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Readers Letter: NUFC Have To Act Now
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Newcastle-Online.com reader and forum member Nick wrote in to
have a rant about Graeme Souness' reign as Newcastle United manager,
demanding that United act now in preparation for next season... before
it's too late.
Want To Have Your
Say On NUFC? Then Use This Site For The Purpose It Was Created
For - Write In, Like Nick Has Done! |
I'd like to start by saying that I was disgusted with the way Sir
Bobby Robson was treated by the club. It was probably the right time
to move on, but the way the club did it 4 games into the season was
appalling after what he had done for us. Looking at the past 15 months
of results and performances, it's hard to believe he was sacked for
so little.
That summer we should have made the change, instead we cocked it up
in every way possible and were left feeding off scraps for a new manager.
In the end, we appointed whoever would take it! That man was Graeme
Souness, manager of a poor Blackburn side, below us in the table at
the time of his appointment, days away from the sack and disliked
by his own fans. He was the man to take us to the next level...
15 months on, what happened? It's hard to bring myself to talk about
it, but to sum it up: He took our consistently top 5 side, which was
the best squad he had ever worked with remember, and proceeded to
take us to 14th! Our worst finish in the Premiership.
The performances gradually got worse as the effects of Sir Bobby's
reign were squeezed out. The beginning of Graeme's Newcastle United
were beginning to take shape. Dull, lifeless performances had begun.
Our talented squad was ripped apart, players sold on the cheap. Over
£50million of "proper" players added and we were ready!
Ready for one of our worst starts to the season, and it's just getting
worse. Massive injuries, but that's happened at every club Souness
has managed. Coincidence? Injuries aside, I've never witnessed such
dull, worthless, pathetic, clueless performances from our club. Yes,
we've had players missing, but we've still fielded teams of good players
who should be performing far, far better than they are.
Defence is a joke, there for the taking if anyone fancies a goal.
Without Owen, we can't score or even threaten. Nothing's being created
in midfield, just long ball after long ball, players playing out of
position, no width because apparently"you don't win anything with
wingers" our manager said, ignoring the fact that he's just bought
2 wingers in Solano and Luque.
Awful, appalling performances, consistently in his 15 months in charge.
Not a single improvement in our performances since he took over, not
one! We have actually played a few games with most of our first 11,
the performances were still awful and light years away from what we
should be. Games against the "big" teams have shown how far away in
class we are, it's a long long way away.
No excuse for that, what IS he doing in training? It's embarrassing
and the fans deserve much better for the money we pay. He was never
wanted when he took over and he's consistently shown us why. He will
never get the fans back, especially after his comments towards us.
Can anyone recall our last good performance? The last time we out
passed our opposition? The last time we strung more than two passes
together? Played like a team? Carved a team apart? Dominated? I really
don't recall ever being entertained by Souness' team. It's inexcusible!
Whether Souness is sacked now or in the summer, he'll hold out for
his compensation in one way or another so it's inevitable. The club
would be better investing in his sacking than buying any new players
this month. Hitzfeld, Le Guen, Hiddink, O'Neill... 3 of these are
available now, which means we don't have to pay any compensation for
them.
Hiddink is my personal choice, he's created great, successful teams
wherever he's been and is unsettled at PSV. We must act now... not
at the end of the season. At the end of the season, the World Cup
gets in the way. Managers will be holding out for Real Madrid, Man
Utd, etc. so we'll struggle to attract the best man for the job and
end up getting the scraps again like last time.
Players, especially potential buys if we're still ambitious (with
Souness still in charge I do wonder!) will be involved in World Cup
duty, not thinking about transfers. Once the World Cup is over, that
leaves us with about a month to get a new manager in, to settle in
and assess the squad without any competitive games to judge them in
and try things, make any changes to the squad without knowing his
squad properly and transfers will have to be crammed into the last
month or so of the summer.
This leaves us in the middle of a manager scramble, a mad scramble/panic
buying of players, and not much preparation for next season! Change
the manager now, the new man comes in and has half the season to assess
the squad, settle in, maybe make a few loan signings or something.
This will freshen the club up, give them a lift like Sir Bobby did
when he took over, and we might sneak a European place.
Changing the manager can't rock the boat as it doesn't get any worse
than it already is. If we accept the current situation until the summer,
and miss out on Europe finishing 14th or worse, chances of getting
a decent manager and players are even worse. We must act now, it makes
sense. If something is clearly wrong, you put it right straight away,
you don't just accept it, there's too much at stake.
New manager in now... we should be heading in the right direction
by the start of next season then. Souness has been appalling since
the day he took over. He's got us playing appalling football, we play
with no passion, tactics or ideas. We can't pass, we can't defend,
we can't attack and we can't score goals. How exactly is staying as
we are not taking a massive risk?
We have one of the worst defences' in the league, we can't score,
we're struggling against the teams BELOW us! To rub it in, his old
club Blackburn are now ahead of us in the league, looking more solid,
playing better football with our ex-striker playing well (who must
be having a good laugh at us now).
Where are points for safety coming from? Souness OUT immediately,
what's happening is so far fetched in how bad it is you almost can't
believe it's really happening! I cannot stand this consistent mediocrity
any longer.
By Nick (aka Chop Souey)
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