the failings of the previous
incumbent.
Dalglish was hired to instill a more defensive attitude into Keegan's
side, Gullit to replace Dalglish's dour rubbish with ‘sexy football',
Robson to be the friendly old guy who picked the players up after
Gullit's awful man-management and then Souness to be the hard-nut
who can come in and threaten the Robson created ‘brat pack' to toe
the line. To me though, he seemed like one of the only people who
could make a volatile situation even worse, with a long history of
falling out and fighting with his own players. Where our board saw
a disciplinarian, every football fan saw a bully. Not only this, but
his career was littered with tales of poor team selection, poor fitness
coaching and the selling of quality players to be replaced by workhorses
or players who were just plain poor. I was not in the least bit confident
about his appointment.
Q: And now, 7 months into the job?
It's been disastrous to be honest, with the worst thing being the
inevitable predictability of everything that has gone on. From the
bizarre team selection, to the dreadful fitness, to the poor buys,
we've seen everything that is bad about a club managed by Graeme Souness,
no more so than his “man-management”, if it can so be called. The
rumour when he was appointed was that the players were taking bets
on who would be the first to fall out with the new manager and if
that were true they probably made themselves a nice bit of cash as
the two likely suspects, Robert and Bellamy immediately fell foul
of Souness, Robert dropped as Bellamy was shifted wide right.
No matter how many times he needed to be told, with Bellamy's finishing
looking more far more clinical than ever before and Robert's presence
in the team coinciding with an 8 game winning run, he was not prepared
to let them flourish. Bellamy was pushed to breaking point and managed
to catapult himself out of the club in spectacular fashion, while
Robert's usual gobbing off to the press was dealt with in exactly
the way that the press wanted. How easy it would have been to have
told him to shut the hell up and told the press to stop stirring,
but to drop him for non-footballing reasons was crazy.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of what these two did, and many fans
feel they should never play again for their actions, what cannot be
denied is that they were heavily pushed into it by a manager who has
always had a problem dealing with good players with attitudes and
that they were both a great loss to the side. There have been so many
things which have gone wrong this season but the saga of these two
players vs the manager has epitomised it all – especially given that
we all saw it coming.
No-one would have cared about those two had results and performances
been up to scratch without them but they've been far from it. Goals
have grown increasingly rare, while the defence has continued to ship
goals at an alarming rate. A total of one point all season when coming
from behind is pathetic and basically means that as soon as the opposition
score, we pack up our things and go home, something that could be
down to fitness, team spirit, team selection or a mixture of factors.
It doesn't really matter – none of those things are up to standard
and 5th to 14th is a dreadful plummet, particularly in such a poor
Premiership.
Q: Do you back him or do you want him out?
He needs to go. We need to get a real manager in before Souness is
allowed to do too much damage by getting rid of quality for next to
nothing and wasting money on sub-standard players. The manager needs
to be someone hired because of how good they are as a manager, not
someone who was necessarily a great player or who will be the best
at beating up Craig Bellamy in training. Souness will never take us
forward but there is a chance he will take us so far backwards we
will never be able to recover, something he's already started.
Q: United dipped back into the transfer market in January
and brought in Boumsong, Faye and Babayaro, how do you think each
has performed?
Boumsong, although slightly overpriced, has looked a quality defender.
He's not perfect, his positioning has looked awry at times and he's
not as good in the air as he should be, but that's nitpicking and
there have been a few games where he's been simply outstanding, both
in defence and in his general play, because he's also a very classy
footballer. His presence has also resulted in an improvement in the
form of Titus Bramble, something which also happened alongside Woodgate.
Faye is very average. He's shown himself in a few games to be a canny
defensive midfielder and he's pretty good at breaking play up, but
the rest of his game is often dire, particularly his passing. There's
no point winning the ball in the tackle only to give it straight back,
something Faye does all too often.
Babayaro at first glance looked a very good left back, but a first
glance is all we've had. He's constantly crocked with injuries that
the medical staff can't find, it only seems a matter of time before
he claims he can't play because of a finger injury. He's shown a total
lack of heart too in many games and his performance in the FA Cup
semi final was embarrassing. He rarely played more than 20 games a
season at Chelsea and their fans have commented on a similar attitude
problem, things we should have known about before we signed him and
peddled Bernard.
Q: And those signed in the Summer?
Milner's been disappointing because of the high expectations of him,
but he has neither the pace nor the crossing ability to be a winger
and I expect him to show his true worth in central midfield if given
a chance there.
Carr's been nothing spectacular but he's been very dependable and
has suffered from never having a proper right winger in front of him.
He's a player who can certainly be improved upon but until he can
be, he won't let us down.
Butt started quite well in the deep midfield role, even if his passing
wasn't what we expected, and was solid until his injury mid season.
Since his return to the team, his performances and his attitude have
been disgraceful, culminating in the gutless display in Cardiff, where
he seemed more interested in appeasing Alex Ferguson and his mates
in Manchester than playing for Newcastle.
Kluivert suffered with injuries and his lack of a proper pre-season
did him no favours in this regard, but a lot of the time he did himself
none either. He scored some crucial goals, his goal ratio was better
than anyone other striker in the squad and although there was the
odd game where it could be said that he looked disinterested, I think
a lot of the time he took unfair criticism for his attitude. He certainly
looked like he hated losing and there were some games where his class
lit the side up. He also suffered from our style of football, as he
looked much more dangerous and effective when not playing in a system
garnered to playing ‘hoof it to Shearer'. However, his fitness was
questionable and never looked like getting up to what it should be
- towards the tail-end of the season he just looked fat, something
totally unacceptable for any professional footballer.
Q: Who is your player of the season?
Shay Given, but purely by default. He had a very poor start to the
season, made a few errors and wasn't getting to things he has in the
past. Since Christmas however, he's been excellent and, as usual,
there have been a few games which he's kept us in when we really deserved
to be dead and buried. A bit of a poor season by his standards, but
there's been no-one better.
Q: And who in your opinion, has been the worst?
There's a fair few contenders. Ameobi has gone from "hmm, might
make it" to "for the love of God, get him out the team",
Jenas has had another nightmare, O'Brien's cemented his reputation
as total no-hoper and Kluivert's reputation before him has left him
a massive disappointment. All in all, though, I think Nicky Butt has
to take the prize. Not only has he been totally useless, but he's
not even bothered trying his arse unlike most of the above lads.
Q: With the likes of Taylor, Ramage, Milner, Jenas, Ambrose,
N'Zogbia and Chopra, many believe we have a good crop of youngsters
there, do you expect them to make it at Newcastle?
Taylor looks like he could be real top class and has leadership and
confidence far beyond his years. The only worry is that he'll always
be number three behind Bramble and Boumsong at CB, in which case he'll
spend most of his time filling in across the back four. This could
quite easily turn him into the new Hughes or Watson – dependable everywhere,
excellent nowhere.
Ramage has not played anywhere near enough to tell. He's not broken
into the first team until 21, which is worrying, especially since
it was only injuries which brought him in. There is a worry that a
new 3-year contract could turn him into the new McClen but unlike
many other young players who've come in during an injury crisis, Ramage
has impressed so there's no reason why he can't stay in and around
the first team.
Milner, as mentioned above, has been a little disappointing considering
his fee and reputation but he came good towards the end of the season
and could become a real asset because he does have talent. I don't
believe it lies on the wing however.
I'm beginning to lose patience with Jenas. After a nightmare last
season, this was a big year for him and he's been no better. Any spark
that was here when he arrived seems to have gone and now he just seems
to be content hovering on the edges of games and passing the ball
backwards whenever he gets it. Most of the good things he did early
on appear to be pipe-dreams now – for example, when once he was scoring
screamers like the ones against Man Utd and West Ham, he's now totally
incapable of putting away a simple ten yard chance, no matter how
many opportunities he gets. At the moment, he's living purely on reputation
and that award, something which still influences the rest of the footballing
world as his constant selection in the England squad and rumours of
£10m bids from Arsenal and Man Utd proves. If one of those bids came
in I'd snatch their hand off but I think he'll still be here next
season. It's easy to say that it's going to be make or break for him,
but how many times can we keep saying it?
Ambrose has probably been the biggest benefactor from our recent injury
crisis as a player who had been written off by both the club and many
of the fans found himself in central midfield and did very well. A
few goals in very few appearances has given him a second chance here
and while he still has a long way to go, I think he has enough to
his game to become, at least, a useful squad player especially given
his knack for grabbing a goal. Like Milner though, his future does
not lie out wide.
N'Zogbia looks an absolute steal and it's no wonder Le Havre were
so keen to keep hold of him. His game has come along greatly since
he's had a run in the team and even though no-one seems to be sure
what his game is, whether it be out wide or central, attacking or
defensive, what is clear is that he has the potential to become a
real star, and a cult hero, for Newcastle.
Chopra is another one where the jury is still out. He never made an
impact first time round and many reserve attendees have said that
he's not going to make it, but his goals elsewhere and the current
absence of any real source of goals in our side has demanded we have
another look at him. If he can get himself a few in the upcoming Intertoto
games, he could yet develop but if he's going to turn into a Premiership
player, he needs to start scoring and fast.
Q: What was the most disappointing aspect of the season for
you?
Watching a Liverpool side who we were neck and neck with for the vast
majority of last season, and who looked a very poor side at St James'
in March (7 of the starting 11 started in Istanbul) go from strength
to strength under a competent manager who they took time searching
for and appointing, and eventually become Champions of Europe, while
we have been thrown violently backwards by a manager who they warned
us about, him having done exactly the same dismantling job at Anfield.
It's easy to claim that managers need a lot of time for success and
that the players are the most important aspect of a team, but Benitez
has proved that a good manager can turn average players into winners.
Q: And the best?
The emergence of the young players such as N'Zogbia and Taylor who
can go on to be stars is just about the only positive which can be
found in such a wreck of a season.
Q: What in your opinion are our strengths and weaknesses?
Our strengths are a (so far) very solid looking centre back unit,
with Taylor, Boumsong and Bramble and a top class goalkeeper behind
them. I think that's our lot. Our weaknesses lie just about everywhere
else. A total inability to come from behind in any way, a lack of
both defensive steel and attacking creativity in midfield, no-one
who will get us regular goals, dreadful fitness levels, constant injury
problems, a needlessly confrontational manager, a knack of ruining
promising young players and a board who couldn't make a bigger hash
of things if they tried.
Q: Freddy Shepherd, how do you rate his management of the
club this season in particular?
Totally inept and downright embarrassing. The sacking of Sir Bobby
was dealt with in an absolutely criminal fashion, both in terms of
his treatment and the effect it had on the club. His reason given
for not letting Robson go in the summer was some cobblers about Bambi,
yet he had no problem doing it in August and ruining yet another season,
the third in seven seasons to be written off thanks to his lack of
bottle when it comes to sacking a manager. It didn't necessarily have
to such a write-off but, as usual, his choice of manager made sure
of that.
Shepherd's continual insistence that our manager must be at least
British, but Geordie preferably is pathetic, and is one reason why
we will never succeed in anything with him at the helm – you just
know that even if Souness is sacked, he'll be replaced by some other
British Premiership no-hoper, such as Venables, Bruce or McLaren,
all of whom were rumoured to have been asked, or, even more worryingly,
he'll be replaced by Alan Shearer.
Shepherd will see Shearer's appointment as the ultimate fan pleasing
move because as we're so often told, Geordies want a Geordie in charge,
rather than someone who might actually succeed. Shepherd just loves
to open his mouth and come out with rubbish like this. You'd think
he'd have learned his lesson when he told the NOTW sheik what he really
thinks of us all, but no, he wants to make us even more embarrassed
by NUFC. From the Rooney bid, to his insistence that we'll be astounded
by the players that want to be here, to claiming that going to Man
Utd, Arsenal or Liverpool is a step down from us, he's made us look
a constant joke to the rest of football.
He has no qualms about telling blatant lies to us, such as that we're
going to be ‘pleasant surprised' and claiming that Souness would be
expected to deliver instant success or get the sack. He certainly
knows nothing about football but he's supposed to be a good businessman,
which is now another thing he seems to be making a hash of, with his
attitude towards Bellamy and Viana being that we're desperate to get
rid, taking their quoted price down dramatically. We'll probably get
the same for them that we got for Solano – peanuts. With longer Shepherd's
in charge of NUFC, the longer we are destined to succeed in nothing
whatsoever.
Q: Do you back him or do you want him out?
How I would love to see him gone forever from Gallowgate, but unless
there's one of us who has the money to buy him out, it's not going
to happen.
Q: Bellamy - would you like to see him back at the club, thoughts
please?
I'd definitely like to see him back. His actions, although not particularly
clever, were certainly no disgrace to the club or any of the other
rubbish bandied around. His verbal outburst at the manager was just
that, at a man who was taking the piss out of him by claiming that
Shola Ameobi was a better bet up front and shoving Bellamy out wide
because of it. The bottom line is that every club has players who
are difficult to deal with, but great managers deal with them if they
feel it necessary. The actions of Cantona and Ferdinand at Man Utd
are perfect examples, players who were so good that even their sheer
idiocy at getting themselves banned for 8 months – actions that far
surpassed anything Bellamy's done – was no reason to peddle them.
Ferguson knew he needed those players so he dealt with them, and,
as things stand, we need Craig Bellamy. If we can replace him with
a player who gives us as much for the same, or less, money than we
get for him, then fine, do it, but we all know we can't and won't
and if the return of Bellamy means the dismissal of the manager who
can't work with him, all the better.
Q: Bowyer - should he stay or go, thoughts please?
I was originally very angry at Bowyer for being mainly responsible
for losing us two massive players for the semi final but it is his
only indiscretion since joining, he is our best central midfielder
and we can't afford to let him go for next to nothing, which is what
he would go for. He's not been the player he was at Leeds for us,
and in an ideal world, I'd love to have a better player in his place
without the mental streak that runs through Bowyer but we've not got
this better player so keep him.
Q: Butt - should he stay or go, thoughts please?
Sell him on, loan him out, give him away if necessary, but don't let
him pull on the black and white again.
Q: The enigma of Robert - how do you assess that whole saga?
I could talk about the pros and cons of Laurent Robert from now until
the end of time, so much is there to talk about, but the crux of the
matter is that he is our most productive player and without him, we
looks desperately short of creativity. Robert, even on a bad day,
will often pull one killer cross or unstoppable free kick out of the
hat and until we have the money to get this oft-talked about winger
who doesn't just provide superb crosses and set pieces, but also works
like a dog, then he must stay – personally, I'm not convinced this
player actually exists.
Q: Dyer's refusal to play on the right wing and snub of the
Captain's armband upset many with calls that he should never play
for United again. Since then he has knuckled down and put in some
fine performances. Has he won you over, thoughts please?
Never thought I'd say it, but I think he has, or is at least on his
way. I was as angry as anyone at the start of the season at his actions
in Middlesbrough and I don't hold him blameless for the brawl with
Bowyer, having turned his back on play. However, since the turn of
the year, he has been outstanding on the pitch, which is where it
matters. Only problem is that we've seen this before and I worry that
when he gets his new contract, he'll go back into himself and start
taking liberties again, as he has done for most of the time he's been
here.
Q: Kluivert - would you have liked the club to have kept him
on?
Yes. Just like Robert, he doesn't work like a dog, but he has class
and he produces. In a Premiership side playing a style of play that's
not pandered to a motionless Shearer, where selection is not simply
about who runs round the most and who argues with the manager the
least, he would shine. The fact that we look likely to be left with
Shearer, Ameobi and Chopra is reason alone to keep him on.
Q: Which 5 players would you like to see signed in the close-season?
Realistically please.
Mikael Forssell, Scott Parker, Wayne Bridge, Robbie Keane and Papa
Bouba Diop.
Q: Your season 2004-05 Toon XI?
Given, Carr, Boumsong, Bramble, Bernard, Dyer, Bowyer, N'Zogbia, Robert,
Bellamy, Kluivert.
Q: Has Shearer, in your opinion, made the right decision to
not retire as he had first planned or the correct one?
With things as they stand, Kluivert gone and Bellamy banished, it
is good for the sole reason that he is another person who can be stuck
up front. The truth is that he is totally finished though and I believe
another season of poor performances and few goals will see a lot of
resentment build up towards him. I hope I'm wrong because he deserves
better but it is difficult to see anything else, his constant selection
regardless of performance and the manager's building up of him as
someone who's bigger than NUFC is starting to annoy a lot of people
– his harping on about Shearer staying on was incredibly irritating,
given that Shearer hasn't been doing it as he should domestically
for nearly two years and his away goals record in that time is pathetic.
Personally, I don't feel he's put any more work in this season than
the likes of Kluivert, there are far too many games where he just
stands up front with his hands on his hips looking sullen and avoids
criticism for it on the basis that he's Alan Shearer.
Q: Shepherd has claimed he'd like Big Al to take over from
Souness one day, your thoughts?
One day, maybe, if he proves himself to be a good manager first. There
is no way he should be next though. As I've already said, we need
a manager hired on how good they are as a manager, not on how good
a player they were or whether they were born in Gosforth or not.
Q: Shearer - is he a good or bad Captain?
These days I don't think he's particularly good. He used to lead by
example, so that players playing poorly could look to the captain,
who always maintained a constant level of excellence and always gave
his all. Now I'm not convinced either of those are true nor does he
do much building up of the players when they're getting beat and as
such I don't think he's great at it anymore.
Q: What should be his role next season?
The Duncan Ferguson role circa this season. Come on late to be dangerous
in the air at corners and free kicks and that should be just about
all he does domestically. He seems to do well in Europe, possibly
down to different playing style or simply poor opposition so if we
qualify he could be useful there but in domestic competition, he should
not really be starting at all. This of course assumes we do actually
sign some good strikers in the summer because if we don't then he
must be starting. If this is true though and he is still our number
striker then I really fear for our chances next season.
Q: Aaron Hughes' sale - your thoughts?
Mindless. He's no world beater and should not be in the first XI but
he is very capable cover all across the back four, is rarely injured,
is very professional and selling him for £1m seems to me like a totally
pointless exercise, especially given the squad shortages we suffered
from this season. There are certain players, such as Elliott and O'Brien
who've just been given new contracts, who should have been out the
door before Hughes.
Q: Finally, what are your expectations for next season, in this moment
in time?
No more than 10th, very possibly a relegation battle. May be pessimistic,
but I can't really see anything else- even if we sign some quality
players, I'm not convinced the management can get the best out of
them.
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