Chopra Scores
Toon striker Michael Chopra grabbed himself
a goal today for Barnsley, who the Gosforth born striker is on loan
at for one month. A typical poachers goal from 3 yards out give Barnsley
the lead at Victoria Park but Adam Boyd, who has been watched several
times by United scouts, grabbed an equaliser for Hartlepool and that's
how it stayed. Well done to Chopra.
Round Up: Toon Players On International Duty
Craig Bellamy played the full 90 minutes for Wales earlier
today but he failed to add to his 7 goal tally in the red shirt as
his team could only manage a 1-1 draw away to Azerbaijan in their
2006 World Cup Qualifier. Former Toon player Gray Speed scored Wales
goal.
Shay Given and Andy O'Brien played
a full 90 for the Republic of Ireland in their 3-0 win over Cyprus
at Lansdowne Road where as Stephen Carr played the
first 65 minutes before being subbed.
Northern Ireland Captain Aaron Hughes played the
full 90 minutes as his team went down 3-0 to Poland.
Nicky Butt, Kieron Dire and Jermaine
Jenas didn't feature at all as England blew a 2-0 lead in
Vienna to draw 2-2 with Austria.
James Milner played the final 15 minutes for England
Under 21's as Peter Taylor's men beat Austria 2-0.
Next up for our lot (Wednesday the 8th of September 2004)
Poland vs England
Wales Vs Northern Ireland
Switzerland Vs Republic of Ireland
Poland U21's Vs England U21's (Tuesday 7th)
Glenn Hoddle Anyone?
According to today's Journal, former England boss Glenn Hoddle
has thrown his hat into the ring in a bid to replace Sir Bobby Robson
as our next manager. A piece from the paper:
The Journal understands Freddie Shepherd is prepared to add the former
England manager to his shortlist as the number of available British
coaches diminishes by the day.
Terry Venables, Glen Hoddle...why not add Graham Taylor to the list
as well, he's out of a job.
Worth A Read
'Newcastle are confirmed as the most hardened nutcase'
David Lacey The Guardian
The football season is barely three weeks old yet already the status
of the football manager has shrunk further still. If the dwindling
process continues at the present rate the job will surely become an
irrelevance. Teams will be picked by players' agents and plcs.
Managers have always been expendable but there was a time when Sir
Bobby Robson could have stopped Jonathan Woodgate leaving St James'
Park when the defender's expertise, once he was fit, was critical
to Newcastle's recovery from a poor start. The sale of Woodgate to
Real Madrid, among other things, made Robson's position well-nigh
intolerable.
Paul Sturrock was not given time at Southampton to establish any kind
of position. The toff of a chairman, Rupert Lowe, dismissed him much
as a squire sacks a gamekeeper for not keeping the beaters up to scratch.
Sturrock's record with Plymouth Argyle had marked him out for better
treatment.
It is hard to imagine a latterday Harry Catterick putting up with
the kind of nonsense David Moyes had to endure at Everton over the
departure of Wayne Rooney. Catterick, with the backing of John Moores,
would have told the 18-year-old prodigy that for all his natural gifts
he would have a far better career if he completed his football education
before seeking fame and fortune elsewhere.
Then again, when the cantankerous Catterick was manager, Everton were
capable of providing fame and fortune for all-comers. Rooney's move
to Manchester United is as much a measure of Goodison's decline as
his own rapid rise.
Clearly he was never going to sign for Newcastle. That would have
been akin to rejecting New Hall in favour of Narkover, Beachcomber's
anarchic public school. Robson's most contented years in management
were spent at Ipswich, where his chairman, John Cobbold, concentrated
on entertaining friends in the boardroom and left the manager to manage.
Cobbold owned a brewery. Robson's late employers have shown little
sign of being able to organise a booze-up in one.
The queue of managers declaring themselves not to be interested in
succeeding Robson now threatens to stretch around the corner. For
some reason the thought of wet-nursing Alan Shearer into a position
where he can then take over as Newcastle manager does not appeal.
No doubt Mr Frederick Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, was sorry
to lose Robson but thought he ought to go. Chairmen sometimes have
to take hard decisions, yet the build-up of events which led to Robson's
dismissal was worthy of Mr Frederick Karno.
Informing Robson that he would not be offered an extension to his
one-year contract could be seen as a courtesy to a 71-year-old who
could not gone on for ever. Allowing this to become public, however,
was crass. Nothing could have been more calculated to undermine Robson's
position in the dressing room.
In his early days at Ipswich Robson had a punch-up with two rebellious
players he had dropped. Neither played first-team football at Portman
Road again.
Quite a few managers of that era would have been tempted to kick the
butt of Kieron Dyer for refusing to play in an allotted position.
The dire Dyer apologised to Robson but irreparable damage had been
done to the manager's role.
Robson's only previous sacking had been at Fulham in 1968, where he
was in charge for nine months. His problems at Craven Cottage lay
not with the chairman, the comedian Tommy Trinder, but a wealthy director,
Sir Eric Miller, who tried to interfere in team and transfer matters.
Robson always held Miller responsible for his dismissal. Not long
afterwards Miller shot himself, presumably not in remorse. Perhaps
Shepherd has also shot himself, albeit in the foot. Either way Newcastle
have been reconfirmed as the game's most hardened nutcase.
It would be wrong to regard Robson as an old-time manager simply because
of his age. In reality he was among the breed of manager-coaches who
began to emerge in the 50s.
Perhaps it is time for managerial fashion to be recycled. The game
has had the tracksuit era, the Ron Greenwoods and Dave Sextons, the
sharp-suit era of Malcolm Allison and John Bond, and the off-the-peg
era of Kenny Dalglish and Bryan Robson. It is now deep into an age
of foreign tailoring - bespoke at Arsenal, bewildering elsewhere.
Newcastle clearly need a man of presence to hold both dressing room
and boardroom in awe: someone with the imagination of a Herbert Chapman,
the discipline of a Stan Cullis and the ability of a Matt Busby to
get good players to play. Or another Brian Clough, provided the chairman,
the directors and the plc would be prepared to take a hike.
Unhappily the likes of these will never be seen again. And even a
rare example of a manager with old-time clout, Sir Alex Ferguson,
has to hope his latest signing keeps Manchester United in the Champions
League at the very least.
Wayne Rooney another Eric Cantona? Since he looks like costing United
more than 20 times the £1.2m they paid Leeds for the Frenchman 12
years ago Ferguson has to hope so. Otherwise the managerial species
may take another leap towards extinction. |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
 |
 |
Toon
Shirts |
|
Sponsors |
|
