2nd March 2005
By
Jody Jamieson
Sometimes I do wonder to be honest about our coaching, as I'm sure
a lot of you do. It does baffle me that we have so many players at
this club who look potentially like world beaters and yet end up becoming
nothing other than also rans. I'm extremely worried that this is happening
to Jermaine Jenas at the moment.
When Jenas came from Forest for £5 million pounds I'm sure I
wasn't the only one who reserved judgment due to the fact that I'd
never seen him play. He took a while to settle in, but for the second
half of the 2002/2003 season we all fully understood why Sir Bobby
Robson saw fit to shell out the money to bring in such a special talent.
His energy levels were unparalleled, he was always there whether we
were going forward or defending deep, and he was scoring goals by
the bucket load. We had unearthed a belter.
Fast forward almost two years and we've seen brief flashes of that
brilliance. Far too often Jenas seems to be hiding. We can't put it
down to him being a "Bling King" or an arrogant shite as from every
corner you hear nothing but positive noises about Jenas the player,
Jenas the professional, and Jenas the person. It just seems to make
no sense as to why we've seen such a subdued JJ for most of the past
two years. This was a player destined for the England side but in
reality, he's now struggling to command a place in the Newcastle side.
I have no idea what to put it down to. It's hard to blame Souness
as a few players seem to have risen to him in recent times, and of
course Jenas was playing poor under Robson also. Perhaps he's too
nice? You never know. He is sometimes reluctant to put the foot in.
I however think that the coaching at the club has much more to account
for to be honest.
Kieron Dyer was a superstar in the making. Before the recent excellent
performances from him it was hard to fathom that when he was 20 years
old he looked like a potential 50 capper for England, but in his early
days at Newcastle United he was sensational. Sure, he seems to have
lost his way off the pitch as we all know, but I feel that with better
coaching his off the field shenanigans wouldn't have made too much
of a difference. We've seen bigger nutters than Dyer make a career
for themselves after all. It's a case of so near yet so far.
Shola Ameobi? He's been in the side for almost 5 years now, and still
looks crap in my opinion. Robson and Souness must see something in
him to have given him so many games over the 5 years he's been here
(I myself haven't) and I haven't seen an improvement from him at all
in that time. Partly may be that he was never good enough, but the
coaching staff can't remain blameless.
How many starlets have came through our youth system? I believe only
Ameobi, Hughes and Taylor have came through out system in recent years
which is a quite frankly pathetic return. Keegan got rid of the reserves
which was a stupid thing to do, but it's been up and running for long
enough to have made a decent impact, but anyone who has watched the
reserves will know how pish they are and know that most will never
make the grade.
Chopra will never make it. Jamie McClen will never make it. Martin
Brittain will never make it. But would they have made it at a club
like Manchester United or Liverpool where the coaching is much better
and they have a good record of bringing youngsters through? They may
never have got a game for either of those clubs, but may have stood
a much better chance of making the grade in the Premiership than they
do now.
I feel that Jamie McClen, Martin Brittain, Michael Chopra and even
Shola Ameobi are first division players. Players who aren't good enough
to be regulars in the Premiership. Yet all have made at least a few
appearances for the club (I dread to think how many Shola has made)
and while they haven't always been shite, just don't look cut out
for it. With Shearer retiring, Bellamy likely to leave and Kluivert
possibly not staying on (all what if's at the moment of course) the
thought of Ameobi and Chopra up front for Newcastle United scares
the shit out of me. Players like Rio Ferdinand and John Terry would
piss themselves laughing and get the cigars out.
How much of this is down to the abilities of these players and how
much is down the level of coaching is debatable but it's clear to
see that there has to be a major restructuring of that level of the
club. We can't afford to let players like Jenas or perhaps even Taylor
become nearly men. Taylor looks great, but we've seen it before with
some players, and I just hope Taylor bucks the trend. Manchester United
built a legacy on bringing through some of the best players modern
day football in England has ever seen for nothing. Arsenal have scoured
the globe finding some of the best youngsters out there, and will
put the finishing touches on them before unleashing them on the Premiership
and Europe. Surely we're a big enough club to be able to build the
foundations for a decade of young players, be they English or Continental,
to join the club at a young age, fine tune their abilities, and make
a fabulous career for themselves at one of the biggest clubs in England.
Which brings me onto our scouting. We missed Alan Shearer when he
was young. Well we didn't so much miss him, but our talent scouts
decided to leave him alone and declare him not good enough. A move
which cost us 15 million quid and caused us to miss out on 6 or 7
years of his career. We missed Michael Carrick. Say what you like
about him but he's doing a fantastic job a Tottenham Hotspur. And
how often to we unearth a gem of a player? The early signs for N'Zogbia
are promising, but we'll have to wait and see what he really possesses.
But will the coaching here ever allow him to be a success?
Overall I feel that the people who work behind the scenes at Newcastle
will always be the reason that we may never realise the potential
that this wonderful club has. With 50,000 fans through the turnstiles
every week, we have a support to die for (in terms of numbers anyway)
but it does concern me that there is something wrong at the club that
is holding us back and that some people have to take a look at themselves
and get their arses in gear.
Graeme Souness or Freddie Shepherd could do a lot worse than decide
to have a complete overhaul of the way the club is run and ensure
that this club at least has the chance to be the huge club it has
always threatened to be. |
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