Self-Destruction on Tyne-side

Lowe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:50:46 +0000

What the hell?
I don’t need to hear that rap song from the stop the violence movement from the late 80s every time I read something new in the news, on the web, wherever about the latest goings on at Newcastle. But I hear it. Somebody give me a “hell yeah!”

Okay, so Newcastle has a bevy of suitors, all with cash burning a hole in their pockets. Americans, old, familiar faces, South Asians flush with cash. But is it too late?
Let the exodus begin. Already losing Michael Owen, David Edgar, Lovenkrands and Viduka among others to being out of contract, Newcastle has no one coming in. Now those players who once said they will stay are on the verge of putting in their transfer requests. Taylor and Beye? Okay, so Taylor may still be pissed off about the new away kit (and rightly so), but that isn’t reason enough to bail on the Magpies. It has to do with their frustration at a lack of progress, the lack of motion forward, the continuation of the Ashley Mantra of football club management: Do Nothing.
It all has to do with the lack of team management. No man in charge, no vision. No manager in place to instill a sense of purpose and vision for the club, to start making decisions on offloading some of that useless pieces of flesh that were bad decisions at best, just plain ignorant at the worst. No offense to Chris Houghton, but he will not be given the power to make the decisions that will set the tone for NUFC to start its quest to get back to the Premiership. And now, in preseason, is where the tone is set. Right now, the tone is more of the same.
Unless I want to be trolling the net for info on League One next year, nothing has to become something and I can think of six things they can do right away.

1. Mike Ashley has to cut his loses. Get out of Newcastle United. Nothing shocking or daring there, just something that MUST be done. Thanks for everything Mike. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.
2. Find an owner that will be fiscally responsible and understand that this is a process, that immediate success does not necessarily translate into long term success. Too many that buy these teams look at them as personal playthings, not remembering that these teams are part of the community, and part of many families. They cash in and get out. That has to stop
3. Get a manager who feels passionate about the game, and understands the process of rebuilding. Steve Coppell is out there, and has the experience. Maybe not the long term answer, but for the next two years, a good option. Or give Shearer the time and backing to see what he can do. He has the support of the fans and the players, and as much as I want to see him in charge, he needs a little seasoning. And bringing a team from through the hard knocks of the Championship is a good “blooding”, so to speak.
4. Slash the unnecessary wages, and those that “earn” them. Get what they can for them, and invest in a couple of veterans of the game that will impart the right way to play to the youth that the rest of the money is spent on.
5. Rebuild the youth system. If they develop talent and sell, then there is income. And if they develop the talent and the talent stays, all the better.
6. Stop insulting the fans with stupid decisions. See Joe Kinnear. And don’t make me go into that one.

I’ve got preseason myself in a little over a month, and I need some good news going in, and dammit, I can not listen to my office mate, whose team won the Champions League, taunt me for another year while my wife threatens to become a Sunderland supporter. I can’t afford to get a divorce. Give me something.

Toon marching on…

rich — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:26:57 +0000

That was impressive wasnt it. We turned on the style and gave in a performance that we’ve been desperately lacking lately. A 3-0 demolition of Reading yesterday served two purposes. 1, It gave us a step closer to safety. I know many people think we have safety assured, but until we have 41 points i remain unconvinced. Secondly, We have players in form now.

Barton is showing the form that got him his England call-up and Martins is completely untouchable at the moment. He is thriving with having the service and being able to detonate his lethal shot. Owen is also looking like he is caring at the minute and is clearly loving the Viduka, Martins trio formation.

However, KK’s biggest triumph is that he is finally bleeding the youngsters through, Edgar started yesterday and rarely put a foot wrong. Carroll has looked very impressive when he has come on and Kazenga Lua Lua has been promoted to the first team.

We have a long way to go. Many things have to change so we dont have another season of mid-table mediocrity. KK has though identified some of the problems and as you can see, he has tweaked the system so it works. Hopefully some shrewd buying by Dennis Wise in the summer will get us operating at the echelons that we so desperately want. Its all talk at the minute.

But the action starts next Saturday against Portsmouth.

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Self-Destruction on Tyne-side

Toon marching on…