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Readers Letter: Can It Get Any Worse?
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Newcastle-Online.com reader Neil Crossley writes in bemoaning
Newcastle's current situation on and off the field, discussing money
matters and even the dreaded "R" word amongst other things.
It seems like all we, the fans, have done with our lives for the past
16 months is find hope, then have it dashed, with the ultimate example
simply that we appointed Souness, didn't think it would work, gave
him the benefit of doubt, only to sit in 11th in the Premiership,
absolutely broke and with 15 fit players at our disposal.
We lurch from one disaster to the next under Souness. The revelation
by the man himself on Radio Five Live that there in fact is no money
available to strengthen has quashed any hope we may have had on pushing
through to the end of the season with the outside possibility of a
scrap of 'success'.
We've been told that the cash itself is only likely to be generated
by players sales. Hmm. Couple of problems here:
A) We haven't got a squad as it is. Selling to replace is exactly
what Souness has done so badly in the first place, with no less that
12 regular Robson first-teamers leaving to be replaced by just 5 capable
footballers under Souness. Unlike the popular soft drink, we're Seven-Down,
so trading isn't an option.
B ) Who, exactly, is going to generate money from this crowd? We presumably
don't fancy selling Owen, Parker, Taylor, Given or Emre, though I
can't imagine many managers banging our door down to take Faye, Babayaro,
Boumsong, Bramble... well, ANYONE else in fact.
B ) One for the fans - if we have no money for players, where's the
cash coming from for a new manager? £5m to sack him, another couple
to bring in a new crew - sorry, guys, it ain't happening. All in all,
the lurching from one problem to the next has happened again. The
optimists among us hoped for new players - "we'll buy this player,
we'll buy that player and we'll be fine" - it's become another disaster
we didn't see coming, yet it's here and it's real.
Where the biggest issue, for me, arrives is in the fact that, true
to form, there most certainly will be another while Souness remains.
I hate to say it, but we've got to be very careful not to underestimate
the threat of relegation. That's right - I said the "R" word. I'm
not about to bleat on about the club being too good to go down then
cite West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Leeds as examples, or point to
Everton and ask if either they're too good or they're comfortable.
Simply put, a team as poor as ours is far from safe. We've got an
appalling "manager" (and I use the term loosely) in charge and are
relying on players like Ramage, Babayaro, Elliott, Shearer, Chopra,
Ameobi, Bowyer, Faye and Bramble - not one of these players is too
good for a bottom 3 or Championship club. How many of these would
get in the Reading side? We may OWN Parker, Owen, Dyer, Emre, Luque,
etc., but none are playing.
Given might be a cracking keeper, but Robert Green couldn't do squat
for Norwich. I'm sorry to make it so obvious, but Owen alone is responsible
for 19 of our points so far this season. Without him, we're Sunderland.
Earth to Geordies - we're without him again, the shortfalls have been
obvious in the last few games - do I need to spell it out? Earth to
Shepherd - might I suggest that the financial losses in going down
(-£15m), or failing to qualify for europe (-£3m min), or finishing
lower in the Premiership than expected (-£500k per place) FAR outweigh
the money required to sack him?
Furthermore, if Souness is failing so abysmally, doesn't it follow
that a pay-off simply ISN'T required, or does football exist on a
higher plane than ordinary life, thus standard rules don't apply?
We are in it really, really deep. Most of us will still be here, if
the Championship was our backdrop, but we ALL hope to God it doesn't
happen. However, anyone who tells me it definitely WON'T is a fool
and anyone who doesn't worry about it simply isn't living in the real
world.
Neil Crossley
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