Rigor Mortis sets in on the search for a new Messiah.
By GeordieMessiah On Sun 13 Jan 2008 |
Whilst Big Al suns himself in the Carribean, and Big Mike chows down with the Chow Mein in Hong Kong, Big Sam kicks off his boots and puts on his slippers to watch (like the rest of us) with a degree of vicarious pleasure, the unfolding farce of Newcastle searching for a new manager. But it’s all a Big Balls-Up, as per usual.
Stability breeds success. But yet again we are left without a chance of building that stability, because none of us was willing to watch the turgid, uninspiring, soul-crushing long-ball percentage football that Sam wanted to serve up as hors d’ouevres to a potential footballing banquet. All of which is fair enough - supporting Newcastle is costly, in emotional and financial terms…and we expect (fair enough really, wouldn’t you say so Mr. Ashley?) a decent return on our investment. So off with Sam’s head…and long live the King…
…Except we don’t actually have anyone lined up, do we? Nice one. So the press and the media can all gather round and point and laugh at the Newcastle United Comedy Club once again. This was meant to be a bright new dawn, a brave new world and a new chapter in the history of our proud club. We had seen Ashley and Mort vanquish the pie-eating buffoonery of Freddie Shepherd once and for all. And you would think, being a successful billionaire businessman, that when you buy a football club like Newcastle United from a slug like Freddie Shepherd only to discover a trail of financial mismanagement and neglect, evidence of a litany of poor decisions in the hiring and firing of managers over recent seasons…you would think that perhaps you would learn from your precedessors mistakes, but wait…nope…things seem to be just as haphazard as they ever were under Shepherd.
It may be just that expectations have rocketed on account of the arrival of Mikey Moneybags Ashley and the Rigorous Mr Mort…but within hours of Sam’s departure, Newcastle United fan websites were simmering with the fevered talk of a new era under Mourinho or Lippi or Klinsmann…the prospect of a glorious return to the much-missed attacking football of Keegan or Robson at SJP had Toon Fans donning their best silk pyjamas for a night of blissfully sexy football dreams, only to be awoken by the news that, more realistically, Allardyce had been ousted for the likes of Sparky Hughes, Harry “The Neck Twitch” Redknapp or Steve “Wally with the Brolly” McLaren, at which point you could hear 100,000 Geordie rectums simultaneously hitting the floor in despair and a mournful wail of “WHY?!!!” gathering in the Northern skies like a great grey cloud fit to burst open and drench the Tyne Valley in the collective tears of disappointed fans.
Surely to goodness there has to be more to look forward to than the same old mistakes and media own-goals, and a revolving door policy which has seen Newcastle United all too frequently cited as one of the most impatient clubs in the Premiership. I don’t seek to suggest that what Allardyce was delivering was particularly enthralling or confidence-inspiring, or even make a case for having retained him, but timing is everything…and as has been said by others on various web discussion forums, sacking Sam at this juncture, in the middle of the January transfer window, without having secured a hallmark successor who would truly signal the beginning of a new era under Ashley and Mort - well, it’s just beyond mystifying. Especially when arguably a couple of well-chosen midfield acquisitions may well have been enough to push Sam’s team into a whole new gear and see his team achieve at the level the Toon expected.
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And then a few hours after I write that Keegans back…. Predictable? Boring? Us? NOPE!
Sent in on: January 18th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
A few months ago, after the Spurs game which we won 3-1, I publicly said on this website how nice it was that Spurs had “taken over from us as the laughing stock of the premier league.”
I would now like to retract this statement, and offer my apologies to Tottenham Hotspur football club and their supporters.
We have our mantel back after this “Timing of Allardyce’s sacking / Redknapp approach” incident. And then some.
Sent in on: January 16th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Parky,
I’m not sure he was the 1st man we approached was he? He’s the 1st one the press have publicised massively.
Looks like Mark Hughes will be the next one the press is trying to shoe horn in.
Redknapp is a decent manager, but if he had been appointed… I probably would have wondered if he was really the best we could do?
Mark Hughes also seems to show a lot of promise as a manager, I think he’s done a great job at Blackburn (and looking after Wales), but I fear that like Sam he’s very good at putting out a team that’s very hard to beat. He will not get the time needed to succeed with that kind of football here.
For a manager to succeed (by succeed I mean last more then two full seasons) here, he needs two of the following criteria:
1) Have a positive history with the Toon.
2) Play attractive winning football.
3) Luck in spades.
Ashley released a statement over the weekend about the situation we’re in & why it didn’t work out with Sam. The most important line in the whole release for me was the one about wanting to put a team out who is brave enough to go and attack teams like ManU.
Sent in on: January 14th, 2008 at 10:28 am
IF THE TOON WANT TO BE A SUCCESSFUL CLUB,THEY HAVE TO GO WITH A QUALITY FOREIGN COACH.
NEWCASTLE MUST SET THEIR SIGHTS HIGHER THAN HARRY REDKNAPP OR MARK HUGHES.
IMO THESE APPOINTMENTS WOULD BE A DISASTER,THEY WOULD NOT BE CAPABLE OF TURNING THE CLUB AROUND.
1 YEAR LATER ,I FEAR WE WILL BE BACK TO SQUARE ONE LOOKING FOR ANOTHER MANAGER.
THE CALIBRE OF MANAGER NEWCASTLE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT ARE GUYS WHO HAVE MANAGED CLUBS LIKE : BARCELONA,JUVENTUS EG.
CLUBS WHERE THE PRESSURE IS FAR GREATER,THAN AT ST JAMES,.
THIS MAY SEEM TOO AMBITIOUS FOR SOME PEOPLE,BUT MONEY TALKS.
MIKE ASHLEY IS QUITE CAPABLE OF PUTTING TOGETHER AN ATTRACTIVE PACKAGE FOR A TOP QUALITY OVERSEAS COACH.
MY CHOICE WOULD BE LOUIS VAN HAAL,SINCE HE HAS BEEN AT AZ ALKMAAR HE HAS TREBLED THE SIZE OF THE CLUB WITHIN A COUPLE OF YEARS.
Sent in on: January 14th, 2008 at 2:31 am
What do you think of the possibility that Hughes may be offered the job? I’d be totally horrified ! I would not renew my season ticket next season if that was the case !
Sent in on: January 13th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
ChrisL,
What do you make of Redknapp being the first contacted?
Sent in on: January 13th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Gave up reading this. You seem to have formed an opinion & are airing it on here, while in possession of few facts.
Of course if you were at the meeting between Mort & Fat Sam… I apologise
I on the other hand believe/trust that Mort/Ashley will have acted in a way that they think is in the best interests of NUFC. That may well include the possibility of having no manager till the summer. But if that leads to success by waiting for the right man… I’ll wait.
Sent in on: January 13th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Do you really think that Sam could have turned it round with just two midfield signings?
Sent in on: January 13th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
It seems that Mr, Ashley is another reactionary ‘gut instinct’ kind of guy, like that buffoon Shepherd! Thus a sacking without an assured replacement!
I don’t think he has implanted his vision on the club yet though, and the approach to Redknap didn’t fill me with any sense that the direction was anything other than the mediocrity of the premiership second string also-rans!
If we look to the polls on the various forums you can see the way the forward thinking fans are going, its Jose and Gus, the muppets want Shearer and Keegan, there is nothing to suggest that Keegan could replicate what he did then, football has changed!
Mr, Shearers bloody mindedness as exemplified by his determination to remain a centre forward up to the age of 35 showed me his priority was towards Alan Shearer and Freddy (his Holiday companion) and not NUFC, indeed, the press call him Mr, Newcastle and the media ‘hangers-on’ are now pushing for his instillation, and if this happens it will be a signal that Mr, Ashley has no real vision for the club!
ps. GeordieMessiah good post all power to your pen, lets have some more!
Sent in on: January 13th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
If we get a world class manager who has taken a club to the highest levels I’ll be a very happy man. I hate waiting but it’s a time for patience.
Sent in on: January 13th, 2008 at 1:25 pm